How to Organize Your Digital Files

I recently ran into the following dilemma: my files were taking over my computer’s hard drive to the point where everything operated more slowly and my computer begin sending me system messages warning me that my storage was almost full. Similar to when I purged my digital photos, I ended up going through about 2,000 documents. Well, that’s one mistake I won’t ever be making again. I hope you don’t ever have to make it either. Here’s where I was going wrong:
  1. I wasn’t processing documents on a regular basis. I’d scan written meeting notes to transcribe into Word docs and never do it. I’d dump files in the folder marked “Inbox” on my desktop and never go through it. Now I make going through my computer inbox part of my weekly review so I can tackle my processing in bite-sized chunks instead of trying to clean all of my files up at once.
  2. Not naming files as soon as I created them meant I relied a lot on my memory to store important information, like when and where my photos were taken for example. I’m taking care to label each of my files correctly and accurately so I can find what I need quickly.
  3. Not being able to let go meant that I was holding onto a lot of things that were a waste of space- literally. Bad photos, old school projects, drafts of things that are so bad they’ll never see the light of day- these are all things that need to go.
  4. I never took advantage of external hard drives or cloud-based storage systems, meaning I kept a lot of archival material in with projects I was currently working on, which made me feel like I was wading through files every time I went to look for something.
  5. I didn’t take advantage of the “Folders” function on my computer. Instead of keeping al of your files in your downloads folder, or dumping all your stuff onto your desktop (which can make your computer run slower), file away documents and photos that are clearly labelled and follow a system that works best for you. Depending on your OS you can further organize your folders by colour-coding or designating tags. Or go the old-fashioned route and use letters, numbers and symbols to organize and prioritize your folders so they fit in with your workflow.

I’ve found from experience that staying organized is one of the keys to maintain a balanced, more productive lifestyle. I’m trying to figure out the best way to organize my life here, or click here for some of the best methods for managing your time. For more ways to keep it all together, click here.

How do you organize your life? Inquiring minds want to know. Tell us below or send pics of your beautifully organized stuff to keepingbusyb@gmail.com.

10 Reasons Being Organized is Good for You

It actually is. I hear all the naysayers right now: it’s a waste of time! You’re over-complicating things! Organizing makes you anal!
Here’s my favourite (it’s something an ex once said to me): “What’s the point? You’re just organizing for the sake of organizing!”
Well…yeah. That’s kind of the point. Because (say it with me now) organizing is good for you.
Don’t believe me? Here’s some of the reasons why you should:
  • Being organized saves you time and stress getting out the door in the morning.
  • Being organized makes it easier to tidy up, which means you can have guests over without feeling embarrassed or apologizing for the mess
  • Being organized means you can let the dog-sitter/baby-sitter/housekeeper/assistant/house guest know where everything is (and they don’t have to call you in a panic!).
  • Being organized gives you more space to fill your home with the things you really like and want.
  • Being organized means you’ll finally find that thing you’ve been looking for (and saves you from looking for things in the future)
  • Being organized may be the key to finding motivation for that project that you’ve been meaning to take on for awhile.
  • Being organized means you can sail through the holidays with less stress.
  • Being organized saves you money because you’re not constantly replacing lost items, paying for quick fixes, or shopping in a panic.
  • Being organized means being more productive and getting your work done faster.
  • Being organized means you have more time for the people and things that you love.

I’ve found from experience that staying organized is one of the keys to maintain a balanced, more productive lifestyle. I’m trying to figure out the best way to organize my life here, or click here for some of the best methods for managing your time. For more ways to keep it all together, click here.

How do you organize your life? Inquiring minds want to know. Tell us below or send pics of your beautifully organized stuff to keepingbusyb@gmail.com.

The Spring Cleaning Challenge

March is a funny time of year up here in Canada. (Is it like that in your part of the world too?) We spend most of the month in the weather limbo. Some days it feels like warm weather is just around the corner; other days it feels like winter will never end. No wonder we turn our thoughts to spring and start feeling the urge to clean out our houses. It’s this longing for warmer weather that I think drives our need to perform a spring cleaning ritual every year.

