If having to hop, scoot and push your way through your home’s front entry doesn’t make you feel welcome, imagine how guests must feel.  Keep things organized and your entryway will scream, “Welcome!  Take off your shoes, stay a while.”

BEFORE

1. The Catchall:  Many entryways quickly turn into the home’s dumping ground.  A catchall for shopping bags, sports gear, clothes, mail.  Once you, or your, guests see the mess, you won’t get past it.  Literally and figuratively.

2. Mad Mail:  A common bad habit is dropping mail on top of the first flat surface inside a home.  Pretty soon, people find themselves under piles of bills, junk mail and magazines.  Imagine all the love letters lost under your mail mountain.

3. The Other Closet:  In just a few seconds, anyone can easily take off his or her coat and hang it in the entry closet.  Why do so many people skip this step and opt for tossing a coat on a table, floor or doorknob?  I’m not sure.  I just know I’ve seen my fair share of entryways taking on the role of “messy closet.”

AFTER

1.  Clean & Clear:  As the first impression your home makes, you need to keep entryways tidy and welcoming.  Put shopping away, store sports gear, have a designated area for keys.  Spruce things up with a pretty flower arrangement.  Ahhh.  Doesn’t that feel nicer already?

2. Gone Mail, Gone: In O.C.D. territory, there is no need to create an area to keep mail.  Mail should be sorted, filed or thrown out immediately.  Not only will this declutter your entrance, it will also save you hours of sorting it later.

3. Put a Jacket on It:  Hang jackets, coats and scarves in the entry closet as soon as you get home.  If your home doesn’t have one, create an area for outwear to be kept by placing a coat rack near the door or installing decorative hooks.

For your daily dose of organization, follow Justin Klosky on Twitter and become a fan of Organize & Create Discipline on Facebook.

Our friends at Amish Country Gazebos sent us this cool info on 10 Ways to Improve Your Outdoor Living.  We wanted to share it with you.  Happy Summer from the O.C.D. Experience!

For your daily dose of organization, follow Justin Klosky on Twitter and become a fan of Organize & Create Discipline on Facebook.

Everyone is thinking about that perfect gift to give for Father’s Day as it is right around the corner. I have a few personal favorites that I will be gifting this year to my Dad along with a few others that just scream OCD!

1.  O.C.D. Slimline Wallet:  I am so excited this is here just in time for Father’s day.  Introducing the O.C.D. Slimline Wallet.  It’s a simple, slim and sleek wallet that won’t bulk up dad’s pocket.

2.  Movie Night:  This is probably what I’m getting my dad.  Tickets to the movies.  I’m also springing for popcorn, soda and a box of junior mints.  Sorry about ruining the surprise dad!

3.  O.C.D. Experience:  Look, dad’s sometimes need something that is just practical.  Help him get his office, toolshed or man cave organized.  With all the free time he has, he can even find time to dust off the ol’ golf clubs.

4.  Samsung Gallery S4: I just got one and I’m obsessed.  For any techie dads out there, this is THE BEST dad’s day gift.  You can even spend time together dorking out about all the cool features over a glass of Macallan 12.

5.  Jack Black Gift Set:  Even dad’s need to get pampered.  I love Jack Black’s line of men’s grooming products.   It’s clean, useful and smells pretty darn good.

For your daily dose of organization, follow Justin Klosky on Twitter and become a fan of Organize & Create Discipline on Facebook.

It’s summer and it’s road trip time.  Whether you’re up for a weekend jaunt or a cross-country adventure, a small dose of planning will have you getting your kicks on Route 66.

Plan Your Road Trip

Part of the allure of road trips is being spontaneous…allowing the road to lead your adventure.  However, a small bit of planning makes for a better journey.  Depending on the number of vacation days you have, choose where you want to go.  Then decide how much you are willing to drive each day.  Pick your top activities for the trip.  Once you have a general plan, you can make a map of your route, marking your stops, hotel stays, campgrounds and must-do activities.  Don’t freak out, this is just an outline.  You can deviate from this plan at any time.  But this sort of planning helps you decide what to bring, book accommodations if needed and take full advantage of your vacation.

