Get It Together: Snap Photos of This Information...

Get It Together is a series of small tasks you can do to help get your home and life back in order. Each task is meant to only take 15 minutes or less to complete. Get ready, get set, get it together!

Snap Photos of This Information...

• There are some things in my life that I just have a hard time remembering. For those things that I don't remember but may need to know while I'm not at home or at work, I snap photos with my phone so I have the info at my fingertips at all times.
• I use the Google Keep app on my phone to organize the information.
• Ink Cartridges: I have two printers - one in my classroom and one at home. They are both different brands and therefore take different cartridges.
• Clothing Sizes: Now I don't have photos of this one, but I do have a note in my app for each of my family members with their clothing sizes. It's not much of a surprise when you call every time you are going to buy something for them to ask for their size.
• Recipes: I take a picture of a recipe I'm going to make before I go grocery shopping. That way I don't have to take the time to write down all of the ingredients and I make sure that I get the right amount of everything I need.
• Travel Info: Confirmation numbers, flight info, etc. - all easily accessible without having to search through my emails.
• Current Prescriptions: When I visit the doctor and they ask about current prescriptions, of course I know what I take, but I cannot for the life of me pronounce them or remember the dosage.
• Access Codes: Okay, so you might be thinking that this isn't smart. But I have a few in my phone and they're not labeled. I just know which is which, but I don't use them frequently enough to have them memorized.
• Things I Want to Price Check Online: I don't like spending full price on things that could potentially be cheaper somewhere online like Amazon. I take pictures of these things and then look into them when I get home to see if I can get a better deal.

Get It Together: Organize Electronics Cords

Get It Together is a series of small tasks you can do to help get your home and life back in order. Each task is meant to only take 15 minutes or less to complete. Get ready, get set, get it together!

Organize Electronics Cords

• These days everything takes a cord of some sort - whether to charge, download, or power. Having these cords organized and easily accessible will save you time and frustration later.
• There are lots of ways organize and label your cords. I've compiled some ways from Pinterest. PLEASE visit the websites by clicking through the links. Please do not pin any of these from this post because they are not my photos/work.

Get It Together: Monitor Your Monthly Service Subscriptions

Get It Together is a series of small tasks you can do to help get your home and life back in order. Each task is meant to only take 15 minutes or less to complete. Get ready, get set, get it together!

Monitor Your Monthly Service Subscriptions

• These days many people subscribe to services that charge monthly. They could be entertainment services, business services, or some sort of club.
• Review your credit card and bank statements from the last two months to see what you're currently paying for monthly.
• Sometimes we subscribe to something and stop using the service, forgetting that we're still "conveniently" being charged on a monthly basis.
• Cancel subscriptions that you no longer use.
• Decide if it's worth keeping subscriptions to things that you maybe really don't have a use for or that didn't turn out to be as great as it sounded.

Bonus: Create a calendar reminder about these monthly charges so that you don't forget that they're being auto charged to your account.

Get It Together: Evaluate Your Magazine Subscriptions

Get It Together is a series of small tasks you can do to help get your home and life back in order. Each task is meant to only take 15 minutes or less to complete. Get ready, get set, get it together!

Evaluate Your Magazine Subscriptions

• With information becoming more digital, even magazines have taken to the electronic format. Most subscriptions can be turned digital through a tablet.
• Do you have the time to read magazines?
• Do you read them in a timely manner (without letting months pile up)?
• Most companies will send you a refund for the remaining balance of what you didn't receive if you cancel your subscriptions. (I'd certainly check first, before cancelling and just throwing your subscription away without getting anything back.)

Bonus: Do the same with newspaper subscriptions!

Get It Together: Unsubscribe from Email Lists

Get It Together is a series of small tasks you can do to help get your home and life back in order. Each task is meant to only take 15 minutes or less to complete. Get ready, get set, get it together!

Unsubscribe from Email Lists

• As your email comes in this week, take the time to analyze what you receive in your inbox.
• Do you really want to be subscribed to everything that comes in, or does it waste your time every day as you sort through and delete most of it?
• I've noticed lately that I find clearing out my email to be a tedious task every day after work because most of it I never actually take the time to look at.
• Hopefully this tasks serves as a way to save you time in the future - less time spent hitting the delete button!

Get It Together: Declutter Product Manuals

Get It Together is a series of small tasks you can do to help get your home and life back in order. Each task is meant to only take 15 minutes or less to complete. Get ready, get set, get it together!

Declutter Product Manuals

• Go through your product manual stash and discard those that you no longer need.
• If you don't have an organized system to keep the manuals stored, check out some of these ideas.

Get It Together: Discard Old Electronics & Cords

Get It Together is a series of small tasks you can do to help get your home and life back in order. Each task is meant to only take 15 minutes or less to complete. Get ready, get set, get it together!

