Productivity @ Home

Avoiding Orphan Sock Syndrome

HT to Danielle at the new Faith and Family Live blog for bringing to my attention a laundry sanity saver, the Sock Cop. Who among us isn't frustrated by the orphan socks in our lives? We all have ways of dealing with them - some turn them into dusting devices or whiteboard erasers. Others are able to simply and guiltlessly throw them away. Not me - perhaps it's the optimist in me that keeps a small pile of mateless socks next to my washing machine, convinced that someday their long lost mates will reappear.

Danielle, a self professed "laundry geek" recommends the Sock Cop, a small plastic device that clips two socks together and keeps them clipped throughout the laundry cycle. I'm not sure how much time I waste every week sorting socks, but I'm fairly sure it's at least twenty minutes per week. Would the acquisition of some Sock Cops help me write that next best-seller? Could I do more volunteer work at my church or spend time on my home business? What would you do with the extra time you spend sorting socks each week?

In my home, sock sorting is less of a chore since I purchase different styles and brands for the four sets of feet that live here. But if sock sorting is one of the banes of your productive existence, you may want to check out this handy little tool and make life a little more efficient.

Sock Cop ends lost, mis-matched socks - Laundry Accessory, Sock clips that keep Socks Organized

Family Garage: Organize Those Possessions!

Is your family garage the place you park cars and bikes, or is it a certified disaster area?  Today's guest column by John Bakers offers some tips and tricks for helping you reorganize the family garage.

The garage is not just for cars, of course. This space has become very important as a storage area as well. While the amount of storage space in the garage can be limited, with efficient use and some planning, it can take on the job of preserving some of the family's most important possessions. With the right combination of cabinets and shelves, the garage can truly become an efficient part of the family home.

However, because the garage is so important as a storage area, occasional cleaning and renovation may be in order. Homeowners have found there are many options when it comes to reorganizing the garage, from a complete remodeling to a cleaning and rearranging on newly-installed shelves. The final floor plan depends on family needs.

Modular storage kits have become popular for garages, with components that can be mixed and matched to take care of most storage issues. Some homeowners have been ambitious enough to construct their own storage shelves and cabinets, customizing their garage to fit family needs. This may be necessary if the number of items collected in the garage is too much for even the most creative modular kits. It is also possible to use a combination of modular storage kits and rented storage space to solve space problems.

Among the most popular garage storage solutions are plastic containers, wall-mounted racks, shelves and cabinets. Cabinets provide the extra protection from moisture and dust that shelves and open modules don't offer. Shelves can provide space very efficiently and make may items accessible. But a number of people have chosen wall-mounted racks as the perfect solution for their garage storage needs. Combining one of these methods with plastic containers will solve many garage-space issues.

It would be great if, on a nice spring or summer day, the homeowner could walk to the garage and find the bicycle or the fishing gear without a lot of digging and searching. If the family wants to enjoy the weather with a picnic, it would be nice if the needed picnic items could be easily found. But if things are scattered around, in a hit-or-miss family members are often disappointed or frustrated long before it's time to leave. Organizing the garage is easy, once the homeowner and family determine where to start.

Garage cleaning and organizing begins with separating items, categorizing things that will be stored together, given away or sold. Sporting goods can be placed in a particular cabinet that may not be opened until the appropriate season. Tools can be placed on wall-mounted pegboards or shelves next to the workbench. During this process, family members should be firm about throwing items away and not getting emotionally attached to something that will just take up space. Seasonal items such as boots, hats, sleds, and so on, should be carefully sorted and stored in cabinets or small closet spaces that can be opened when the items are actually needed. The simple act of organizing and eliminating might even create space for the car!

About the Author

Being very passionate about workbench designs and building a workbench, John Bakers is authoring quite some summaries on the topic. His articles on woodworkers benchs are found on his webpage in addition to various other web publications.

Sustainable Houses - The Things We Can All Do To Live A Little Greener

On the 12th of every month, my friendly neighborhood PG&E guy comes to read my gas and electric meters.  I frequently joke with him, pleading him to have mercy on me and my checkbook!  In the hot summer months, I particularly dislike opening those PG&E bills! Today's guest columnist Scott Salter has a few tips for living "sustainably" in a fashion that's likely to please my pocketbook as well.

In a consumerist society, we are frequently confronted with life style decisions that can impact on our environment and one of the largest decisions that any of us will make is the kind of house that we choose to live in. The twin prongs of global warming and rising energy costs has seen in a shift in emphasis in recent years away from “environment be damned, show me the plasma!” to looking at ways in which we can live more harmoniously with our surroundings. As such “sustainability” has become a guiding principle in all manner of decision making. Sustainability is all about using resources in an environmentally friendly and healthy manner that provide for the long term needs of the community. A sustainable home will emphasize two broad themes. It will be constructed of and furnished with environmentally sound materials and it will utilize energy as efficiently as possible. Environmental homes seek to be an extension of their environment rather than an imposition, or more importantly a drain on it.

