Minima’s Website Updates

Hey friends! We just wanted to let you know that we’ve made some user-friendly improvements to our website. The Minimalist blog is now a part of Minima’s professional organizing website (moved from previous location here).

To keep things simple, there are only three main options for navigation in the upper right corner — “about”, “work” and “blog”. The current page option is hidden (i.e if you are on the “work” page, “work” is not shown as an option). You can also view our external sites from the same upper right navigation — Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Please let us know what you think in the comments section below. We love feedback!


“Work” and home page — image thumbnails show full saturation with mouse hover



“About” page with sub-navigation options to the left



“Blog” page — you are here!

Paperless April: Address Book

Don’t you hate it when someone moves and you have to cross off their old info in your address book? Or what about when you run out of space in the section allotted for last names starting with M or S? Issues like these are a thing of the past if you decide to go paperless with your address book. Some of you are probably already well schooled in digital contact lists. If so, skip down and read the awesome post about Goodwill. If not, read on.

I use Gmail so I’m going to talk about Google contacts. I’m not super familiar with other mail server contact set ups, and I honestly think Gmail is the best option for many reasons — but I’ll save that for another post. Here are my top five reasons to go digital with your contacts:

1. You can access your contact list from any computer with Internet (so awesome). Note: I do not like Outlook because there’s not really a clean and simple way to access your account from multiple locations. Correct me if I’m wrong.

2. You can search contacts. Can’t remember someone’s last name? Not to worry, just do a search with their first name or other info you’ve entered and their listing will pop right up!

3. You can organize your contacts into groups: “My Contacts”, “Family”, “Friends”, “Coworkers”, “Medical” and any other categories you find necessary. It makes it so much faster to find who you’re looking for.

4. You can sync your contacts straight to your smart phone. With Google, you can choose which contacts to sync simply by adding them to the selected sync group — I use “My Contacts”. When you update info in Gmail, it automatically updates on your phone and vice versa. If your smart phone gets lost, replaced, stolen or busted, your contacts are still safely stored online.

5. You can take action right from a contact listing. Let’s say you’re looking at Emily Smith’s info. With Google, you can click the link that says “map” right next to her address and Google maps will show you where it is (and you can print directions). You can also click her email and Gmail creates a new message. So efficient!

Whether you go digital via Gmail or other system, you’ll be saving paper and time in the long run. If you love another digital address book, please mention it in the comments section or send me an email at hello@minimaonline.com.

Paperless March: Files

Yep, it’s spring! With spring comes the dreaded-for-most tax deadline on April 15 (extended to April 18 this year for Federal). Tax time is a great opportunity to re-assess (or create, for some) your filing system. We’re digging through our paperwork anyway, so why not do some sort/purge/organize action while we’re at it?

One of the most popular paper organizing questions I get from my clients is, “Do I need to keep this?” For most people, the answer is no about 90% of the time. Ask yourself the following three questions to speed up the decision-making process:

1. Do I need this piece of paper for any legal reason? If not, you can likely toss it. Old bills — toss. Old checking account statements — toss. Tax return info older than three years (the time the IRS has to audit you) — yep, toss. Some of us have more complex legal and/or financial situations than others. Always refer to your CPA or lawyer for official keep/toss guides on paperwork if you’re not sure. Shredding before tossing paperwork with personal information is a smart idea to prevent identity theft.

2. Can this information be found elsewhere? Most of it can. The Internet, the library — the bank in the case of some financial statements. The more unnecessary printed information you can part with, the easier it will be to find what you’re looking for when you need it.

3. And finally — what’s the worst thing that could happen if I toss this piece of paper? Typically, nothing less than a feeling of euphoria for paring down the clutter.

Once you’ve sorted and purged the paperwork, it’s time to file it. The key to a good filing system is to keep it simple. Create a few basic categories — i.e. “automotive, family, home, insurance, medical, taxes, etc”. Within those broad categories, create subcategories (if you need to) — i.e. “automotive: repairs” and “automotive: loan”. The only rule for category creation is to be consistent. Label files in a way that makes sense for you. A professional organizer like myself can help you paper-purge and set up a good filing system.

