4M – Margarita’s Manic Monday Minutes – Organizing Magazines

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4M Organizing Magazines DownshiftingPRO

When I was a professional organizer for 10 years, clients asked the same question: what do I do with all my magazines? There are a few things to consider: (1) are they a quick read – current events (i.e. People or Time Magazine) (2) are they informative (i.e. The Economist, a professional publication); (3) are they eye-candy (i.e. House Beautiful, Architectural Digest); (4) are they a go-to reference (i.e. Real Simple, Parent)? You may have to keep a professional publication but you don’t usually have to keep the latest version of any gossip magazine. There are many ways you to tackle the task of organizing magazines.

I have to admit it, I love getting magazines in the mail subscribing to two publications which I use them for ‘work’ purposes…o.k…I also like the lovely pictures. It’s great to have magazines around for a quick break, to get inspired or to decorate a space. Since my mother has moved in with us, it’s a great source of comfort for her to peruse a magazine in the afternoons. She is not as inclined to seeing magazines on a tablet. Organizing magazines to have them easily accessible to her is important.

Organizing Magazines - DownshiftingPRO

Some good questions to ask are: do you need to keep them or do you want to keep them? Are they available on-line? Many magazines have their own apps or you can sign up for a monthly fee subscription that lets you have access to many publications (like scribd).  I use this subscription option to access books, audio books, podcasts and MAGAZINES. Although this may seem like a viable option, if you are not going to read it that often, it will be an expensive app that you don’t use. The monthly subscription is $8.99 USD (and also includes a variety of perks). If you sign up, you can get 60 days free.

Insider’s Tip: many subscription apps lets you have a 30 or 60 day trial period or offer incentives to sign up. If you join, you will get 60 days for free! If you want you can use this link to sign up.

No small investment when you look at it as a total sum.  This, however, will help you with your tendency to keep magazines years after you first got them.  Many of these digital editions have archived issues that you can access so that is better than stacking them on the floor beside your bed.  If you choose to download them onto your tablet, you may want to be careful not to use up all your memory.  Let’s try to avoid digital hoarding, okay?

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If you need to keep them, then use a magazine holder to keep current (within a year) issues. I  like an acrylic holder for organizing magazines which you can purchase at Solutions in Canada or The Container Store in an acrylic holder that you can purchase at Solutions in Canada or The Container Store in the US (they do ship to Canada too now!). It is clear and holds a lot of issues. It is sleek, modern and can be decorative without having to stick to a particular ‘colour pallet’.

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If you need to keep them, then use a magazine holder to keep current (within a year) issues. I  like an acrylic holder that you can purchase at Solutions in Canada or The Container Store in an acrylic holder that you can purchase at Solutions in Canada or The Container Store in the US (they do ship to Canada too now!). It is clear and holds a lot of issues. It is sleek, modern and can be decorative without having to stick to a particular ‘colour pallet’.

If you don’t want to keep the whole publication but want to refer back to an article, tear it out and place it in a plastic folder. Why do you ask? Because you can then keep the folder in your car. So, when you have a few minutes of downtime (waiting) when you want to read a magazine and not just review emails on your phone pick up the folder and read.  I realize that you could easily search on your electronic device but sometimes, you just want to see the paper copy.

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My favourite plastic envelopes are these Globe-Weis ones that you can find at Staples. They are large, see-through and you can zip them up so all the articles don’t fall out. This is one of the organizing products that I use the most.  When I am working on a project.  I tend to put all the papers, samples and brochures into one of these  to keep track. Easy to use, I then toss it into my knapsack when I am working of-site.  All my materials neatly ordered. Use clipped articles to track recipes or ideas for blog posts 😉 without keeping the whole publication.

Organizing magazines does not mean you need to get rid of them completely. If you find that you still cannot give up purchasing a magazine but you want to get rid of them after a while you could always recycle them. This is always the best alternative. So either put them out on the curb for the recycling truck  or share them with friends and family. You can trade publications. My mom gets Style at Home and I get Canadian House and Home. After we are done, we switch. So we get two publications for the price of one! Happy Reading!

Organizing Magazines can be easy if you use a few tools - DownshiftingPRO
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Margarita Ibbott is a travel and lifestyle blogger. She blogs about travel in Canada, the United States and Europe giving practical advice through restaurant, hotel and attraction reviews. She writes for DownshiftingPRO.com and other online media outlets.

1 thought on “4M – Margarita’s Manic Monday Minutes – Organizing Magazines”

  1. I love the acrylic holder…i do need to get to TO soon as New Brunswick is lacking in cool stuff like this.
    Thanks for the great info….I may need you to send me some 🙂

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