Latest Blog Posts
Looking for a Gift of Time to give this Holiday Season?
MindoverClutter.ca has 3 hour packages designed to help with any number of tasks in the home and office. Considering purchasing an:
Gift a gift of time to someone who is busy
- Income Tax Receipt Organizing Package
- Holiday Cleanup Package
- Streamlining Your Office Package.
- Organizing for the New Year
Packages can be designed to fit the individual needs of the person receiving the gift. Purchase your introductory gift package in 2024 for $160.00. Contact julie@mindoverclutter.ca to purchase your clutter free gift of time.
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 – Join my Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Reading time – 5 minutes
Photo Credit: Bruce Mars on Pexels
My guest blogger is Haley Kieser of Zog Digital. She always shares an inspiring fresh approach to solving problems in your home.
Our homes are supposed to be the place we go and feel relaxed and inspired. Unfortunately, there are times when it feels very cluttered and closed in. After so much time, we can end up feeling sick of it. It’s time to get you to fall in love with your house again! You deserve an inspirational sanctuary that takes your stress away. Here are 5 ways to get there.
Decluttering
One of the biggest reasons why we feel that we’re getting sick and tired of our place is because we get buried in the clutter. Our home can be a representation of our minds. Therefore, we must professionally take care of both! We can start with professional organizing. The first step is assessing your clutter and really considering what you can let go of. This can be trash or receipts that are unnecessary. Once you identify the trash and trouble spots, you can move on to creating a functional environment that will work for you. Take note of how you feel once you take care of the decluttering. It’s like a brand-new home to obsess with, followed by a brand new you!
[Need help? Let us lend a hand. Read more about our organizing services.]
Painting
Photo Credit: Rawpixel on Pexels
After you’ve decluttered your home, you might be inspired to take things further. What better thing to pursue next than repainting your interior? Assess what colours give you the feeling that you desire and find the complementary interior colours as well. If you’re having a hard time trying to find the right colours on your walls, use your smartphone to visualize what different colours can do for your home. It might not be perfect, but you can get a sense of what it may look like after it’s painted.
Refurnish
Sometimes the furniture can be old and can drag you down. This can be a sign that it’s time to reassess some of your furniture. A new couch or table can reignite the passion for your home and have you looking forward to inviting guests or going home every day! Maybe try sprucing up your media center while you are at it. After all, the living room is where most households spend the majority of their time.
Kitchen
Photo Credit: Sarah Jane on Pexels
One way to get back into the groove of your home is by making it a place where you are excited to invite company. This can begin with the kitchen! The kitchen tends to be a place where most guests start their evening in your home. Whether it’s eating or sharing a glass of wine, you want conversations to be able to flow here. Creating an open environment with an island where you can sit with guests is where most would start. You can even start by changing up the cabinets entirely. The cabinets breathe a lot of life into a home.Small changes in your home, decluttering, painting or updating furniture can give you and your home a new vibrant feeling. Share on X
Smart home
The times are flying by – maybe it’s time to try to keep up! Getting a smart home is easier than you think and can be less expensive than renovation. Just start by picking up a smart assistant and placing it in your home. You can then ask the assistant questions and get instant answers. If you find yourself liking it, you can then dive deeper by getting smart lights, smart thermostats, and smart TVs. All of which will be commanded by your voice! Imagine turning on your television to your favourite Netflix show without having to grab the remote across the room. Pretty awesome, right?
There is a whole assortment of ways to tackle the stale image one has of their home. The most important thing is just trying. In no time the love for your home will be reignited!
Virtual Reality Apps
If you’re wondering what the changes will look like there are apps available so you no longer need to use your imagination. Technology is at your fingertips and is ready to assist. Augmented reality allows you to overlay computer-generated graphics (such as that sofa you’ve been eyeing) onto real-life viewpoints.
Here are 6 virtual ways to turn your decore dreams into reality. Rachel Cook of mymove says “These mobile apps will help you virtually outline your vision before you hit the ground aimlessly running-and most of them are free. Download away, then dare to dream. ”
Share one way you make a change in your home to it feels fresh and new again.
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 from 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
Clean your windows without leaving the ground
Need to wash your windows but you don’t want to spend the time doing it because the next rain will wash away the time you spent shining those windows. Try using a window cleaning product that attaches to your garden hose. First, you rinse the window with water then switch the setting to soap continuing to spray the window and then switch it back to rinse. You can clean your windows without your feet leaving the ground. One such product is Windex Outdoor Spray.
