Chatting it up with MojoMom

I enjoyed another great podcast with MojoMom Amy Tiemann. Listen in to hear us discuss getting back into the swing of things with school and how to corral all of the mess you and the kids drag home.

Legos out the Wazoo

While working on my newsletter, I received this question via FaceBook

Q: Dear Neat Freak, Please solve the Lego issue! Should we attempt to keep Lego sets intact or mix? We do both kinds of Lego play — creative and by the book. I have such a love-hate relationship with the darn things!

Signed,
Drowning in Lego

A: Dear Drowning…I have my own Lego-maniacal kid at my house and while I love the creativity they inspire, keeping them organized is no easy task. If your child does enjoy creating Lego masterpieces by the book, then I really think you have no choice but to keep sets together. If that’s the way he/she wants to play, then your child needs to understand that it means keeping the box and instructions together, with the Lego inside, and only pulling out one set of Lego at a time.

If, on the other hand, your child is willing to throw caution to the wind and allow his/her Lego to be mixed, then I think small stacking plastic drawers are the answer. You can sort by color or size or just toss them all in the drawers together. Any child who is old enough to play with Lego is also old enough to clean them up! Sometimes a good threat of the vacuum cleaner sucking up the strays is enough to get my son cleaning them up pretty quickly (did I just reveal a little of my neat-freaky mom meanness???). Works every time at my house.

And if you’re looking for a creative tool that is functional and fun, you might check out this cool tool that sorts Lego by size: Box 4 Blox

Have other Lego or toy sorting ideas or questions? Post them here!

Your most powerful organizational tool: NO

I love fall. I love new school shoes, sharpened No. 2 pencils, candy corn and the crisp morning air. It’s also the time of year when activities start back up, paper piles up, and sales gear up (that pesky little financial downturn has made it mighty tempting to hit the mall and take advantage of low prices). All of this newness can make it really easy to say “yes.” Yes to activities, yes to volunteering, yes to buying…yes, yes, yes! But it’s important to realize that just about every time you say “yes” to one thing, what you’re really doing is saying “no” to something else. Remember…space and time are not infinite. Harness the power of the word “no” so you can keep your time and your stuff under control.

Just say “no” to time thieves
You’ve heard it a million times…there are only 24 hours in a day, so it’s up to you to make the most of them. Yet we all find ourselves trying to cram more and more into that finite amount of time. And often what has to give is sleep, exercise, or quality time with loved ones or yourself. Decide now to live your life differently by embracing the power of the word “no.” First, you must know what really matters to you. Take 5 minutes and write down the things that mean the most to you in your life. Go ahead…do it right now…I’ll wait. Once you’ve established what goes on this list, it should be easier to say “no” to things that are less important. If you find that saying “no” to a request for your time is difficult, then practice. Look in the mirror and say “No, that just doesn’t fit into my schedule right now.” (I know this sounds goofy, but you’ll thank me when you can say it with authority and stick by it!). Or if that feels too challenging, at least practice saying “Let me think about it and get back to you.”

Just say “no” to procrastination
Sometimes, saying “no” to something helps you re-evaluate your goals. If you find you’re putting something off, give yourself permission to say “no” to it. Usually, if it’s still important to you, your will to achieve it will overcome the “no” and you’ll jump right into the task. But maybe your goals have changed and it’s no longer important to you. By saying “no” to it, you’re giving yourself permission to move on and say “yes” to something else.

Just say “no” to clutter
Saying “no” can also come in handy when managing all of the physical stuff in your life. If you want to stay on top of your clutter, it’s important to adopt a “one in, one out” rule in your household. If your closet is bursting at the seams, you need to recognize that nothing new can go in until something old goes out (and if it’s super full, you may need a “one in, two or three out” rule until it gets under control!). Same goes for books, kitchen equipment, furniture, and other house hold items. If you see something you’re in love with and just have to buy, decide now where it’s going to go in your house and decide what you must say “no” to in order to accommodate it.

