Blog
In addition to actually doing the organizing, another of Angie’s passions is writing about organizing.
She has been writing a blog on organizing ever since Shipshape Solutions launched in 2016. Most of the blog posts were also published as monthly newspaper articles in the Kingsport Times-News and Johnson City Press.
To access the Shipshape Solutions Blog, you can either:
Click on a category below to see all the blog entries from that category; OR
Scroll the feed of blog entries below
- Apps
- Bathroom
- Business
- Children
- Christmas
- Computer
- Decluttering
- Digital organizing
- General Organization
- Getting Records Together
- Goals
- Health
- Home Organization
- Kitchen
- Media
- Medical
- Mental clutter
- Minimalism
- Moving
- New Year
- Office
- Organizing Principles
- Paper organizing
- Phone
- Photo Organizing
- Photo organizing
- Preparing for Death
- Purse
- Residential organizing
- Resolutions
- School
- Technology
- Television
- Time Management and Productivity
- Travel
- Working from Home
How to (Really) Work from Home
The Coronavirus pandemic has drastically changed so much about our home and work lives. Because of the need for social distancing, many more people are working at home, some for the first time. While some excel in adapting to this new setting, others struggle to remain productive. My husband Eric began working remotely in 1998, well before it was so commonplace. Over twenty years of experience with remote work has given him valuable insights that can help those who are still settling into this new normal. For this article, I asked Eric some questions about how to work effectively from home.
Should I Buy It? Shopping Tips to Prevent Excess
I’ve written many articles with an emphasis on decluttering. I’ve shared plenty of tips to encourage us to let go of what we don’t love and don’t use. I realized recently I haven’t yet written much about the other side of the equation. We could theoretically continue to declutter consistently but not make much of a dent in our excess if we keep on bringing too much into our home. An influx of items can come from items people give us as gifts, either for special occasions or just because they feel we need something. But the main influx into our homes is primarily of our own making. We are simply buying too many things we don’t have room for and don’t need. I’d like to share some tips to help us change that habit and to be more mindful of our shopping habits.
Organizing Your Media
In my work as an organizer, I regularly help clients make decisions about their belongings. One category of belongings that we regularly encounter is media. By media, I am referring to music, movies, “home movies”, and books. How do you decide what media you need to keep and which ones to let go? How do you best organize and store media that you keep? What should you do with media in outdated formats? This article will address all of these questions.
Stop Giving (Meaningless) Christmas Gifts
I fully expect some controversy with this article. I may even be likened to Ebenezer Scrooge, that archetype of misers, for daring to write it. Though I don’t relish negative reactions, I believe Joel Waldfogel’s 2009 book Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holiday is worthy of inclusion in a discussion of holiday gift giving. (By the way, I am only scratching the surface of this well-written, interesting, and comical book. I recommend a full read.) I promise to also include practical tips outside the scope of this book. My ultimate goal is to lead you to smarter purchases that could decrease clutter, increase the satisfaction of your gift recipients, and even contribute to world well-being. A lofty goal indeed.
Process Your Paper to Prevent Piles
Now that most communication occurs digitally, you would think paper disorganization would be a thing of the past. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. In my experience, almost every person who struggles with organization of any type also struggles with keeping papers in order. It’s not unusual to find piles of paper throughout the home as well as multiple containers of paper when I visit a client. Without a good system for organizing and maintaining paper, there is little hope of change. The system of paper organization I have used for many years and have helped clients establish is extremely effective. This article gives step by step instructions for implementing this system.
Organizing Your Car
Most of us spend so much time in our car that it can sometimes seem like a second home! AAA’s most recent American Driving Survey* found that during 2016 and 2017, on average, drivers spent 51 minutes driving approximately 31.5 miles each day, making an average of 2.2 driving trips. That’s a lot of car time! In the summer, this is even more true. Summer vacations and long car rides go hand in hand, not to mention trips back and forth to camp, the pool, picnics, and family reunions. Since we spend so much time in our cars, it only makes sense that we would want to keep them neat and organized!
Prevent a Cluttered Calendar: Learn to Say 'No'
I believe that organizing our time is the most important organizing we need to do. We all have the same amount of time each day. We all have numerous responsibilities and lead busy lives. The choices we make about how to spend that time are critical. If we don’t make those choices thoughtfully and carefully, we can end up with an overloaded schedule and its resultant stress.
How Messy is Your Desk?