So you’re one of those people who already has their paperwork totally organized and pared down? Great! Care to take things to the next level of green and easy? Consider scanning and storing your files online. Shred and recycle the originals, and your load just got a lot lighter! Plus, you can access your information securely from any computer with Internet access. I use Google Docs for mine, but there are many online file storage options available.

Paperless February: Journaling

I’ve been keeping a journal since about the third grade. I absolutely love reading through them and reminiscing. It’s funny to see my life crisis evolving from “My brother is so mean because he wouldn’t let me play on the swings,” to “I have such a huge crush on Bobby,” to “What is my next career move?” Writing is cathartic for me and always has been. However, I currently have about ten or so journals and I am (hopefully) only about 1/3 of the way through my life. Finding a private spot to keep them all gets trickier with each new addition.

Since developing Minimalist, I’ve found that it’s much easier for me to type at the pace of my thoughts than to write by hand. I’m able to get a lot more out in a shorter period of time. I haven’t translated this to an online journal yet, but I plan to. It’s as simple as creating another blog and changing the settings so that I’m the only one who can see it. Journaling online has many benefits over writing by hand:

1. It doesn’t take up any physical space.

2. It’s easier to keep private (i.e. someone won't “accidentally” find your online diary).

3. All of your journaling can be kept in one location (online) versus broken up via multiple books.

4. You’ll never have to purchase another journal! While they aren’t very expensive in the first place, it’s a small added bonus.

5. You can upload photos to go with your entries, creating a scrapbook of sorts.

6. This is my favorite reason — you can “tag” (or catalog) people, places and events using a blog. For instance, if I wanted to read all of my entries relating to a specific friend, I could click on the tag for “Emily Smith” and see everything I ever wrote about Emily Smith.

Lotsa Helping Hands

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m being treated for ovarian cancer via chemotherapy — starting on Monday. Eep! Since my diagnosis, everyone has asked what they can do to help. It feels great that so many people want to contribute in some way. However, sometimes mass offers of help can feel overwhelming. I needed a way to organize it all.

Enter Lotsa Helping Hands (LHH). LHH allows anyone to create a free, private, web-based community for organizing friends, family and colleagues during times of need. Coordinating activities and managing volunteers is streamlined, allowing time for help instead of wasting it on scheduling. I invited about 20 friends and family members to join my community. I then created a calendar showing the days I need rides, meals, etc and members of my community can pick days to volunteer those services. The calendar also shows which needs have been met versus ones that still need to be filled. There’s a place to enter important contact or medical information in case of an emergency and the site can be set so that members can see each others’ contact information if desired. What a great idea! I definitely feel at ease knowing I have a wonderful (and organized) network of support.

Modern Times vs Simplicity

Before celebrities, when there were stars, before Google maps, when compasses were internal, before umbilical online-ism, when we off-lined our lives, before virtual flirtation, when legs touched, we felt we managed all the same.

Fellow Minimalist

I stumbled across this blog by Alex Payne while researching minimalism this weekend. With a focus on technology, it’s a lovely collection of ideas and images.

Online Savings

Last week I was doing some online shopping via The Container Store with an organizing client. We had racked up a pretty full “cart” of about $200 by the time we’d checked everything off our list. As a NAPO member I automatically receive 10% off at The Container Store, but thought I’d see if we could do a little better. My rule of thumb — ALWAYS do a Google search for discount coupons before confirming an online order. I am usually able to find one, whether it be 10% to 30% off or free shipping. RetailMeNot is my favorite site for said coupons. We were able to find a 20% off coupon for The Container Store, which (needless to say) made my client all the more pleased with my services.

Another great coupon site is Short Cuts. While not for online shopping, this eco-friendly concept allows you to “load” paperless coupons onto your Kroger (or other participating grocery store) card. Save money AND trees! What could be better?

For electronics and other gadgets, check out Lifehacker’s “Gadget and Gear Deals of the Day”. The site is almost like a free flow Real Simple-esque community forum, with a focus on technology from what I can tell.

For local deals here in Richmond, check out the Richmond Bargains blog.

Let’s talk! Share your favorite online coupon/deal sites in the comments section.