Organizing Blogs by Professional Organizers
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Whether you celebrate Easter or not, the feeling of new beginnings is in the air. Spring is my absolute favorite time of the year. Everything seems clean and fresh. (Yes, you can tell my mood by how clean and picked up my home is! Mess = Stress) New plants and flowers, blue skies, warm and comfortable temperatures and fresh green grass make a beautiful picture. This is the best time of year to create your own new beginnings. What do you want to change? What do you want to start pursuing? Where do you need or want A Fresh Start? My company name came from the need we all have for the changes in our lives to move in a positive direction. A Fresh Start is something we all desire when things aren't working quite right.
Posted by: Tamara Meyer in Untagged on
Apr 9, 2009
Last week I launched my new FREE webinar series "Effective Paper Management Systems" using tools such as the Internet and telephone to deliver my message. While this is a new concept for some, many people are regularly attending webinars. For those of you asking "what is a webinar?", it is basically a seminar that is delivered over the Internet (web). You sit at YOUR computer and watch MY screen and hear MY voice.
I came to the realization that in this current economy I had to get creative about taking my work outside of the geographic area that I live in. I live in a resort town, so often I am driving a fair distance to reach my clients. Not only does this take extra time, it limited the area that I could serve. The technologies that we have available today, really make it possible for me to work with anyone from anywhere.
Posted by: Barbara Boone in Untagged on
Apr 2, 2009
It occurred to me recently that my mind was becoming cluttered. Because I am a professional organizer, that bothered me. Even though I have not yet succumbed to the plethora of technology gadgets that are available, I do make use of a few of them. My computer has generated the most mental clutter that I deal with everyday. Just the emails alone for my business connections and friends and family send me into a tailspin when I see the number of messages.
I attend several networking meetings where I capture more information on business cards and get good ideas from the people I meet.
I read business books on organizing and running a business. There is more mental clutter.
When I open my snail mail I have more information to deal with. It makes my brain hurt just thinking about it.
Posted by: Liz Jenkins in kids, de-cluttering on
Apr 1, 2009
Kids have a lot of stuff and keeping track of it can be tough. And it's hard to get them to let go of anything. What looks like junk to us may be absolutely beloved to a child and what we think is great, gets totally ignored - go figure!
I teach seminars on 'organizing' kids, and while a lot of what we discuss is getting the parents to rethink their philosophy on kids stuff and clutter, there are definitely some specific ideas that can help when it comes to getting the kids on board with the program. My basic premise is that kids (usually) have too much stuff. This can be overwhelming for them and as a result, they don't play with what they have nor do they respect it. Less is more when it comes to kids and their things. Once you've made the decision to do this, I have for you:
An article came out this week in the New York Times detailing the author's experience working with a professional organizer to organize her home office. http://tinyurl.com/cqvykk Of course I love it when anything is published about the work of organizing consultants because it brings awareness to the type of work that we do. The important message in the article is that organizing your office, setting up systems, and making it an efficient and appealing space to be in, is a personal experience. What will work for one person, may not work for another. That is why trying to follow advice from books and television shows may work for some and not for others. Many people feel like they fail when they measure the results and compare themselves to others. (You must know that there are a lot of people behind the scenes making the dramatic room make-overs you see on popular organizing television shows.)
After you finish your taxes, use this time to get back to daily paper management.
When you get the mail, sort it the same day into different categories, such as trash, mail for yourself, mail for your spouse, and mail for each of your children. Trash should immediately go into the garbage or recycle bin. Bills should go to whoever pays them. Each category should go into a mail slot (a paper tray, cubby hole, file, etc.), and each person in the family should be made responsible for clearing out his/her slot on a daily basis.
Posted by: Eileen Koff in Untagged on
Mar 26, 2009
When I began organizing at the ripe old age of 12, I realized that order brought people happiness, even though I had no idea how. The reaction I got from my family and friends instinctually told me that having an organized space allowed for greater freedom and creativity. Organizing is truly transformative, and the joy it brings to my clients is why after 11 years it keeps me doing what I do. Creating a business that brings people to their next level is why I called To The Next Level my business name. It is inspiring to see peoples lives change and I am humbled everyday to be able to have so many people put their trust in my company.
We've all heard the phrase "waste not, want not". It means that if we don't waste what we have, we will not be in need in the future. In general, I think this is a great rule to follow. The recent recession has caused a lot of us to rethink how we spend our time, money and efforts, and motivated us to reuse and recycle a lot more. But what happens when you take this philosophy too far? As I talk to my organizing clients about why they keep as much as they do, I often hear them say "It would be a shame to let anything go to waste". The irony here is that they are, in fact, wasting an awful lot by hanging on to so much stuff.
