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Reading time – 10 mins
It’s back-to-school time! If you entered a university or college this year, you may be living in a student dorm room for the first time. If you plan to do your best this semester, you should ensure you have a productive study space in your dorm room! Now is the time to start thinking about how to organize your dorm room for maximum productivity.
You may be thinking, “How can I establish a pleasant and effective study place that exudes creativity without overwhelming the room?” Finding solutions that work for you and your limited space is critical. What’s keeping you from getting organized? Will there be enough lighting in the room? What can you do to make this room seem more inspiring? These are all critical considerations to ask yourself when setting up a study place. Are you ready to learn how to make a productive study space in your dorm room?
Maximize your available space
You should first figure out how to make the most of the limited space in your dorm room. You must ensure that you are making the most of your limited space since studying in a cramped or cluttered room won’t be productive. You may use several space-saving tactics and ideas in your dorm room to create the illusion of extra free space.
One method to do this is first to declutter. Remove any large items, such as a bookcase, to create room for a study desk. Instead of a large bookcase, build open shelves on the wall. It enables you to make extra room while still having adequate storage for your books and personal effects. However, if you are missing space for some of your necessities, Centennial Moving can help by renting you the needed storage. A storage unit can also be handy when moving into or out of your dorm. At the end of a semester, it may be more cost-effective to store your items than to move them back home.
Everything should serve numerous functions
When you live in a tiny place, you must make the most of everything you own. Everything in your dorm should serve many tasks. Instead of a regular table near the bed, use an ottoman or cabinet with drawers and storage that can hold a bunch of stuff. Don’t simply use a table to set your laptop on; instead, choose a desk that takes up the same amount of room but has more storage.
Dorm rooms are often small, so make sure everything serves its purpose.
Bed lifts are handy for dorm room dwellers if you do not have a bed loft. Bed lifters are placed on the bottom of the memory foam mattress or beneath bed frames to raise it a further six inches. The wonderful thing about this is that you can now utilize the wasted area under the bed as storage. Another benefit of bed risers is that they have AC plugs built directly into them, giving you a greater choice in where you place the bed. There’s no need to worry about a hidden outlet buried under the bed you can’t reach.
Instead of studying in bed, study at your desk
When you have 30+ pages of your textbook to read, your bed appears quite attractive. Unfortunately, many students tend to doze off in bed. Unless you travel to the library or a study group outside your dorm room, try to accomplish all your studying, school work, and reading at your desk. It’s easy to zone out or fall asleep when studying in bed, particularly if you’re reading boring or too technical stuff. Relocating your textbooks or laptop away from your bed will organize your dorm room for maximum productivity. Bringing textbooks or a laptop into bed sends confusing messages to your body, and studies suggest that using technology in bed may harm your sleep quality.
Zoning out is common if you are studying in bed, so move your stuff to desk
Reduce Distractions
Is your neighbour’s music blaring across the hall? Or maybe you hear people talking just outside your door? If so, why not invest in a set of noise-cancelling headphones? Depending on what you find most comfortable, you may choose between over-ear, on-ear, and earbud models. It’s also a good idea to get a model with lengthy battery life so you can remain focused on your studies all day. Furthermore, noise-cancelling headphones are available in various price ranges, so you’re likely to find the right set.
Do you find yourself browsing social media during your study sessions? If this is the case, try designating particular periods of the day for texting or accessing the web. For example, you will get 10 minutes of phone time for every hour spent studying. Furthermore, lock apps may block you from using particular apps on your phone for a set amount of time. If you have trouble maintaining attention, there are many ways of organizing your life. You will be able to focus on your work without being distracted by social media, games, phone calls, or messages.
Try moving your phone out of your line of sight and setting it to Do Not Disturb mode for less distraction.
Introduce personalization
Adding a touch of personalization to your dorm room is also crucial. Your room should be functional and a representation of your personality. This doesn’t mean cluttering your space with unnecessary items but strategically placing a few pieces that make you feel at home. For example, hanging a motivational poster or having a desk photo of your loved ones can provide much-needed encouragement during stressful periods.
Invest in good lighting
One element often overlooked in dorm rooms is proper lighting. While maximizing space and reducing distractions is essential, so is ensuring that you have adequate light. Poor lighting can strain your eyes, especially during extended study sessions. Invest in an adjustable desk lamp with LED lights, which provide bright illumination without consuming too much electricity. If your dorm room doesn’t get enough natural light, consider light therapy lamps or bulbs that mimic daylight, improving concentration and mood.
Prioritize ergonomics
Sitting for long hours can take a toll on your posture and overall health. Make sure your study space is ergonomically friendly. This might mean investing in a chair cushion, ergonomic mouse, or keyboard, or even a standing desk converter. Adjust your chair and monitor so your eyes are at screen level and your feet are flat on the ground.