Prep the Car

A week before your excursion, start prepping your car.  Make sure it has an oil change, tires are inflated and liquids are topped off…all necessary for safe, long-distance driving.  Pick up a small cooler and trash receptacle to keep the car from getting messy.  Make sure you have the appropriate phone, camera, tablet and GPS chargers to stay plugged into the world.  Keep baby wipes and a pack of tissues in the glove compartment to clean up any spills.  Don’t forget emergency items like a small first aid kit, jumper cables and a small canister for gas.  And don’t forget an atlas.  Yes, we all have Google Maps, but you may just end up somewhere with no cell reception, it can happen.

Pack

Every passenger should be allotted the same amount of space, one small suitcase and one day backpack.  Make sure to pack appropriately for activities like camping, hiking, horseback riding, swimming.  Space is limited in the car, so no extra pairs of shoes and one bathing suit will do.  Keep your toiletries and PJs, at the top to easily grab at night.  While the suitcase will have all your items, your day back should have the necessities needed for the day’s activities so you don’t have to unpack and pack your suitcase at every stop.

Bring Entertainment

Whether it’s a weekend road trip or a several-weeks long adventure, entertainment for the drive is a must.  Have each passenger make a couple playlists to share their unique musical tastes.  Bring a small case of DVDs or load up and iPad with moves for the family and friends.  Download a couple audiobooks.  And for the most laughs, pack an arsenal of car-friendly games to play along the way. As romantic as star gazing is, in our ADD society, it only last a few minutes.

Stay Organized

Keeping the car clean and organized from mile one through mile 561 will make the road trip more comfortable for everyone…I mean, the last game anyone wants to play is “Guess the Stench.”  Accessibility is the first step to staying organized.  Pack things you will frequently access like snacks, drinks, diapers, cameras and jackets at the end so they are on top and easy to grab.  Take advantage of every gas stop to do a mini carwash.  Have everyone dispose of their trash, shake out their floor mats, wipe down cup holders and the dashboard and squeegee the windows.

For your daily dose of organization, follow Justin Klosky on Twitter and become a fan of Organize & Create Discipline on Facebook.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN READING THIS ENTRY….PLEASE PRESS PLAY!

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Daft Punk released their anticipated album called, Random Access Memories yesterday and while it takes us through memory lane from the catchy beats, familiar rhythms and 70′s samples, they inspired me to write my first entry in Klosky’s Corner, which is about:

Recondition Your Brain to Better Yourself

Habits are hard to break. In fact the first time that resonated with me was when I listened to the Chicago song ”Hard Habit to Break” from 1993, which at its core was a about breaking the habit of loving someone who got away and learning to deal with the consequences of treating a loved one poorly. Not realizing what you had until it was gone.  I was thirteen and had my heart broken for the first time.

We have all been through break-ups, we have all loved, lost, hurt, been hurt and we all know in the end we move on, heal and love again. How fast that happens is truly dependent on our own actions and the habits we have conditioned ourselves to find comfort in. When a piece of your life disappears you must make the choice to live your life without that piece and continue to build rather than searching and yearning for the missing piece. Easier said then done, yes, BUT it is a choice and does take time!

I show you this picture above because our brain has the power! OR do we actually control our brain? Pathways, synapses that fire over and over again based on habits and  patterns we have formed. We truly have the power to change our habits and recondition our minds to work and fire off new synapses. It won’t happen over night, but can happen night by night then day by day until all of a sudden what you have been use to is suddenly a distant memory and old habit. They die hard, but when those bad habits die new positive ones can form. It is much easier to resort to the old habits, the ones that fire without warning, but next time you feel that habit coming on, whatever your poison may be, STOP and try something new.

Bringing this around to the O.C.D. Experience,  everything I have created in my life when it comes to organization is based off of habit and repetitions. All of the organizational systems I teach my clients are based off of the development of the habits I have formed to battle my obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), which enables me to focus on being more productive and more effective rather than obsessing over things that are destructive and unhealthy. I have been doing it for most of my life now, and I know how difficult it can be to break a habit and not regress backward. It can happen, you can change and better yourself anytime you want by making the decision to!