Tips

Great Family Emergency Preparedness websites are www.ready.gov and www.bt.cdc.gov. Ready.gov even has a fun section for kids to get involved. It has information about pets, small businesses and seniors.

Index of Tips:
Woman’s Day Tips, closet, plants, kitchen, Radio interviews, Start small, procrastination, mail, closets, charity, Mail, Clutter-free & Organized question, catalogs, paper, Travel tips, Credit card solicitation, Cell phone telemarketers, Credit card checks, Stop phone solicitations, Donation, Bridesmaid or formal dresses, Computers, Stuffed animals, toys, Paperbacks, books, CDs, tapes, Business clothes, Luggage, Magazines, Athletic shoes, Toys, Home-building and remodeling supplies, Car oil, Wire hangers, Appliances, Cell phones, Bathroom rugs, Towels, Food, Cars, Coats, blankets, Nearly anything, Eyeglasses, Mattresses, box springs

Mary's helpful tips have been featured in Woman's Day magazine. The article, "21 ways to Save Time Every Day. Remember, it all adds up." by Paula Spencer, had this to say:

Woman's Day Tips:
At the start of a new season, take everything off the rod in your clothes closet. "When you just slide things around, it's too easy to say, 'Oh, I think I'll keep this'," notes Mary Pankiewicz of Morristown, Tennessee, a professional organizer who runs Clutter-Free & Organized. Put back only what really fits, suits the season and gets a lot of use. Result: You'll avoid having to rifle through a closet stuffed with "nothing to wear."

Regroup plants in your garden according to their water needs. "Put all your thirsty plants together, closest to the water source," suggests Pankiewicz.

To make sure you're using space wisely, clear everything off your kitchen cabinets. Before replacing items, ask your self, "Does it work? How often do I use it? Do I like it?" When her kids were small, Mary Pankiewicz made a lot of homemade bread, but now that she works, she no longer has the time. One day she realized that her bread pans were just eating up space, adding time-consuming clutter. "The kitchen is a big guilt area," she explains. "We keep stuff in the cabinets because we think we should have it, or our mothers did it that way, or we use to do it, but it may not reflect our lives now."

WOW yourself for your organizing successes! Click here to download and print this page, then place it where you'll be reminded of what you've accomplished.

Mary's Interview on the Hallerin Hilton Hill Morning Show

Audio clips from Mary's radio interview:
• Life Is To Live
• How to Get Started
• Organizing the Car
• How a Professional Organizer Can Help—Even If You're Organized
• Organizing the Garage
• Start with a Corner
• Organizing Hal's Studio
• Keeping Your Desk Clean

Other Residential Tips:

1. Realize that traditional methods of organizing don’t work for everyone.

2. Don’t try to tackle too big a job. Start organizing your shoes, instead
of your entire bedroom closet.

3. Clutter is postponed decisions, so quit procrastinating.

4. Organize mail and excess paperwork while standing.

5. Prevent procrastination by asking yourself, “If I don’t want to do it now,
will I want to do it later?” and “Will I have any more information in an
hour, week, or day?” If not, take three minutes to decide.

6. Get rid of clutter by asking yourself, “Does it pull at my heartstrings?”
If not, donate it or throw it away.

7. When cleaning out the closet, ask yourself, “Do I like it? Does it fit?
Is it comfortable?” and “Do I look good in it?”

8. Get rid of the things that no longer contribute to the fullness of your life.
You are organized when you like all the things you have and they work
for you.

9. Give away items that are still good but you no longer need, to local
charities, friends, family, and neighbors.

10. Put prime items in prime space and group like items together.

Tired of having “get organized” on your to-do list? Call Clutter-free & Organized to quickly cross your projects off your list. Call Mary today!
423-581-9460 or 865-607-9460, toll-free 888-835-6335

Are You Drowning In Mail?

1. Have a designated place to sort mail.
2. Have a specific place for bills, children’s mail, etc.
3. Stand over recycle or wastepaper basket for first sorting.
4. Ask yourself the “Clutter-free & Organized” question - Did I ask for it?
5. Call 800 numbers of catalogs you don’t order from; ask to be
taken off mailing list.

Is your house filling up with paper stacks? Fifty percent of Mary’s residential business is helping people who are drowning in paper.

Give yourself freedom from paper piles. Let Mary help you set up simple systems to organize your important documents and get control of all the information coming into your life.

Travel Tips From Clutter-free & Organized

1. Write out a list of days and/or activities for trip.

2. Write out outfits for each day and/or activity.

3. Try to mix and match outfits so fewer items of clothes are needed.

4. Pack children’s outfits together in "Clutter-free Zippy Bags.”

5. Group small like items such as socks into "Clutter-free Zippy Bags.”

6. Take make-up and shampoo samples.

7. If flying, keep a day’s supply of your medicine, eye contact items, and
so on with you.

8. Make a list of all the items you pack, and it will make packing for your
next trip much easier.

9. If flying, use “Clutter-free Zippy Bags” to group items so if your
luggage is searched your personal items won’t be
handled individually.

10. Less will be stolen when packing is done in clear bags.

Stop Credit Card Solicitation

Call 1-888-567-8688. Give them all names and spellings you have seen on envelopes. Pay close attention to the options in the automated message, though! At last check, the options were arranged like this:

1. Press 1 to stop for two years.
2. Press 2 to continue to receive offers.
3. Press 3 to stop offers permanently.
You will also be sent a form in the mail to fill out verifying that you indeed want to stop credit card solicitations.