Discard Old Electronics & Cords

• Do you have a stash of old electronics and/or cords? It's time to donate, sell, or trash them!
• Gather old electronics you no longer use - think cell phones, tablets, laptops, keyboards, mice, cameras, MP3 players, etc. Also gather old cords that you no longer use - USB, power cords, etc.
• If you're looking to donate and the items are still in good working order, you may want to check at a local school to see if they're interested in the donation. Primary grades use keyboards for kids to practice "typing", even if they're not hooked up to a computer. Cameras can be used in class. MP3 players can become listening centers for audiobooks.
• If you're looking to get some cash for your gently used electronics, check out some of the following websites. I've used them all in the past.
  Gazelle
  Amazon Electronics Trade-In
  uSell
  NextWorth
  Best Buy Online Trade In
• Bonus: Clean out your VHS, DVD, BluRay, CD, book, and video game collections as well, if you have the time. Sell items on eBay, Half.com, Craigslist, or local classifieds. You could also donate these items if you don't care to sell them. :)

Get It Together: Organize Food Storage Containers

Get It Together is a series of small tasks you can do to help get your home and life back in order. Each task is meant to only take 15 minutes or less to complete. Get ready, get set, get it together!

Organize Food Storage Containers

• Go through your food storage containers. 
• Match up lids with containers.
• Get rid of those containers with missing lids or lids that are missing containers.
• Have a ton? Donate!
• Reorganize your stash in a way that makes them easy to access and store.

Get It Together: Check Medication Expiration Dates

Get It Together is a series of small tasks you can do to help get your home and life back in order. Each task is meant to only take 15 minutes or less to complete. Get ready, get set, get it together!

Check Medication Expiration Dates

• Go through your medicine stash and discard expired medicines.
• Some communities have medicine take-back programs to safely discard prescription medications.
• If you are going to throw out medications, mix them with kitty litter or coffee grounds. Make sure to scratch out info from the prescription label before tossing the bottle.
• Check your first aid kit to ensure that you have the items you need.

Get It Together: Declutter Your Computer Desktop

Get It Together is a series of small tasks you can do to help get your home and life back in order. Each task is meant to only take 15 minutes or less to complete. Get ready, get set, get it together!

Declutter Your Computer Desktop

• If your computer desktop is a cluttered mess, it's time to clean it up.
• Create folders for files. If files aren't frequently accessed, move them into your Documents folder.
• Delete unnecessary shortcuts.
• Choose an appealing wallpaper for your background.
• Empty the recycling bin.

Get It Together: Create a Bill Payment Schedule

Get It Together is a series of small tasks you can do to help get your home and life back in order. Each task is meant to only take 15 minutes or less to complete. Get ready, get set, get it together!

Create a Bill Payment Schedule

• Pull out your planner or calendar.
• Write down due dates and payment amounts for your monthly bills.
• If you have an electronic calendar, such as a Google Calendar, you can set up reminders for bills. I have mine set up to remind me a week in advance so I can ensure that everything is paid on time.

Get It Together: Back Up Your Computer

Get It Together is a series of small tasks you can do to help get your home and life back in order. Each task is meant to only take 15 minutes or less to complete. Get ready, get set, get it together!

Back Up Your Computer

• Technology is unpredictable. You should definitely have a back up process in place for your files. After all, you don't want to lose purchased music or movies, or any family photos or videos.
• There are several online back up services that are free but come with minimal storage space. Most you can pay for extra storage. Everything is stored in the "cloud". The pro to this is you can access your files from anywhere you have internet access. I use Dropbox to store school files that I share with parents, such as homework files.
• You can also go with the option to back up to an external hard drive. I have an HP hard drive that I back up to. I back up twice a month and store the hard drive in a fireproof safe. I back up all of my photos, documents, and music.
• Whichever method you choose, it gives a peace of mind to know that you won't lose everything in case of accident or emergency.

Get It Together: Update Your Phone Contacts

Get It Together is a series of small tasks you can do to help get your home and life back in order. Each task is meant to only take 15 minutes or less to complete. Get ready, get set, get it together!

Update Your Phone Contacts

• Grab your cell phone and open your contacts.
• Update phone numbers, addresses, and names.
• Delete old numbers, emails, and those contacts you no longer need.
• Add frequently called numbers to your contacts, such as your hair salon or favorite take out restaurant.
• If you have a smart phone, make sure your contacts are being backed up automatically in case anything happens to your phone.

Get It Together: Plan For Birthdays & Events

Get It Together is a series of small tasks you can do to help get your home and life back in order. Each task is meant to only take 15 minutes or less to complete. Get ready, get set, get it together!

Plan for Birthdays & Events

• Pull out your planner or calendar.
• Write in birthdays, anniversaries, & events for 2014.
• If you have an electronic calendar, such as a Google Calendar, you can set up reminders for birthdays and events. I have mine set up to remind me a week in advance so I have time to send out a card to those who live back in PA.
• If you have a stash of birthday cards, write out & address those that are in the next 3 months so you're ready to go.

Get It Together: Declutter Writing Utensils

Get It Together is a series of small tasks you can do to help get your home and life back in order. Each task is meant to only take 15 minutes or less to complete. Get ready, get set, get it together!

Declutter Writing Utensils

• Sort through your collection of pens, markers, pencils, etc. 
• Test and toss those that don't work. 
• Cut your collection down, if possible. You can always donate extras that are still usable to schools. I know I love it when kids bring in pencils, pens, and highlighters for our class stash.
• If you have a set of something that you don't need in your pencil cup, find a new home for it.
• Sharpen pencils.
• Don't forget to check the junk drawer. :)