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Here are 11 Things Most People Forget to Do
Thanks to my guest blogger Jeff Anttila of Redfin for sharing his tips on getting your house ready for the real estate market.
You’ve started on your lists of small repairs, you’ve contacted a real estate agent, and now you’re in the final steps of getting ready to sell your house. But before you put your home up for sale, and certainly before having your first open house, here are 11 things to consider that most home sellers forget to think about and could cost you a sale.
1. Declutter and Organize Your Closets and Cabinets
Sure, you went through your entire house and reduced the clutter in each room, organized your desk and other surfaces, and arranged your collection of antique ceramic kitty figurines to be facing perpendicular to the window. However, did you tackle your closets and cabinets? One thing you should definitely expect during an open house or individual home tours is that potential home buyers will be looking in your closets, kitchen drawers and cabinets. Will your walk-in closet fit all of his shoes and her summer dresses? Is there enough storage space in your kitchen for their cookware, bakeware, and all the kitchen gadgets that they seem to collect each year? These are all questions home buyers will be asking themselves as they walk through your home.
Of course, you as a home seller will have no idea what the needs are of a potential home buyer, but you can definitely showcase what your house has to offer in terms of storage. Start by decluttering your closets, cabinets, and drawers, and then keeping only enough belongings in each to really show off the potential that space has to offer. Think of it as an extension of staging your home, but for your storage areas.
2. Clean Stains and Eliminate Odors
We should all consider small stains, marks, and other imperfections as badges of honor for a house that has been lived in for years. Nonetheless, these slight bumps and bruises your home has encountered over time will stick out to potential home buyers, so tackle them head-on. Begin by trying to put yourself in the shoes of a potential home buyer and look at your house objectively. Start by going outside and then re-entering your house as if you didn’t actually own it but were an interested home buyer looking at it for the first time. What do you see? Walk through every room and take note of all the imperfections you notice. You might surprise yourself with how quickly your list grows. You can then add them to your list of repairs so you can make your house truly at its best before your first open house. Also, if you have pets there is a strong possibility that your home has an odor that you can no longer smell. Deep cleaning your house is a sure fire way to help eliminate these odors, but also think about using an odor eliminating spray every day for about a week before your first open house. You can also place plugin room fresheners that offer a great crisp smell, like cucumber, to help infuse a sense of cleanliness throughout your house.
3. Replace Light Bulbs
Walk through each room in your house and look at every light bulb to see if it’s working. As homeowners, we sometimes forget to immediately replace a light bulb when it goes out. You want your house to be at its brightest when new home buyers are touring your home and replacing old burnt out light bulbs is one of the easiest ways to do it. Also, don’t forget to walk around the outside of your house to make sure all the lights on your home’s exterior are working as well. Depending on the time of year, your open house or home tours could happen when the sun is going down or when it’s already dark. So be sure to make your house shine inside and out!
Pro tip: Make sure all your light bulbs are the same color temperature inside your house as well as outside. A soft-white light LED bulb can create a bright but welcoming environment for new home buyers.
4. Think About the Small Details: Plants, Mirrors, Rugs
Consider each room’s individual characteristics, so you can really showcase the potential every room in your house can offer. Here are a few ideas to keep in mind while you start prepping every space for an exceptional open house experience.
Add a little green to your spaces
Nothing breathes life into a room more than a little greenery. A potted tree can work wonders in a living room, but for smaller areas think of smaller plants such as a small potted herb garden in the kitchen or a miniature cactus on the mantel.
Open up even the smallest rooms
Mirrors can make small spaces seem large because they create the illusion of depth. Mirrors also work wonders in darker rooms as they reflect light deep into areas of a room that may not receive an abundance of natural light.
Add character to an otherwise unimpressive space
While staging your home, think about adding character to various spaces with rugs. However, keep in mind that you want to use rugs to enhance a space, not be the focal point of it. Also, if you have a strange space that you never really figured out a good use for, a rug could at least offer a little personality while leaving the space and its potential to the imaginations of home buyers.
5. Enhance Your Outdoor Space
You’re probably already aware that enhancing your curb appeal is one of the most impactful things you can do to create a great first impression. However, you don’t want to forget about your other outdoor areas, such as your front porch or entrance, your back entrance, your side yard, and your backyard. You want to enhance your outdoor spaces around the house so potential buyers can see themselves living as much outside your house as inside. Simple enhancements like placing potted plants at your front entrance or adding fresh beauty bark around the base of your hedges and trees can go a long way. If you don’t already have a designated outdoor space for entertaining, think about building a DIY fire pit and adding four Adirondack chairs to create the idea of outdoor fun. Ultimately, your outdoor space can be just as important of a space as what your home has to offer on the inside.
