THERE ARE SO MANY BENEFITS TO GETTING ORGANIZED IN A WAY THAT WORKS FOR YOU, FROM SAVING MONEY BY NOT HAVING TO BUY STUFF YOU ALREADY KNOW YOU HAVE, TO SETTING PRIORITIES & GOALS, SO YOU CAN FOCUS ON WHAT MATTERS MORE,
TO GENERALLY FEELING MORE IN CONTROL OF YOUR SPACE, YOUR TIME, AND YOUR LIFE.
LET THESE RESOURCES PUT THAT SPARK BACK INTO YOUR LIFE & MOTIVATE YOU TO GET STARTED!
TO GENERALLY FEELING MORE IN CONTROL OF YOUR SPACE, YOUR TIME, AND YOUR LIFE.
LET THESE RESOURCES PUT THAT SPARK BACK INTO YOUR LIFE & MOTIVATE YOU TO GET STARTED!
General Organizing Products + Services
The Container Store
If it's related to organization, chances are the Container Store carries it.
Easy Closets
An online source for custom-designed closet systems that can help you maximize the efficiency of any closet in the house.
Evernote
Save notes, documents, webpages, photos, and other information online and access your stuff from anywhere.
Evernote has helped me radically reduce the amount of paper I keep, and also makes it easier to get my hands on the info I need when I'm on the go.
Ikea
One of my favorite sources of inexpensive storage solutions.
Organize.com
Organization tools, gadgets, and accessories.
Room and Board
Beautiful, high-quality, customizable furniture, including bookcases, sideboards, entertainment centers, and other storage solutions.
Scan Digital
Tackle those piles of old photos, slides, negatives, and home movies by sending them to Scan Digital to be digitized.
SKS Bottle & Packaging
A dizzying array of plastic, glass, and metal jars, boxes, bins, and containers.
Downside: you'll need to buy in bulk (at least 10-20 pieces).
Upside: great prices and impressive selection.
Stacks and Stacks
Furniture, storage solutions, and organizing accessories.
Organizing Groups + Sites
Messies Anonymous
Sandra Felton's Messies Anonymous program is aimed at helping those who have
struggled with disorganization make the first steps toward getting organized.
NAPO
The online home of the National Association of Professional Organizers.
ICD
Learn more about ADD, hoarding, and other topics from the Institute for Challenging Disorganization.
Tip of the Week Archive
Browse past Tips from The Organized Life.
Office Organizing
Russell + Hazel
Simple, stylish storage containers, notebooks, binders, and office supplies.
See Jane Work
Supplies for managing paper, time, and stuff stylishly, at home or in the office.
Storage Supplies at Office Max
This page gathers Office Max's boxes, bins, file storage supplies, shelves, and drawer units for easy browsing.
Organized Travel
eBags
Time to upgrade your suitcase, backpack, laptop bag, briefcase, or purse? Browse eBags for inspiration.
Flight 001
Luggage, supplies, and gadgets for stylish, organized travel.
Minimus
A great resource for travel-sized toiletries and snacks.
Tango Diva
Travel articles, advice, and gossip for women.
Top 10 Organized Travel Tips
Ideas from The Container Store on staying organized and stress-free on your next trip.
Travel Checklist
Create a personalized, printable checklist of everything you need to pack with this free tool from Flight 001.
Travel essentials from the Container Store
Packing cubes, toiletry kits, and other accessories to make packing easier.
TSA Traveler Information
Recommendations, information, and checklists from the US's Transportation Security Administration.
Time Management
Calendars That Work
Choose from a wide variety of free calendar templates to customize and use with your time management system,
or subscribe to a service that lets you create and print your own calendars.
Commit30
More than just a To Do list tool, and way beyond a calendar,
the Commit30 planner is designed to help you commit to and achieve a challenging goal each month
(such as 30 days of healthy eating or 30 days of decluttering) for a full year.
David Allen Company
Inspired by Getting Things Done? Get a bigger David Allen fix on his web site.
Franklin Covey
The granddaddy of all time management systems.
Getting Things Done
David Allen's seminal work on creating and managing effective time- and task-management systems is a worthy read.
