Are you one of those people who has thousands of unopened email messages in your inbox? Do you receive emails you intend to act upon but then lose them in the pile of emails already sitting there? You are not alone. Email, whether we like it or not, is the main mode of communication used today, both for personal and business correspondence.  Yet many of us have so much email, the important information tends to get lost in the junk.

Here are a few important steps to take to help you regain control of your email.

Keep Reading >>

Read the organizing tips I shared with readers of The Washington Post in a recent live chat.

Order Your Life’s Penny Catterall joins the weekly chat

The Washington Post, January 24, 2013

How do I love thee Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100? Let me count the ways… Keep Reading >>

Most of us women carry our lives in our purses or handbags, so it is essential that we be able to find the things in it quickly, but this is often not the case! Here are some simple steps to organizing that extra limb of your body, otherwise known as your purse: Keep Reading >>

It seems to me that in my organizing business, I see clients on either end of the shredding spectrum.  On the one hand, some feel that every piece of paper that has their name, address or any other bit of personal information on it should be shredded.  Keep Reading >>

Here’s another reason to love CatalogChoice.org! For those of you who are not already familiar with this awesome company, you need to check it out.  They have several ways to make stopping that inflow of junk mail as easy as possible, including an app for iPhone called MailStop Mobile.  Keep Reading >>

Another reason to love CatalogChoice.org! For those who hate getting catalogs every time you order something on line, you will love their newest free opt-out tool, the MailStop Browser Add-on. The Firefox Browser Add-on lets you opt-out of name trading and direct mail as soon as you make a purchase online.   (CatalogChoice hopes to have this Add-on available for other browsers in the future.) When you fill out an order form or log in to one of the 8,500 websites in the Catalog Choice registry, the Add-on will automatically open and prompt you to opt-out or keep your marketing preferences the same.  A great way to save the environment and your sanity!

Is your kitchen pantry a mess of jumbled bags of chips and boxes of snacks?  The best way to organize a pantry is to divide your food up by category like baking, pasta, snacks, etc. and assign them a specific place on a shelf. If possible, use simple bins like these from the Container Store to store your food items so they stay together, especially great for small and unruly items like baking sprinkles, chocolate chips, and energy bars. Then make sure to label your shelves and bins so everyone know where things go when you are done with them!

Did you know that September is National Preparedness Month?  In order to be ready for the next hurricane, tornado, snowstorm, or wildfire that might hit your area, you can sign up to receive text message updates from FEMA (standard message and data rates apply).   To sign up to receive monthly preparedness tips: text PREPARE to 43362 (4FEMA).  To unsubscribe at any time: text STOP to 43362 (4FEMA).  There is also a great article in this month’s Organized A to Z Blog  which gives details on how to best plan for family communications during a disaster.

One issue I tend to see with many of my clients is pages and pages of unnecessary printed paper cluttering up their home office.  As far as I see it, extra printed paper has three main drawbacks.  First, it is harmful to the environment (unless you make the effort to print with recycled paper); second, it is expensive, as printer ink does not come cheaply under any circumstances; and  third and probably most importantly, it creates unnecessary clutter and covers up the important papers and bills on your desk and in your home office.

Before printing out anything, ask yourself if you really need to print in the first place.  Could you save a document as a PDF in an electronic file folder instead?  Or could you save an email in a specially designated folder in your inbox? If you still feel you need to print, take these steps to reduce paper and ink usage:

1) Preview the document before you print if possible and only print the pages that you really need
2) Set your printer settings to their lowest quality or draft printing if it is just for home use
3) Set your printer to print double sided if possible
4) Most importantly, have a recycling bin nearby to get rid of the paper when you are done with it!