Cell Phone TeleMarketers
A directory of cell phone numbers will soon be published for all consumers to have access to. This will open the doors for solicitors to call you on your cell phone, using up precious minutes that we pay lots of money for. The Federal Trade Commission has set up a do-not-call list. It is called a cell phone registry. To be included, you must call from the phone you wish to be registered. The number is 1-888-382-1222. Or you can go to their website at www.donotcall.gov and add your number to the do-not-call list. Give this to friends who have cell phones.

Tired of Receiving Checks in Connection With Credit Cards?
If they have a phone number to call and transfer the balance of other cards, etc., call and request they stop mailing checks.

Stop Phone Solicitations
Put your number on the National Do Not Call Registry. Go to www.donotcall.gov or call 888-382-1222. Tennessee residents can now stop calls from telemarketers by calling 877-872-7030 or visit the State of Tennessee web site.

Where to Donate Items
Bridesmaid or prom dresses: Some nonprofit organizations distribute dresses to teens who can’t afford them. Mail your gowns to the Cinderella Project, Emory University, Department of Pediatrics, 69 Butler Street SE, Atlanta, GA 30303.

Computers: The National Cristina Foundation will match your old computer with an organization that can pick it up from your house. Log on to www.cristina.org or call 203-863-9100. For computer components that work, contact Share the Technology and they will match you with a nonprofit organization that needs equipment. To locate where to recycle computers that do not work, go to the Earth 911 website, click on Electronics and put in your zip code. Many branches of Office Max and Staples will recycle printer ink cartridges. Some will even give you a ream of paper for your cartriges if you ask for it.

Stuffed animals/toys: Hospitals, police, and fire stations often give away toys. Teddy Bears for Tykes (281-335-5434) gives used bears to children injured in fires.

Paperbacks, books, CDs, tapes: Books to Prisoners will send nonfiction paperbacks to inmates. Mail books fourth class to 92 Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98101. (2) BookCrossing encourages readers to register books on its web site (www.bookcrossing.com), get ID labels to paste into the books and then leave the books somewhere—a bus stop, restaurant, doctor’s waiting room—so others can pick them up. Then check the web site to see where your books have gone. (3) Donate CDs, videos, games, and tapes to your local library.

Business clothes: Dress for Success (dressforsuccess.org) outfits low-income women for job interviews. Donate suits, skirts, blouses, and shoes.

Luggage: Suitcases for Kids helps foster kids in every state and all over the world. (Foster kids often use trash bags to carry their belongings.) Log on to www.suitcasesforkids.org.

Magazines: Senior citizen centers aren’t the only places that accept used magazines. Remember local health clubs, doctors’ offices, and motels.

Athletic shoes: Give any brand old athletic shoes Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe. Various Nike locations recycle old shoes as athletic surfaces (playgrounds, running tracks, tennis courts, etc.) For more information, log on to www.nikereuseashoe.com

Toys: Donate toys and videos that are still in good shape to your local Ronald McDonald House. These houses welcome donations for the siblings of sick children to help them pass the time while their brother or sister is undergoing long hours of treatment.

Home-building and remodeling supplies: Habitat for Humanity has retail stores that accept donations of home-building and remodeling supplies, such as paint, cabinets, lumber, shingles, and windows—in good condition. Take them to a Habitat ReStore where they will be sold at reasonable prices. The money will be used to buy supplies for a Habitat project, and you’ll get a tax receipt. To find a ReStore near you, log on to www.habitat.org/env/restore.html or call 800-habitat.

Car oil: Many Jiffy Lube stores will take used oil (in a clean plastic container) to a recycling center, which turns it into such things as heating oil or asphalt.

Wire hangers: Take hangers back to the dry cleaners for re-use.

Appliances: Look in your yellow pages under “Used Appliances,” which lists businesses that will haul away old appliances, for a small fee, and recycle the metal or buy your old appliance for parts.

Cell phones: The Verizon Wireless HopeLine collects old cell phones from customers of any carrier, refurbishes the phones, sells them, and uses the proceeds to purchase phones and air time for victims of domestic violence. Phones can be mailed in or dropped off at any Verizon Wireless store. Log on to www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline. (2) Your old cell phone can be used by a victim of domestic violence. Go to the foundation’s Web site to find local collection sites. www.wirelessfoundation.org.

Bathroom rugs: Pet shelters and humane societies love old bathroom rugs for their cats and dogs to lie on. The only requirement is that you must wash the rug before you take it over to the shelter.

Towels: Many local homeless shelters are happy to have more towels and washcloths on hand, no matter how old or faded (but not in shreds).

Food: You can donate leftovers from a big party to a local soup kitchen, crisis center, or homeless organization.

Cars: Donate your old car to charity, and you’ll be rewarded with a hefty tax deduction.

Coats and blankets: Call 202-737-6444 to find out which organization in your area gives coats and blankets to the homeless.

Nearly anything: (1) Visit www.goodwill.org. They collect computers, clothes, furniture, household anything. (2) Habitat for Humanity will take mattresses and box springs in good shape, computer equipment, kitchen stuff, extra wood, paint, old tools, etc.

Eyeglasses: Contact LensCrafters or your local Lions club: www.lionsclubs.org.

Mattresses and box springs (in good shape): Habitat for Humanity. They will usually pick up.

Are you drowning in stuff? Call Clutter-free & Organized to become unstuffed. Call Mary today!
423-581-9460 or 865-607-9460 or
toll-free 888-835-6335