6. Get Professional (Aerial) Photography
By now your research has probably shown you that homes with professional photos sell for more and spend less time on the market on average. What you may not have considered is adding aerial photography to your listing photos. Aerial photography can show off your entire property, a scenic view, and the surrounding area. If you have a lot of property, an aerial shot can easily put into perspective the full scope of all your land has to offer to potential home buyers. Furthermore, aerial photography has come a long way thanks to the rapid development of drone technology, resulting in reasonable pricing that is accessible for many homeowners today. For higher-end listings, drones can even capture video of your property, helping it stand out among the hundreds of other homes for sale.
7. Don’t Forget About Your Gutters
Imagine that you’re having your first open house and despite the rain, foot traffic has been steadily increasing all morning. Your house looks immaculate, like one of those homes off of an HGTV show, and your real estate agent has been messaging you updates every hour about how great it’s going. But then the unexpected happens. A small stream of water starts coming down right in front of your large bay window in the living room. The stream is outside the house, but your would-be buyers watch on as it grows into a miniature waterfall. Red flags go up for the home buyers touring your house as the foot traffic thins and then disappears altogether. What they didn’t see was that the spillage was the result of a clogged gutter, nothing more, causing water to spill over in a very inopportune place and at the worst time. Depending on where you live, you may not see as much rain in locations like Phoenix, AZ, but in many locations where rainfall is a common occurrence, such as Seattle, WA, this situation is more likely to happen. If you don’t have time to clean your gutters yourself—because you have a house to sell and a million other little things to do—there are professional services that can clean your gutters for you so this little oversight doesn’t drown out your hopes of selling your home quickly.
8. Paint Your Baseboards and Crown Moulding
It’s pretty common knowledge that you should paint the interior of your home a neutral colour to appeal to more buyers. Home buyers want to imagine themselves and their stuff in your space, so your red accent wall will need to be painted over with a more neutral hue. But what a lot of home sellers forget to do is pay attention to their baseboards and crown moulding. Where crown moulding may just need some cleaning and touch-ups, your baseboards most likely have seen a lot more traffic, especially if you have kids. It may be a toy truck that has repeatedly crashed into your white baseboards, crayons that went rogue, or the black rubber wheels from bikes racing down the hallway, most likely your baseboards have been marked with years of life experiences.
To correct these homely blemishes, you can try cleaning your baseboards with simple dish soap and water. But if it has been years of wear and abuse, you most likely will need to paint. Use a paint with a semi-gloss finish that will offer a light sheen but is not glossy enough to distract attention away from your floors. You can also match your crown moulding using the same paint, making every room pop to potential home buyers. Of course, if you end up hiring painters to repaint that accent wall of yours, you might as well have them paint your baseboards while they’re there.
9. Focus on Your Floors
Your hardwood floors were once beautiful and one of the initial reasons you bought your home, but after years of traffic, your hardwoods have since dulled to a shadow of their former glory. Likewise, your once plush carpet has also now matted down into obvious paths that lead from room to room. One of the first things potential home buyers look at when entering a new home is the floors, so make yours a statement. If your carpet is approaching that 10-year mark, it is most likely looking pretty worn. Think about recarpeting your house to make it look fresh and ready for new homeowners. Such as you did with your walls, you’ll want to go more neutral in colour to appeal to the majority of home buyers. If your carpet is only a few years old, however, getting it professionally cleaned can go a long way in bringing your carpet back to life.
If you have hardwood floors bring them back to their former glory by refinishing them. Refinishing hardwood floors typically includes sanding down the floors to eliminate the original finish and stain, then restaining with the desired colour followed by a coat or two of sealer. Your floors will look brand new and really stand out during the open house.
10. Gather Your Documents
You might not be aware of this but you’ll want to gather all the documents you have in regard to warranties, manuals, service records, and repairs done to your house. These documents are hugely important for several reasons and certain ones are needed by different parties before you sell your house. Your agent is your best friend during the home selling process. They are also your homes’ first line of marketing and the more information they have about your house, the better they can promote it. They will write out the specific details of your home as well as an enticing description that will highlight key features that home buyers want. So, if you’ve made recent updates like a new deck, new roof, or updated HVAC, or if your home has hot water on demand make sure your agent knows it and you have the paperwork to back it up.
