Top Must-Have Organizing Products

Things to look for when buying a suitcase:

• Does it roll well (i.e. do the wheels roll easily?)
• Does it have built-in compartments for your dirty laundry and toletires?
• Will you recognize it whirling around on the luggage ramp at the airport?

I like (gulp, don't judge me!) Jessica Simpson's luggage line. It's colorful, the leather handles are soft and easy to grasp and the colors are eye-catching. Plus, Jessica and her designers packed these suitcases full of all sorts of bags and sections to separate gym clothes, toiletries and shoes.

I prefer to use Google's Calendar tool because it's accessible from any computer if I'm traveling. In addition, I carry a Moleskin notebook with a weekly calendar page. This way I can jot things down on the go. (My version of organizing with a little notebook.)

Whichever type of calendar you use, make sure you keep it accessible at all time and jot down appointments in only one calendar.

Clipboards may seem old school and out-dated, but I think they're ripe for a renaissance. They are endlessly portable and useful in an office setting, and I would never organize an event without one in my hands at all times.

Three things I look for in a shredder:

1. Handles credit cards without jamming;
2. Shreds staples and (small) paper clips; and,
3. Ability to shred of mixture of paper products at once.

Think about how you work at home: do you shred a large amount or a little adjust accordingly.

A label maker can be used to label food, cables, boxes and bins, shelving spaces, etc. It may seem ultra-nerdy and overly-organized, but once you get started you'll find it's actually quite fun (and helpful!).

The ubiquitous pen is useful for just about everything and offers many advantages over the average marker:

• Waterproof
• Sticks to most hard surfaces (plastic and glass as well as paper)
• Comes in fine point to fat marker sizes

They also come in a rainbow variety of colors so you can mix and match whether you're labeling, color-coding or writing out a greeting card.

It's endlessly portable, user-friendly and never needs re-charging. You never know when you'll need to quickly jot something down:

• To-Dos
• Upcoming events
• Notes about something fascinating you've heard or read
• Money you've spent
• Things to buy for an upcoming trip or project

A small pocket-sized notebook is essential to an organized life.

Any home organization project you undertake will consistently call for one item: a tape measure. A basic, easy-to-use tape measure is essential.

1. Use a small one to measure the width and height of desk-sized items like picture frames and cards.
2. Use a large one to measure the width of a room, the length of a window treatment, or the depth of a closet.