Use colour psychology
Colour plays a significant role in our mood and productivity. While you might not be able to paint your dorm room walls, you can incorporate colours that enhance concentration and motivation through items like bedding, curtains, or desk accessories. You can also dress in a specific colour. For instance, blue is known to stimulate the mind, yellow can boost creativity, and green is calming and helps improve efficiency.
You must coordinate (with your roommate)
Did you and your roommate bring duplicates of large items? Next time you go home to visit take some of those items back with you so the valuable room space can be organized for maximum productivity. Here are a few examples of space-consuming products that you’ll probably only need one of between the two of you:
- Television (you may not need one, but let’s pretend you bring one anyhow.
- Refrigerator — obviously, a mini-fridge; a full-size community fridge will most likely be accessible for storing large things and frozen meals.
- The microwave oven
- If you believe a gaming console to be essential, just one should suffice.
- Dock for stereo/music player with speakers
Before a conflict arises, communicate as soon as possible to determine what arrangement works best for you. Is one of you comfortable being many feet above the ground on a top bunk bed? Is the other individual at ease sleeping under a bed frame, mattress, and companion weighing several hundred pounds? Now that you have lived together for a while, make changes that help you both to feel comfortable.
How much room will you need to move about in the appropriate living area for yourself and visitors? What about furnishings like toss pillows, futons, and school-supplied desks and dressers? The main point here is to arrange as much as possible with your roommate and have the right mindset so your term is happy, enjoyable and productive.
In conclusion
There’s some truth to the old adage that buddies shouldn’t become roommates. However, there’s no reason you can’t get along with whoever your allocated roommate is. By working together and coordinating your activities, you may save money and organize your dorm room for maximum productivity.
How did you organize a dorm room? Success and horror stories are all welcome in the comments.
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
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Reading time – 5 minutes
It is that time of year when your young adult moves back home or the summer. You might think of them as your kid. They might think of themselves as an adult now that they have been living on their own for a year. Each of you has changed over the year and so has your relationship. Here are some tips on avoiding the conflict that might happen.
Expectations
It is a big change in lifestyle when students move home for the summer, for the students and the parents. Sometimes students think
What are your expectations?
- It will be just like before I left
- I will have the same responsibilities as I did living away from home
- I am on vacation for 4 months
- and so on…
Sometimes parents think
- they have lived on their own so they should have no problem contributing around the home without being asked
- now I have someone to help with all the work
- things have changed and we do things differently now
- and so on…
Each party in this living situation has different expectations so make a contract with each other so it is clear what the expectations are. My daughter presented me with some rules when she moved back home for a few months. She asked me to look at them and see if they were suitable and to add any rules. It made things very easy and simple because there were fewer misunderstandings.
Your contract/ agreement might cover the following ideas.
May I have the car?
Car
- Who pays for gas?
- When can they use it?
- Do they have to ask to use the car or can they just take it?
Food/ Groceries
- Who buys the groceries?
- Who pays for the groceries?
- Do you buy everything on the list?
- Do you buy only the things you need from the list when you go shopping?
Cooking
- Who cooks?
- Who plans the meals?
- Do you cook for everyone or only yourself?
What needs to be cleaned?
Kitchen
- Who cleans up the kitchen?
- What needs to be cleaned, floors counters, stove, sink?
- Who does the dishes?
- Who empties the dishwasher?
Schedule
- Do you record your activities in a specific place, electronic or paper?
- Do you need to tell where you are going and when you will be back?
- Are there any activities you are expected to attend?
Your young adult may feel like you are trying to “keep tabs” on their activities. They have not had curfews and anyone to report to in a year. Explain that you want to know when to expect them back for safety reasons. If they don’t return when they are expected then it is time to start worrying and start looking for them.
Laundry
- Who is responsible for laundry?
- May they use the supplies at home or do they purchase their own supplies?
Cleaning
- Who does the cleaning, is it a shared task?
This checklist of ideas makes it seem like working out an agreement will be a lot of work. The agreement only needs to cover areas that cause conflict, tension or have changed since the student last lived with you.
Our agreement looked like this:
Food
Make a contract/agreement with everyone in the family to reduce stress and misunderstandings
- Buy groceries: give Mom the bill, buy everything on the list
- Weekday meals: First one home cooks, Mom will try to plan the meals for the week
Car
- Mom will pay for gas
Kitchen:
- Clean and wipe counter and island and stove
- No dishes in the sink or on the counter, put them in the dishwasher before going to bed
Schedule:
- Record your evening activities and times when you won’t be home for supper on the calendar
- Politely and conversational let us know where you are going and when you plan on returning. This is for safety reasons, if you don’t return we need to know where and when to start looking for you
2 weeks ago I wrote about Moving a Student Back Home
Tell me what items you put on your contract in the comments below.
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 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
Reading Time – 3 minutes
Moving back for the summer?
