I’m on a mini-sabbatical and have lined up a few posts ahead of time, like this one for first time parents. It’s a bit of a sequel to my guest post for Geralin Thomas about things you should do to baby proof your home. Did you baby proof before or after you brought your little one home?

It’s time for a new 5 Minute Organizing Challenge! What can you do in 5 minutes to gain a little order in your life? You can put a few things back in place or gather your important items. Here’s a new set of five things for you to consider adding to your routine this month. Try try them on for size and feel free to suggest a few of your own.

 1. Install smoke detectors if you don’t have them already. If you do, test them and/or put in new batteries.

2. While you’re at it, install a carbon monoxide detector, too.

3. Do you have a fire extinguisher in your house? If not, add it to your list of things to buy.

4. Need gates? Put them in off-limit areas, especially those with stairs.

5. Adjust the temperature of your water heater to lower than 120° F to avoid scalding.

*EXTRA CREDIT*

6. Be sure that your child’s regular caregiver(s) is healthy and up to date with all his/her shots, like this one.

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Check out the December 2011 Organizing Challenge

I’m taking a sabbatical and have lined up a few posts ahead of time, like this one about getting control of meal times. What are some of your favorite tips for staying on top of things?

Many of us struggle with food…what we eat and how much…and sometimes, what to cook (for those of you who are fond of spending time in the kitchen). While decluttering is very much like dieting, today I’m focusing on ways you can get a better handle on meal planning.  

It might take a bit of time in the beginning, but once you get in the swing of things, you’ll be happy you spent that time planning so you can get on with the business of eating!

The Six O’Clock Scramble

Aviva Goldfarb, author and founder of The Six O’Clock Scramble, wanted to find a way to help busy parents cook healthy meals…often…AND save time and money. Sounds like a great combo to me! You can also search for specialty meals, like gluten- and dairy-free, vegetarian, low-sodium, etc. recipes.

When you sign up for one of her three subscriptions, you will get:

• Family-tested meals

• Grocery List (weekly)

• Healthy Eating Tips

• And, a bunch more stuff!

Get Two Weeks Free with The Scramble

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Plan to Eat

Plan to Eat lets you keep your recipes, shopping lists, and meal planner all in one location. You can import and share your recipes (and shopping lists, too) and tag them for easier searching. Use the drag and drop feature to plan your meals with the online calendar. Even better, your shopping lists are taken automatically from your meal planner.

Sign Up for a Free 30-Day Trial

While I’m away for a quick sabbatical, check out this lifehack on what to do when your fitted sheets give you the finger.

I hear this complaint often from family members, friends, and clients alike. Folding a fitted sheets is like wrestling with a boa constrictor. The end result is not good and you come up with the short end of the stick, er, lumpy sheet.

Now, some of you may not care about this, but if you’re interested in taking advantage of this lifehack on how to properly fold a fitted sheet AND hang on to your brain cells, you should check out this very funny Martha Stewart video.

I’m taking a sabbatical and have lined up a few posts ahead of time. I’ll also be re-sharing some of my fave OTR articles and introducing you to new guest authors as well as other interesting info while I’m away. Enjoy today’s 5 minute organizing challenge! 

It’s time for a new 5 Minute Organizing Challenge! What can you do in 5 minutes to gain a little order in your life? You can put a few things back in place or gather your important items. Here’s a new set of five things for you to consider adding to your routine this month. Try try them on for size and feel free to suggest a few of your own.

1. If you celebrate Christmas (or any holiday that you have to put stuff up), you should start thinking about when you’ll be taking down your holiday decor. Pick a date and write it on your calendar.

2. You might also want to start enlisting some help, especially if you have lots of ornaments and holiday thingies to put away. Write those names on the calendar as well.

3. Too much stuff? Grab a box and write “DONATE” on it. Then, put in the decorations AND gifts that you really don’t want. You’ll be glad you did (plus it saves a trip to the store to return them, right?). Helping someone else (or several someone elses) is a good thing — no matter what time of year it is.

4. You know what’s next, right? Yep, those holiday cards. Are you keeping all of them? Even the ones that just have a signature…with no touching words? Recycle the ones you don’t want and store the rest in a greeting card organizer.

5. And, finally, go pack your lunch for work! You can’t let all those left overs go to waste, can you? =) You could also string a few 5 minutes sessions together and even work on cleaning out the fridge.

Check out the November 2011 Organizing Challenge

So, you know I’m all for passwords, but I recently learned that changing them frequently is a bit of a waste. You actually need a group of tools to keep your e-stuff safe. You can read more about that here.

