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Live Talk

Live Talk > The Best Ideas For Getting Organized With Asha Dornfest Of Parent Hacks

The Best Ideas For Getting Organized With Asha Dornfest Of Parent Hacks

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- Emily 3 comments
- We are SO excited for this Talk with Asha, Christine and Meagan! Getting organized is a big focus for me this year so this conversation couldn't be coming at a better time!!!!!
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Cooper 0 comments
- Welcome everyone! This is going to be an amazing and productive conversation today! So glad you all are here!
  
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  about 1 month ago

- manny 0 comments
- Looking forward to the live talk!
  
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  about 1 month ago

- saracarl 3 comments
- I can't think of anyone I'd rather spend my lunch break "with" than Asha. :)
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Homa24 4 comments
- Perfect timing for this chat: my husband was working with our new label maker yesterday and he put the pictured labels in our medicine cabinet in the laundry room. He was worried since the whole shelf wasn't full it would be filled in randomly the way it always seems to (the label reads: "other meds / no toothpaste / no junk"). I think he is hinting at something? :)
  
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  about 1 month ago

- BusyDad 4 comments
- My wife's favorite thing in the world, even more than chocolate, is organizing. I believe that she's even cataloged all the contents of her brain on spreadsheets. I should tune in just to take some tips that I can spring out of nowhere later. The look of shock on her face would be priceless.
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Kayla S 0 comments
- So excited for this chat! My mom always says, "Organization is the key," and I tend to believe her. It makes everything work better :)
  
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  about 1 month ago

- loranstefani 1 comment
- Item #1 on my organizational wish-list: to purchase the Swiss Army tool that you have as your logo. Just think - replaceable sucker heads! :)
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Meagan Francis 2 comments
- Looking forward to discussing organization with all of you!
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Christine Koh 4 comments
- Hello folks! I am here and looking forward to chatting with you all!
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Amy McCready 1 comment
- So happy to be here with all of you! I'm ready for some organizing ideas!
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Emily 2 comments
- Welcome everyone!! Asha, Christine and Meagan, we are THRILLED you are here. And do we need this Talk!!!! :)
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Brandie 3 comments
- So happy to be here. My house, in short, is a mess. No real organization has happened in almost a year! Yikes! We've just been barely able to keep up with cleaning. So I really do need all the help I can get!
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Erin O 8 comments
- I have a love-hate relationship with organizing, especially when it comes to my desk. I tend to let papers pile up for months before finally filing them or putting them in binders.
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Emily 2 comments
- Everyone, click the play button on the video recorder at the top! Asha is doing an intro video!
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Emily 2 comments
- Asha, Thanks for the great intro!! You look as beautiful as ever!!!
  
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  about 1 month ago

Talk Host
- parenthacks 4 comments
- Video off! That was fun. OK, ready to go!
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Meagan Francis 3 comments
- Loved Asha's intro video - and that she admits she learned to get organized at the "school of hard knocks." Baby #3 did it for me. I realized I couldn't continue in my sloppy ways and ever get out the door or find anything I needed!
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Christine Koh 0 comments
- OK people -- ask away, we'd love to help with your organizing quandaries!
  
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  about 1 month ago

Talk Host
- parenthacks 2 comments
- I thought I'd start with some basic "big picture" ideas and we can then get into specifics.
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Brandie 3 comments
- Also books. We have so many books. They dont' fit on our shelves. But I struggle to get rid of them. It's like their little friends and if I take them out of the house I'll break their heart. Which is silly. I know books are inanimate objects. But still. So hard!
  
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  about 1 month ago

Talk Host
- parenthacks 1 comment
- My overarching recommendation when you're approaching Getting Organized (with capital letters) is SIMPLIFY, ROUTINIZE, DELEGATE.
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Becki 10 comments
- My big problem is paper: I can recycle the junk mail, but it's the bills, the school notices, the things that "something" needs to be done with, but not necessarily right this second. Sound familiar? Any ideas?
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Kayla S 3 comments
- So...my issue is that I have a huuuuuge container of scrapbooking materials. I'm talking books, markers, ribbons, scissors, photos, stickers; I've got it all! Now that I'm starting to organize everything, I find myself at a loss. Do you recommend book shelves, containers, or what? Is there some sort of wonderful thing I should be purchasing to help?
  