Springtime is a great opportunity to get cleaned and organized for the warmer season ahead. It’s also a great opportunity, however, to start from ground zero and give your home a refresh. For some of you this just might mean going through your basic spring cleaning routine. For others it’s the time to get all those little annoying tasks that always seem to get away from you while you’re cleaning. And for those of you who have trouble sticking to a regular cleaning routine, this might the time of year to put one into action.

A spring cleaning ritual doesn’t even have to be confined to the act of cleaning. Going through your things, organizing and purging are also all great ways to refresh your home.

If you’re feeling listless, bored or stuck then it could be time for a spring clean. During the month of March I’ll be posting some helpful tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way to get you and your home cleaned up and feeling restored. (Plus I’ve got a back catalogue of blog posts that you can refer to when you’re embarking on your own projects: I’ve got even more ways to get organized, be more productive, care for your home and manage your lifestyle.)

But for now, my best advice for you is this: take the time to look out the window and daydream about the weather getting warmer. Imagine yourself living comfortably in your clean, organized home. Imagine spending more time on your hobbies and with loved ones instead of constantly trying to catch up on your cleaning. Imagine yourself enjoying the outdoors and leaving your home worry-free, knowing that when you come back to it you’ll feel just as refreshed and relaxed as you did when you left.

This is your spring cleaning motivation. Use it and tag along with me on my journey this month. I hope you’re all in for the ride.

It may seem old-fashioned, but I believe that your home is a reflection of who you are. Having a clean and functional household is one of the best ways to cultivate self-expression and a sense of fun in your spare time. Here’s my best practices on achieving that in your own home, as well as during the holidays and in your personal life.

What are some of your secrets to a clean and organized house? Comment below or send your pictures to keepingbusyb@gmail.com.

You, in Lists

I am the Queen of Lists. (It’s not a self-proclaimed title either; just ask anyone who knows me.) I freaking love them. I have lists for just about everything and around this time of year I like to review them (especially if I’m doing a yearly review, which I highly recommend you do as well.)

What kind of lists am I talking about? I’m talking about the lists that make up you: the things you like and dislike, the things that you think about, the dreams that you have. You have to have at least some of those written down, don’t you?

Here are some of the things that you may or may not have lists about:

  • favourite books/books to read/favourite genres
  • music to try
  • places you’ve visited
  • places to go
  • foods to try/favourite foods/restaurants
  • bucket lists/goals for week, month, year, season, vacation or life
  • movies to watch/favourite movies/TV shows
  • favourite ways of coping with stress
  • rainy day list/wish list
  • ideas for parties/birthday gifts/Christmas gifts
  • favourite board games/card games/party games
  • ideas for garden/outdoor space/home
  • favorite drinks/drinks to try
  • packing lists
  • websites to check out
  • books/items that friends have borrowed
  • savings goals
  • fitness goals
  • beauty products/treatments to try

I keep all of my “me” lists in my planner so when I’m planning a shopping trip, organizing a movie night with friends or just deciding which book to read next I have the all close at hand. It makes my daily planning more personal and purpose-driven.

Looking to try this in your own life? Here’s some examples of some of the lists I have going now:

  • This is the time of year I like to review the list of all of the items I’ve borrowed off of friends over the year. (And by items I mean books. Check out what I’m catching up on this winter here.)
  • I don’t know anything about wine so I always consult my list of favourites before I go to the store; honestly, I draw a blank every time I get there.
  • A lot of conversations with friends these days involve TV shows they’ve been binge-watching on Netflix. I try to keep track of the titles mentioned so I always have something to watch instead of scrolling through the list of Netflix recommendations for an hour. (I think my next one is Vikings. What do you guys think?)

What are some of the lists that you keep about your likes and dislikes? Where do you store them? Are there any ideas for lists that I didn’t include here? Give me a shout below or let me know at keepingbusyb@gmail.com and I’ll add your list to my list of lists!

I’m always looking for the best ways to manage my time and workflow more effectively and efficiently. If you’re looking for more ways to increase your productivity as well, click here for more strategies that I’ve developed and researched and here for more ways to stay organized. For more ways to deal with your busy lifestyle, click here.

Stop Talking About What You Need to Do

I normally love the holidays but personal circumstances left me feeling a little low this past season. I found myself getting irritated a lot more easily with the people around me and the tasks I had at hand. Like many people, I was feeling overwhelmed and stressed out until I realized, there was nothing left to do. I was all set for Christmas. The stress that I was feeling was coming from other people and I was taking it on as if it were my own.