For cleaning the inside or outside of your windows try using Norwex cloths. You use water and the cloth, no chemicals. They do a fantastic streak free job. Norwex has many chemical free cleaning solutions. I have been using them since 1995.
Share the method you use for cleaning your windows.
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
Let go of the anxiety over missing information
Are you a digital hoarder?
Some people feel very anxious about missing some important news or information. They will save all kinds of articles, websites, reviews, newspapers etc. With digitizing information becoming so quick and easy now, many people are putting everything into their laptops, Dropbox, and cloud storage. Before you continue to save everything sort through it and keep what you need and love so you will be able to find it again on your device. If you have 11000 photos will you be able to share the one you want to find without becoming overwhelmed and frustrated? If you keep everything you will not be able to locate the information you want. Once again you will feel anxious. It started well worrying about missing out on information and it ends up with so much information it is useless. The anxiety is still there.
Read it and delete it
It is ok to forget things, in the past, you only remembered a few things that were important to you. Most things were forgotten.
File it so you can find it.
Make folders, files or date tabs so you can find things that you store. Delete duplicate and out of focus photos and file the best photos with a name on the picture. Use meaningful file names to help you set limits on the types of material you will store. Avoid file names like, to read, someday, when I have time, next month.
When it becomes obsolete delete it.
Your interests change, jobs change, where you live changes and the information you have collected is no longer relevant or of interest to you. You can search your files to find that type of information but that may take too much time, when you come across files that no longer interest you, delete them. It is ok. You are changing and growing and you are moving away from past interests. There are a lot more interesting things in your current life, you can let go of the 10 year old information holding you in the past and taking up your time. Look to the present and keep moving forward.
Avoid the temptation to save
Melinda Beck writes in the Wall Street Journal, “Nobody knows how many Americans have digital-hoarding issues … but the proliferation of devices, the explosion of information and the abundance of cheap storage have made it all too tempting for some people to amass emails, text messages, Word documents, Web pages, digital photos, computer games, music files, movies, home videos and entire TV seasons than they can ever use or keep track of.”
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
Do you feel like you have too many tabs open in your brain?
Image by Jason-Salmon
Psychologists have described flow as an ecstatic feeling, being totally engaged with an activity you enjoy. Good productivity habits minimize interruptions in flow.
The average American uses up to 3 mobile devices daily. The untethering of people to these devices has made productivity shoot up. Multitasking slows down your productivity because moving from unfinished task to unfinished task means every time, you need to look back to see where you left off and where to start and all those seconds add up to minutes decreasing your productivity by up to 40%.
Only about 2% of people can successfully multi-task Share on XSlow down to be more productive
People also need time to think and reflect on their work so they can be more intentional and less reactive.
Sometimes, task switching is unavoidable – an important phone call at work or children hurting themselves at home. Whenever it’s possible, try to limit distractions and block out time to work on a specific task, and only that task.
Multi-tasking is seen as a badge of honour but really, it slows down everything and creates open loops in the day. Reteaching yourselves and your children how to focus on one thing at a time is going to be the single most critical skill for the next few decades. When focus remains on a single task, it can be completed, producing a sense of accomplishment and confidence.
Physical vs mental multi-tasking
Brain research indicates that you can have several motor programs running at the same time. (Your Creative Brain ) So you can steer your car, talk to passengers and adjust your rearview mirror simultaneously. Unfortunately, you can only focus your conscious mental attention on one of these things at a time. You can multitask physically, but not mentally. We think sequentially so we should work sequentially.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situation. 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 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
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Don’t ditch your desk calendar: The benefits of handwriting events and tasks
My guest blogger this week is Jessica Pyykkonen.
Even with hundreds of available apps to help organize your life, a paper desk calendar may be just what you need to stay on top of your work schedule. Despite dire predictions, desk calendars are thriving in the digital age. Furthermore, desk calendars may even be gaining some ground. Between 2014 and 2016, the sales of calendars jumped 8 percent and the sales of planners grew 10 percent.
Why are people sticking with or rediscovering paper? As organizational guru David Allen says, “There’s still no tool better than a paper planner.” Scheduling with pen and paper even offers some advantages over digital calendars. Keep reading to learn about the benefits of analog scheduling and discover tips to improve your desk calendar.
The brain-hand connection
Typing and handwriting may seem similar, but our brains handle the two activities differently. Because handwriting requires you to make sequential strokes to form each letter, it activates large regions of the brain involved in thinking, language, and working memory. The same is not true for typing a letter on a keyboard.