Posted by: Alison Kero in Untagged on
Mar 22, 2009
Time Management is undervalued. Especially if you live in NYC where it seems those who work 14 hour days wear those hours like a badge of honor. Yet, is working that many hours something to be revered? Or will those hours spent at the office prevent those workers from having time to cultivate other interests, feel relaxed, have personal relationships, take a vacation or care for themselves properly?
Time Management is a skill that anyone can learn. Little by little, taking control of our time becomes instinctive and making decisions based on these learned skills becomes much easier. So in this blog we are covering how to say NO! This lesson is based on my Oxygen Mask Theory. One must attend to themselves first in order to affect and help others positively. If you overextend yourself because of a fear of saying no, you show others you can be a pushover if enough pressure is applied. You show your children and loved ones that you are not as important as others. Do you want to teach your children how to follow in those footsteps? Showing yourself kindness is the truest way to be kind to others.
Posted by: Tamara Meyer in organizing families on
Mar 20, 2009
"When you do not honor and respect what you own, the lesson you are teaching your children is that they can own whatever they want, but they don't have to be responsible for what they own." - Peter Walsh on the Oprah Winfrey show, Wednesday 3/18/09
I respect Peter Walsh for many reasons, but the thing that really excites me is when he spreads the word that it is "not about the stuff." It is never about the "stuff", but more how the "stuff" affects our lives. I am so glad that the millions of Oprah viewers are hearing that message. It helps raise awareness about the organizing profession and the role professional organizers play in affecting the lives of others. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.
Late last night I finished my email newsletter on the topic of creating simple digital notebooks in Microsoft Word. A digital notebook is a digital "dumping ground" for information. You type notes into it, you cut and paste information from emails or websites, etc. I am not going into all of the details here. You can read more about it in my newsletter at http://tinyurl.com/d2ymxk. While there are special software programs that are specifically for keeping digital notes and information, I wanted to point out that sometimes the best tools are right at our fingertips already. Sure, the other programs probably do it better, but you must consider the cost, time for installation, learning how to use them, keeping them up-to-date, etc when you decide to bring them into your life. I think we are a society that purchases the latest tool or gadget to accomplish a specific task, before investigating if we already own a tool that will meet our needs. Alton Brown, the adventurous chef from the Food Network, calls them "uni-taskers" in the cooking world. Objects that perform a single function. Many times, you can find one object that will do multiple tasks. That would be a "multi-tasker.
How many of us get paralyzed with the thought of tackling a project, because we do not have the perfect scheme, perfect supplies, perfect know-how. My philosophy is: Excellence, not Perfection.
Perfection is usually quite unattainable, but excellence, doing the best you can with the tools you have, is doable for everyone to their own degree.
When you are trying to organize your home and family, there is not necessarily a correct way of doing this. You have to figure out what works for your family, and you might even have to stumble through a few tries before you find the “perfect” solution.
Here are a few thoughts about finding what works for you:
Last weekend I participated in a Home Show. See my previous blog on the topic for the details. In a nutshell, I was feeling a bit frantic right before the show, and shared some of my own feelings about dealing with disorganization. I promised a follow up, so...
I would deem the show a success for my organizing business. It was great exposure for me, and I met a lot of people who are eager to get organized. I also learned a few things about home shows - things that can easily be applied to every day life, not just booths at conventions. So I'll keep my summary more generalized.
Be flexible. Life is good at throwing curve balls. Often, there isn't much you can do about that. You'll avoid a lot of stress and frustration if you learn to go with the flow. If your plans go awry, and you feel like it's the end of the world, ask yourself, "Will any of this matter tomorrow, next week, or next year"?
Declutter your home and reduce your stress
#1 Reason to Declutter is to reduce the amount of stress in your life. The world, economy and environment are changing at a rapid pace and if you allow it, stress will creep in. One area that you can take charge of your stress is with the reduction of the clutter in your life. We have all become accustomed to the availability of what we want, when we want it and without knowing or meaning to, we have cluttered our lives with "stuff" that we don't need and can definitely live without.
Consider how you feel when you arrive home after a long day at work...not taking into fact that you may have to add several hours for a commute. Does the stress immediately hit you like a brick across the back of your head? And from the moment you step into the door, the children are hungry, homework needs to be done, dinner needs to be cooked and the house is a wreck! There just aren't enough hours in a day to get everything accomplished. By the time that you finish everything on your list it is after 10:00 and you are finally sitting down to "enjoy" some time with your spouse but you can hardly keep your eyes open because...in 6-7 hours it all begins again. And the clutter builds and builds and builds.