In fact, when I think back to the month of December, every time I felt frustrated or panicky was when I was talking to my friends and family about all of the things that were on our to-do lists.

I love my friends and family, obviously, and I love helping them out but I realized that talking about all of the stuff that needed to get done wasn’t actually helping anyone out at all. Not only was I subconsciously taking on other people’s tasks as my own, but we weren’t even doing any of the things that we said we were going to do. We were just talking about it.

And sure, it feels good to talk things out and get a clear picture in your head of what needs to be done. Or maybe you find it helpful to get another opinion about your plan of attack. But the more we talked about what needed to be done, the more we talked about it, and the more we put it off. Strategies were formed, dissolved and discussed over and over again. It felt like we were being productive and we weren’t. We were wasting precious time and it was making us even more stressed out.

Even though I don’t make New Year’s resolutions (at least, ones that stick), this year I’m enforcing a new rule on my life: do the s#&! you say you’re going to do. Don’t talk about it; just do it. (Nike has been saying it for years, so it must be true, right?)

I mean, we can still talk. It’s good to check in with friends and family, or to ask for help, even if it’s just organizing your thoughts. But let’s multi-task, shall we? The more we get done, the less we’ll have to discuss, and then just maybe we can talk about something fun- or we could just brag about how 2019 is going to be the best year ever!

What are some of the things that you’ve been talking about forever that just never seem to get done? This is the year we’re going to do it! Tell us all about your plans below or email me at keepingbusyb@gmail.com and let me know how it’s going.

I’m always looking for the best ways to manage my time and workflow more effectively and efficiently. If you’re looking for more ways to increase your productivity as well, click here for more strategies that I’ve developed and researched and here for more ways to stay organized. For more ways to deal with your busy lifestyle, click here.

Reclaim Your Home From the Holidays!

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Cleaning up after the holidays is the worst. Not only is cleaning kind of a chore (har har), but you’re also coming down from that holiday high and finding yourself staring down at the long, dark tunnel of the winter months with absolutely nothing to look forward to until the spring.

I’m kind of a buzz-kill, aren’t I?

The Swedes have it down pat, though, when it comes to holiday clean-up: a whole other holiday known as Julgransplungering, or literally “the plundering of the Christmas tree”. It’s kind of a holiday unto itself that usually occurs the twentieth or so day after Christmas. There’s food, and singing, and one last dance around the tree (yup, just like a maypole) to mark the end of the holiday. I always regarded it as the “final hurrah” of the Christmas season before it’s back to the reality of winter.

If it’s something you’re into, I highly recommend conducting your own modern adaptation. Mine usually involves a glass of wine and one last listen of all my Christmas playlists as I take down all of my decorations. It’s not quite like dancing around a tree, although I may or may not do a happy dance after my apartment is looking clean and back to normal.

The time of year is another great opportunity to review your greeting card list (Don’t have one? Want one? Click here to learn more on how to assemble your own) and make note of any changes in address, or personal information. I always try to update my list to include anyone who’s given me a card during the past season. Hopefully there are no deletions on your list!

I’ve got a Christmas budget, too (read all about that here), so after the holidays I go through my receipts and make notes on how much I spent, saved, and of course, what I ended up buying. Sometimes I’ll come up with new ideas for gifts after the exchange has occurred so I’ll note those too, along with my purchasing information like sizes, color preferences, etc. It sounds like a pain but it really helps me with my shopping the next time the holidays roll around!

Every season I find that my decorations and other holiday fare grows exponentially in comparison to the amount of storage I have allotted for these items. Taking the time to put everything neatly away allows me to discard any unwanted items, and gives me a chance to make notes about repairs. (I chat a little more about storing holiday décor here.)

Dealing with the aftermath of the holiday season is not necessarily a party. (Although the Swedes have made it so.) But the act of cleaning up and organizing everything afterwards has become almost a ritual of closure for me. It’s a way of embracing the calm and restoring order after a busy and often anxiety-inducing time. I also find it clears the air and gives me a sense of renewal and purpose for the year ahead.