During the home inspection process, home inspectors are going to go over your house with a fine-toothed comb. If your furnace or water heater hasn’t been serviced in years, they’ll let you know. Take a proactive approach by gathering all your service records so you’ll know ahead of time if something needs to be serviced before listing your home.
However, beyond the paperwork your agent and the home inspector would like to see, title companies require very specific documentation in order for you to even sell your home, including:
- Mortgage loan information, which will show any outstanding mortgage balance and pay-off balance (if there is any)
- Final purchase and sale agreement
- Deed
- Title report
- Property tax information, including the most recent tax statement
- Homeowners insurance information
- Lease agreement, if you’re currently renting the property
- Any reports or documentation that relates to the property
- Warranty paperwork, permits, service documentation, instruction manuals, dates of home improvement projects, and age of the roof, furnace, hot water heater, HVAC, and all the other major appliances.
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Pre-Sale Home Inspection
The last thing most people don’t think about before they sell their home is getting a pre-sale home inspection. Though it is not mandatory, a pre-sale home inspection is a proactive approach to understanding your home’s condition at that point in time, and if there are any repairs that need attention, you can address them now versus trying to do it during the home selling process. Home buyers will most likely get a home inspection of their own, right? So, why would you get one as a seller? A home inspection report will most likely turn up a list of repairs that will need to be fixed. Would you prefer to fix these issues now before you list your home, or after you’re in negotiations with a potential buyer? If you wait, you may push back the sale date of your house as repairs are being made. Or, home buyers may ask for concessions on your asking price in order to cover the repairs and the time it takes to make them. Ultimately, getting a pre-sale home inspection will leave you in a better position when it comes time to negotiate with potential buyers. You may feel like spending a lot of time and money on your house is pointless because you’re just going to sell it anyway, right? Just consider that the more you appeal to the majority of home buyers the more bids you’ll likely see and ultimately help you sell your house quicker and for more money.
Which tip was most helpful for you?
Originally published on Redfin
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of physical activity to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you in managing your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Photo by BBH Singapore on Unsplash
Today I have a guest blogger, Haley Kieser of Zog Digital. She always shares an inspiring fresh approach to freshening up your home.
Organizing a master closet is one of those tasks that usually comes last on the list. Master closets are often where extra things get stored to be dealt with later. Instead of putting off this chore, make your closet functional right now by planning out what you’re going to do and then tackling the make-over.
Clean-Up
Take everything out of the closet. You won’t be doing yourself any favours if you tackle this project with all the things still in it, or by doing part of it at a time. You need to get a fresh start.
While everything’s out, do some paring down. You can use the Marie Kondo method, ask yourself these questions, or simply choose to get rid of items that you haven’t worn in a year or more. If none of these get you to the point of decluttering, consult with a professional organizer.
Lighting
Next, make sure there’s a bright light near or inside your closet so you can easily see your clothing. This may mean simply placing a lamp close by, or if you have the room, installing a light inside. If there’s no existing fixture, you can either hire an electrician to run the wiring inside or choose a wireless lighting option. There are many strong, high-quality LED lights that you can add. Choose the center of the closet as placement for a larger light or pick two or three smaller ones to provide plenty of light across the board.
If there’s already a light inside the closet, consider whether it’s bright enough and whether you like the fixture aesthetically. This is the time to choose something decorative that goes with your personal style, like a fun crystal piece.
Paint
A new coat of paint makes a huge difference inside a closet. Not only will it rid the walls of the wear and tear closets always get, it will also make them seem bigger and brighter. First, pick a shade and finish. WOW 1 Day Painting suggests using semi-gloss paint. This is a shiny finish that reflects light better than satin or eggshell, so you can better see your clothes. Choose a light-toned colour. It doesn’t have to be white but go for the lightest colour in your chosen colour family.
Organizational System
Decide whether your current shelving and clothing rod system is meeting your needs. Perhaps you want more shoe storage or don’t have enough space to hang your clothes.
Measure your closet both horizontally and vertically and sketch out a plan. You can do this on paper (graph paper works best) or use a software tool. When planning, keep in mind that generally, you want to have the things you use every day at your eye level. Little-used clothing, like formal dresses or overcoats, can go in a less-reachable space.