Posted by: 0 in Untagged on
Mar 6, 2009
One of the most important jobs of a professional organizer is to educate clients and the general public about the benefits of being organized, and how to achieve that goal. Today and this weekend I am participating in my first ever Home Show - you know the ones where vendors set up booths to sell their wares and tell people about their services. There are usually a lot of cheap giveaways and free samples. I'm nervous as heck, but I live in a smaller city, and many people here aren't familiar with what we organizers do. If I expect to grow my client base in these tough times, I have to plow through my jitters and start educating!
Getting ready for this show, I'm reminded of one of the greatest rules of organizing: Baby Steps! There were so many details to think about in putting it all together. How do I attract people to my booth? What do I say when they get there? What do I give away? How do I make the sale? How do I do all of this in a very small space? How do I do it all by myself? VERY overwhelming! And I'm an organizer! I can only imagine how difficult a big project is for my clients who have trouble getting and staying organized.
Most of us are now participating in some sort of in-home recycling effort. But what happens when your recyclables start to become clutter? Not everyone has the room or the incentive to keep up with recycling efforts. But because of green guilt, we let our milk jugs, soda cans and glass jars pile up until it's convenient to get rid of them the responsible way.
How much does your recycling plan affect your lifestyle? Does it get in your way? Have you changed how and what you purchase in an effort to be more environmentally responsible? I think a large percentage of our population, myself included, is baby-stepping into the "green" world. If it weren't for the small financial incentive from my city, I would probably be doing less. I have to pay 50 cents for every bag I put at the curb, so it behooves me to put as much as possible into the recycling bin they provide! I also get a few bucks a month from the cans I take to the local recycling center. I haul my glass in at the same time, although I get no compensation for that.
The old saying was, "A stitch in time saves nine." Recently I did something on two separate occasions with regard to shopping expeditions that would validate this statement. From a time management point of view, I had meant to save time but instead ended up turning an extra five minutes into additional trips consuming more than an hour each.
The issue was trying on clothes, deciding which to purchase, heading for the cash register, and being sidetracked by another item-impulse buying. I would add that new item to my soon-to-be purchases. Instead of going back and trying this new piece on, I decided it should be fine. I really didn't want to spend the time returning to the dressing room and trying on one more thing-another five minutes. I continued to the cash register, paid for everything, and then after I got home found that there were problems with the last items that I couldn't have noticed without actually trying them on.
Oprah recently aired a re-peat of a program about organizing. It was called "Oprah's Messy House Tour", complete with goofy jingle. In this program, professional organizer Peter Walsh surprised people in their homes and helped them clean up their clutter. Many organizers have a lot of love for Peter Walsh, not just for what he can do with a cluttered space, but for the attention he brings to our profession. He also has the wonderful ability to explain to people what clutter really represents.
Peter emphasized in this program that the physical clutter in your home is often a reflection of the clutter that is present throughout your entire lifestyle. The apathy and sense of defeat with which people view their jobs and relationships shows up physically in their closets, kitchens, and home offices. When we don't respect our possessions, we show people that we don't respect ourselves.
How many of us feel that we could accomplish so much more, if we only had enough energy. Did you ever notice, that when you are not surrounded by clutter, and your belongings are organized, you have more energy?
Here are 6 ideas to get more energy by having less clutter…
1. Things have a way of piling up around us. To enable you to organize your clutter, first you need to purge what is not necessary. Easier said than done.
a. Decide what must go – what would you do if you were moving? Would you take this or not? If not, out it goes.
b. What if it’s still good and useful, but not to you? Donate. Goodwill is a good starting point, but also think of friends, friends’ kids, schools, organizations holding rummage sales…
c. What if it’s sentimental – decide whether it’s so important to your soul that you should put it in a safe memento-keeping spot. If it’s somewhat sentimental, maybe the realization that it will bring true joy to another person will make a parting decision for you. If you’re not sure, keep it, and see what you think next year. Don’t forget, once you give away that memento, you can’t get it back.
It's mid-February. Is it too early to start thinking about Spring Cleaning? The cold weather seems to be lingering on and on where I live, making it hard to accomplish much outdoors. Maybe starting indoors is the answer for those of us who have the urge to organize something. Think of your inside chores the same way you do your outside chores.
Love gardening? When was the last time you repotted your houseplants, or gave them a good pruning? Pull out those dead leaves. Trim back a few of the unwieldy branches. Give the leaves a good dusting. If you have to repot them, find something beautiful that fits your decor and gives you fresh feelings of Spring.
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