Container Store: Sale, sale, sale!

Well, you can tell the economy is tough when retailers roll out the big sales. Continuing their marketing with Oprah Winfrey's "Clean Up Your Messy House Tour," TCS is now offering 25% off the entire store for nearly a month - through April 13th. To take advantage, visit their website and download a printable coupon to use in store. Or, use the promo code at check-out and try their Click & Pick Up Service.

And, their Elfa line of closet and storage systems is on sale at 30% off through May 10th. This is a great opportunity to invest in some tools to make your space work better. But buyer beware: shopping here is addictive, and too many containers can become clutter, too!

Great Products: Miche Handbags

I'm a sucker for product commercials on TV. In fact, I'm pretty sure Billy Mays could sell me anything. So a few weeks ago, when I saw the spot for Miche handbags, my inner voice said "Don't do it! You don't NEED a new handbag. They're probably not great quality..." You get the idea. But before I knew it, my Amex card was out and I was completing my online order.

It took a few weeks for the shipment to arrive, and during the "cooling down" period, I'd pretty much prepared myself for disappointment. But I can honestly say, I'm thrilled.

What won me over the most about the Miche bag is that it's a very streamlined way to have many different handbag styles without needing all of the storage. The concept is this: you buy one bag and it comes with various "shells" in cute designs, that attach to your bag with credit card-safe magnets. No more swapping out the contents of your purse or stuffing out of season bags on the top shelf of your closet. My Miche also came with a hanging organizer, in which I can store the folded/flat shells. Now I can swap out the shell and have a new look, and the bag comes with two strap lengths for added flexibility.

I expected not-so-great quality, but the bag itself is cute and the shells attach easily and look great. There are a few good compartments inside the handbag itself, too. Two thumbs up!

Reader Question: Office Paper Overload

I got a great question from a good friend who is a young adult author on the Functional Places Facebook page, and decided to post the answer here as part of this blog.

How do I keep my office from becoming awash in paper? I have folders for bills to be paid, and an accordian file for receipts, but somehow my desk ends up *covered* in junk mail, slips of paper, business cards, magazines, and other crap. Help!

Hi Erin, thanks for the great question! Paper management is the biggest challenge my clients face everyday. It takes a lot of work to get it under control, but here are some ideas to get you started.

1) Cut down on how much paper comes into your office in the first place.

• Consider going paperless and requesting electronic copies of your bank statements, bills, credit card statements, etc. This will greatly reduce the amount of mail that you receive. Of course, you will need to set up folders on your computer to save PDF versions for tax purposes, and remember to back up the files. Check out Carbonite for an easy back-up service.

• Visit Catalog Choice to opt out of catalogs you don’t want to receive. Remember that most stores have their full inventory online anyway. But be careful…it’s easy to opt-IN for MORE catalogs on this site, too!

• Opt out of unwanted junk mail at the Direct Marketing Association’s DMAChoice website.

• Take a hard look at your magazine subscriptions. Which ones are your must-reads? Do you keep up with them? Could you get articles online instead?

2) Purge papers you don’t really need.
Contact your accountant for some advice about how much you need to keep for tax records and for how long. And then take a hard look at what you’re saving and see if some of it can go. Shred anything with personal information on it, or use a shredding service like Northeast Data Destruction.

3) Try scanning (or scanning services) to reduce even more paper.
If you need to hold on to copies of papers for any reason, consider that they can be electronic copies. Here are a few services that I love for this purpose:

• Pixily is a Netflix-style service for paper scanning. For a subscription plan, you get pre-paid envelopes in which you send in documents for scanning.

• NeatReceipts is a scanner combined with software that lets you turn your loose receipts and slips of paper into electronic files approved by the IRS.

• ScanDigital will scan and digitize photos, slides, and even home movies.

4) Set limits and create “homes” for the papers that will remain.

• Magazine files work well for establishing a space limit for periodicals and catalogs. And when the new one comes in, it’s out with the old issue.

• Use labels to clearly identify what paper belongs where. It may seem obvious at first, but over time lines can blur, so a label will help you keep everything straight.

• For business cards, try to enter information into a contact management system and then toss the card. If you prefer to keep the actual cards, look for a rolodex or binder with business card insert pages and organize them by category rather than alphabetically – it’s much easier to maintain.

• Set up systems that treat papers according to what the next step is that you need to take: to pay, to read, to file, etc. Color-coded folders work really well for this purpose.