GTD Connect
An interactive, multimedia service (including videos, teleseminars, whitepapers, interviews, and newsletters)
from the David Allen Company that goes into serious depth on the principles of the Getting Things Done methodology.
Pomodoro Technique
An in-depth look at a time management methodology that encourages you to tackle tasks in 25-minute increments.
Time Audit Chart (PDF)
Use this chart (an exclusive from The Organized Life) to perform a week-long time audit
for a detailed look at how you're spending your time.
Time Management from the Inside Out
A realistic and easy-to-follow time management plan from Julie Morgenstern.
43 Folders
Loosely based on the GTD system, Merlin Mann's 43 Folders features musings, links, and ideas on creativity,
time management, personal productivity, and making life better.
Financial Organizing
Mint
Free, easy-to-use, well-designed online personal financial organizing program.
One Year to an Organized Financial Life
This book, written by a professional organizer and a certified financial advisor, is aimed at making tasks like budgeting, expense tracking, and managing financial paperwork less daunting and less painful by helping you tackle them a week at a time over the course of a year.
Putting your financial house in order online
Bankrate.com's guide to making sense (and the best use) of the crowd of online financial tools available,
from banking to bill-pay services.
What financial records to keep and how long to keep them
Another great resource from Bankrate; this one offers guidelines on how long you need to keep the
flurry of financial papers cluttering your file cabinet/desk/dining room table.
Kitchen Organizing + Meal Planning
Kitchen organizing checklist from Real Simple
This free printable/savable checklists offers a detailed step-by-step guide to whipping your kitchen into shape,
from clearing out what you don't need to creating zones to reorganizing your fridge and freezer.
The Kitchn Cookbook: Recipes, Kitchens, and Tips to Inspire Your Cooking
Yes, it's officially a cookbook, but a good third of this book is dedicated to tips and suggestions on stocking,
organizing, and cleaning what's probably the busiest room in your house.
Plus, the recipes are clear, easy to follow, and clever.
Pantry organizing checklist from Real Simple
It's easier to cook at home if you know what you have and can access it easier.
This free checklist walks you step-by-step through the process of getting your organized.
Plan to Eat
Save recipes from anywhere online (or add your own from),
easily drag-and-drop them onto a calendar to plan your meals,
and get a customized grocery list based on what you're cooking.
I use and love Plan to Eat!
Emergency Preparedness
Ready.gov
The online home of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Administration)
includes comprehensive info on preparing for natural and man-made disasters of all types,
including checklists for creating emergency preparedness plans and kits.
Recycling, Re-use, and Selling
Trade Up
Wallapop
The Complete Garage Sale Checklist
An amazingly comprehensive collection of links on everything from pre-sale sorting
and weeding to planning for your sale to pricing your items
Donation Town
Use this site to search for and schedule with local charities that will pick up items you're ready to donate.
The site's matchmaking service is free both to you and to the charity you choose.
Excess Access
An online resource that matches donors with non-profit organizations looking for specific supplies.
Freecycle
A huge (and growing!) network of communities around the world dedicated to keeping things out of landfills.
GreenDisk
This company offers convenient, shippable "trash bins" for used electronics;
it recycles or reuses much of this e-waste.
How to Recycle or Reuse Anything
From Real Simple magazine, a collection of articles, links, and tips on donating, repurposing,
or safely disposing of the stuff you no longer want or need.
International Book Project
Accepts donations of a wide variety of books, including textbooks and encyclopedias,
for use in literacy programs within the US and in developing countries.
Music & Memory
Donate that unneeded iPod taking up space in your drawer to Music & Memory,
a nonprofit that offers music-based therapy to seniors living with Alzheimer's, dementia,
and other mental or physical impairments.
Recycleplace
Get paid to recycle your empty inkjet printer cartridges.
Soles4Souls
Donate your gently worn shoes to people around the world in need of basic, decent footwear.
Steel Recycling Directory
Search for local resources for recycling all types of steel, from cans to appliances to cars.
Think Outside the Bin
Ideas and resources for donating or recycling everything from Halloween costumes to artwork,
from bridal gowns to cell phones
Tyvek envelope recycling
Send Tyvek envelopes (the kind used by FedEx and other shipping services)
back to the manufacturer for safe recycling.