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  about 1 month ago

Talk Host
- parenthacks 3 comments
- Simplify: 1) don't organize more STUFF than you need to. (Declutter first.) 2) don't organize more FINELY than you need to. (Don't create files if a shoebox will suffice.)
  
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  about 1 month ago

- SmartyPantsMama 2 comments
- Hi Everyone!
  
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  about 1 month ago

Talk Host
- parenthacks 3 comments
- Routinize: Create routines wherever you can. The more you think through the steps in your regular tasks, the easier they will be to knock off without thinking. I have routines for "getting kids ready for school," "evening cleanup," "work check-in," etc.
  
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  about 1 month ago

Talk Host
- parenthacks 3 comments
- Delegate: once items in your home are decluttered and you have specific routines and places they "live," you can more easily pass along jobs to other members of the family.
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Meagan Francis 3 comments
- One thing I've learned: Papers have a way of attracting more papers, toys more toys, junk more junk, etc. Attack it before it has a chance to grow! BE RUTHLESS!
  
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  about 1 month ago

- indiana 8 comments
- My coupons!! I have yet to find a good organizing tool for them and then I end up loosing them or forgetting to take them to the store. OR I'm so frazzled at the checkout I don't have time to get them out to use.
  
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  about 1 month ago

- SmartyPantsMama 4 comments
- I struggle with ALL those papers especially bills and statements. I have huge piles. How do I handle that?
  
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  about 1 month ago

- saracarl 1 comment
- Do you write your routines down? Post them somewhere? Or just have them in your head?
  
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  about 1 month ago

- saracarl 1 comment
- And do you write down routines for the kids? I'm thinking I need to do this, but haven't...
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Christine Koh 4 comments
- Admittedly, one of my key strategies to establish household harmony is getting stuff BEHIND DOORS. We implemented this storage solution a couple of years ago and it has been perfect for storing dining goods and my daughter’s explosive collection of craft supplies and books. See http://www.bostonmamas.com/2010/07/perfect_storage_solution.html and image hopefully attached here. PERFECTION.
  
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  about 1 month ago

Talk Host
- parenthacks 4 comments
- I've actually put together a page of resources just for you, which I'll be adding to once the chat is over. Here you go:
  
  http://www.parenthacks.com/organizing-tips.html
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Brandie 2 comments
- Does anyone have a household binder? Do you love it? Use it? Hate it? I keep thinking I should start one, but just haven't yet.
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Emily 2 comments
- I love this clipboard idea that Christine just posted from Pinterest. It's From thewrendesign.com.
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Becki 7 comments
- I also have a problem with my daughter's stuff. She's nine. To her, every drawing or craft she makes is sacred, every stuffed animal is a family member. She creates these fabulous and creative installations in her room, but then taking them apart is like destroying her "art." But it looks like a mess to everyone else!
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Meagan Francis 5 comments
- So how many of you feel guilty about throwing away/recycling kids' art? I tend to only keep the stuff that's really unique or that I think will remind me of the child or put a smile on my face in 20 years. To be honest, that's not a whole lot of it. If I'm in doubt, I sometimes put the art on a shelf for a few weeks and see if the child ever asks about it or if I think about it. If no, it gets tossed. :)
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Christine Koh 3 comments
- RE: routines and taming paper clutter, I just responded to someone individually but just wanted to share this brilliant idea on the main thread. I just bought the clipboards to do this.http://pinterest.com/pin/166914729909154126/
  
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  about 1 month ago

- juliepippert 3 comments
- I don't worry about tossing kids' art -- we have one storage tub for the special stuff and otherwise I photograph it if we want to keep a memory of it.
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Erin O 6 comments
- I found this cute DIY calendar on Pinterest the other day, and I'm considering making one to help keep track of schedules. You can use dry-erase markers on the glass of the picture frame, and it will rub right off. Prettier than a standard dry-erase calendar!
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Brandie 3 comments
- On calendars - we have one of those huge desk calendars hanging on the door to our garage. Everyone has to write down anything they want us to know about on that calendar. It works too because we leave the house via that door 97% of the time, so we can see what is coming {as long as, you know, people remember to write things down on it anyway LOL!}
  
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  about 1 month ago

Talk Host
- parenthacks 11 comments
- I'm hearing lots of frustration with how to manage paper without getting overwhelmed. The key (which I have yet to successfully pull off) is to chip away at the piles AND the inflow a little each day.
  
