Defining Time & Space News

Decluttering provides not only an opportunity to rid ourselves of unnecessary baggage and  space for new things to flow to us but gives us an opportunity to give to others in need.  Another place where the items we no longer need can give hope to others is through the St. Vincent dePaul Society.  They have locations all over the country where items can be donated and are provided to those in the community they serve.  They usually do this through selling donated items in a thrift store for nominal fees.  These fees cover the expenses of the store front.  These stores are run by the hard work and dedication of many volunteers that are usually supported by members of the local Catholic church and others who give much of their time to help others.

Best Wishes,

Rosanne Larkins

 

Tags: De-cluttering, Uncategorized by organizing atlanta
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If you lost power for several days, would you be ready? Again in keeping with September being National Disaster Preparedness month here is a checklist that can help be more prepared:

1. Flashlights and extra batteries
2. Non-perishable or ready to eat foods (enough for 3 days – one to three 1lbs per person is recommended). Foods such as: canned and dried foods (pop top or twist tops are preferable), dried foods such as fruits and cereals), granola, breakfast/food bars, salt free crackers, dry or canned milk and soups, peanut butter, jelly, nuts, trail mix)
3. Manual can opener
4. Baby formula and foods
5. Pet food
6. Medication (over the counter and prescription)
7. Water - at least one gallon per person is recommended (1-3 gallons preferably) Water Tips: Boiling is the preferable way to purify water. Let water boil fully one minute. Cool before drinking. If unable to boil, use pure chlorine bleach (1/4 tsp, 1.25 ml or 16 drops to each gallon). Stir, then let stand 30 min. Slight chlorine taste and smell is normal.
8. Portable, battery operated radio (& extra batteries)
9. Disposable utensils
10. Camping stove with fuel and matches.
11. Fire extinguisher
12. Toiletries
13. First Aid Kit; including a list of emergency contacts, bandages, scissors, tape, disinfectants, antiseptics, latex gloves, non prescription meds such as aspirin and non-aspirin, bendryl, and hand sanitizer.
14. Cell phone (charged) and/or standard land line phone (non remote) if power is out.
15. Emergency plan for family or business

Rosanne
770.995.8556
www.dtsorganizing.com

Tags: Home, Planning, Uncategorized by organizing atlanta
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If you have to leave in an emergency you may not have much time to prepare.  What will YOU take in a moments notice?  Here are some things you can do to be prepared:

 

1. Find a home for your pet(s).  Most shelters will not accept pets except for those who are service animals due to health and safety regulations.
2. Turn the gas off in your home if you can.  Do you know how and where to do this?
3. Have a 1^st aid kit
4. Have a portable battery operated radio
5. Have a grab and go bag labeled for each member of the family.  You can use a backpack or small rolling bag.  The items each bag should contain are:
   1. Change of clothing and extra underwear for children.
   2. Toiletries
   3. Food (high protein/calorie food bars, crackers (no salt), dried fruit, nuts, etc.)
   4. Medication (prescription and over the counter)
   5. Eye glasses and contact lenses (& solutions)
   6. 2 bottles of water
   7. Individual towelettes
   8. Children (diapers and special foods)
   9. Plastic & sealing type bags
   10. Favorite item or comfort toy for younger children
   11. Any necessities for disabilities
6. Family communication plan
7. Important/Vital documents
8. Computer file back-up(s)
9. Blanket
10. Cell phone (& charger)
11.  Keys & utility or pocket knife
12. Wallet/Purse

Tags: Home, Planning, Uncategorized by organizing atlanta
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Do find yourself in the afternoon or on your way home from work wondering what you will have for dinner?  If you are the one that does most of the meal planning this can become very stressful and you may find yourself resorting to less than healthy alternatives.  If saving money and eating healthy are high on your wish list than here are a few things you can do to make a change today!

 

1. Make a list of all the meals that you like or would like to try.
2. Put each title of the meal on an index card.  You can include the ingredients and preparation instructions on the card or simply the location of the recipe (i.e. Betty  Crocker Cook Book, page 7).  Don’t forget to include index cards that say “Left Overs” or “Eat Out” for days those solutions might apply.
3. Each week, choose a day to plan out your meals.  For instance if you choose Sunday, you would decide what you wanted to eat each day of the next week, Monday through Sunday by selecting an index card identifying the meals you want that week.
4. These 7 cards can now be used to plan the meals, do the shopping and prepare food in advance.  For instance we can chop onions for 2 or 3 recipes if we know we will need them several times during the week. 

 

This will allow you to plan ahead for shopping, meal preparation and tasks like defrosting frozen items.  You can display the index cards if you wish in the kitchen in clear index card holders, make or purchase clips to hold them or store them in a convenient place.  Now you can spend that time you would have been worrying about what’s for dinner, doing something more enjoyable.

Happy Meal Preparing!

 

Rosanne

770.995.8556

www.dtsorganizing.com

 

 

Tags: Uncategorized by organizing atlanta
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Ever have those days when the feeling of being overwhelmed is foremost in our mind and we don’t even know where to start?  It can make the entire day very unproductive or even worse, the week, or year. 