The final act of the Christmas tree plundering when I was younger involved a procession with the tree out of the door and to the yard, where we’d toss it onto the ground in a grand finale. Although I never actually threw the tree itself I found the whole thing kind of satisfying. There’s no tree-throwing in my version now as an adult, but there’s still something to be said for engaging in the ritual- it leaves you with that same sense of completion.

KBwB-BFlower-50I’m so happy to have spent another holiday season with you and excited to start a brand new year on the blog. What are some of your end-of-holiday rituals? Have you ever plundered a Christmas tree? (Have you ever plundered anything?) Tell me all about it below or email me at keepingbusyb@gmail.com.

I love talking about the holidays so if you’re still feeling that holiday fever, you can read more about the most wonderful time of the year here. Interested in cleaning up and getting over with? I write lots about organizing your household and your life here and here.

How to Create the Inspiration Binder of Your Dreams

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The ball-room at IKEA was for amateurs. Or at least, that’s what my sister and I always used to think. The real thrill of accompanying our parents to the flat-packed, furniture store lay in exploring the faux living spaces that were set up throughout the store. Playing in all of those little apartments and lofts fostered a love of home decor in us at an early age. The smaller and more efficient the space was, the more interesting it became. For me, these spaces represented freedom and independence and I longed to have one of my own. (My parents sometimes joke about how I was ready to leave the nest even before I had reached high school.)

Fast forward years and years later, through dorm rooms and crumbling student housing shared with too many roommates, to a few years ago when I was ready to take the plunge and get my own big-girl apartment. (Which was like, the only thing I had been waiting for my whole life.) Being the organized person I am, however, I needed a place to keep track of all of my projects so I created my very own inspiration binder for the project.

If you’ve never made an inspiration binder, I suggest you take a look at your calendar, make yourself a date, grab yourself a binder, and start planning. It’s never too early to start. I created one of my dream apartment, but you can make one for your dream cottage, your dream vacation, your dream wardrobe- your dream whatever. My personal organizing system relies on a series of binders, but you can use whatever works best for you- whether it be a notebook, a scrapbook, a folder or a duo-tang. Anything goes as long as it can hold all of the information that you need.

However, if you decide to follow my lead and use a binder, I highly recommend making the best of the format and getting creative- use dividers, sticky tabs and folders to organize to track information and keep it separate; and use sticky notes, highlighters and colored pens to highlight important information. I use page protectors to house important documents and flimsy materials like paint chips and magazine tears. Depending on the size of your binder and how organized you are, you may want to invest in binder supplies such as three-hole punches, pencil cases with grommets, and specialized sleeves to house additional material you may to keep close by.

Once the binder itself is assembled, gather all of the necessary materials you might need to include to work on your project. (Click here for more info on how I organize projects.) This list may include things like magazine tears, paint chips, sketches, budgets, spreadsheets, checklists, mind maps, correspondence or legal documents. Similar to the command central binder, your inspiration binder should be a one-stop shop for all of the required resources to make your dream project a reality.

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I found assembling an inspiration binder for my dream apartment an incredibly valuable process in organizing the massive project that was moving into my own place, but your inspiration binder definitely doesn’t have to be as technical as mine. In fact, it doesn’t have to be technical at all. Over the years, I’ve had inspiration binders devoted to recipes I wanted to try, gardens I admired, and organized spaces I wanted to emulate. Yes, their practical uses were limited but the enjoyment they provided me was endless and still remains to this day one of my favorite ways that I’ve organized my clippings and tear sheets. It was literally like having my own magazine.

Needless to say, my parents weren’t too surprised when I showed them my inspiration binder, nor were they shocked when I borrowed and subsequently returned their respective copies of the IKEA catalogue with pages missing. I think they knew exactly where those clippings had ended up.

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What have you been dreaming lately? Comment below or let’s keep it between us when you write me at keepingbusywithb@gmail.com.

If you liked this article and want to learn more about organizing projects and binders, I highly recommend taking a look at how to assemble your own Command Central binder here, and the best way to define your projects here. For more ideas on getting organized and keeping busy, click here.

My New Wardrobe Rule

KBB_clutchesI used to play this sad little game with myself whenever I was having a bad day- I would go into my closet and I would pick out my most hated outfit and wear with an angry kind of pride, as if I wanted to project to all of the world that I was having a bad day. I was determined to make myself look as ugly on the outside as I felt on the inside.