In one study, pre-literate children were split into groups and taught how to draw letters by hand, trace letters, or type letters on a keyboard. Later they looked at the same letters while their brains were scanned in a functional MRI machine. Networks of the brain known to support successful reading activated in the students who’d written the letters, but not in the students who’d typed or traced.
The benefits of handwriting are also evident later in life. Older students comprehend lectures better when taking notes by hand rather than on a laptop. Moreover, adults are better able to learn a new alphabet when they practice letters by hand rather than on a computer.
What does this research on the brain-hand connection mean for your work calendar? You may remember your appointments better if you write them down on paper rather than typing them.
You could even think of jotting down tasks and appointments as exercise for your brain. “One of the advantages of moving away from the keyboard and doing something that requires greater flexibility in how we use our hands is that it also requires greater flexibility in how we use our brains,” writes Nancy Darling, a psychology professor at Oberlin College.
A desk calendar also provides a place to doodle. Scribbling idly may seem like a waste of time, but it’s a powerful way to improve concentration during boring tasks. In one study, people who were randomly assigned to doodle during an intentionally dull phone call remembered 29 percent more of the information transmitted on the call afterward. Doodling also quickly calms the mind, and most people find it enjoyable.
Dash digital fatigue
Of course, using a paper planner or calendar offers a way to step away from screens during your busy work day. If you feel like you spend too much time on mobile devices and are drowning in notifications and alerts, you’re not alone.
Devices are designed to be addictive. Our brains secrete the feel-good chemical dopamine when we hear a notification, and we experience real symptoms of anxiety if we can’t respond. American adults spend nearly 11 hours per day staring at screens, and iPhone users unlock their phones up to 80 times a day.
You may be suffering from spending too much time on technology without realizing it. The more time teens spend online, the more likely they are to say they’re unhappy. Adults randomly assigned to give up Facebook for a week ended up happier, less lonely, and less depressed at the end of the week than those who used Facebook.
Former tech employees are even raising an alarm about the negative impacts of the technology they helped create. A group of them started an organization called Center for Humane Technology; they feel too much technology erodes mental health and social relationships. Stepping away from your laptop and phone to schedule on paper is one way to decrease your time on digital devices at work.
Plan and personalize
Using a desk calendar may help with big-picture planning and organization because it’s easy to see all your appointments at a glance. Many people prefer the tangible feeling of paper. For instance, 92 percent of college students prefer to read print books versus reading on a digital device.
Furthermore, whether you love minimalist, elegant, or cute desk calendars, your calendar becomes as unique as you are once you put pen to paper. Personalize it exactly how you want and don’t be afraid to transform it into an efficient, artistic extension of your brain. Once you have your calendar, stock up on different highlighters, sticky notes, and colorful pens.
Long live the desk calendar
Digital devices aren’t going anywhere. Chances are you use some sort of online calendar, and you may want to continue doing so. But don’t ditch your desk calendar just yet. Many people use both a paper planning system and an online calendar because each offers different benefits. Writing down appointments helps you remember them better, gives you an opportunity to step away from screens, lends itself to big-picture planning and organizing, and offers a myriad of personalization options. Moreover, putting pen to paper may help you stay calmer and more focused.
Check-out this article for more information about the benefits of handwriting, Is handwriting dead? Hardly. We need it more than ever.
Do you agree with this article? Paper or electronic what works best for you?
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, virtually. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situation. She uses her love of physical activity to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you to manage 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
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Here is a great article about living with the overwhelming need for stuff. If you have a hoarding disorder or live with someone who has a hoarding disorder this information may help you to better understand the situation.
Hoarding living with the overwhelm of stuff.
Looking for some more information on hoarding disorder? Go to the Institute of Challenging Disorganization website. Share your stories with us.
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 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
My guest blogger is Haley Kieser from Zog Digital helping us to reduce our clutter in environmentally friendly ways.
The moment you realize you’ve accumulated way too much clutter and then need to take action, is common. It happens.
It might be the cheap coffee table you bought (it was too good of a deal to pass up) or the endless number of T-shirts you’ll never wear. Or maybe you’re moving and need to get rid of old kitchen appliances and mattresses. No matter what your clutter consists of, it’s important to know how to get rid of it.Let's keep our clutter out of the landfill and recycle it in environmentally friendly ways. Share on X
Why? Let’s look at Hamilton but it could be anywhere.