 

One way to deal with the stress of being overwhelmed is to take time out to really figure out where we are.  We might say, we don’t have time to sit down and do that; but it is quite the contrary. We do not have time not to. 

 

It is through a daily and once a week review session with our goals, tasks and schedule that we have any chance of doing anything but treading water at best.   We must take time out each week to really look at our goals, our schedule, and our tasks to see what we wish to accomplish and what are we going to do to get there.  A list of tasks is a good start but a list alone doesn’t really assure we are working on those things that are really important and have a connection to what our goals really are.

 

If we want to make a change here is a way to get started:

 

During the next month: 

 

1.  Choose a time to sit down and really think about and write down what is really important to you.

 

2.  Schedule a time weekly to sit down and review your goals, schedule and tasks for the week and decide what is important this week to meet those goals and when they will get accomplished.

 

3.  Find a time that is good each day to review the daily tasks and accomplishments to monitor and adjust for daily changes.

 

Enjoy a less stressful life!

 

Rosanne

770.995.8556

www.dtsorganizing.com

Tags: Uncategorized by organizing atlanta
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Many of us talk about goals but seldom do we really sit down to define and set them.  With the Olympics Games on our mind and televisions, it is a good time to think about why we should take the time out to set goals.  I don’t think anyone would argue that each Olympic athlete is in Beijing right now because they set a goal to be there.  Not all goals are achieved, but they are essential if we want to have a chance at achieving them.

 

Goals and the plans to get to them create our destiny.  We don’t often get anywhere by accident; except maybe lost.  We can think of a goal like a vacation destiny.  If we don’t decide where we want to go we will never get there.

 

How can we get started? 

The first thing to do is to think about all that is important to us.  These should be written down so that we can work with them.  This can be jotted down in a brain storming fashion initially and then it is best to study them to be sure we have everything covered.

 

The second step is to think about which of these areas we feel are not being addressed sufficiently in our life.  Do we feel like we need to spend more time with family?  Do we feel like we need to continue our education?  Do we feel like we need to take better care of ourselves mentally or physically? 

 

Finally, we can now take those areas that are important but we feel like we need to do more and set goals.  From those goals we can then establish a plan to achieve them and get started on our way.

 

Happy Goal Setting!

Rosanne

770.995.8556

www.dtsorganizing.com

Tags: Uncategorized by organizing atlanta
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As kids go back to school in the coming days and weeks this is a good time to establish habits to start a successful new school year!

 

1. Talk to your children about their schedule.  During the summer many children stay up later and sleep later in the mornings and now have to adjust.  Don’t wait until the night before to make this schedule change.
2. Make sure that they have all of their school supplies needed; not just for school but at home.  It is good for kids to have duplicate items at their desk at home or where they do their homework.  This saves time and stress.  Most of these items are very inexpensive; especially when buying them at back to school time.
3. Be sure to get the school calendar and record the important dates on your personal or family calendar.  This will save much stress over conflicts later in the school year and allow everyone to be more prepared.
4. Create a plan for school papers.  Where will they go?  What will you keep?  It is good to have a file or box to keep kids papers in for the school year for each child.  If you can make decisions readily, just keep those samples of their work that are special.  If this is difficult, keep the majority of it and review and purge to keep the special items a few times a year when it is easier having all their work together.  Do not store anything with food on it!
5. Determine the best communication method with your child’s teacher.  Is it via notes in their folder?  Is it e-mail?  Be careful about last minute e-mail messages to their teachers when they might be absent and a substitute will not have access.
6. Kid love to have choices.  When it comes to snacks for school, create a box of choices in the pantry of “acceptable snacks” and allow them to choose each day what they want to bring.
7. Mornings before school can get stressful; especially with regard to choosing what to wear.  This can be more difficult with younger children but often teens have a similar slowdown in the morning.  Have kids get in the habit of choosing what they will wear the night before.  For younger kids, you can have them choose what they will wear over the weekend for the entire week and label them.  This gives them more independence during the week.
8. Finally, see what other opportunities are available at your child’s school to get involved in.  In the younger ages they can gain new experiences before they get to “set in their ways”.  Introduce them to what is available, such as chess clubs, student council, jump rope teams, etc. 

 

 

Rosanne

770.995.8556

www.dtsorganizing.com

Tags: Uncategorized by organizing atlanta
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Do you stress out when you have to plan for a party or group gathering?  If not good, but if you do here are 10 tips to plan a successful party without the stress.