Consider whether or not you like to hang up or fold most of your clothes. If you like to fold them, then you’ll want shelves or drawers more than you want closet rods. Allow 40-42 inches of vertical space for hanging clothes.
There are lots of mostly pre-made closet systems available at home improvement stores these days. These come in single or multiple components, so you can mix and match them for your needs. For instance, if you have a lot of purses, you may want to install cubbies. The good thing about these systems is that they’re easy to install with some basic tools and are already painted.
You can also make your own shelving or hire a professional to do it. If you’re making your own shelving, then you’ll want to do this step before the paint, so you can paint everything at once. You’ll also need some higher-level handyman skills and tools like a table saw to do the job well.
Accessorize
Even if you don’t have much room, you can choose some things like fancy closet hooks to give your space some personal flair when you hang up necklaces and robes. A small chair or pouf to sit on is both practical and can reflect what you like.
Now that your closet system is in place, you can put all your clothing and accessories back. A functional closet is a lot more fun to use, and the organization system will make it easy to keep neat.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you in managing your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
You might be using an app to help you plan your meals and make your grocery list or paper and pen. Here are a few tips to help you take that plan and make it happen. The easier it is to get the meal onto the table the less likely it is that you will eat out.
menu planning
1. Plan meals for a month or more and then repeat the plan.
2. Cook double portions so you can use the planned-overs on another day.
3. Have each family member participate in simple meal preparations that are age appropriate.
4. Cook together on weekends and prepare a number of meals for the week.
5. Partially prepare meat – dice it, brown it and then freeze it.
Share your best tip for making meal preparation easy.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She enjoys working with her clients to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She reduces clutter, streamlines processes and manages time to help her clients be more effective in reaching their goals. Julie can coach you to break-free of the physical or emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
April 24th is Earth Day
The 3 R’s
When going green first became a movement it was called the 3 R’s, reduce, reuse and recycle. Thankfully we have become more aware of taking care of our environment.
We now have
- reduce – buy fewer items that have packaging that needs to be recycled,
- reuse – buy items that have more than 1-time use before they are recycled or disposed of
- repurpose – many items can be used in a new way other than what the items were initially intended to do
- regift – some things you get or buy and don’t work out, can be regifted to a friend or donated to a charity auction
- renew – some items especially furniture can be refinished or restuffed and brought back to life instead of going to the landfill
- rethink – your lifestyle so you use less energy and have a smaller carbon footprint
- recycle – lots of things can be recycled but today I want to highlight textile recycling
Repurpose tin cans into lovely hanging planters
Textile Recycling
Textile recycling is a newer idea. The idea of donating clothes, shoes, purses, belts blankets toys etc to thrift stores is well established in most communities. What if those items have holes, are discoloured, very old and out of fashion you can still keep them out of the landfill through textile recycling. Canadians only divert 25% of waste from landfills.
Textile Waste Diversion, Diabetes Canada in conjunction with Value Village are 3 companies that will gladly accept clean, dry, odourless, clothing, shoes, boots, leather belts, purses, outwear, linens, drapery, and soft toys. sleeping bags, yarn, pillows, hats, etc anything made of textiles to recycle.
North Americans only divert about 20% of waste from landfills, textile recycling can help to keep clothing out of the landfill. Share on XThese 3 programs have bins for easy drop-off. Not only do they divert waste from landfills but they also put money back into the economy through their fundraising programs.
This problem is not limited to Canada. In the USA it’s estimated each person wastes 32kg of clothing annually, with only 15% of this ending up in a recycling center. The rest is landfilled or incinerated, causing lasting damage to the environment.
With an increasing growth rate in Britain, they also have low rates of waste diversion. The article The Introduction to All Things Recycling by Monk and Company explains the environmental benefits of recycling, the importance of recycling and the environmental impact of textile waste.
If you would like a recycling document, listing how and where to donate and recycle items, send me an email julie@mindoverclutter.ca and put in the subject line recycling doc and I’ll send it to you.
In the comments, tell us what you do to protect the environment and go green.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Spring is here. As winter slowly leaves so should your winter clothes. As you wear something for the last time this season, a warm sweater, scarf, pants etc.
- decide if you like it,
- does it fit,
- do you get compliments when you wear it?