To keep Hamilton beautiful, of course! If you live near or close to Hamilton, these are the best alternative ways to get rid of your waste. (Other than the local trash collection.)
Let’s get started.
1. Donating your clutter in Hamilton
Donate clothing in good repair to thrift stores and older items can go to textile recycling. Let’s keep it out of the landfill
Is there any better feeling than giving back to the community?
Anytime you purge your closet, or your kids outgrow their clothing, bag up what needs to go and bring it to a thrift store.
But don’t stop at clothing!
Thrift stores collect all sorts of personal items. Such as books, toys, dishes, jewelry, and much more.
Some organizations like Habitat for Humanity will even collect construction and building materials.
Remember, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. If you’re unsure about what you can donate, give them a call.
Another great way to donate is the old-school hand-me-down method. Shoot a message to family and friends to see if they could use your old coffee table or winter coat.
2. Host a garage sale or sell online
If you enjoy meeting people and bartering then a garage sale is for you.
If your clutter still holds value, why not cash in on it? Host a garage sale or sell your items online.
One of the best times to have a garage sale is in the summer. Before you begin setting up, always check the weather.
Tip: Set a fair price for your goods. Don’t let the thought of making money distract you from your main goal – getting rid of your clutter.
Get cash before the event in case the buyer needs change. Additionally, if you have time, promote your garage sale on social media up until the event.
If you have leftover inventory list everything on Craigslist. If time doesn’t permit, donate the rest.
Hosting a garage sale is a great way to make some cash and can even be fun. Get the family involved, play some tunes, and hang out with each other for the day!
3. Hire someone to do it for you
For items that aren’t as easy to donate or even throw out, like an old over or cabinetry, hiring a service to pick it up may be the best route.
A full-service junk removal company will come to your home or business and do all the work for you. All you have to do is tell them what to get rid of.
Before choosing a company, make sure they have an environmental program in place, where they donate or recycle as much as possible.
If you’re constrained by time or have too much clutter to deal with, this will let you rest easy knowing you disposed of your clutter responsibly.
Note: You will have to pay for a service like this. Yet, they’re not very expensive. Especially if you have a handful of heavy items, it’s worth the money.
Decluttering your home or business can be a huge task and should be applauded. The next step is to take care of that clutter responsibly.
Use the motivation to become organized to keep Hamilton beautiful!
Need help to identify what’s clutter and what isn’t? Let us help you.
Before you go, here are some additional resources:
Use these links as inspiration to find out if your community has similar resources.
Share your best tip for reducing and recycling your clutter in the comment box.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching youcvirtually 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
Reading time 1 minute
I enjoy travelling and have travelled to Europe, the East, Australia, Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.
I am going to give 2 tips for travelling with an organized purse. (It works for backpacks and briefcases too)
- Buy a purse that has a light lining. When the inside of the purse is dark it is very hard to find anything, organized or not. A lot of items are black or dark in colour, make-up, pens, phones, keys, wallets etc.
- Try purchasing a gadget called Grid It. It comes in many sizes but the small one fits lovely inside a purse and keeps all the small items that you need for flying and travelling neat and tidy. It is wonderful for holding a pen, earbuds, adapters, candy, phone, and keys. You pull it out of your purse everything is contained on the Grid it and you pull out the items you need and put it back in your purse. No digging around in the corners to find the thing you want.
How do you keep all your small items easy to find and use? Share your tips in the comments.
Use it to organize your electronic devices when you are travelling
Great for organizing items in your purse when you are travelling
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
Reading time 10 minutes
How to Store Pharmaceuticals
My guest blogger is Laura Schwecherl who is writing for Health Perch a digital magazine from the USA. Many of the tips in this article apply no matter where you live. BY
Cholesterol-lowering pills and allergy eye drops may reside on the bed stand. The medicine cabinet probably holds a cluster of medications (antacids, asthma inhalers, antibiotics) and a few stray ibuprofen may even float around the bottom of your handbag. More than one-third of American adults regularly use over-the-counter medications and 65 percent of all adults in the U.S. (roughly 131 million people) use prescription drugs. Not all of us know how to store and dispose of medications safely.
We’ve got your medicine cabinet covered with a comprehensive guide on storing and disposing of prescription and over the counter drugs. Read on to learn how to stay out of harm’s way.
The Best Way to Store Your Meds
Up to 50 percent of chronic disease patients (for instance people with arthritis, asthma, cancer, COPD, and diabetes) fail to follow directions and take their medicine as prescribed. A simple misstep can lead to higher health risks and medical bills.
