April 1st    April Fool’s Day--Make sure you enjoy a laugh or two today.

April 2nd     Do you have an automatic garage door? Children and pets are often prone to garage door accidents. Check when your door is due for its next maintenance service and whether photoelectric safety devices are functioning correctly.

April 3rd    Pack away decoration that clutters by using the rotation system. If you have lots of things you really love, but your problem is finding space to display everything, know that you don't have to display everything you have at once. Keep a Rotation Box or two in the basement, attic or a closet. Display some things now, and store others in the boxes. When the season or the mood changes, rotate some items out of the box and put those currently on display back into the boxes. You'll be able to enjoy everything you have, without that cluttered feeling.* Maria Garcia Read more about Keeping Clutter at Bay here 8 Simple Rules for Keeping Clutter at Bay

April 4th    The secret to stress-free decluttering is to take a couple deep breaths before you begin. Often when we anticipate an activity that fills us with dread we halt our breathing. Set a time limit to 20 minutes or to just clear one table surface in your home. Sort, Purge the junk, Put away what belongs elsewhere and finally clean that table with a soft cloth. Place a vase or beautifying ornament to prevent the table becoming a future clutter-trap.

April 5th    Lets clear up the bookcases. Do you use your book cases to store coffee mugs unread mail? A 3 tiered mail sorter or Storage Cube might be a great addition to keep you book case looking organized.

April 6th     Tax Season is drawing to a close. Do you store all the correct records? The general rule is 7 years - here is a good article that will give you all the finer details. Records Retention Article

April 7th    I love connecting with other women who share similar interests to me, Pinterest.com is a great site to just look at what other women are creating, doing and inspiring in others. Follow LifeOrganizers.com on pinterest or take a look at Etsy.com to see what women are crafting.

April 8th    What's Easter without a delicious roasted lamb here is a simple recipe to follow. For you vegetarians out there I can't think of anything nicer than a basket of chocolate eggs to sweeten the day.

April 9th    Here is a powerful tool that has been shown to increase the likelihood of your achieving goals. List ten goals that you would like to achieve within the next twelve months. They must be realist and concrete. So do not list 'healthy' rather list I will eat a salad for at least one meal a week and I will track it on a twelve month calendar. Repeat writing these goals every morning for the next week.

April 10th    The first step to clearing away clutter is to be able to recognize it here is the general rule that I find helpful "As a rule, if you don't use it or enjoy it, it's nothing more than clutter. If you don’t know what it is, it’s clutter. If it’s too nice to use, it’s clutter." Read more here:How to Recognize Clutter

April 11th    Email Clutter: Today reward yourself clean out your inbox or build filters to sort your email into folders to read later. Give yourself a time limit and set a reward. I suggest an equal amount of time to peruse Pinterest or your favorite comic site, mine is: http://xkcd.com

April 12th    Do ever wonder how long you should keep your financial documents? LifeOrganizers.com is hosting a Records Retention Webinar on the 19th of April for accounting professionals. Click here to read more details on the Records Retention Webinar .

April 13th    Spring Clean Your Life: Clean out the anger, hatred, jealousy, and self doubt. If you need to apologize, bite the bullet and do it.  If you’re still angry and waiting on an apology from someone who won’t or can’t give you one, decide to let it go.  It’s not contributing to your life -- in fact it’s contaminating it -- so it needs to go to the junk heap at the curb.  Only then can you put something POSITIVE in its place.  Make some room for happiness. *Life Coach Kathy Gates

April 14th    Coupon sites I love: Kouponkaren.com and Nicolesnickels.com. I met these lovely ladies and they really do put a lot of care into the coupons they post and businesses they recommend.

April 15th    If you don't like it, don't wear it. Wearing clothes we don't like can place a damper on the whole day because we constantly aware of them. Too often we stuff our feet into shoes that are too tight or clothes that are unflattering because they just happen to be the only clean items that are ironed, usually because they are the last things we'd choose to wear.  If you are too attached to these clothes for sentimental reasons, to donate them, simply vacuum seal them and put them away to make them harder to get to.

April 16th    The Ten Minute Streak. SparkPeople.com has a genius approach to exercise, begin with only ten minutes a day. Ten minutes of exercise is equivalent to doing a couple of lunges and skipping a jump rope for few minutes to two Lady Gaga songs or you can walk to the grocery store instead of driving. You define what the ten minutes of exercise will be. The reward comes when you can start showing of your unbroken streak. Remember it's the little successes that will add up to the big ones in the end.

April 17th    Stop rummaging for microwave safe containers by storing them in a cabinet close to the microwave. You can arrange them by size and even stack them inside one another to save space. Throw away or repurpose plastic containers that are no longer usable as planting pots.