…and, you can watch this cool video by Lorie Marrero of Clutter Diet about how to better organize the passwords you do have.

Get the Internet Password Organizer

You’re all probably familiar with finding flights by using Travelocity, Kyak, Priceline, and Expedia, to name a few. Did you know about AirfareWatchdog.com? All you have to do is sign up for low fare alerts (sent to your inbox) to your favorite cities.  No airline is off limits so you’ll get to travel on your preferred carrier. Quick, easy, and simple.

I’m taking a sabbatical and have lined up a few posts ahead of time. I’ll also be re-sharing some of my fave OTR articles and introducing you to new guest authors as well as other interesting info while I’m away. Enjoy! 

It’s time for a new 5 Minute Organizing Challenge! What can you do in 5 minutes to gain a little order in your life? You can put a few things back in place or gather your important items. Here’s a new set of five things for you to consider adding to your routine this month. Try try them on for size and feel free to suggest a few of your own.

1. Hate to remind you about this, but have you started pulling together some of the info you’ll need to get your taxes done? Maybe you can start by filling out your tax organizer. I’m sure your CPA sent you one. No time to do it right now? Put it on your task list.

2. Actually, you might just want to start writing that to do list. First, start your list for TODAY. Write down 1-2 things you WILL accomplish by day’s end (perhaps some holiday organizing tasks?). Then, capture all the other things you need to get done and add due dates.

3. Those shoes hanging about your door – put them away. Dirty socks, too? Throw them in the laundry basket. No, don’t put this on your list. Just do it!

4. How’s your car doing? Had an oil change or tune up lately? Schedule it or put it on your to do list.

5. Have you signed up for that thing you’ve been wanting to do but haven’t done yet? Yep, put it on your list. =)

Check out the October 2011 Organizing Challenge

If you’re struggling with your to do list, take a minute to get to know it a little bit. Understand it’s landscape and what should be on it. And, most importantly, what shouldn’t make it to your list at all.

To help you enhance your relationship with your to do list, I’m sharing this bit of advice from Merlin Mann’s 43Folders.com. This is just a snippet, so click on the link at the end to get more in-depth info.

Anatomy of a To-do

The primary idea of a to-do is that it’s a task that can and should be done–a point that might seem obvious until you start uncovering how many of the items on your to-do list may not belong there (or, conversely, how many uncaptured items do). The best and most useful to-dos share common qualities:

• it’s a physical action
• it can be accomplished at a sitting
• it supports valuable progress toward a recognized goal
• it’s something for which you are the most appropriate person for the job

Glancing at your own to-do list, do you see any potential troublemakers? Notice any items that make you squeamish? Any mystery meat tasks that seem “un-doable” as is?

 Read More at 43Folders.com

Have you stopped and smelled the petunias lately? They’re probably not around anymore, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a couple minutes to stop and just be…to do something – no matter how small – for you. Sometimes, it’s the little things that make our day great. Profound. Awesome. Just fabulous.

I recently watched a video by Scott McKain (awesome fella) who reminded viewers to take the time to make each day count. From the looks of things, he added an extra day to a business trip and spent some time at the beach. Nothing special. Just a beach. But, I’m sure there was a whole lotta relaxation that worked wonders for his well-being. Which means that if he’s happy, then everyone around him will be happy, too.

Here’s a snippet of what he had to say…

“Just do what it takes to not miss the good stuff in life. To find little things that you can do along the way…that make an incredible difference that helps center you, that helps get you back on track…that helps remind you of the things that are really important…”

…and for the rest of his message, check out his video…

If you celebrated Halloween, you probably have a couple of pumpkins (not to mention left over candy) laying around. Earth911.com thinks there are other things you can do with those pumpkins besides throwing them in the trash, like recycle them.

Here are some ways you can do that:

#1 Make a Puree. Why would you need a puree? If you make pumpkin pies, the puree will come in handy. Whip up a batch and freeze it for when you need it.

#4  Make Your Own Latte. If  you like lattes (like I do), try adding a little pumpkin. It’s not my thing. I prefer vanilla, but if you normally make a trip to Starbucks to get a Pumpkin Spice latte, try making your own.

#5 Use Pumpkin Guts to Make Pasta. Gutting a pumpkin might sound messy and it probably is, but it might add a new twist your pasta.

#8 Make a Scrub. Hmmm…this one surprised me. I didn’t think pumpkin guts could scrub anything. And they don’t. You need to add a bit of sugar, but the vitamins in your gourd will make your skin feel fab. If I had pumpkins, I’d definitely try this one.

See All 10 Ways to Recycle Your Pumpkins