One way to avoid this problem is to stay organized. While some households store meds in a number of locations, it’s easier to keep track when they’re all in one place. Try to make medicine taking a part of your daily routine (whether it’s right after breakfast, before dinner, or before bed—whatever your doctor suggests based on the requirements of each medication) and stick to a schedule. Pill organizers are another great way to prevent confusion if you or a family member takes multiple pills a day. It’s also a great idea to take an inventory of your prescriptions at least once every six months.
When choosing a place to keep prescriptions, seek a spot that stays cool and dry, such as a kitchen drawer away from appliances (heat and moisture can damage pills). For this reason, a medicine cabinet in the bathroom may not live up to its name, unless the bathroom is well ventilated with fans or windows.
Travel poses its own obstacles. If you’re travelling in the car, don’t keep medicine in the glove compartment, which can get very hot. If you’re flying, pack prescriptions in a carry-on bag in case your luggage is lost or temporarily delayed. Pack medicine in the original bottle and take a copy of your prescription to avoid any trouble with security.
The Best Way to Dispose of Meds
This isn’t a simple toss in the trash situation. Discarding pills is a matter of safety: Many medicines are unsafe if taken by the wrong person. Medications that have passed the expiration date can also be dangerous.
The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) provides specific guidelines to dispose of prescriptions safely.
Take old, unused, or expired prescriptions out of the bottle. Place them all together without the original packaging and take them to your nearest pharmacy. This helps prevent others from getting into pills. (Every year, more than 60,000 kids go to the emergency room because they took medicine that wasn’t theirs.)
Experts have mixed feelings about flushing prescriptions down the toilet. Some question it due to trace amounts of drug residues found in surface water. Groups including the FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have closely monitored this issue.
The simple rule of thumb? Only flush medications if the label or your doctor says it’s safe. (Here’s a list of meds that can take a trip down the toilet.)
To ensure safety on all fronts, head to a designated drop off site. There are also many community take-back programs for old medicines. Head to the DEA website to see what’s available near you.
Check with your local pharmacy. If you are a customer, they will take your expired medication and get rid of it for you.
Safety First!
Popping pills isn’t a one-and-done endeavor. There are some easy guidelines to make sure you take prescriptions the intended way. Additionally, you can pledge to store medications safely and learn more about pharmaceutical safety at Up and Away.
So without further adieu, here are 14 tips to make sure you store and take medications safely.
Always ask. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist. They’re the experts when it comes to the proper way to take, store, and get rid of them.
Check the expiration date. Always check the expiration date on the bottle. Expired medicines may not only be ineffective, they could be harmful too.
Look for warning signs. Check for pills that look discoloured or dried out. If anything looks funky, take a picture and call your doctor to make sure it’s still safe to consume.
Never reuse and recycle. Still, have that prescription cough medicine that expired in 2012? Always discard leftover medicine even if you think you may use it again. It’s always best to have a doctor prescribe new medicine despite any similar symptoms.
Keep it in the same container. The bottle’s tint helps protect pills from light and lists important information including the name of the prescription when to take it, and your pharmacy’s number for when it’s time for a refill.
Don’t mix meds. Many pills look similar, and it’s easier than one might think to accidentally pop the wrong one.
Remove the cotton. Some pill bottles come with cotton inside to help protect pills that are shipped from online pharmacies. Remove the cotton as soon as you open the bottle. The cotton attracts moisture, which could decrease the medication’s strength.
Separate from your spouse. Keep your medicines separate from your spouse or other family members to lower the chances of mixing.
Open in a safety zone. Open meds on a countertop so you can rest the bottle on a flat surface. There’s always a chance of a pill slipping out of the bottle, and you don’t want to lose it on the floor or down a drain.
Keep the lights on. Don’t take pills in the dark or in bad lighting. Good light helps ensure you take the right pill and the correct dose.
Lock ‘em out. It’s crucial to lock your prescriptions in a drawer if you have small kids.
Close it tight. Use that arm strength to close the lid tight. This also helps childproof the bottles.
Be prepared in case of an emergency. Call your poison control center immediately if you think a child may have taken one of your prescriptions. Save the number on your phone so you can dial it right away.
Conclusion
By now, you should be an expert on pill safety—from storage and use to proper disposal. Stick to these guidelines (and some common sense) and you’ll be on the fast track to health.
Share how you organize your medications in the comments. My 91 year old dad made an Excel spreadsheet to track the timing of his eye drops after he had cataract surgery.
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