A person wishing to live in a sustainable house is going to be faced with one of two choices: building a sustainable house from scratch or retro-fitting their existing home to make it more green.

There are things that all of us can do, regardless of which materials our home is constructed, to live more greenly. These measures are largely centered on more efficient use of energy and water. By utilizing energy efficiency technology, expertise, and common sense, homeowners can dramatically cut their home energy costs and the pollution associated with energy use and production. The first place to begin with is electrical appliances. If you need to purchase a new refrigerator, washer, dryer, air conditioner, or other large power consuming item, then do your research to find a highly energy efficient option. By the same token if you have old heating and/or air conditioning equipment, you may want to replace them. The energy savings will see that they will be paid for in a few years. You can also save energy and money by using efficient lighting. Compact fluorescent light bulbs are a good option for homes where lights are on for a few hours a day. They can reduce energy usage by as much as 80 percent and go for years without replacement.

The way we conduct ourselves around the house will also have an impact on energy and water usage. Simple measures such as taking re-usable bags when we go shopping, having shorter showers, switching appliances off at the power point whenever possible, starting a compost heap and installing or topping up ceiling insulation will all have a positive impact on the environment and go some way to helping us live more sustainably.

For those who are looking to build houses from scratch however, there is even greater scope to adhere to the tenets of sustainability. A house that is being designed with sustainability in mind can make use of solar power for heating and electricity, as well as the sun (via skylights and sun pipes) for natural daylighting. Greywater systems can be installed to ensure the most efficient use of water, and the house can be constructed with non-toxic and sustainably harvested materials.

About the Author:

For more information on Scott Salter and Sustainable Houses go to http://www.sustainable-home-site.com

New Podcast Helps Families Learn about Home Based Businesses

If you work from home, have an interest in home based business, or just want to learn more about organizing your time, I would love to recommend a new podcast to you: the Home Biz MomCast. Becky and Cheryl are two mothers who have successfully built home based business, but more importantly who have a focus on keeping family first. Becky and Cheryl have just released the first episode of their podcast and I found it very entertaining and informative. I'm looking forward to future episodes and wanted to take this opportunity to share with you the great work these two awesome moms are doing.

Home Biz MomCast: Uniting Families Through Home Based Businesses

Get Your Paperwork Organized

Life has been full of adventures and very busy for the past three weeks, keeping me away from my home office quite a bit!  I'm looking forward to returning to my routine and to regular blogging this week.  A special thanks to Debbie Dragon, today's guest blogger, for sharing her wisdom!

Get Your Paperwork Organized

Paperwork at home can get out of control fairly easily.  If you consider the school papers your children bring home, the incoming mail including your credit card statements, utility bills, and other fun household documents, it's no wonder many of us have papers randomly stashed in drawers all over the house.

Organizing your paperwork seems overwhelming amidst all of your other daily tasks, but it's one of those things that if you just take the time to set it up right in the beginning, you can easily maintain it with very little effort or time.  It's well worth it- and you may never be late on a misplaced credit card bill again!  One popular method of organizing your household paperwork is to use three-ring binders.  They're inexpensive, and help keep things in order.

Step One: Put all of your paperwork into a pile.  Go through the house and gather all the mail that has been stuck in various places to “file” later; receipts, children's school related or activity related paperwork, menus, user manuals, directions, contracts, and whatever else you have to keep.  When you think you have all of your paperwork in one place, quickly sort it into categories (“children”, “home maintenance”, “hobbies”, “bills”, etc)

If you have a home of active children, it may be necessary for each child to have their own three-ring binder.  As you've made your piles of categorized paperwork, you'll be able to see how many binders you'll need.  You may be able to create a single binder for “household” paperwork, to contain appliance maintenance schedules, filter replacements, planned improvements, exterior maintenance; another for bills and credit card statements, utility statements and a schedule of due dates, another for each of the children, etc. 

Other ideas for binder organizational systems:

• menu planning, nutritional records

• hobby information, articles, topics you find interesting

• home reference materials, like how to manuals, product receipts, warranties, etc

• phone and address lists, internet log-in's and passwords, goals and deadlines, records of expenses

• home based business records

Step Two: Divide each binder into subcategories.  In the children's binders, you can use three ring binder dividers (inexpensive to purchase, or simply 3-hole punch colored cardstock and label it) to separate activities, school schedules, and other information pertaining to each child.

For binders that may contain receipts or small slips of paper, you can get the dividers that contain pocket folders as well, and simply slide them into the appropriate binder and category.  For documents that you need to keep for a long time, or things you don't want to put holes in, keep a supply of translucent page protectors on hand so you can slide the paper inside them to view once placed inside the binder.

Step Three: Stick to it.  Once you've set up your various binders, the hard part is done.  All you need to do to make this paperwork organizational system work for you is maintain your hard work!  When you get the mail, go directly from your mailbox to your binders and file the documents where they belong.  Promptly trash anything you don't need.  Whenever you refer to information in one of the binders, be sure to replace the paperwork when finished.