If the answer is yes then wash it and store it away for next year. Continue with the process until all your warm clothing has been cleaned and put away making space and easy access for your spring wardrobe. Any clothing that doesn’t fit, you don’t like or is too complicated or expensive to launder can be donated. Clothing with stains and holes can be donated to textile recycling
Spring into action and pack away warm clothing after each load of laundry
Make your spring wardrobe accessible, remove your winter clothes
If you need help decluttering your wardrobe book a virtual appointment with me.
Tell us your tips for organizing your clothing
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, in person and virtually. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of physical activity to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you in managing your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Reading time – 3 minutes
Remember to donate items to charity and not to put them in the garbage.
Being organized is not about being perfect.
Anyone can learn to be more organized. It is a set of skills that can be taught. Organization creates efficiency and effectiveness, making your life and surroundings perform optimally for you. When you start organizing remember these tips:
- Accept your limitations on time, space, energy and money
- Be consistent, do a little at a time on an on-going basis
- Acknowledge your successes. Success breeds success motivating you to do more.
- Take it one day at a time
How do I decide where to start?
I tell my clients:
- to start with the space that is bothering them the most.
- sometimes you may need to start in an area of your home that you are going to use for storage. Organizing that space first will give you more places to store items that need to be removed from other rooms.
How do I start?
Get some boxes and bags for :
- garbage
- recycling
- things to go to other rooms – put them in a container and take them after you are done working in the space you are organizing. If you leave the room you might never return
- things to be returned to other people – put them in a container and return them to the correct owner after your organizing time is over.
- don’t buy organizing products – wait until you know what you are storing, where you are storing it, and how much you have to store. Then you can the best container to hold the items.
How do I get the room to look nice?
There are 5 steps to follow:
Step 1 Sort
Sort everything in the room into categories. The categories depend on what is in the room. You might have:
- electronics
- books
- tools
- computer items
- dishes
- food categories
- cosmetics
- paper supplies
Figure out the categories of things you have in your room and sort the things you can see and then work in the drawers and cupboards
Step 2 Part with items
Part with items you no longer need and donate them to charity
Step 3 Assign a home
Find the best place to store the item, close to where you use them and so you access them easily. Things you don’t use very often can be stored further away and in less accessible places.
Step 4 Containers
Now is the time to get the right container to store the items. Anything can be a container:
- boxes
- wine boxes cut in half
- magazine holders
- jars
- tins
- plastic bins
- bags
Step 5 Evaluate
Use your system and then see:
- if you have things stored in the best locations
- is it easy to get it out and put it away
- does everything have a “home”Being organized is not about being perfect. Anyone can learn to be more organized. It is a set of skills that can be taught. Share on X
How do I remember all this?
Easy it spells SPACE
S – sort
P– Part with items
A – Assign a home
C – Containerize
E – Evaluate
If you need some help with your organizing book a 50 minute break through organizing session . Click on the link to book your complimentary appointment, and speak with me to get helpful tips to get you unstuck. Organizing Break Through session
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you in managing your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Most of us keep more than we will ever need. This costs valuable storage space, makes retrieval of the items we actually need more difficult and adds to the stress of daily living. The famous Japanese organizer Marie Kondo tells you to ask if the object sparks joy for you. If it does keep it, if not donate it. Sometimes that question doesn’t solve the dilemma if you should keep something or donate it. The following questions might be more helpful when you ‘re making those decisions.
For Paper:
- Are there any tax or legal reasons for keeping this?
- Can I easily get a copy elsewhere?
- Does someone else have this information?
. - Can I identify a situation in which I would ever refer to this information?
- Is it still relevant to my life?
- What are the implications if I didn’t have this?
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Shred papers that contain personal information.
For belongings:
- Is it out of style, the wrong size or colour or mismatched?
- Does it still work? Do I have all the parts?
- When was the last time I used this item and when would I need to use it in the foreseeable future?
- If it is something I use rarely, could I borrow one from someone else?
- Do I use it often enough to make it worth the cost to store it?
- Do I have more than one? Do I need more than one?
- Has the collection outgrown the space or the container originally allocated to storing it? Has the collector outgrown the collection?
- Is it the best of the best?
Swedish Death Cleaning
A third way to decide what to keep and what to donate is conveyed in the Swedish Death Cleaning method. Ask yourself:
- If you died tomorrow, your loved ones would have to deal with everything you left behind. What would they really want to see left?
- Start thinking about the cost of holding onto things, instead of thinking about the cost of needing it one day and not having it. Share on X
Give yourself permission to let go of things. Don’t let the fear of making a mistake cause you to keep things you don’t need, love or use.
