Maximize your space and declutter your home.

For those of us living not living in Martha Stewart or Bill Gates-sized mansions space is always issue, and maximizing that space is the key to declutter your home and to creating a more zen-like space.

Even though we all try to avoid conspicuous consumption and hoarding, the accumulation of stuff happens. Whether you live alone in an urban apartment or you live with your partner, 3 children, 2 dogs and a cat in suburban ranch house, there never seems to be enough space to keep everything organized, in its place and have a clutter-free home. Having enough space to keep organized is directly relative to the amount of stuff and people you are trying to cram into your home.

The bills are always spread out across the table, your child’s homework projects are on the coffee table and/or the laundry is piled high waiting to be put away. Life happens and when it does, it’s messy. But, you can get on on top and exert some control over your space and stuff. There are solutions to declutter your home, maximize your space and maximizing your life as well.

Declutter your home, get more organized and maximize your space with these 5 space-saving tips and project ideas.

1. Add a Murphy bed. To add more space to your bedroom, consider investing in a Murphy bed. Murphy beds can range from the very pricey to more affordable options like those offered by Lori Wall Beds.
2. Create a room divider to separate a room into functions. For example, add a bookcase divider to separate your living space from a much needed home office that can be tucked away behind that bookcase. Here are some room divider project ideas.
3. Maximize the space under the stairs. For two-story homes, the under stairs space is often underutilized or just a catch all for junk. Get inspired by these solutions to reclaim the space under your stairs.
4. Go vertical. If you are like most people, the floor space in your home is packed. That’s when you go vertical. Adding shelves, tall cabinets, stacking and hanging storage can all increase your storage space. In the kitchen, consider adding hanging pot storage to maximize your space.
5. Hide it. When all else fails, hide your stuff away with hidden storage in your furniture. Coffee tables, ottomans, beds and sofas all have the potential to be used as storage. Try making this under the bed storage platform to store out of season clothing and shoes.

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Top Image:Jeremy Levine Design

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Your desk says a lot about you. Whether it’s your work desk or home workspace. Whether you work in the corporate world, in the non-profit sector or are self-employed, your desk and organization can speak volumes about your productivity and efficiency.

Organization and tidiness is key, no matter how many people say that they think better with clutter. Clutter and disorganization are both time wasters and in this busy hyper-connected world, you need to be organized to keep everything on track and maximize your effectiveness. Whether you use your new found extra time to work more or to play more–it’s up to you–but learn how to make more time by banishing clutter and creating organization.

 Tips to de-stress your desk…and your life.

1. Digital Desk

These days your desk is not just about paper; much of our work and our organization (or lack thereof) is done in the digital sphere. A messy digital desktop is just as bad as a messy physical desktop. Keep your desktop and hard drive organized and tidy by using folders and coming up with a filing system that works for you. Organize by project type, date, work in progress or completed, name of clients, etc.

In addition, tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote can be useful in expanding your storage capacity and helping you create some organizational structure.

2. Calendar

Consider keeping a digital calendar, if you are not already doing so. By keeping a digital calendar, you can have access at home, work and even across devices. Google Calendar is what I use, and I like that I can easily link to other calendars (like my husband’s calendar) and that I can color code items. I even sync mine to my Facebook account, so my Facebook events show up on my calendar.

The days of having separate work and home calendar are past–our lives are too integrated and fast-paced. Save time and become better organized by using a digital calendar.

3. Physical Desk

Even though so much of what we do is online, we still end up being paper pushers. That means you must develop a system for managing those piles of papers on your desk. Do not let your desk become just a collecting place for receipts, bills waiting to be paid and everything else that needs attending to.

Create a clear system for how to handle incoming paper and outgoing paper. I have a system in place on my desk: unpaid bills go in one place, items waiting to be filed go in another place, items that need some attention (like calling to clarify a bill or with following up with some action) go in another place, etc. Whenever I sit down at my desk, my work is already organized and laid out in front of me.

In addition, discipline yourself to do your filing regularly. I file items weekly in my home office. Finally, decide what supplies you need on hand, i.e. stapler, scissors, stamps, pens, etc and keep those in handy organizers–keep everything else stored away.

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It’s one thing to get organized – it’s completely another to stay that way.

My goal to get organized and keep it that way has become an ongoing, evolving hobby of sorts. My biggest challenge is always the details: Getting the most important tasks done, while making sure the little things don’t pile to a point where hyperventilating is inevitable. Leaving yourself reminders for the little things will help declutter your mind in a big way.

Here are 10 ways to get organized and remember to stop forgetting:

1. Make a note immediately.
You have your trusty to-do list to get you through the day – but what about things that happen during the day you now need to account for? Get into the habit of making a note about it immediately: Whether you need to get in touch with a client, grab something for your daughter after work, or set up an appointment, making a note right away will help you keep up with those little surprises.

2. Setup triggers.
One of the biggest lifesavers for me has been setting up triggers: Completing one action that triggers me to complete the next one, etc. It’s a great way to build habits, get organized, and stop forgetting what you want to accomplish that day. For example, waking up could be your trigger to wash your face, which could become a trigger to brush your teeth. Changing out of your pajamas could become your trigger to change into your yoga gear (and you know, yoga it up). Connect each action to another, and you’ll be less likely to forget what you hope to achieve.

3. Utilize your phone’s lock screen.
How often do you check your phone to see what time it is? Use your phone’s lock screen as a place to stash reminders. For example, if you keep forgetting something your son’s nagging you for, take a picture of his “I wish I was adopted” face and make it your lock screen. (I do this, except with my cat. If animals could win Oscars…)

4. Distribute wipe-off markers.
Keep a wipe-off marker in your bathroom, kitchen – anywhere you wouldn’t normally find paper but might need to write something down. I actually use Crayola markers to satisfy my inner six-year-old.

