Sunday, November 2 marks the end of daylight-saving time. This means fewer daylight hours and less time to play outside. Since you will be spending more time inside during the upcoming months, get your home and office in order now so you can enjoy your indoor surroundings.

The following organizing tips will help make a smooth transition from fall to winter:

Winterize the Yard
Now is the time to get your yard ready for cooler weather. Prune back any perennials and remove any summer annual plants. Dress up your yard with winter-friendly flowers, plant bulbs, aerate and reseed your lawn, and add mulch to your plant beds. Wash and store any flower pots, hanging baskets and other gardening tools you will not be using in the winter months.

Make Garage Functional A study by the University of California at Los Angeles showed that 75 percent of the families polled had so much in their garages that they could not fit one car into the space. Provide shelter for your car this winter by getting your garage in order. Give your garage a thorough cleaning and sweep or vacuum away the cobwebs that have been gathering over the summer months. Stow away your gardening supplies, beach items, camping gear and other things that will not be used much in the winter. Keep sleds, shovels and other cold-weather gear accessible. Plan to host a garage sale to sell garage and home items no longer needed. Use the money to donate to charity or for your holiday gift fund. 

Bring the Fun Indoors Just because it is raining outside, does not mean you should be confined in the house just doing chores. Heed the rainy day and have some fun! There is sometimes nothing better than playing board games, doing puzzles, reading a good book or taking a snooze on a cold and rainy day. Be sure your indoor recreational supplies such as board games, movies and books are organized and easy to access. Organize your books and donate what you no longer want or perhaps books that your children have outgrown to a school or charity. Designate a space to easily store board games, puzzles and movies.  

Plan Your Winter Wardrobe Pack away your warm weather garments and plan what you need for cooler weather. Donate any unwanted clothes to charity or sell them in a garage sale. Make a list of clothing and shoe essentials and sizes needed for you and your family to make shopping simpler, less time consuming and easy on the budget. 

Prepare for the Holidays Look through your wrapping supplies and make a list of what you will need, such as gift tags and bows. This will save you time from running out in the middle of wrapping to purchase needed supplies, and will also save you money from making any impulse purchases of things you don’t really need or already have. If you are planning on using a photographer for a family holiday card photo, get your family photo taken as soon as possible. Start making your holiday card list so that you can anticipate the number of cards and/or pictures you will need before buying them. If you are planning a holiday party, set a date and plan to send the invitations out by early November.

Office Organization A recent survey conducted by

CableOrganizer.com found that a full 93 percent of business professionals rate their work space as “cluttered” to some degree, with 8 percent of respondents divulging their workspace is “always cluttered.” This can hurt productivity and cost a company valuable resources as evidenced by studies that show that companies spend $20 in labor to file a document, $120 in labor to find a misfiled document, and $220 in labor to reproduce a lost document. Not sure where to start with your office? Begin with your desk by removing everything. Group together items, such as a phone, computer monitor and Rolodex, that will remain on top of your desk. Then sort items by logistical zones and store them in their new place. Designate a storage area, such as a closet or a tall cabinet with doors for extra supplies. Tackle those files by deciding what you’ll keep and toss. Then, organize loose papers by subject (e.g. specific work projects, business expenses, healthcare, etc.); create folders for each pile; and file the contents in a file drawer. Keep the hanging file tabs well marked so you can easily find the file and put away future documents.

 

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Copyright © 2008 Kristin White del Rosso   By Kristin White del Rosso – Pea Organizing Services, Inc.^SM Kristin White del Rosso, President of Pea Organizing Services, Inc. is Certified Professional Organizer (CPO®) from the Board of Certification for Professional Organizers. For more information, call 704-344-0210 or visit www.thepea.com.   White del Rosso is a member of the NAPO Golden Circle and a Certified Paper Tiger Authorized Consultant (PTAC™) from the Hemphill Productivity Institute. She has also earned a Certificate of Study in Basic Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) Issues, a Certificate of Study in Chronic Disorganization, and a Certificate of Study in Learning Styles and Modalities from the National Study Group of Chronic Disorganization (NSGCD). In addition to the National Study Group of Chronic Disorganization, Pea Organizing Services is a member of ADD Consults, ADD Resources, and the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO^TM).