Next time you find yourself saying “yes” to something that is going to take up space in your life, just say “no” instead. I think you’ll find that saying “no” to one thing is really saying “yes” to yourself and the things that matter most.

Snubbed…

this month, but look for me in the July issue of Southern Living (hits stands late June). I just didn’t want all of my mother’s bridge and garden club friends to think I was a big fat liar! Neat Freak will appear in the “southern Bible” this summer.

Neat Freak is all new online

Finally, after having it on my to-do list for close to a year (yes, even the Neat Freak can procrastinate like a champ!), I’ve relaunched Neat Freak online. Check it out for the latest info about my business, links to press and articles and ALL of my newsletter archives from the past 4+ years. Many thanks to Stir Creative Group for making me look so, well…NEAT!

Tell me what you think! I’ll be updating more frequently, plus you can link to my blog, follow me on Twitter (@theneatfreak), or contact me directly from the site. It’s all Neat Freak, all the time.

Keep Neat!

More shred-a-thons in the area

Last week I posted about upcoming Shred-a-Thons in Chapel Hill. So as not to leave out the rest of you triangle dwellers, here are a few more:

APEX– SHRED-A-THON (Wake County)
Saturday, April 18th
10am – 1pm
Location: Apex Town Hall
Address: 73 Hunter Street
Local Sponsors: Attorney General Roy Cooper, Apex Police Department, A Shred Ahead

RALEIGH – SHRED-A-THON (Wake County)
Saturday, April 18th
10am – 2pm
Tabernacle Baptist Church
8304 Leesville Rd., Raleigh
Local Sponsors: Attorney General Roy Cooper, Tabernacle Baptist Church, Shred It

Saturday, April 18th
9am – 11am
First Baptist Church
99 N. Salisbury Street, Raleigh
Local Sponsors: First Baptist Church, Shred It

Saturday, April 18th
8:30am – 1pm
Ridgewood Shopping Center
3514 Wade Ave, Raleigh
Local Sponsors: Better Business Bureau, Cintas, Proshred

CARY – SHRED-A-THON (Wake County)
Saturday, April 25th
Time: 10am-2pm*
Village Square in Cary-across from Cary Towne Center Mall
Local Sponsors: Attorney General Roy Cooper, NBC-17, Shred It
*Check NBC-17 for any last minute changes.

DURHAM – SHRED-A-THON (Durham County)
Saturday, April 25th
Time: 10am-2pm*
Indigo Corners Shopping Center (corner of Mt. Moriah and 15-501)
Local Sponsors: Attorney General Roy Cooper, NBC-17, Shred It
*Check NBC-17 for any last minute changes.

Now that your taxes are in the mail…rid yourself of unnecessary yet potentially sensitive paper at one of these local events!

Twitter…

I mocked, I sighed, I resisted…and yet here I am, now on Twitter. Follow me if you dare @theneatfreak. I promise never to ‘tweet about what my kids are eating for lunch, or any other inane details of my life that I barely care about so certainly can’t expect you to care about. Just organizational tips, links or upcoming events.

Ask the Neat Freak…

ASK THE NEAT FREAK

Q: What do you think of Cozi and the other family organizer websites out there? Do you use one? Do you have a favorite?

Signed, Frantic Parent

A: Hello Frantic Parent,
I’m a big fan of family planners and to-do lists like Cozi , Google Calendars, and Remember the Milk. For me, what it all boils down to is everyone in the family has to be on board and participate or really, it’s just a fancy calendar that only mom sees. Regular communication between family members is required to make sure projects and to-do lists are up to date.

I encourage weekly family meetings where everyone sinks eCals, paper calendars, and upcoming events. I suggest doing this over a meal and have everyone bring to the table what they have going on in the next 7 days that impacts time, meal planning, transportation, special clothing or equipment, and more. Once you have that meeting, you can divide and conquer. Treat it like a business meeting where everyone leaves with action items that they’re responsible for. Use your tech tools as a reminder, but not your only source of communication.