Organizing for How You Think & Learn
ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life
Written by a professional organizer (Judith Kolberg) and an ADD clinician (Kathleen Nadeau),
this book was one of the first to offer specific and effective techniques for getting organized
around some of the challenges of living with ADD, and was updated in 2012.
Organizing for the Creative Person
A guide to getting and staying organized as an "arbi" (right brain) thinker.
The Container Store
If it's related to organization, chances are the Container Store carries it.
Easy Closets
An online source for custom-designed closet systems that can help you maximize the efficiency of any closet in the house.
Evernote
Save notes, documents, webpages, photos, and other information online and access your stuff from anywhere.
Evernote has helped me radically reduce the amount of paper I keep, and also makes it easier to get my hands on the info I need when I'm on the go.
Ikea
One of my favorite sources of inexpensive storage solutions.
Organize.com
Organization tools, gadgets, and accessories.
Room and Board
Beautiful, high-quality, customizable furniture, including bookcases, sideboards, entertainment centers, and other storage solutions.
Scan Digital
Tackle those piles of old photos, slides, negatives, and home movies by sending them to Scan Digital to be digitized.
SKS Bottle & Packaging
A dizzying array of plastic, glass, and metal jars, boxes, bins, and containers.
Downside: you'll need to buy in bulk (at least 10-20 pieces).
Upside: great prices and impressive selection.
Stacks and Stacks
Furniture, storage solutions, and organizing accessories.
Organizing Groups + Sites
Messies Anonymous
Sandra Felton's Messies Anonymous program is aimed at helping those who have
struggled with disorganization make the first steps toward getting organized.
NAPO
The online home of the National Association of Professional Organizers.
ICD
Learn more about ADD, hoarding, and other topics from the Institute for Challenging Disorganization.
Tip of the Week Archive
Browse past Tips from The Organized Life.
Office Organizing
Russell + Hazel
Simple, stylish storage containers, notebooks, binders, and office supplies.
See Jane Work
Supplies for managing paper, time, and stuff stylishly, at home or in the office.
Storage Supplies at Office Max
This page gathers Office Max's boxes, bins, file storage supplies, shelves, and drawer units for easy browsing.
Organized Travel
eBags
Time to upgrade your suitcase, backpack, laptop bag, briefcase, or purse? Browse eBags for inspiration.
Flight 001
Luggage, supplies, and gadgets for stylish, organized travel.
Minimus
A great resource for travel-sized toiletries and snacks.
Tango Diva
Travel articles, advice, and gossip for women.
Top 10 Organized Travel Tips
Ideas from The Container Store on staying organized and stress-free on your next trip.
Travel Checklist
Create a personalized, printable checklist of everything you need to pack with this free tool from Flight 001.
Travel essentials from the Container Store
Packing cubes, toiletry kits, and other accessories to make packing easier.
TSA Traveler Information
Recommendations, information, and checklists from the US's Transportation Security Administration.
Time Management
Calendars That Work
Choose from a wide variety of free calendar templates to customize and use with your time management system,
or subscribe to a service that lets you create and print your own calendars.
Commit30
More than just a To Do list tool, and way beyond a calendar,
the Commit30 planner is designed to help you commit to and achieve a challenging goal each month
(such as 30 days of healthy eating or 30 days of decluttering) for a full year.
David Allen Company
Inspired by Getting Things Done? Get a bigger David Allen fix on his web site.
Franklin Covey
The granddaddy of all time management systems.
Getting Things Done
David Allen's seminal work on creating and managing effective time- and task-management systems is a worthy read.
GTD Connect
An interactive, multimedia service (including videos, teleseminars, whitepapers, interviews, and newsletters)
from the David Allen Company that goes into serious depth on the principles of the Getting Things Done methodology.
Pomodoro Technique
An in-depth look at a time management methodology that encourages you to tackle tasks in 25-minute increments.
Time Audit Chart (PDF)
Use this chart (an exclusive from The Organized Life) to perform a week-long time audit
for a detailed look at how you're spending your time.