 

1. Start planning early.  Waiting too long to start is the greatest source of stress.
2. Next, define what kind of party it is?  Is it a child’s party, adult party, family party, birthday party, holiday party or other?  When do you plan/want to have the party?  Decide on the possible dates of the party and the time of day that would be best.
3. Decide on the number of attendees and the activities planned.  Much of the event planning will be based upon this information. 
4. Decide on whether the party will be held inside, outside or both and any contingencies there will be for weather issues.
5. Decide on what food will be served and whether you will be preparing the food, purchasing the food to serve or having a caterer.  If you are using a caterer determine whether they will be setting up the food or setting up and serving the food.  Communicate with them as to exactly what they will be bringing.  Will they bring serving utensils, ice, paper products, etc?  Determine when they will need a final headcount so that you can set your RSVP date accordingly.
6. If it is a child’s birthday or special occasion, will there be favors and will you be preparing/making them or purchasing them?
7. Decide on an agenda for the party if desired.  Will you need some type of ice breaker activity or appetizer?  Will you need name tags?
8. Send out invitations at least 2 weeks in advance with a RSVP date and contact information.  Unfortunately, these days you will need to take into consideration that everyone will not RSVP and how you plan to deal with that.
9. If you are preparing the food yourself; make it easy on yourself and plan on as many things as possible that can be made ahead of time and refrigerated or popped in the oven the day of the party.  Purchase paper goods and non perishable items in advance so that you have that off you list.
10. Finally enjoy the party.  Make sure someone is taking lots of pictures and get e-mail addresses so that you can share pictures electronically.  Also, for kid’s parties, a group picture makes a great thank you note to those who attend.

 

Enjoy!

Rosanne

www.dtsorganizing.com

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: Uncategorized by organizing atlanta
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There are many “back to school” subjects to discuss in the coming weeks, but now we will start with helping our children prepare for school in a not so obvious way; preparing their rooms to be a comfortable place to both relax and study.

 

Here are some easy steps to help accomplish this task:

1. Plan to set aside an appropriate amount of time for the task.  I would suggest about 2- 4 hours depending on the condition of the room and the age of the child. 
2. Plan to participate with your child; this should be a teaching opportunity.
3. Have the right tools:  dark trash bags, bags or boxes to sort and a notebook and pen.
4. Go through each area; shelf, drawer, closet and determine with your child which items no longer have value to anyone – this is trash and goes in the dark trash bags.  Decide what is no longer needed, outgrown, used or unwanted and put in a donate box; use the notebook and pen to record these “donations” so that you will be ready when you are done to send those items on their way.  Determine items that are still needed or used but do not belong in this room; put in a “labeled” box, bag, or area to move later to the appropriate area.
5. Those items now remaining should be properly located and stored in their room so that what is used most often is the most convenient for them to reach; for instance, place current season clothing on the easiest to reach shelves and closet rods.   Also label items and locations as needed to help your child know where things go when they are removed from their storage place.  Clear containers can sometimes eliminate the need for labels since the contents can be seen.  When choosing containers, make sure lids stay on properly, containers stack reliably and that you measure the storage location before purchasing containers to be sure to get the best fit within the shelving or other storage areas.
6. Finally, make sure your child has the resource they need to do homework, projects, etc. This is a good time to make sure your child has supplies available that they use most without having to “hunt” them down in the house.  The back-to-school sales are a great time to gather those items when they are readily available and inexpensive.

           

 

Rosanne

www.dtsorganizing.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: Uncategorized by organizing atlanta
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It is hard for Americans these days to sit down to even one family meal together.  This was at one time a simple routine in our lives that has been out prioritized by the hustle and bustle of each day.  Don’t know what to cook, don’t know how to cook, and/or don’t have time to cook…..   

 

I read and have now heard multiple times recently in the news that indications from a report in the New England Journal of Medicine published in March of 2005 show how our eating habits can actually reduce our life expectancy.

“For the first time in two centuries, the current generation of children in America may have shorter life expectancies than their parents, according to a new report, which contends that the rapid rise in childhood obesity, if left unchecked, could shorten life spans by as much as five years”

 

What can we do to make the event of family meal time a little easier and likely to be accomplished?  First take a look at what you are eating each day for a month.  Choose those meals that you feel are contributing to the health of your family and that you enjoy.  Plan those meals and others you find to enjoy in advance each week. 

 

How do you do this?  Make a list of those meals on index cards and keep them handy in a simple index box or container.  Each week, take time to review those cards and choose meals for each day of the week.  It is o.k. to include index cards for days to “eat out” or “left overs”.  You can use these cards to not only list the meal title but also the ingredients if you wish or the title and page number to your favorite cook book.  You can also take these cards with you to the grocery store to shop or make a list of ingredients from them to shop for your weekly groceries.  As an extra help you can make a place in your kitchen to post those cards so that you have them visible to you and your family to see each day.  This will also help with remembering to take out meat to thaw, to prepare items ahead of time items that you plan to use multiple time during the week; like chopping onions.  This can really take the difficulty out of planning meals each week.

 

If you should want to use a template to help you plan out your weekly meals you can also use the Menu Planner that can be easily printed from the Defining Time & Space, under the Resources button @ www.dtsorganizing.com

 

Hope your meals are happy & healthy,

Rosanne

www.dtsorganizing.com

 

 

Tags: Uncategorized by organizing atlanta
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