organizing » XOXOrganizing

Your Calendar is Your Personal Assistant

May 25, 2015 by XOXOblog in General Organizing, Self Organization, Taking Care of YOU

Many of us use a calendar to record appointments, deadlines, travel plans, etc. Our lives get busy and it’s helpful to have a pocket-sized reminder of what’s on the agenda.

I use my calendar like a personal assistant and I’d like you to practice doing the same. Anything you want to remember must be “told” to your personal assistant or he/she won’t be able to remind you about it later. That includes everything that’s on your mind- no matter how small or insignificant it seems. Here are examples of what you may want to tell your personal assistant:

-Trash day- toss old food from the fridge

-Street sweeper- move my car

-Call fridge repair man

-Target coupon expires in 7 days

-Blow dry hair for event tomorrow

-Confirm play date with Susie’s mom

-Take black dress to the tailor/take my button

-Return Nordstrom sweater

-Buy wedding gift and card

XOXO says, “If you want to remember it, write it down.”

Need a little help with your calendar? Sign-up for our private, in-home Calendar Course.

[ TIP ] Save on Space

April 20, 2015 by XOXOblog in Garage, General Organizing, Tips

[ TIP ]: The price of anything is the amount of space you exchange for it.

XOXO says: If you have limited storage space, go ahead and spend the extra $1.50 on a 4-pack of paper towels each month rather than buying a 6-month supply in bulk. Remember, each square inch of your home is valuable real estate so use it wisely. Who says you need to fill every shelf or closet to the brim? Give yourself some room to breath so you have room to grow into your space. It will be worth it in the end. I promise.

4 Tips for a Successful Spring Cleaning

April 6, 2015 by XOXOblog in General Organizing, Tips, Uncategorized

Blog Graphics - Spring Clean

It’s that time of year again! Spring has arrived and your home is ready for its annual deep clean, not to mention a little decorative sprucing up. Before you put your gloves on, here are some simple organizing tips and tricks to help you breeze through your spring cleaning routine:

Clean small sections of your home each day: It’s overwhelming to think you have to clean your entire house at one time. It’s better to clean one section of each room at-a-time so the task at hand will be easier to take on. Try this: start with one cleaning agent and do as much cleaning as you can with that one cleaning agent. Don’t put it down until you’ve cleaned everything you can with it. Next, move to the next cleaning agent.
Declutter the big stuff: Chances are people won’t notice a dust bunny (or two) in the corner of your living room, but if they see clothes on the couch or books on the floor, they’ll notice. Tackle the big, noticeable stuff before tending to the small stuff. Try this: set a timer for 5 minutes and ready, set…GO! Run around like the fast forward button was pushed! Take the big stuff to their respective rooms. After the timer dings, you’ll notice a considerable difference. Repeat as necessary.
Put things away every night: Make it a habit to pick up items that are left where they don’t belong. Have your kids help out as well. Each person could be responsible for his or her own belongings. Try this: have your family remove their belongings from the common areas every night before bedtime.
Cheat…a little: Keep a decorative box (with a lid) inside the closet of each room. When you’re in a hurry to tidy up for company, the box will come in handy until you have more time to put everything away. Make sure the box is emptied and the contents are put away after company leaves or you’ll have a really big mess on your hands later. Try this: when emptying the box, take out only 3 items at-a-time and then come back for more.

The Home-Office: Declutter Your Desk

March 16, 2015 by XOXOblog in Office, Self Organization

Working from home has its perks (goodbye rush hour traffic and hello pajamas!) as well as its challenges. Maintaining efficiency and focus can be tricky. However, when your home-office has turned into a barrage of paperwork, office supplies and electronic equipment, it’s necessary to establish a well-organized system that makes finding important documents and projects a breeze. Here are some simple steps you can take to maintain a clutter-free and organized home-office:

Recycle or shred all the documents you know you don’t need anymore. You may want to have your local Office Depot shred documents for you while you wait (not all office supply stores offer this service) or call a shredding service if you have too much all at once.
Store bulk office supplies. Only keep one of each necessary item in your desk area and keep the remaining office supplies in a nearby cabinet or closet.
File all documents in a file cabinet. Be sure to label each tab clearly to make finding files easier. If you feel distracted by filing documents in between daily operations, it might be best to keep a letter tray on your desk for papers to file at the end of each day. If you have lots of paperwork and need two file cabinets, I recommend using one for “current” documents and the other for “information only” documents. Your “current” file cabinet should ideally only have documents from the current year and include companies you do business with on a regular basis. Your “information only” file cabinet should have documents that you hardly ever need to access. Analyze all file cabinets each tax season to determine which documents can be recycled or shredded and which ones need to be saved for your tax records.
Label and keep product manuals and electronics in a nearby cabinet or closet instead of in your desk area. These are items you may not need on a regular basis. Be sure not to give them the best seat in your home-office.
Use a daily calendar to record deadlines, meetings and reminders. Treat it like your personal assistant. Tell him/her everything you want to remember, including when to pick up the kids, when to call a friend and things to buy next time you’re at the grocery store. If you think it, write it down. Your to-dos are valuable and need to be scheduled if they have a good chance of being completed.

Your desk is an extension of your mind. If your desk is cluttered and out of sorts, it’s likely that your brain is feeling scattered as well. You’ll be amazed by the improvement in your workflow and mood when your workspace is in order!

Now that you’ve sorted and filed your documents, make sure you have everything you need to file your taxes. Download our 30-Day Tax Challenge to make sure you have everything in order before you file: https://xoxorganizing.com/challenge-30-day-tax-challenge/

Tax Organization

March 2, 2015 by XOXOblog in General Organizing, Office, Tips

Blog Graphics - Taxes

We all have to file taxes. While doing your taxes may not be something to break out into song over, it doesn’t need to be a major stressor or time-consumer either. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to make sure your tax papers are in order every year. Trust me-this is not as bad as it sounds and it makes tax time a breeze!

Here’s what to do:

1. Create a folder for every company you do business with each year. P.S. if you pay online, be sure to print the receipt of the things you’re going to write off at the end of the tax year.

2. Then create a folder named “Taxes”. This is where you’ll keep things that don’t necessarily reoccur every month (for example your DMV renewal or donations you’ve made throughout the year). This is also where you should keep any questions you might have for your tax preparer, along with your bank routing number/account number if you’re going to be e-filing.

3. Also create a folder named “Medical For (family member name)”. This is where you’ll keep all the medical receipts for each member of your family. This will come handy at tax time.

4. At the end of each year, determine which of your files are write-offs. Calculate the amounts you spent in each folder so you can report it to your tax preparer.

5. After you’ve filed your taxes, save all the paperwork as evidence in case you ever are questioned. Bundle all the statements/receipts, etc. that you’ve claimed. Label the bundle with the tax year and store it in a safe place.

6. To find out how long to keep your filed taxes, ask your tax preparer.

Bright side: If you ever get audited, you won’t have to worry if you lost a receipt, etc. because you’ll know that ALL the things you wrote off on your tax forms will have the evidence to back it up!

Are you following along with XOXO’s 30-Day Tax Challenge? We’ve put together a fun and easy tip sheet to get you ready for tax day! Download your free PDF here: https://xoxorganizing.com/challenge-30-day-tax-challenge/