For a small investment of money (binders and supplies) and a reasonable time investment, the returns are tenfold.  You'll know at a glance when your credit card bills and other bills are due; know whether Johnny has soccer or baseball on Wednesday or Jenny has ballet or piano lessons; and best of all- you'll always have a place to keep the important paperwork around the house.

Debbie Dragon is a work-at-home mom of two boys and a full time freelance writer.  She provides content and articles for Creditorweb.com; where she writes about credit cards, rewards programs, and personal finance topics.

Bringing Up Geeks!

My good friend and columnist Marybeth Hicks recently announced the release of her new website at BringingUpGeeks.com in anticipation of her book of the same name.

Marybeth's book focuses on raising "GEEK"s - Genuine, Enthusiastic, Empowered Kids. I can't wait to see the book and have had a blast exploring her new site. Some of my favorite features of the site are the Geek Parent Community, What's Really Cool in Middle School and Fun Stuff for Geeky Kids.

I'll remind you in early July when Marbeth's book is available, but if you'd like you can pre-order Bringing Up Geeks: How to Protect Your Kid's Childhood in a Grow-Up-Too-Fast WorldBringing Up Geeks: How to Protect Your Kid's Childhood in a Grow-Up-Too-Fast World at Amazon now.

It's time to redefine what's cool for kids

Digital Photography Tips

One of my favorite online resources Surfing the Net with Kids offers some great tips this week for making the most with your family's digital photography. We'll all be taking lots of photos this summer, so visit Barbara Feldman's suggested websites to learn more about using your digital camera and photography in general.

I'm always amazed by the number of people I know who have no idea how to get the photos off of their digital camera. If you're one of them, take a look at Barbara's suggestions. While you're at it, examine your system for handling family photos. Whether you're an avid scrapbooker, or one who organizes your photos on the computer, it's great to assess whether your system is working for you. I usually take advantage of the quieter days of summer to print and organize our family photos. Here are a few tips:

1. If you print your photos and place them in albums, look through the Sunday ads for photo printing specials during the weeks leading up to and following the 4th of July. Many retailers and online printing services offer specials before and after holidays.
2. If you're organizing your photos on the computer, employ a software program that enables you to "tag" photos, labeling them with names, events and dates. Tagging photos is a huge help when you need to lay your hands on a particular photo for a specific project. Take the time when you initially handle the photos to tag them - it will be time well spent when you are looking for something later on.
3. Have a backup plan. Whether you keep your photos organized in albums or on your computer, have a backup system in place and keep them all together so that you can access them immediately in the event of an emergency. Backup your digital photos onto disks or a hard drive (preferably in two places) to ensure that you do not lose these family treasures.
4. Look at your photos with your children. This is probably my most important tip! We tend to take tons of photos, especially with the ease of digital photography, and then never find the time to enjoy them. Pull out your albums today and let the kids enjoy looking at themselves or have a digital slide show on your family television tonight.
5. Mom and Dad, get in the picture. I recently was asked for a candid photo of myself and had to search for a very long time to find one. If you're the family photographer, remember to ask someone else to take a few photos with you in them on every vacation or occasion.
   

Digital Photography Tips

Greening Your Family Computer

I found this article by Carolyn Jabs at Growing Up Online to be a very helpful digest of information on making our family computers more "green". In age of rising fuel costs, every little bit helps.

Greening the Family Computer

School Lunch - Buy or Pack?

I'm not sure why this article from SparkPeople.com is coming out during what is, for many students, summer vacation - but it contains very helpful information, so I thought I'd pass it along. The article includes helpful tips to encourage your child to eat a healthy lunch. The tips are also very relevant for grown ups too! If you're in summer mode, like me, print yourself a copy of this and place it with your extra stock of school supplies so that you'll be certain to revisit it in the fall.

The School Lunch Dilemma

Drive More Productively with DriverSide.com

Thanks to Allison Blass for bringing to my attention a cool new web 2.0 site for drivers called DriverSide.com. Through the site's very interesting "What's it Worth" feature I was able to learn, somewhat depressingly that my 2005 Tahoe is now worth just under $16,000 and that my 1974 VW Bus is worth $7,000! If you have trouble remembering to service your car or are looking for another source of information about automobiles, this might be a great tool for you. Here's what Allison has to say about DriverSide:

DriverSide is a full service Web site with the mission of saving consumers time and money through resources that make owning or leasing and automobile hassle-free. As you know, people have busy lives and not everyone can remember when their oil or air filters need to be changed or they're not sure where the best auto body shop is. However, keeping your car maintenance up-to-date is incredibly important for getting the best gas mileage, keep your car safe, and also retaining the highest value of your car. DriverSide solves these problems and more by giving consumers a place to get advice and interact with other car owners in forums, store service records and seek guidance on how much to pay for servicing, and find out the real value of their car, among other things. It’s a quick and easy way to store all your car information and is easily accessible through the Internet.

DriverSide | Help for Buying, Owning, Car Repair & Maintenance