Remove a splinter by covering it with adhesive tape for three days.  When you pull the tape off, the splinter should come out with it.

Stop ants in their tracks by surrounding the track with tape's sticky side up.

Remove gunk from a comb by pressing a strip of tape along the comb's length and lifting it off.  Then dip the comb in a solution of alcohol and water to sanitize it.  Let it dry.

Prevent your furniture from leaving marks on your wood floor by wrapping the furniture's caster wheels with tape.

Adhesive tape has just the right texture for wrapping tool handles.  It gives you a comfortable grip and won't become slippery if your hand sweats.

Fun Fact: Use a blow-dryer on a high setting to heat up labels to make them easier to pull off.  Get rid of the leftover sticky stuff by applying a little WD-40 oil or orange citrus cleaner. 

 "Extraordinary Uses For Ordinary Things" from The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.  

When you hear the word hook what do you immediately think of? Okay, in addition to fish what word comes to mind? What about seize, fasten, or hold? Hook implies getting stuck or drawn into something. In literature, a hook is what draws you to pick up the book or read a story. In advertising it is what causes you to purchase a product or service. Given these examples it is reasonable to assume that if we have lots of stuff, there are lots of hooks in us. Here are some examples:

• The seductive store display that says "Buy two, get one free." (even though you only intended to buy one)
• A friend who gives us a gift with the words, "When I saw this I thought of you." (and you think that it is hideous)
• A relative that brings us a piece of furniture and says "I don't have room for this but it should stay in the family." (you don't have space for it either)
• A colleague who gives us a desktop sorter and states "This is a lifesaver in keeping my desk organized." (your desk is functional for your needs)

So would you keep the stuff or delete it from your space? In most cases, the person feels compelled to keep the item because they got such a great deal or are afraid to offend someone.

Getting and staying organized is characterized by boundaries. If you want to live in a NOW (newly organized way), learning how to set boundaries is a crucial step. Here are some examples:

• You have two tall bookshelves overflowing with books plus additional books on the floor in various rooms. These books have entered your space as purchases, gifts, and "passed down". Many of them have never been read and you even have multiple copies of some because you didn't remember that you already had a copy! You decide that your "book boundary" is the two bookshelves which means that books have to fit on the shelves or they need to be deleted from the space. You can delete by selling, donating, recycling, or discarding. Going forward, if a new book wants to enter the space, you must delete a current book. By keeping the boundary, you won't feel guilty about the number of books you have to read and you will create more functional living space.
• Your schedule is overflowing. You have more tasks to complete than hours in the day. Yet people always come asking for your help because you "know how to get the job done and you do it right". You are suffering from lack of sleep and too little "me time" not to mention no time with family and friends. Your boundary might be to not take on any more tasks until some of the current ones are off your plate. This could mean coming up with a response for anytime someone asks for your time. It could be something like this: "I am unavailable to do <the task> as I don't have time in my schedule right now." You have to come up with whatever phrasing feels right to you. Then you practice it until it rolls off of your tongue without thinking anytime someone starts a question with "Would you be able to..." They may resort to begging or manipulation. Stay wrong and repeat your phrase another time or two and then just walk away. I know it sounds mean, but this is your time we are talking about. It is precious! By setting up task boundaries, you will decrease stress and create a more reasonable schedule.

These are only two examples of how you might set boundaries to bring less overwhelm to your life. Melody Beattie in her book The Language of Letting Go says this about boundaries:

That's right, baking soda is the main ingredient in many fire extinguishers.  You can use it straight out of the box to extinguish small fires throughout your home.

If you like to barbecue, keep baking soda near by to quell a flare-up by tossing a few handfuls of baking soda into the fire.

Keep a box in your garage  and inside your car to quickly extinguish any mechanical or car-interior fires.

Baking soda will also snuff out electrical fires and flames on clothing, wood, upholstery, and carpeting.

"Extraordinary Uses For Ordinary Things" from The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. 

When you iron clothing, a lot of the iron's heat is sucked up by the board itself- requiring you to make several passes to remove wrinkles.  To speed things up, put a piece of aluminum foil under your ironing board cover.  The foil will reflect the heat back through the clothing, smoothing the wrinkles quicker!

 "Extraordinary Uses For Ordinary Things" from The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.

I looked at my keychain the other day and there was this "nub" among the keys and other items. Clearly something had been attached to it. I quickly checked to make sure that all of the keys were still attached. Check! Store discount cards. Check! I couldn't think of anything that should be on the keychain that wasn't there. This thought lead me to consider the idea that because I couldn't identify the missing item, maybe it wasn't that important. Maybe I didn't need it! In fact, I didn't even know how long it had been missing! Clearly I hadn't used it in quite awhile.

1. Aluminum Foil: Bake a perfect piecrust, soften brown sugar, create special shaped pie pans.

2. Apples: Ripen green tomatoes, fluff up hardened brown sugar, absorb excess salt in soups!

3. Baking Soda: Remove fish smells, reduce the acidity of coffee! reduce the gas-producing properties of beans! replace yeast, make fluffy omelets.

4. Coffee Filters: Cover food in microwave, filter cork crumbs from wine, make an ice pop, hold a taco!  

5. Ice Cube Trays: Freeze eggs, pesto, chopped veggies and herbs, even leftover wine!

6. Lemons: Prevent potatoes from turning brown or rice from sticking, keep guacamole green, make soggy lettuce crisp, freshen cutting boards.

1. Carpet Scraps: make an exercise mat, car mat, protect floor under plants, cushion kitchen shelves, protect tools.

2. Compact Discs: use as driveway reflectors, catch candle drips, make an artistic bowl or even make a clock!

3. Duct Tape: remove lint, repair toilet seats, repair frames, cover a book, make a bandage, hem pants, make a bumper sticker, make halloween costumes!

4. Fabric Softener Sheets: deodorize your car, gym bags, suitcases, and sneakers/ repel mosquitos, make sheets smell good, end tangled sewing thread.

5. Nail Polish: stop a pantyhose tear from spreading, mark hard-t-see items, seal envelopes and labels, make needle-threading easier, keep buckles shiny, fix nicks in floors and glass.

Pour about a quarter cup of any soda- preferably clear soda, along with water into the vase of flowers.  The sugar in the soda will make the blossoms last longer!

- “Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things” from The Reader’s          Digest Association, Inc.