Organizing Tips
Tip #1: Clutter Monsters you can clear in under half an hour
PICK ONE:
JUNK DRAWER MONSTER: Take your junk drawer and empty it out on a table. Yes, everything. Sort, keeping like with like, throwing out any trash or obvious things you don't need (free convention keychains, random hair ties, old candies, etc.). Quick wipe down the drawer (don't obsess) and make organizers out of tin foil (you can get the fancy ones later). Then, put everything back in their sort piles.
CLOSET MONSTER: One of the most daunting Clutter Monster! So just do a quick one. Turn all of your hangers the other way. In one year, you'll see which clothes haven't been worn - these are begging to be "Blessed and Released" and you can confidently donate them to charity.
TOY MONSTER: Find 5 toys that are no longer played with or loved. Have the kids help - make it a game! Look in the back of closets, under the bed, in the basement/attic/garage, and in miscellaneous drawers. There are many disadvantaged kids out there with no toys at all who would be thrilled to love your discards. Put them in a bag and into the car - and when it's clear take to your closest women's shelter.
PAPER MONSTER: Find 4 boxes or bags for sorting - Toss, File, Action, Refer, Shred. Take your worst nightmare of a paper pile and do a quick sort - resist the urge to linger or do something, just put in the pile. Then, trash the Toss file, put Action where you usually pay bills, and File in the front of your file cabinet. Shred goes in a bag and right into your car (take it to Office Depot or Staples for shredding) and Refer goes next to the action file.
That's it - you can come back to it for the next steps. On another day!