Master the Art of Organization: Empowering Seniors

Digital what?  Footprint?  You may be thinking thats what you leave behind at the beach.  While that may be correct, it is also what you leave behind every time you provide your email, set up a new online account, or allow your data to be tracked.  Your digital footprint is the trail you leave behind with Location services on your phone.  It is the data you leave behind when commenting on Aunt Sallys Facebook page, sharing your familys vacation pictures on Instagram, or traipsing around the internet to various sites looking for that cute Lladro figurine your mother wanted for Christmas.  All of it tells something about you whether you realized it was happening or not.Most of the time, the sharing of your data what you do, how you do it, etc. may not be a big deal.  Or is it?  The reality is that your data supports big business every day.  It is collected, bought and sold (mostly without your knowledge) by data brokers (i.e., Acxiom, Epsilon), credit and identity bureaus (i.e., Experian, Equifax, TransUnion), and Big Tech Companies (i.e., Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Apple) that share your data with their partners and ad networks.The danger to you is when there is a data breach at one of the many sites that has your data and your data is captured and posted on the dark web.  This enables nefarious characters to better target you for scams and potentially steal your identity.  Call Lily in the Details today 941-237-0157 and schedule Understanding Your Digital Footprint, Navigating the Online World Safely and Wisely for your community.

A missed grocery trip or a small repair that keeps getting put off can be the first sign that an older adult could use more help at home. Senior organizations can help with practical needs like these. Cultivate, formerly Boulder County CareConnect, connects older adults with volunteer-powered services in the Boulder area.What Senior Organizations and Services ProvideCommunity organizations can help older adults with everyday needs such as getting groceries, finding transportation, or keeping up with basic tasks at home. Each program has its own service area and enrollment process. Start with the task causing the most difficulty and ask what the organization can do at your address. Cultivates Services for Older AdultsPhone: 303-443-1933 Through Carry-Out Caravan, volunteers help older adults order groceries, shop at King Soopers, and deliver the order. Cultivate says shopping and delivery are free, and clients pay for their groceries.  Medical Rides and Basic Help at HomeCultivates VetsGo program offers rides to medical appointments for eligible older veterans and qualifying older family members. Cultivate requests seven days advance notice for VetsGo ride requests. The organization also lists Fix-It for basic home repairs and YardBusters for seasonal yard cleanup. Ask about current availability and whether the task you have in mind is within the programs scope.  Why This Matters in BoulderService boundaries can vary even within Boulder County. Cultivates grocery program, for example, says it currently cannot deliver to certain mountain communities. Give the team your exact address and explain how soon you need help. If a volunteer program cannot meet the timing or location, ask whether Cultivate can refer you to another local resource.  How to Get Started1. Describe the Specific TaskSay whether you need groceries brought to your door, a ride to a medical appointment, or help with a basic home repair. For a ride, have the appointment date and address ready.2. Confirm Enrollment and TimingCall 303-443-1933 and ask what paperwork is needed, what costs apply, and when you can first request service. If the need is recurring, ask how repeat requests work. Related Seniors Blue Book Categories Volunteer Opportunities Transportation Aging Life Care

Have you ever grabbed some cute baskets or some lidded bins while you were shopping at Target or Home Goods and thought, This is it! Now Im going to be organized!? Then in a few weeks (or days), felt disappointed that you werent any more organized than you were before?  I know this cycle well. Before I learned how to organize, I would spot a cool organizing product while I was shopping and buy it, thinking it would solve my problems. Eventually, Id realize it was just creating more clutter in my home. Today, as a professional organizer, many of my clients tell me, I keep buying bins and baskets, but I just cant keep up!  Dont get me wrong, I love bins and baskets. They are useful tools and I recommend them to my clients all the time. But if you dont know how to buy them and use them effectively, they can be a waste of money and space. If those bins and baskets you bought arent working out the way you hoped, here are a few possible reasons why. You didnt declutter firstBefore you can identify the best way to store your belongings, its important to take time to re-evaluate what you have and pare down to what you really want and need. Often when we feel disorganized, we have clutter. Meaning we have more things in our environment than we can manage or enjoy. If you go out and buy containers before youve decluttered, youll only be transferring your clutter into bins and boxes. Sometimes, just putting things in containers can be an effective strategy for people who are struggling with organization or are neurodivergent. But for everyone else, this tends to lead to more clutter and stress, because youre still aware that you have bins of stuff you have to deal with, and youll probably find yourself just buying more bins to contain new things you acquire.If you find decluttering really difficult, working with a professional organizer can help make the process less painful. But dont skip the decluttering step. You bought it before you knew what was going in it   With pretty organizing supplies, its tempting to just buy something and think Ill find a use for this. But then you end up with a bin that snags your sweaters or a basket thats slightly too small for your kids stuffie collection.  Before you buy anything, consider: What kind of things (and how many of them) do I want to store in this container?  Do I want to be able to reach in and grab things quickly, or is it storing things I dont need to access frequently?  Where is the container going to live?   Do I want to be able to see inside it? Thinking through these points can help you pick the products that are going to work best for you. You didnt measureAll of your containers/organizers need to fit in the places where you want them to live, whether thats inside a drawer in your bathroom vanity or on a metal shelving unit in the garage. Make sure you measure the dimensions of the space where you want to use the container, as well as the container itself, before you buy anything. You didnt establish a system Sometimes my clients tell me that they feel like they need to keep buying more bins to keep up with things. Usually, whats happening is someone buys baskets to contain all of the things they currently have to feel organized. But what happens when new items come in? We need more containers. As this cycle repeats, our homes just feel more cluttered. This is why creating a system to manage your belongings is really important. (And no, buying more bins doesnt count as a system.) Maybe you want to create a boundary for a category of items and decide that once your belongings reach that boundary, you dont buy any more, you declutter, or you use the 1-in, 1-out system. So for example, lets say you decide your closet is going to be the boundary for your clothes. If you get to the point where you cant fit any more clothes in your closet comfortably, instead storing your extra clothes in bins in the attic, you could declutter your closet to make space for new things, or discard one old item for every new one you bring in.  This is just one example of a system, and there are many types of systems you could create to stay organized. However, the important point is to create a system that works for you. And if you have trouble with systems, working with a professional organizer can also help you. If youve struggled with buying organizing products that didnt really organize you, Ive been there, too. I hope this gave you some new ways to think about bins and baskets in the future so your next attempt at getting organized can succeed!