The worst was whenever I received a compliment at the office or out on the street about the outfit that I had chosen. I couldn’t understand how clothing that I felt made me look frumpy and bloated could be admired by a stranger. Maybe they were just being nice in order to mock me, or worse, pity me. Then I’d get angry and think, “How dare you try to ruin my bad mood with your kind words!”

I am so twisted.

One day I was explaining this weird little habit to a friend of mine when he held up his hand to stop me. “Wait, hold on. Why do you keep clothes that you don’t like?”

So maybe he was a guy and he didn’t really understand. Or maybe I was the one not getting it. After all, I had half a closet’s worth of clothes that I didn’t wear half of the time because I had grown sick of them, or because they were old and had fallen out of fashion.

I think I said something crazy like I needed variety and we both thought it was weird so he dropped the subject, but ultimately in this scenario I really was the crazy person because I could not let go of things that made me feel badly about myself.

It took a lot of soul-searching but I eventually decided that I did not want to be that person that held on to things for the sake of having “things”. I wanted, I deserved, to fill my home with only the things that I loved. Why shouldn’t that ultimatum apply to clothing and accessories as well?

So I purged my closet of all of the things that no longer fit, were bad choices, or- let’s face it- were just plain unflattering. My wardrobe was decidedly slimmer, but I was satisfied- it was actually really easy to give up an abundance of choices in favor of a smaller wardrobe full of favorites that made me look and feel good.

It may seem silly to think of re-organizing or purging your closet as something that can improve your life emotionally, but paring down my wardrobe using my new rule has given me a boost in my self-esteem. I still have the occasional bad hair day (like, pretty much every other day) but I’m buoyed by the knowledge that even though I might feel like I’m dying on the inside, outwardly I can project an image of competence and self-confidence and show people the best of myself even when I’m feeling at my worst.

Plus, it makes getting out of the door in the morning way easier for this night owl. Trust me on this one.

KBwB-BFlower-50Have you undertaken a closet re-organization lately? I want to hear all of the grisly details. Indulge me below or drop me a line at keepingbusyb@gmail.com. And if you’re looking for even more inspiration on how to get your wardrobe just the way you want it, I’ve got some best practices for organizing your clothing and more here.

5 Organizing Dilemmas That Have Me Puzzled

KBB_organizing_dilemmasIn my social circle I am known as a “fixer”- people often come to me for advice when they’re struggling either personally or professionally (one of the many reasons I ended up getting into the freelance business).

So it’s pretty frustrating for me when I come across any organizing dilemma- as few and far between as they may be- because it challenges my belief that almost anything can be organized. I’m not one to strive for a perfectly organized home but I do believe in finding solutions that ease and comfort to your lifestyle. One of the keys to good organization is finding a place for everything in your home, but there are still a few challenges I face when organizing my home that I’m afraid to admit have me stumped.

1) Batteries- Storing a fresh pack seems like an easy enough task, but where do you store the dead ones that are waiting for disposal? (In Toronto, dead batteries must be dropped off to a facility to be recycled specially. There are drop-off containers in most stores where batteries are sold, like electronics and office supply stores.) How do you not mix up the two? I honestly can’t decide on the best place to store them.

2) Hangers- What do you do with hangers not in use in your closet? Seeing a closet of empty hangers drives me up the wall. I try to stash the ones that I’m not using on a shelf towards the back of my closet, but keeping up this practice requires a lot of maintenance and honestly makes me feel a little anal. (Stop nodding your head yes.)

3) Food storage containers- I’m sure the parents and lovers of leftovers everywhere have the same lament- how do you store them? Where do you store them? How on Earth do you keep track of the lids?!? There’s nothing worse than scooping up your food in a stray container only to find its missing the lid. Tell me this has happened to you, too.

4) Dirty cloths and rags- I try to use these as much as possible instead of paper towels, but I wish I had a dedicated separate place to store the soiled ones while they await laundering. With a tiny kitchen and no dedicated laundry space, however, this dream of a space for super dirty laundry seems like a dream that’s pie in the sky.

5) Photo negatives- This move to the digital age has allowed the sharing and storage of photos to become easier, but now that film has fallen out of favor I’m torn as to what to do with my old negatives. With (most) of the original photos in tact and scanned as a digital back-up to my computer, do I really need to keep these? Am I doing it out of nostalgia? Paranoia? Negatives are just another item on a long list of things I like to hoard.