It is that time of year when college and university students are moving back home for 4 months. If their things are packed in an organized way it will take some of the work out of moving back to school in September.
1. Buy bins that stack inside each other when they are not in use.
Stacking bins are easy to store. Most of us like to cut costs and use boxes to move students. Since moving is an ongoing process for the next number of years buy some bins. They will stack nicely in a truck/van and in a closet or storage area at home. They will only need to be purchased once whereas boxes are usually recycled and you need to find more every time. Bins are waterproof.
2. Before the student begins packing, make a list of items they need at home.
Make sure the items that are needed at home are packed together in a bin. Label those bins, bedroom. Other items that they need only for school can be left in the bins to be moved back to school in September. Label them basement, closet where ever they will be kept. They may need a bin or two labelled laundry. Some items may need to be washed before they are stored away for the summer, bedding, blankets, winter coats etc. This makes unloading quick and easy. If your student is moving across the country, arrange to have their school stuff stored with a friend or a storage unit. Save the shipping fees. Keep the list they made to move home to use in September. When it is time to go back to school look at the list and repack the items that were used during the summer.When you're packing up at college or university, pack the things you need at home separately in one bin and everything else you'll bring back to school in other bins. Click To Tweet
3. At home, designate an area where the bins will be stored over the summer.
Clean out the designated area before your student arrives home. If everything is kept close together or in a limited number of areas when September arrives, it is easy to know where everything is.
A little planning can make the move quick and easy. Next, I will talk about how to make the living arrangement at home easy and enjoyable.
Don’t forget anything
What have you done to make moving your student back home easier? Share a comment below.
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 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
Reading time: 2 minutes
Success in doing laundry starts with packing the right clothes. When packing for college or university stay away from white clothes, they will turn grey and red clothes that will turn everything pink. Leave them at home. Pick clothes that can survive a washer and dryer. There won’t be much hand washing of clothes.Discuss who is responsible for doing laundry before your student leaves for university. Click To Tweet
1. Practice
If your student has not done laundry at home use the last week or two before they leave to teach them how to use a washer, sort laundry, empty pockets and use a stain remover. If they bring their laundry home from school it is a good time to team them how to do it
2. Money
Find out if the washers and dryers need coins or if money is put on a plastic swipe card. Put some money on the card or send coins to get them started and into the habit of doing laundry. It is a good investment for both parents and students.
3. Laundry ” Basket”
Provide a central collection area for their laundry in their room. It might be on the back of a door or chair, a bin or bag in the closet. It needs to be portable so they can move it easily to the Laundromat which may be on another floor.
Mesh laundry baskets let damp things dry until they are washed
Put a laundry bag on the back of a door.
Backpack laundry bags make it easy to get everything to the laundromat.
A basket can be put in any convenient location and is sitting open easily to throw clothes in.
4. Supplies
Buy liquid laundry detergent because it dissolves quickly and comes in small bottles. It is better to have a supply of small bottles than a large one which is heavy and hard to take to the Laundromat. Buy fabric sheets for the dryer as the student will probably never be there for the rinse cycle.
5. A place to hang damp clothes
Have a place to hang up clothes – a line, door hooks or a free-standing wire rack in their room for things that are damp or that they don’t want to put in the dryer.
Use a rack to dry clothes and save money
Folding wooden or wire racks can be hidden away when they are not in use under the bed or in the closet.
Over the door hooks come in many styles to fit the door and space.
over the door hooks are great for hanging up damp clothes
6. Who does the laundry, parent, student, home or at school?
Decide if you will do their laundry when they come home on weekends. Set the policy early so there are no surprises.
Share your experience about laundry successes and failures.
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
Learning at college or university has a variety of meanings especially this year. Some first-year students will be used to virtually learning and not be used to timetables and in-person classroom learning. More social interaction on-campus or off-campus may seem like a welcome change from their isolation of the last 18 months. It may also be overwhelming. Help organize your student’s move away from home by taking the right amount of stuff and organizing it in a way that suits their personality and new lifestyle.
Organize the right amount of stuff to take.
Panic may be starting to set in. This is the time of year for back to school. Some of you may be moving a student to a school close to home, some may have a long drive to the new school and others may have to fly. Whether you may be able to make multiple trips to your student’s school or if you have one chance to get it right, Anne Wynter’s How to Cut College Clutter shares many tips in this lovely blog post about:
- Clothes
- Documents
- Mini Kits
- Sentimental Items
Make your move a successful, low stress enjoyable event.
How much should I take?
Organize your employment
Once your student is settled at college they may need a job. Finding suitable work may be easier than you think. This article, Ways to make money in college from Aaron Whitman of Careful Cents has many employment opportunities to suit any timetable. Whether your student chooses to work a little or a lot any income helps to reduce the overall debt that they might incur at the end of their education. Plan ahead with your finances. In addition, balancing work and school also teaches time management skills.