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  about 1 month ago

- loranstefani 5 comments
- We do bi-annual consignment sales for the kids clothes/toys. Anyone have any tips on easily keeping clothes organized by size/season?
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Meagan Francis 4 comments
- How many of you work from home? It took me a long time to come up with a method of keeping track of my deadlines, my kids schedules, and ideas I had brimming that weren't quite "to-do" items yet. I now have a separate wall calendar for family stuff, a desk calendar for work, and then a white board where I write down "big picture" ideas.
  
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  about 1 month ago

Talk Host
- parenthacks 8 comments
- Absolute necessity as you undertake getting organized: a calendar and a to-do list. Whatever format works for you...use it and keep it with you every day. There's NO way to keep everything in your head.
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Christine Koh 5 comments
- RE: paper/art clutter/storage. And I also just mentioned this re: kid's clothes. Think in terms of the concept that the more space you allocate the more you will fill it. We are ruthless. For example, we have one cardboard box per grade to store art/papers from school and one large plastic bin for clothing. When space is limited, it forces you to trim down and only save what you really want to save!
  
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  about 1 month ago

Talk Host
- parenthacks 4 comments
- Keyword from Christine and Meagan: RUTHLESS. Ha! But remember, too, that getting rid of stuff means making decisions, and that can be hard. Be gentle with yourself! You don't have to organize your entire life in one week!
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Meagan Francis 2 comments
- I mentioned in a comment to Asha's post but I think it bears repeating: the key to getting organized isn't finding that one true perfect system (let's face it, we can spend a LOT of time doing that...) it's creating A system. Any system. And then doing it! You can always tweak as you go!
  
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  about 1 month ago

Talk Host
- parenthacks 4 comments
- Jedi to-do list trick: You WILL be interrupted throughout your day. So add rough time estimates to your to-do items (5 mins, 15 mins, 1 hour, etc.). That way, when your kid throws up and your three hours of writing time gets reduced to 15 minutes, you can plug something into that open slot.
  
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  about 1 month ago

Talk Host
- parenthacks 2 comments
- Regarding getting overwhelmed by the process: break it down into steps. Organize a single drawer. Or a single pile of papers. Set the timer for 15 minutes, work with focus, then QUIT and pat yourself on the back.
  
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  about 1 month ago

- loranstefani 10 comments
- We talked about artwork earlier - how about art supplies? Easily accessible (crayons, pencil colors, etc.) vs. deadly weapon (permanent markers, scissors, glue). It can be as simple as low vs. high cabinet space, but I thought I'd throw it out there in case anyone had any creative solutions they'd like to share.
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Christine Koh 5 comments
- There's something else I wanted to toss out there, because I know we are all super busy and juggling a million things. As an entrepreneur and to-do type of gal, I tend to want to do everything myself. But the reality is, sometimes my time is better spent doing client work I love and that pays the bills and outsourcing other organizational tasks. I am a bit obsessed with Task Rabbit for outsourcing. I have used them for everything from household picks ups and purging to event planning and virtual assistant help to rides to the airport! Some examples here: http://www.bostonmamas.com/2011/10/rabbits_to_the_rescue.html
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Meagan Francis 7 comments
- Related to the big picture and Asha's journey to becoming more organized - I would like to debunk the idea that you are either "naturally organized" or a slob. I am FAR from naturally organized, and used to think that trying to get more order in my life would go against my free-spirit ways. But I have come to realize that organizing my life helps me be MORE creative and MORE spontaneous because I'm not wasting time putting out fires!
  