Tell us how you decide what to keep and what to let go
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices,coaching you virtually using Zoom. She enjoys working with her clients to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She reduces clutter, streamlines processes and manages time to help her clients be more effective in reaching their goals. Julie can coach you to break-free of the physical or emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Harold Taylor is a time management expert. He produces a monthly newsletter. Here is one of his articles. I hope you enjoy it.
Harold Taylor of Taylor in Time
Managing E-mail
Do you respond to a lot more email messages than you originate? Are you deleting emails unanswered or unread? Are you spending so much time reacting to email that you don’t have time for creativity, relaxation and renewal? If so, calculate your “Reactive Ratio.”
Reactive Ratio
Count the total number of email messages you receive during the day. Include spam, egroup messages and newsletters whether you still read them or not. Divide the total number of incoming email messages by the number that you send during the day. The resulting ratio should be as low as possible.
You can easily calculate this ratio if you don’t delete or move anything until the end of the day – even those that you have answered. The next morning, quickly count the total number of emails received the previous day as well as those sent the same day.
If the ratio is high, take action by cancelling newsletters that you seldom read, getting off groups you don’t participate in, placing spam filters at higher levels, and getting off mailing lists. Consider using a different email address for purchases to avoid spam. Question whether all incoming messages require a reply. For instance, don’t thank people for thanking you. Consider adding “No reply necessary” to many of your outgoing messages. And investigate apps such as “unroll.me.”
Control Outgoing Email
Your outgoing messages also consume time and generate incoming messages. So question whether a quick phone call is better. Don’t copy people who have no need for the information.Decide whether a quick phone call is more productive than sending an email. Share on X
Reduce the Total Time Spent on Emailing
Even more important than your “Reactive Ratio” is the total time you spend on email each day. Keep messages brief. Use text replacement software for longer & repetitive replies such as instructions or directions. Allocate specific times to check and respond to email. This could be one hour late morning and one hour late afternoon. If you can get by with less time, so much the better. But don’t fragment your day by checking email every few minutes or every hour.
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Share a hack that helps you to control the amount of time you spend on email.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
10 Quick Tips to Get Organized
Remember to donate items to charity and not put them in the garbage.
1. Set aside a specific time and stick to your plan. Schedule blocks of time from 15 minutes to two hours until the project is done.
2. Set the mood to keep your spirits up.
3. Take care of your body by eating well and drinking and drinking lots of water.
4. Start small, one area at a time, “inch by inch things are a cinch”
5. Put items in their proper place, like with like.
6. Stay focused, work in one area at a time and don’t leave the room.
7. Open mail daily.
8. File papers weekly.
9. Put new things away the day you receive them.
10. Purchase things only if you know what you will use it for and where you are going to put it.
Schedule blocks of time from 15 minutes to two hours until your organizing project is done. Share on X
Need some more tips download the booklet Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms ( top right corner)and join my newsletter list.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She enjoys working with her clients to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She reduces clutter, streamlines processes and manages time to help her clients be more effective in reaching their goals. Julie can coach you to break-free of the physical or emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Why don’t I want to do it now?
Is it boring?
- Do it anyway and consider the consequence if you don’t do it.
Overwhelming?
- Break it into smaller parts and do one or several parts at a time
Do I only have small blocks of time available but want to do everything from start to finish?
- Change your mindset and make it a positive idea. Small blocks of time mean you only need to do a small amount of work
Am I tired?
- Be aware of your circadian rhythms. Each of us peaks at different hours of the day. Before and after lunch is usually a good time to catch up on mundane activities
Do I fear failure or that it won’t turn out perfectly?
- Fear of losing things,
- forgetting things
- not finishing things or
- doing the wrong thing can generate a lack of action.
How to be Successful
1. If you are easily distracted keep only one project on your desk at a time.
2. Give yourself a time span to complete a project and don’t let your mind wander from the task. Set a timer. When it goes off you change what you are doing or take a break and come back to the same task.
3. Try setting small goals and giving yourself rewards, a coffee, a walk, 15 minutes on Facebook, calling a friend etc
4. Think of how you will feel when the task is completed, pride, relief, satisfaction
There are more great ideas in a book titled “Don’t Agonize Organize Your Office” by Diane A Hatcher
Join Organizing Mind and Space to help you become intentional about getting things done.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