Time Management from the Inside Out
A realistic and easy-to-follow time management plan from Julie Morgenstern.
43 Folders
Loosely based on the GTD system, Merlin Mann's 43 Folders features musings, links, and ideas on creativity,
time management, personal productivity, and making life better.
Financial Organizing
Mint
Free, easy-to-use, well-designed online personal financial organizing program.
One Year to an Organized Financial Life
This book, written by a professional organizer and a certified financial advisor, is aimed at making tasks like budgeting, expense tracking, and managing financial paperwork less daunting and less painful by helping you tackle them a week at a time over the course of a year.
Putting your financial house in order online
Bankrate.com's guide to making sense (and the best use) of the crowd of online financial tools available,
from banking to bill-pay services.
What financial records to keep and how long to keep them
Another great resource from Bankrate; this one offers guidelines on how long you need to keep the
flurry of financial papers cluttering your file cabinet/desk/dining room table.
Kitchen Organizing + Meal Planning
Kitchen organizing checklist from Real Simple
This free printable/savable checklists offers a detailed step-by-step guide to whipping your kitchen into shape,
from clearing out what you don't need to creating zones to reorganizing your fridge and freezer.
The Kitchn Cookbook: Recipes, Kitchens, and Tips to Inspire Your Cooking
Yes, it's officially a cookbook, but a good third of this book is dedicated to tips and suggestions on stocking,
organizing, and cleaning what's probably the busiest room in your house.
Plus, the recipes are clear, easy to follow, and clever.
Pantry organizing checklist from Real Simple
It's easier to cook at home if you know what you have and can access it easier.
This free checklist walks you step-by-step through the process of getting your organized.
Plan to Eat
Save recipes from anywhere online (or add your own from),
easily drag-and-drop them onto a calendar to plan your meals,
and get a customized grocery list based on what you're cooking.
I use and love Plan to Eat!
Emergency Preparedness
Ready.gov
The online home of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Administration)
includes comprehensive info on preparing for natural and man-made disasters of all types,
including checklists for creating emergency preparedness plans and kits.
Recycling, Re-use, and Selling
Trade Up
Wallapop
The Complete Garage Sale Checklist
An amazingly comprehensive collection of links on everything from pre-sale sorting
and weeding to planning for your sale to pricing your items
Donation Town
Use this site to search for and schedule with local charities that will pick up items you're ready to donate.
The site's matchmaking service is free both to you and to the charity you choose.
Excess Access
An online resource that matches donors with non-profit organizations looking for specific supplies.
Freecycle
A huge (and growing!) network of communities around the world dedicated to keeping things out of landfills.
GreenDisk
This company offers convenient, shippable "trash bins" for used electronics;
it recycles or reuses much of this e-waste.
How to Recycle or Reuse Anything
From Real Simple magazine, a collection of articles, links, and tips on donating, repurposing,
or safely disposing of the stuff you no longer want or need.
International Book Project
Accepts donations of a wide variety of books, including textbooks and encyclopedias,
for use in literacy programs within the US and in developing countries.
Music & Memory
Donate that unneeded iPod taking up space in your drawer to Music & Memory,
a nonprofit that offers music-based therapy to seniors living with Alzheimer's, dementia,
and other mental or physical impairments.
Recycleplace
Get paid to recycle your empty inkjet printer cartridges.
Soles4Souls
Donate your gently worn shoes to people around the world in need of basic, decent footwear.
Steel Recycling Directory
Search for local resources for recycling all types of steel, from cans to appliances to cars.
Think Outside the Bin
Ideas and resources for donating or recycling everything from Halloween costumes to artwork,
from bridal gowns to cell phones
Tyvek envelope recycling
Send Tyvek envelopes (the kind used by FedEx and other shipping services)
back to the manufacturer for safe recycling.
Organizing for How You Think & Learn
ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life
Written by a professional organizer (Judith Kolberg) and an ADD clinician (Kathleen Nadeau),
this book was one of the first to offer specific and effective techniques for getting organized
around some of the challenges of living with ADD, and was updated in 2012.
Organizing for the Creative Person
A guide to getting and staying organized as an "arbi" (right brain) thinker.