With all of that said, I’m personally an old-fashioned paper calendar girl. I love tech tools but I can’t shake my enjoyment of writing down a to-do list, activities and appointments on paper. Just remember, the tool itself isn’t what makes it work…it’s how you use it!

Signed,
The Neat Freak

Should I shred or should I go…

I find that many people get stuck in a “just in case” mentality when it comes to paper. But if your files are overflowing, you know that more does not necessarily make you merrier. The more paper you have, the more time you’ll spend looking for that important little scrap with a crucial phone number on it…or that winning lottery ticket…or that oh-so-important legal document…you get the picture.

In honor of tax season (a great annual reminder to clean out your files), here’s what you should keep and what you should shred so you’ll free up your time to go out and spend that big refund check you’re expecting.

Shred ASAP:
• Credit Card applications
• Expired cards (driver’s license, credit cards, bank cards, student ID’s, etc.)
• Any unwanted paper that contains your social security number (or that of any family member or anyone else for that matter)

Shred Monthly:
• Credit card receipts for items you can’t return (like that Starbucks you had this morning) once you reconcile with your account.
• Canceled checks and ATM receipts once you reconcile with your monthly bank statement
• Prescriptions you are no longer taking

Shred Annually:
• Monthly bank and investment account statements once reconciled with your end of the year statement
• Pay stubs once you receive your W-2 or 1099
• Monthly bills IF you don’t write them off on your taxes (e.g. cable, water, power, cell phone)
• Any end of the year bank statement that is more than 7 years old
• Credit reports

Keep:
• Vital records such as marriage, birth and death certificates
• Original Social Security cards
• Legal paperwork related to a divorce or custody arrangement
• Insurance policies and any potential claims information
• Wills
• Car titles for cars currently owned
• Real estate documents showing a transfer/sale of property or a pay off
• Medical records
• Current copy of your resume
• Appraisals for jewelry, artwork, antiques, etc.
• Tax returns
• Most current Social Security report
• Military service information (e.g. discharge papers)
• Receipts for items you may return or may need for warranty purposes (until they expire)

This list is in no way comprehensive. Everyone has different reasons (e.g. taxes, a legal dispute, a business write off) for hanging on to different paper. And it’s important to note, you should always check with your accountant and attorney prior to getting rid of anything in question. “When in doubt, throw it out” doesn’t always apply to paper!
But if you don’t need it and want to protect your privacy and security, fire up the shredder (a cross cut shredder that also shreds CDs, credit cards and other media is best) and enjoy the delightful experience of watching it get ripped to tiny pieces.

Save shred time by visiting an upcoming shred-a-thon in Chapel Hill. If you live elsewhere, check with your Attorney General’s office or local police department to find a shred-a-thon near you.

CHAPEL HILL – SHRED-A-THONS (Orange County)
Saturday, April 18th, 9am-12pm
Howard, Perry & Walston – Coldwell Banker, 1600 East Franklin St, Chapel Hill
Local Sponsors: Attorney General Roy Cooper, Howard, Perry & Walston, ProShred
**Limit: 2 banker boxes for businesses

and

Wednesday, April 22nd, 10am-2pm
University Mall, 201 South Estes Drive, Chapel Hill
Local Sponsors: Attorney General Roy Cooper, Chapel Hill Police Department, A Shred Ahead

Travel tip of the day…

I just saw a Facebook post from a friend who was returning from Las Vegas and couldn’t remember where she parked her car. I’ve been in this same boat before (and really…after a trip to Vegas, aren’t we lucky if that’s the only thing we can’t remember!)…so what I’ve started doing in all parking garages is grabbing my cell phone and snapping a photo of the nearest level/section sign. When I return, I can scan through my photos and “see” where I parked. The only catch is remembering to delete the photo after you locate your car so you’re not scrolling through numerous parking garage sign photos in the future!

Also, as I learned from experience–if you do lose your car, go immediately to a parking attendant. They keep all license plate numbers on record through security cameras, so they can easily help you find your car.