More tips

Mounds of paper

Chris Dutson had a home-organizing business in Iowa before she moved to Utah two years ago. Once here, she decided to concentrate on offices and time management, starting a company called Easy Offices. (She also teaches classes through Granite District community education.)

Dutson offers this tip for the management of paperwork, and anything else: Think about point of use. Make sure you have all the tools you need — and not any more than you need — at the point of use.

When the mail comes, where do you open it? For most families the answer is the kitchen, so that's where you need your files. If you make pancakes every Saturday morning then you will need the griddle and the pancake turner close to the stove. But you won't need eight pancake turners, because you use only one, and you use it only nce a week.

A house of order

Nicolle Hughes owns Simplicity Organizers and teaches classes on organizing in the Davis County community schools. She often teaches a system developed by Christi Youd called "How to Organize Your Home in 10 Minutes." Youd's system works well for those who want to organize once and keep the plan going, thereby saving time every day, Hughes says.

The plan involves leaving enough room in your file drawers so that you don't have to use two hands to put papers in and out. It recommends a closet with the space of two fingers between every hanger.

Hughes herself keeps her clothes a little closer together than that, she admits. But she does have them organized by item (pants together, shirts together) and she separates off-season clothes and current-season clothes.

Master of yoga

Shannan Sanchez, a yoga teacher in Provo, invented a new cleaning product because she didn't like the way baby wipes smell and she didn't want to use a chemical- disinfectant wipe on her yoga mat. Washing a yoga mat in the washing machine is always an option, of course, but sometimes a mat will take several days to dry.