April 18th    The Power of While. Have you thought about the things you can accomplish while you are doing something else like, vacuuming, walking or watching TV? I adore reading and with my busy schedule I don't get as much time to dedicate to this beloved activity, but now with audio books and apps like bookmark I can listen to my books and save my place for the next 'while opportunity'

April 19th    Bulk Buying: Many moms aren’t fond of buying in bulk because it’s just another stop, and if you’ve been to a warehouse-style store before, you surely know it’s no picnic. True, you can rack up some serious savings shopping at these stores (especially on meats), but if you want to save cash without using gas, try buying bulk packages of common items like paper products and cereal. Many grocery stores are starting to stock a lot more bulk-packaged items on their shelves, so you can reap the benefits of bulk shopping without an additional trip. Next time you are at the grocery chain in your area, take a closer look – you may be surprised by the deals you’ll find.

April 20th    Today is Husband Appreciation Day: Here are a few gift ideas 1. Bake his favorite cookies, 2. Download his favorite books to his ereader, 3. Clean up his desk cable clutter, or 4. Get a winder for his iPod earphones.

 

 

LifeOrganizers.com GiveAway This month ten lucky readers will each win one of these Cord Core Organizers - Like Us and leave a comment on our Facebook page to stand a chance to win! Click here to Enter   http://www.facebook.com/LifeOrganizersCircle *** Winners will be announced on our Facebook page May 1st, 2012. Why do I need to fill out a form? FaceBook.com doesn't allow us to contact our fans directly, and we would like to know where we can your fabulous gift should you win. Don't worry we won't abuse or share your contact information.

 

April 21st    Healthy Snacks can often be the key to maintaining a healthy diet: a serving of berries, fruit, veggies, kale chips and a handful of nuts are all great options.

 

April 22nd    Save time by 'Getting dressed the night before'. Designate one area of your closet to hold 'tomorrows outfit'.  You won’t wonder what to wear or where your matching shoes are again.

April 23rd    Book Bag Clean-up Day: "A messy book bag is the culprit behind many problems, but especially missing assignments. I cannot tell you how many times I have completely exasperated parents complain that they saw -or even helped- their child do an assignment, only to learn that the assignment was never turned in. Every single time I hear this complaint, I peek into the child's book bag and wouldn't you know... it looks like a dumpster. Their problem is that they cannot find their completed assignments in the depths of their book bag."* Susan Kruger read more on how to clean up a book bag here: http://lifeorganizers.com/Family-Relationships/Schoolagers-and-Teenagers/Help-Your-Child-Get-Organized-For-School.html

April 24th    Pantry Cupboard Organizing Tip: Line up boxes and cartons with their 'spines' facing front so that they are easy to recognize like library books.  

April 25th    SparkPeople.com is a great place to get a fitness buddy, but if a personal trainer would better suit your needs here is a great article on how to choose a fitness trainer. 

April 26th    Clear Up Paper Clutter: Things that can likely toss: rough drafts of completed projects, junk mail, excess stationary, stuff blocking the door and propped against the trash can that was too big to fit inside.

April 27th    Today let's clean out the toy box. Toys lying at the bottom of the toy box can often go unused for long periods rendering them out of date, moldy or no longer wanted.  Let's get a couple boxes and separate the toys so that we have a toy rotation. Clean toys that are moldy and donate the ones that the kids have outgrown.

April 28th    "So Which Is Better? Paper or Plastic? The Best Choice is Reusable Bags.
On the plus side, both materials can be recycled, and both materials have multiple uses beyond the initial holding of the groceries. The manufacture of both paper and plastic bags burns through natural resources, and both cause damage to the environment during production. While paper is more recycle-able than plastic, it also results in the destruction of more resources through the process of paper production. I think if you are going to use paper OR plastic bags at the super market, I would say to make sure you maximize the uses you get out of either, and more importantly, be sure to recycle." *Matty Byloos read more about this topic here: Paper or Plastic - The Debate Over Grocery Store Bags 

April 29th    ORGANIZING BOXES OF PHOTOS. If you have boxes of photos that span from the beginning of the 1900’s to now, it’s time to start getting them organized. Schedule a day and time to begin sorting through them and stick with your appointment when the day rolls around. Get your kids, or friends, to help out. Begin by making piles, categorized by event or year. If you don’t know the exact year, at least sort them by decade. This may take a little while, but once everything is separated, scrapbooking your photos will be much easier and more pleasant. Once they’re all sorted, store your photographs as mentioned above.* Maria Gracia. Read more about organizing your crafts and hobbies here: How to Best Organize Your Crafts

April 30th    It won’t be too long before summer comes along, choosing a summer camp now can relieve the pressure and could also mean early booking discounts.  Here is an article to help you choose the right summer camp for your tots.