Tips for Decluttering Old Calendars and Planners {Decluttering Sentimental Items - Day 21}

Today in the Decluttering Sentimental Items series, we're decluttering old calendars, planners, and datebooks.  Some of you probably just toss them at the end of the year, but many people hang onto them.  Sometimes for YEARS.  Today I'm going to share tips for decluttering them, as well as share some ideas for repurposing or displaying them.

2015 Planner Giveaway!

Can you believe it's only 1 month until the start of 2015?!  I know we're all probably busy with holiday preparations, but it's important to start thinking and planning ahead for the new year.

My friend Ginny from Organizing Homelife created a beautiful planner and she gave me two versions to try out. 

Day 1: Planning for Christmas {12 Days of Being Organized for the Holidays}

Do you get overwhelmed during November and December?  Do you get to the end of Christmas Day and you're exhausted and wonder if it was all worth it?  There's shopping, baking, wrapping, card-writing, cooking, and decorating.  All in the midst of parties, gatherings, and celebrations with everyone and anyone you've had contact with all year!  It's a lot to juggle.  And it can easily become overwhelming.

But it doesn't have to be that way.  With some advance planning and organizing, you can simplify the holidays and get things done earlier, so you can breathe and actually enjoy this festive season.  Doesn't that sound good?

To help you do that, I'm going to be writing a series called 12 Days of Being Organized for the Holidays.  Each of the 12 posts will focus on one aspect of being organized for this special time of year.  I'll spread the posts out over the next 6 weeks, with an average of 2 posts per week.

Each post will have practical tasks you can to get organized.  If you've already completed those tasks {good for you!!}, feel free to do something else that's overwhelming you.  If you haven't checked these items off your to-do list yet, then spend some time working on them so you won't have to do everything all at once at the end.

OK, so now that I've told you about the series, let's get to today's post!  I'm going to kick this series off with some tips to help you plan out the next few weeks.

Check out These Printables I'm Going To Use from the Printable LOVE Bundle!

You may have seen my post on Friday about the Printable Love Bundle sale that's on right now.

Today I wanted to share some of the ways that I plan to use some of the printables in this great bundle!

Amazing Organizing Printables Bundle to Help You Get Organized!

You've seen me sharing my excitement about this amazing bundle of organizing printables for a few days now, and today I'm SO excited to finally be able to share with you what's included!

If you want to get organized in nearly any area of your life, there's something in this bundle for you.  It's going to blow your socks off.  Read on for all the details of what's included and how to get it!

I Love Freecycle - calendars

Happy Earth Day!  One of the ways I love to take care of the planet is to use Freecycle.  It's such a great place to give away things you no longer need, use, or love, rather than sending them to a landfill.  It's also a wonderful way to find things that you're looking for, rather than buying them new.

In honour of Earth Day, I thought I'd share another "I Love Freecycle!" post so I can to share with you some of my latest finds and show some things I've given away.   You can see my previous I Love Freecycle posts here, for more on how Freecycle works and why I love it so much.

Command Centre: Weekly Notes and Calendar

First, I'm excited to say that this is my 100th post!  In some ways it feels like I've been blogging forever and in other ways it seems like I just started.  It's fun to celebrate milestones and the first 100 posts is a big one for me.  And here's to the next 100 :)

OK, on with today's post!  Last week I showed you our Monthly Family Goals page.  Part of what helps us achieve our monthly goals is breaking them down further into weekly goals.

Today I want to show you our weekly notes memo board.

Organizing Ideas For The Weekend #9

Happy Friday!  It's been a busy week here this week.  I worked nearly full-time outside the home to help out some folks from my former life in adult education.  Then, I took care of my kiddos and the house after school while my hubby had a late route and didn't get home until just before the kids went to bed.  And I'm still dealing with some of the residual effects of the cold and flu and low blood pressure I had in December.  Oh and I still had some Christmas decorations to organize and put away (it's all done now!). So by the time the kids went to bed I was too wiped to finish organizing projects or write posts about them :)

But, I'm here now with another organizing idea for the weekend for you!

With the new year, now is the perfect time to put together a planner or a home management binder.  These are a great way to keep all the details of your life in one place.  If you have difficulty keeping your life organized then one of these will be a great tool to help you.

A Simpler Season & My First Giveaway!

Have you started preparing for the holidays yet?  I usually don't officially start until late November or early December.  But I always feel rushed.  So this year I want to start earlier.  I may not do a lot of decorating yet, but I'm definitely planning and preparing.

I love Christmas!  I always picture what I think Christmas will be like.  I look forward to enjoying special times and building memories with family and friends.  But every year I end up overwhelmed at some point by all the tasks on my Christmas to do list.

I want this year to be different.  I want to anticipate and enjoy the preparations.  There's more to this season than just a massive list of things to be done!

One thing I'm doing is starting everything earlier.

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 26 (Command Centre)

Welcome to Day Twenty Six of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today I'll give you some tips for creating a command centre or modifying the system you are currently using to make it work better for you.