Operation: Organization Samantha from Simply Organized

 

*don’t forget to enter our TWO giveaways at the end of the post*

Hi everyone! We’re winding down our Operation: Organization series with our last guest {but she’s far from the least!} Samantha from Simply Organized. If you are a regular reader you know that Sam is one of our favorite organizing contributors; she’s a professional organizer and her projects are always top-notch. She’s also one of the nicest bloggers around and we’re lucky to consider her a friend. Stay tuned though, the series guests may be over but I’ll be back tomorrow with my newly organized office and on Sunday Christy will show off her organized her closet so there is much more inspiration to come! Here’s Sam…

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Happy New Year, 11 Magnolia Lane friends! Hopefully by now your decorations are neatly tucked away and you’ve moved on to other areas of your home that need improvements or organization. I’m more than happy to organize 365 days a year (and I DO as a professional organizer), but in general the New Year tends to be a fresh start for those looking to get organized. So I jump right in line to help them! While many focus on the spaces around the home and office, we can’t forget how important it is to dedicate organization time for your digital life as well. From photos and apps to calendars and e-mail, our digital life needs a little organization TLC too.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed this year but want to do something to kick-start your resolution, I have a great project you can work on while relaxing…and in the process be inspired to organize those areas you’re avoiding.

Operation Pinterest Organization!

How did we ever live without Pinterest? The genius solution that allows us to save anything and everything we find online…and then find it again in a pinch. Pinterest also exposes us to pins shared by thousands upon thousands of other pinners. All this inspiration means many of us get sucked in and suddenly…where did those few hours go?! Speaking hypothetically, of course.

Yes, we love Pinterest. But have you noticed your boards aren’t exactly organized? When you search for that great Superbowl dip you pinned a few years ago (ahem), do you find yourself combing through hundreds of pins added since then? Maybe you’ve generalized boards titled as “recipes” or “diy” or “beauty”? Wish you started labeling differently way back then?

Even me, a professional organizer, found my boards were in need of re-organization. I started my account years ago with no idea where this P-train was heading. No idea I’d still be pinning years later. Several boards were set up with that general title I alluded to. While pinning this way may work for some, I found myself frustrated when trying to find something. So over the last several months I’ve easily re-organized my boards and I’ll show you how!

Did you know you can move pins from one board to another? And do it in bulk? Or delete pins? Or move your boards around? Change your board cover image? Not only organize your boards but also make your profile look prettier…which makes you someone to follow!

Here was my account above the fold before I started…

My issue here is that I’m a professional organizer. Why Sam – why? – do you have ALL of your organization pins in one big “organization” board? With nearly 800 pins? To me, made a whole lot more sense to break them up into categories…so I did! Easily and quickly!

Here’s my easy method for moving pins. I opened my “organization” board and clicked on the edit button at the top right corner of the pin…

When you click the edit button, you’ll see a window with several options…

For moving the pin, simply choose “board” and either move the pin to a board already created. Or create a new one right then. In the case of this pin, I created a board called “organization – garage”…

When you’re done, click save. This is also a great way to delete pins you’re no longer interested in saving, or if it’s a duplicate.

In my case with the large amount of pins to move from within that board, I moved many of them in bulk. How? Simple! Open a board to find the “move pins” button in the top right corner…

Then scroll through your board to check off the pins you’d like to move…

When you click move, this window pops up allowing you to choose their new location…

Using that same format, you can also copy or delete multiple pins at one time. As you can imagine, this saves loads of time!!

What I’ve done is also make searching and pinning easier by adding a main category heading before a sub-category heading. For example, with my organization boards, they now start with “organization” followed by a sub-category. Like “organization – mudroom” or “organization – garage”. Through doing this, my hope is it will be easier for those searching my boards to find things, as well as follow a specific organization board of interest. But I’ve found through the process it’s made my pinning experience easier too by helping to find a board quickly!

Or maybe that’s my excuse for organizing yet another thing. 😉

I’ve been working through my recipe boards and breaking them up as well. Trying to locate my Christmas recipes last month was a nightmare. This newly organized game plan means finding that monkey bread we loved will be a breeze!…

There were boards featured at the top of my profile, when instead I wanted to share other boards up top. Most people visiting your Pinterest page will scroll a bit and if they don’t like what they see or it doesn’t make sense, they click away or not follow. Since I’m in the organization niche, I figure people are likely clicking through to see organization inspiration. So those are now up top, while others have been shifted down. This is simple to do by clicking on your boards and dragging them around on your page. My page looks much better now with my organizing boards at the top.

Did you know you can also change your board cover image to make your page even more appealing? On your main profile page, choose a board, click the edit button…

Then click “change” next to cover…

From there, Pinterest allows you to scroll through the images on that particular board. All you’ll do is select the image you like and save it. Previously, this was my “kitchen” board cover image…

But this kitchen is way more my style and taste, so I chose it…

Isn’t it pretty?! It’s amazing how the appearance of your profile can change by simply adjusting the board cover images! I changed nearly every image and feel so happy now when I log in to work over there. Much like the way I feel after organizing something for a client or myself. It’s just prettier and happier, in my opinion…

I look at social media as an extension of my blog. And business. It’s important that your platforms look the same and reflect what readers from your blog would expect to see from you – no matter where they find or follow you. After a long day of organizing someone else’s home, I’ve enjoyed the down time each evening on the couch with a glass of wine, listening to music and spending about 30-45 minutes working on my boards. Honestly, I’ve had a lot of fun because I’ve re-discovered forgotten, long lost inspiration that was pinned years ago.

Do you have organized Pinterest boards? If not, I truly hope my tips and tricks helped inspire you to spend a little time organizing your boards this new year.

I’d like to give a big thank you to Christy and Amy for inviting me over once again to the Operation Organization series. These girls are seriously little southern dolls and was so grateful to finally meet them last summer. Girls, thank you so much for the invite and for being such great friends! Happy New Year everyone!

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All the best,
Samantha
Simply Organized

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Thanks Sam! I don’t know what I’d do without Pinterest for inspiration, how much more useful would my boards be if they were perfectly organized? Along those lines, be sure you are following the Operation:Organization Pinterest board HERE!

Because we want to share the organizing love with you all, we’ve got some great giveaways during this series. Xangar is giving away a 50-pack of their clothes hanger spacers to one lucky reader (a $79.99 value!) so that you can tackle your closet and make it simply beautiful and organized. {Shop for them now here}.

 

We’re also including one of our 11 Magnolia Lane calendar pads to help you keep your week on track. Read more about how to use them to organize your week easily {here} and they are available {here} and discounted until 1/30 with the code “2016”!

Good luck! Enter the giveaway here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway
AND, our newest giveaway just started.  This package includes the 31-Day Declutter Challenge Printables from Mary Organizes, a $40 credit to Polished Habitat’s Etsy shop, and a chalkboard wall calendar from our Etsy shop (it’s perfect for renters).  Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway  Follow our group Operation: Organization Pinterest board {here}.

Operation: Organization 2016

Monday, January 11—Lisa from Organize 365

Wednesday, January 13—Erin from Sunny Side Up

Thursday, January 14—Shand from Quarters One

Friday, January 15—Abby from Just a Girl and Her Blog

Saturday, January 16—Morgan from Morganize with Me

Sunday, January 17—Heather from The Heathered Nest

Monday, January 18—Mary from Mary Organizes

Tuesday, January 19—Melissa from Polished Habitat

Wednesday, January 20—Becky from Organizing Made Fun

Friday, January 22–Samantha from Simply Organizing

Have a beautifully organized day, and thanks for stopping by–