There are many things your student needs to learn about moving to college or university. Teach them the skills a little at a time. Don’t overwhelm them. Start with packing, arriving and setting up the space. All teenagers can figure out how to get food. lol.
Now I’d like to hear from you. What tip are you going to use from the post? Or maybe I didn’t mention the thing that is most important in your family when someone moves out. Let me know in the comments.
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
Some people’s workspace is for studying, some people are working from home, some are attending school virtually. My guest blogger this month is the Custom Writing Team.
According to recent studies, it can take up to twenty minutes to get focused again after getting distracted. Finding and organizing the perfect working/studying space may be the best solution for you.
Proper arrangement of stationery, a comfortable chair and desk, and the absence of clutter and distractions may significantly boost your productivity. Even the colour of your walls and accessories impact the learning process too!
To help you organize your workspace, we have prepared nine great tips, outlined in the infographic below. Check it out and make your room comfortable and inspiring!
Infographic by Custom-Writing.Org
Did Custom-Writing miss anything? Comment on what you would add as tip number 10.
If you need help creating, redesigning or organizing your work/study space contact julie@mindoverclutter.ca
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 situation. She uses her love of physical activity to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and 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. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Click here to learn more about working with a Professional Organizer?
Make everything as portable as possible. It may have been a while since your child had to share a bathroom and/or not had a bathroom attached to their bedroom. Here are some tips.
1. Have a basket for transporting all shower items from their room to the bathroom. The basket should have ventilation so it will dry out and not get moldy.
Make it portable
Use a well ventilated container
Shower organizer that hooks on the shower bar
2. In some residences, the students need to supply toilet paper. Extra supplies can be stored under the bed. Send all shower essentials shampoo, conditioner, soap, shaving, etc in a convenient portable size.
Use under the bed storage for extra supplies
3. Include over the door hooks that the student can use to hang their towel while showering so it is convenient and useful in their room to hang the towel to dry.
Make everything as portable as possible so it is quick to pick up and go and easy to put away. Click To Tweet4. Send a bathrobe. They may not use one at home but might find it useful at residence. Pack one that they will wear not one that has been around for a long time.
5. Send 2 bath sheets and 2 or 3 hand towels and 2 washcloths. Don’t send red towels that will turn a load of laundry pink, if they wash their towels.
Need help planning how to organize your dorm room? Book a 30 minute complimentary virtual appointment
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
Reading time – 3 minutes
This is the name of a book that can help people with ADD to get organized. It can also help other people to understand how they can assist someone with ADD to get organized. The person without ADD acts as a coach.
ADD Friendly ways to Organize your Life
The book mentions:
- Stop coaches – help to determine when the task is finished
- Decision Coaches – someone who can help to clarify thoughts and feelings by asking questions
- Priority coaches – talk things over to help make things clearer
There are chapters on:
- different approaches to organizing,
- thing organizing,
- time organizing and
- paper organizing.
Each chapter suggests strategies and processes for a person with ADD to try. Then the chapter continues and explains how a coach, friend or family member can assist. The last part of the chapter explains how a Professional Organizer would work with the client.
Easy to Use
The book is written and formatted so it is easy for a person with ADD to use. The sections are short. There are circles and boxes, headings and bullet points and a review section at the end of each chapter. Judith Kolberg, a Professional Organizer and Kathleen Nadeau, a Psychologist have collaborated to create a book full of strategies that work.
Share with us
What has been a helpful resource for learning about organizing skills?
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 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
If you are interested in starting your own home based business, how to start a home-based…. is a great series of books. They contain information about the field of business, clients and practical materials such as forms. Some of the books in this series are Computer Repair Business, Personal Chef Business, Interior Design Business and Professional Organizing Business.
Great series of books for information on how to start a business
how to start a home-based Professional Organizing Business has sections on:
- helping you to decide if Professional Organizing is for you,
- setting up your office,
- finding and working with clients,
- products and
- forms
For approximately $20.00 you will have enough information to confidently start your business. The book contains a script for the first phone conversation with a new client. This is very helpful, especially with your very first client. It has sections on setting your rate and a number of different ways to charge along with the pros and cons of each way. The book lists a number of ways to market your business.
Chapters on skills to be a competent organizer.
Along with the business side of professional organizing, half the book contains skills and information a person needs to be a competent organizer. It teaches the psychology of clutter, why areas become disorganized, how to declutter a space and products to use to organize a client.
Forms
The section containing forms is very helpful and they are easy to customize to your own business. There are assessment forms, invoices, mileage records, marketing planning sheets etc.
This book is written by Professional Organizer Dawn Noble. It is easy to read and use.
If you want to start a business see if this series contains a book that could help you be successful.
If you want to talk about becoming a Professional Organizer contact me, I would love to chat with you.
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 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