There’s an old saying about shoemaker’s children not having any shoes, and the same can principles can be applied to an organizer’s home. Despite being able to tackle problems in other people’s home with ease, it can be difficult to gain insight into your own challenges when certain obstacles seem permanently stuck in your way. Is it lack of space? Awkward configurations? Maybe you’re like me and have trouble letting go, or could be the fear of making any change that prevents you from finding a solution. Either way, if your barriers are physical or mental, it’s comforting to know that even the most talented organizers (ahem) have their own unique hang-ups that can also be solved by a glance from a fresh pair of eyes.

KBwB-BFlower-50You’ve heard my organizing confessions; now I want to hear yours! Write to me at keepingbusyb[a]gmail.com or comment below and let me know what’s been on your mind. Or maybe you’ve got a solution to one of my dilemmas. In that case, you’re my new best friend.

Sometimes I talk about other ways I like to organize too. You can find them all here on the Busy section of my blog.

 

How Do You Know When It’s Time for a Makeover?

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Change is something that I usually approach kicking and screaming. I wouldn’t necessarily say that I am a creature of habit, but I am the type of person that likes to take the time to plan things out. The decision to make a change usually comes from hours of careful research, surveying practically everyone I know, and a couple of hours of procrastination which I usually write-off as time to “soul-search”.

Since planning can be such a long process for me it’s natural for me to feel reluctant about any type of change. Organizing my space is no exception. I put a lot of thought into my furniture placement and organizing systems so the prospect of changing anything seems daunting. I won’t do it unless I feel like it’s absolutely necessary.

I had this friend in high school who used to rearrange her room constantly. It drove me up the wall. I never understood why she spent her weekends fiddling with arrangements that I thought were already pretty and functional. “Yeah, but I was just getting so sick of it,” she would complain to me. “It just wasn’t working for me.”

It was kind of a revelation for me. I never gave anything in my life a makeover because I felt that making any change to a system I had so carefully and lovingly developed could be interpreted as a failure. In a way it was- I failed myself any time I ignored a way to improve my life because I wanted to avoid putting in the work of a do-over. I hated how it plagued me with uncertainty- what if something goes wrong? What if I go completely off-track?

Maybe it will. Or maybe it won’t. But it’s a silly thing to avoid change for change’s sake if it might have the potential to make your life better.

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I decided to rearrange my bookshelf for the millionth time this past weekend (for my on my philosophy on an ever-changing bookshelf, click here). I was holding onto books that I had already read and wouldn’t again; papers were misfiled; and I couldn’t find anything. It was time to let go of my worry and make a change. I think it actually turned out pretty well. I was looking for something last night and I knew its exact location right away. That in and of itself is pretty amazing.

I don’t recommend making changes on a whim- if I did the same thing, I would have painted my place at least twelve more times after moving in. But I do encourage you to let go of the status quo and challenge yourself to make life easier and more efficient for you. The moment things start to go haywire is a sign that things need to change. You wouldn’t buy your least favorite flavor of ice cream at the store. Why would you put up with something less than marvelous in your home?

The secret to knowing when you’re ready for a makeover is you. You already know when you need to make the change. Trust yourself. Admit when something isn’t working. Don’t be afraid of hard work, or making the wrong decision. The makeovers that you undertake in your home, at your office- even the ones you perform on yourself- are not due to your stupidity, and they are not a sign of failure. It’s a sign that you’re invested in yourself, that having a happier, more fulfilled is important to you, and there’s no one that can take away that feeling.

And if you’re feeling anxious about it, just remind yourself of all the lovely feels you will feel once your makeover is done and you text everyone you know a picture of your rainbow bookshelf.

At least, that’s how I think it should be done.

KBwB-BFlower-50Do you have a project that you’ve recently undertaken, or a makeover that you’ve recently been completed? I need to see before-and-after pics, stat! Share them below or send them my way at keepingbusyb@gmail.com. I’m always looking for more motivation to get projects going.

If you know it’s time for a makeover in your life and you don’t know where to start, check out all of my organizing-type posts here. Are the tasks feeling insurmountable? All you need is a rainy afternoon or a snowy evening to get started.