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  about 1 month ago

Talk Host
- parenthacks 8 comments
- C brought up the importance of delegation. Can't repeat this enough. Delegate to your partner, your kids, and to paid help if need be. Swap organizing "services" with a friend. You do NOT need to do this alone, nor should you.
  
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  about 1 month ago

- saracarl 1 comment
- Similar to Erin's dry erase calendar, I like this "routine chart". (It's more a daily to-do, in order.) I love that she puts things like "create" "practice" and "play" on it.
  
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  about 1 month ago

Talk Host
- parenthacks 2 comments
- Wow, time's flying! Just want to remind you all that I will be adding to this resource page based on all of your comments here. So inspiring to hear your voices...we all struggle with the same sorts of things.
  
  http://www.parenthacks.com/organizing-tips.html
  
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  about 1 month ago

- loranstefani 2 comments
- I'm out! Thanks guys for all of the tips - this will go down in history as one of the most productive lunch breaks ever. ;-)
  
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  about 1 month ago

Talk Host
- parenthacks 2 comments
- Also: We can continue the witty repartee on Twitter! @parenthacks @bostonmamas @meaganfrancis (You can also "like" our pages on FB.)
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Meagan Francis 1 comment
- For those of you who have fallen off the wagon....no worries. It happens. Pick at it a little at a time and go easy on yourself.http://thehappiestmom.com/2011/04/on-backsliding-cleaning-and-organizing-is-a-process-not-a-goal/
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Christine Koh 2 comments
- Hey folks, sorry to share a couple more links from my main blog, but these are some of my favorite organizational items...people always comment on them in our house!
  
  1. We have a set of these chalkboard circles in our kitchen for menu planning, schedule notes, household to-do’s. Our 7 year old loves being the scribe!
  http://www.bostonmamas.com/2008/08/chalk_it_up.html
  
  2. A fast and easy way to get photos off your floor/out of boxes and onto your wall.
  http://www.bostonmamas.com/2010/12/easy_staircase_gallery_walls.html
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Emily 5 comments
- Wow, has time FLOWN!!!! It's so interesting to see the themes that have come up and helpful to know that we're all doing our best with similar challenges!
  
  We will post a summary of highlights later. There is so much here, I'm not quite sure how we'll narrow it down, but we will!
  
  Thank you Asha, Christine and Meagan for leading this inspiring, creative conversation!!!!!! We all learned a TON!!!!!!!!
  
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  about 1 month ago

Talk Host
- parenthacks 5 comments
- Well folks, time's up! I wish we could do this longer. There's something so wonderful about knowing we're all in this together! Thank you so much for taking time with us!
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Christine Koh 1 comment
- Such a pleasure chatting with you all! If you have additional questions, please feel free to ping me on Twitter @bostonmamas xoxox
  
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  about 1 month ago

Featured Guest
- Meagan Francis 1 comment
- Loved discussing "good-enough" organizing with you all :) Would love to see you on Twitter or FB if you want to keep up the discussion! http://www.facebook.com/thehappiestmom http://www.twitter.com/meaganfrancis
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Cooper 1 comment
- That was awesome. WOW. I cannot believe the amount of amazing pointers and inspiration. Thank you so much everyone. Asha, Christine, Meagan - YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
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  about 1 month ago

- ClumberKim 2 comments
- I'm late but I got kidnapped for lunch. I'll be reading through this talk. Thanks to all who participated!
  
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  about 1 month ago

- Cooper 0 comments
- Hi everyone! You can read the full Talk Summary (with a Top 20 list even!) of this AMAZING Talk here: http://www.themotherhood.com/blog/?p=1775
  
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  30 days ago

Talk Description

Join Asha Dornfest of Parent Hacks to swap tips and tricks for organizing your home with a minimum of fuss, time and stress. We'll all learn from Asha, but, even better, we'll share our own best ideas. Come be inspired and learn new ways to get rid of the clutter and tidy up your home life!

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Jan 23,2012 Monday, 1:00pm EST

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