• Consider that ultimately, papers you keep will fall into three categories: be for immediate access, “I might need it in the short term,” and “I have to keep it but will probably never look at it.” The first category of papers (for immediate action) should be located at your fingertips, in action files. The second should be in a filing system that is accessible to you. And the third should go into cold storage or somewhere that doesn’t impact the usable space in your office.

5) Don’t let it build up.
Tackle the mail every day. Recycle or shred junk mail immediately and put the rest into your appropriate action files for processing later. Working on your paperwork in a batch mode can be very effective and efficient. And if you don’t let it build up, it will be far less overwhelming. Set a goal for a once-weekly attack of the paper pile.

Good luck and let me know how it goes!

20% off at The Container Store!

Click here to get your coupon for 20% off everything now through March 1st courtesy of The Oprah Winfrey Show. This is a great, rarely-offered discount! A good time to get a jump on some organizing products to help with spring cleaning.

Addicted to Facebook?

For those of you who are enjoying the numerous social networking sites available, you know that it can be extremely addicting and difficult to curb your usage once you get on a roll. The sites are a lot of fun, and it's a great way to stay connected to your friends and business colleagues. Under normal circumstances, this activity isn't a big deal. But like email, many of these sites and programs can be a real productivity and time-sucker. If you have a real deadline or an in-depth project to work on that requires your full attention, it can become easy to slip into procrastination mode and check out your friends' status updates and wall posts instead. Or if you are out to dinner with friends or family, maybe you are tempted to pull out the Blackberry and update twitter with your current status, thereby missing out on the time with the ones you love.

I always recommend to clients that they set aside specific time for web surfing and personal email as much as possible. If they have a big project and shouldn't be interrupted, I recommend closing the email program for at least an hour at a time so that there are no distractions. The same holds true for the social networking sites. If your daily responsibilities involve answering short emails and phone calls throughout the day, and you don't have a significant project ahead of you, there's less harm in multiple visits to your favorite site. But if you really need to focus, turn it off. Try giving yourself a time limit - of say, 15 minutes. Set a timer or alarm on your cell phone if necessary. When the time is up, close the browser and focus on your task at hand. You can always check back in during a break later in the day.

The Benefit of the Weekly Business Meeting

Any successful family relationship revolves around good communication.

In the case of me and The BB, we are both self-employed and that creates an extra set of challenges for us as we grow our businesses, juggle the household budget and finances, and plan for long-term investments. In addition, we need someone to bounce ideas off of and to be an accountability partner so that we stay on track for our own personal and business goals. So we set up a weekly business meeting.

At first, I thought these would be short - 30 minutes max - but we're finding that it takes us two hours to go through everything on our list. We cover it all, from budgeting/bill paying and scheduling to business ideas and marketing plans. We always feel a little goofy starting the meeting, but once we get on a roll, there's no stopping us.

I share this with you because I think a family meeting is an often-overlooked communications tool that can make running a busy household much easier. You can meet with your significant other only, or you can involve the children if it's age appropriate. Set a "standing" agenda and leave time for everyone to bring up issues that impact the family. You can cover topics like:
- Everyone's schedule for the week (use this time to update the family calendar)
- Upcoming big expenses (kids can share in the decision making and learn valuable lessons about saving for luxury items, vacations, or household necessities)
- Travel plans/family vacations
- Household projects (let everyone know the expectations and their roles)

Set the meeting for a standard time every week so that you can plan around it, and everyone can plan to be there. And for the typical family, I think 30 minutes is more than enough time.

The Financial Benefits of Getting Organized

I read an article in The New York Times last fall about the trend of consumers focusing on home repair projects, rather than discretionary spending, in a down economy. Judging from what I have seen, this is definitely true. While we aren't out spending money on vacations and luxury items, this becomes a good time to evaluate our home environments.

Couple that with the cold, snowy winter we are having in the Northeast, and I think the time is right for taking a hard look at how well your living space is functioning. You can add value to your home and environment without spending a lot of money. In fact, organizing can have many financial benefits that will directly impact your wallet:

• Spend less on items you don't really need by figuring out what you already have. Take stock of your wardrobe, kitchen pantry items, and more, and be better informed when you head out shopping.
• Find those missing gift cards, gift certificates, and cash. I can't tell you how often we turn up real money when I am organizing with a client.
  
• Donate unwanted/unnecessary items for a tax deduction, or sell your stuff online or through a consignment shop.
• Avoid late fees by getting your bill paying center set up and paying bills on time.
• Clean out your storage unit and avoid the monthly storage fees.
• Get more out of the things that you already have and love.
  

With February vacation around the corner, why not set aside a day or two to tackle some trouble spots around your home?