5. Set an alarm.
If you need to leave your home or office at a certain time, return a phone call or attempt to beat traffic, setting an alarm is one of the best ways to remain on task and punctual.

6. Set a reminder.
Setup reminders on your cell phone for ongoing things you either want to make a habit of, or are constantly forgetting – especially if there’s a deadline attached (like garbage day).

7. Do it now.
If it’s something that takes ten minutes or less and is appropriate to do right away, get it off your mind immediately so you can get back to your day.

8. Automate it.
Automate your bill payments. Make your next eye appointment while you’re still at the doctor’s office. For pesky-yet-ongoing home maintenance, beauty or food purchases, have an online store like Amazon automatically ship your items when you’d normally run out. My mind feels so empty now that I barely have any shopping to keep track of (wait, that came out wrong).

9. Use Memstash.
What if you’re at work and need to make a personal note? Say hello to Memstash. Simply highlight a block of text in your browser, and Memstash will send you an e-mail or SMS several times throughout the week, helping you commit it to memory.

10. Download your mind.
While you’ve been focusing on the larger, more important tasks, your mind eventually swarms with the little details of your life you’ve been having to put off: Getting that stain off your fave sweater, replacing the coffee mug your cat broke, grabbing a coffee with your BFF. Take ten to get organized and write down every “little thing” that’s been stressing you out – you’ll finally be able to put them on the books and breathe out.

What are your favorite ways to get organized (and stay organized)?

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Clutter is a constant threat to sanity and comfort, creeping into our homes, offices, and vehicles with alarming certainty. Apps may not be able to clean the kitchen for you, but the right online assistance can get you back on track to a clutter-free life.

I love my dining room table, but I rarely get to see it. Pick a random day of the week and you’re likely to find it covered in things that definitely belong somewhere else. Unopened mail, phone chargers, books I swear I’m going to read, and my favorite, coats and scarves slung over the chair backs.

Although we most often complain about physical clutter in our homes and vehicles, mental and electronic clutter can be just as frustrating. A million unorganized bookmarks, hundreds of notes to yourself about articles you want to read or errands that need to be run. These are all what a good friend of mine calls “mental parachutes”–digital clutter that’s only slowing you down.

Even though it’s only February, it’s never too soon to think about spring cleaning, and the first step is releasing yourself from the clutter tentacles spread all throughout your life. Here are five tech tools, including mobile apps and online services, that can help you get organized and energized in time for Spring.

Image via yerdle

1. Swap ‘Till You Drop

My partner and I have this rule when we do really serious cleaning: if we haven’t used or appreciated something in the last 12 months, it’s out. The question is, where’s out? Donating is OK but impersonal, and the landfill is just downright wasteful for things that aren’t at the end of their life cycle. Enter the swapping service. Companies like yerdle exist to turn your “trash” into treasure. Their mobile app makes it possible to snap a picture and list items in a matter of seconds. Other local users can then “want” your item and a pickup arranged. Still seem like too much effort? Try Swap.com’s Valet Service. Simply box up all your unwanted goods, and ship them to the company. They’ll take care of photographing, storing, and listing the items on their vast website. You set the price and then decide whether to trade or sell.

Image via iGo

2. Universal Chargers

There is nothing more frustrating than fighting with a tangle of charger wires when trying to stave off a low battery alert. The more gadgets we acquire, the more cords we add to the cluster. iGo’s Everywhere Universal Wall and Auto Charger offers a path out of the madness. This gadget features a five-foot retractable cord and can be fitting with a variety of interchangeable power tips that make it possible to juice up a  laptop, smartphone, and e-reader all from the same charger.

Image via Instapaper

3. Instapaper

I’m a reckless bookmarker. Spending at least six hours a day working on the internet, I come across (or am sent) links to dozens of articles I’d like to read. Or companies I’d like to check out. Or recipes I’d like to make. All of these are dumped unceremoniously in my “other bookmarks” folder, which is now so out of control, I’m afraid to open it. Developed by Marco Arment, who also helped create Tumblr, Instapaper is a clean, simple and straightforward way to save online articles to read later. Simply install the Instapaper app and download (and organize) your unread articles when you have Wi-Fi or 3G coverage, then you can read them anytime: on the train, on the bus, in an airplane, at the bank, or in your favorite chair.

Image via Captio

4. Captio for Business Receipts

If you’re an entrepreneur or freelancer, you know that retaining proof of your business expenses is extremely important, still it can be hard to keep all those nondescript receipts and other bit of paper straight, especially when you’re working on the go. Available for Apple products, Androids and Blackberry, Captio lets you capture an image of your receipts wherever you are, using your smartphone. Pertinent information is then automatically stored for later analysis and can be used to generate expense claims.

Image via Stylebook

5. Control Your Closet

Disorganized closets mean most of us only wear 20 percent of our wardrobe, sometimes re-buying things we already have! The Stylebook iPhone app offers more than 90 features to help you get the most out of your closet. Import images of your actual clothes, create magazine-style outfits, plan what to wear and track your style inspirations with this totally customizable app. Can be of immense help if you’re a fashionista who’s having a hard time deciding what should stay and what should go. If you uncover designer clothes, bags or accessories that haven’t been in the regular rotation for awhile, consider selling them to Rent the Runway, or Bag, Borrow or Steal.

Top Image: smashmedia

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