How To Do Just About Everything
By eHow Home & Garden Editor
Rate: (33 Ratings)
Getting organized is basically a matter of developing good habits. Organize your time, home and work space for more productive living.
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Comments
Anonymous said
on 8/8/2006 Every year the elementary (and upper levels) require specific information for your child to update their record and prove eligibility for that district school.
I keep a green folder (The school color) with clear plastic sheets. I have the required shot records, birth certificate, social security number, as well as proof of residence for that year (our school requires a current utility bill).
I make sure to also have contact information for myself, my husband, the girls insurance carrier, doctors, and who (if anyone) is allowed to pick up my child if there is an emergency.
It is also important to have current medical needs or conditions that affect your child. If your child child has allergies, takes medication or has any special needs or chronic illnesses (asthma and inhaled medication procedures, for example).
These are all things the school requires updated each year for your child and it makes things go smoother when you have them all in one place. One year, I also had the school lose one of my daughters in the registration process. I was able to prevent delays and confusion, because I had everything right there with me in the folder to start over.
Anonymous said
on 8/8/2006 I take a makeup organizer bag, one with two or three compartments and keep it under the front seat of my car. I fill it with mini versions of Scotch tape, scissors, Post-it notes, permanent marker, stapler, tape measure, paper clips, rubber bands, Tylenol, needle and thread, dental floss, Brush Ups (those things that slip on your finger and you can brush your teeth), breath spray, tweezers, safety pins, extra pens, Band-Aids, antiseptic in a tube, mini nail file, clippers and super glue and anything else I've wished I'd had when a button popped, a nail broke, or I ate onions for lunch. For soccer Moms, I suggest a larger size, like a kids metal lunch box, since you're going to need those ice packs that turn cold when you snap the outer package, and Ace bandages!
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 I live with 2 boys and they are a couple of slobs. My work schedule is such that I literally can only clean on the weekends. By then there is so much junk everywhere I'm thinking I don?t even know where to begin. I have come up with the pile system. Pick a room to start with. Don't start with the messiest room, it will be hard to feel like you've accomplished anything and you will have trouble staying motivated. I like to start with a moderately messy room, work up to the hard ones, then do the easiest ones last (cause your all tired and burnt out by then). Let's say you start in the living room - start at one side and work your way over. Anything you pick up that belongs near where you are that moment - put it in its home. When you come across something that lives in the dining room or kitchen, make a pile for that room. Now when you come across something that goes on a different level of your home, we use the bag technique. Same as the pile technique, except your putting stuff in bags to make it easier to carry. I get several of those annoying grocery store bags everyone seems to save. 1 bag for my husband, 1 for my son, 1 for the bathroom, 1 for the computer room, and yes, 1 for me, too (although my bag always has the least amount of stuff in it). If I have a variety of bag colors or styles, I grab a different one for each person or room. Then you (of course) have the most important bag - the trash bag. I love the trash bag! Once you throw something away, it goes out on the curb and you never ever have to worry about it again. If you haven?t used something in the last couple of months, and you cannot see a reason you'll need it in the next couple of weeks, get rid of it. Keep all of your bags together and start sorting through the junk. If something belongs on the other end of the living room, I literally throw it in the general vicinity of where it goes. I avoid running back and forth this way. It will get put in its proper place once you've worked your way over to where you threw it. This is of course assuming it won't break and it doesn't?t go on the half of the room that is already finished. When you finish the room, pick up your dining room and kitchen piles and put those in their respective rooms. Don't worry about sorting through it until your working on that room. Pick up your bags and bring them with you to the next room. Lather, rinse, repeat. It sounds complicated, but it's really not. There are several things at work here. By coming up with a process you won't feel overwhelmed. The piles and bags are a simple way to organize a lot of stuff quickly. By working from one end of the room to the other and throwing things near where they will eventually go, you are conserving energy and saving time by not running back and forth. You will feel motivated and get more done when you see results quickly. Once all of the clutter is picked up you can go back and vacuum, dust, and do the micro organizing. You can start anywhere and divide up the work to suite the layout of your home. I just used the living room as an example.
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 For manuals and warranties on all my household applainces and electronics, I store them in a 3" ringed binders filled with those plastic, see-thru page protecters. It keeps them in order, all together and safe from like new.
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 I made up an emergency kit which I store in my kitchen cabinet. It contains roll of guaze, gauze pads, tape, antibiotic creams, burn cream, band aids, k(nuckles and finger ones as well) scissors, tape, ace bandages and the peroxide is right next to it. Also, an emergency referral book is with it. This way when an emergency occurs, I just grab it. I don't have to worry if someone is in the bathroom. I also have a small one for my dogs with antiseptic creams and steptic powder.
And have a magnet on side of the fridge with the emergency control #'s for poisoning, etc.