I’ve been thinking about all of the different types of desks I have used throughout my life and how much desks have evolved in general. Remember those early desks with a cavity in the side for storage, a built in chair, and a wooden writing surface with a groove for your pencil? While it’s true that desks have changed drastically over the years, they are still an essential part of a functional office space. Whether or not your desk is organized can have a huge bearing on how effectively you work. The true measure of an organized desk isn’t just how it looks, but whether or not it is functional for you. Can you find what you need quickly? Do you have adequate space on which to work?
Spring Cleaning: What Do I Do with This?
Have you felt the urge to do some spring cleaning?
If you do a thorough job of decluttering, you’ll likely end up with a whole lot of things you don’t need. For most of these items, deciding what to do with them is relatively easy. Those that aren’t worthy of donating may need to be just thrown into the trash or recycling container. Of the items that are in good enough shape to donate, the majority can be taken to the local donation center of your choice. But there are quite a few items that are a little more problematic. You may not be able to simply drop these special items into the trash can or the recycling container. They may require some sort of preparation to properly dispose of them. Some items may not be accepted at donation centers for various reasons. This article provides pointers for these special cases. This list is by no means exhaustive. I couldn’t include every special case or every Tri-Cities location, but this will at least give you some options.
I Love NAPO!
From Thursday, April 4 to Sunday, April 7, Laurie and I were thrilled to meet with hundreds of professional organizers from around the country (and around the world) for the annual convention of NAPO (National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals) in Fort Worth, Texas. What an amazing weekend!
The Myth of Making Money from Collectibles
In working with clients and talking with people about their belongings, I encounter many people with a large amount of collectibles. Often, they have collected things because they think that at some point, they will be able to make a lot of money from them. But like the stock market, you almost never know the precise time to sell a collectible for a big profit. So you keep them a little longer, thinking they will be “worth something” soon. The reality is that windfall almost never happens.
4 Reasons You Should Watch Tidying Up with Marie Kondo
I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love finding a new show for a good Netflix binge. So when a friend recently asked me if I had seen the new Netflix show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, I was thrilled! Not only would organizing be more in the spotlight in general and hopefully encourage more people to make changes, but I would have a reference point with more people to discuss how the process of decluttering and organizing works. I am well into watching the series now, having watched five of the eight episodes. I can honestly say that I have been very pleased with the quality of the show and with the way professional organizers and the effects of their work have been portrayed.
Organizando en Mexico
I was thrilled to be able to use my organizing skills at Ciudad again this year. Last year, I organized a small storage room for tools. This year, I worked in the storage room for clothing and linens. With a rapidly-changing population of growing children in 6 houses, the need to keep extra supplies and to stay organized is essential. I was very fortunate in that the room was in pretty good shape already. There was an abundance of metal shelving and storage containers in some degree of order. My challenge was to remove any stained or worn-out items and to make sure remaining items were organized for easy access.
Organizing Gift Wrapping Supplies
The holidays are officially here, bringing with them the accompanying merriment and good tidings as well as the decorating, baking, visiting friends and family, card sending, gift buying, and etc. Most of us are extra busy during the holidays. Even typing this list of activities stresses me out, much less doing them! I am always looking for ways to simplify my life and to be more organized, especially when it comes to the Christmas season. With that in mind, here are a few ideas to simplify your gift wrapping and to organize all of the supplies.
Choosing Where to Donate
Happy New Year, readers! Whether or not you made New Year’s resolutions, you may have a goal to get more organized. I heartily endorse this goal! But I also firmly believe that for most of us, what we really need most is to declutter. If you’re ready to take a serious look at all of your belongings and shed the clutter, you will likely have many items to donate. This requires making a decision about where to take them. In order to help readers make a decision about where to donate their clutter, I sent the same questions to Goodwill Industries, Habitat for Humanity, and The Salvation Army. I have summarized their responses below.
More Peace, Less Pressure
We’ve probably all read articles about being less stressed during the holidays. The recommendations are usually spot on. I’ve tried many of them with varied amounts of success. I’m not going to repeat those lists. I just want to emphasize one that I believe has the potential for a big impact.
Comparing Cloud Photo Services
My last article described the basic steps for organizing digital photos. I recommended using cloud photo services for storage but didn’t go into much detail. In this article, my husband Eric and I share our experiences using the 3 biggest cloud photo services to complete 3 commonly performed tasks, and we make recommendations for choosing the service that would best meet your needs.