How To Organize Blog Written By Professional Organizers

May 01

5 Ways to Weed Clutter from Your Home

By Diane Quintana Ask the Organizer How to Organize

As someone who truly loves to be outside and playing in the dirt, I want to share with you some of the similarities between gardening and organizing. Did you know that weeding is similar to organizing? No? I want to share with you 5 ways to weed clutter from your home. This will simplify your routine which, in turn, lets you spend more time on things you love. Remove what you don’t want When you weed the garden, you remove what you don’t want from that patch of the ground. I have found that one of the best ways to…

Feb 20

Get Magical Results by Releasing and Repurposing

By Diane Quintana Ask the Organizer How to Organize

Recently, I’ve been talking a lot about moving and settling in. Just in case you haven’t been following me, here’s a brief recap. I sold my house in May 2021 and rented a furnished apartment month to month until my townhouse was finished. In late January I moved into my new forever home and am loving it. The unpacking, arranging furniture, and putting away belongings is overwhelming for everyone, even for professional organizers. However, I learned that when I released some of my preconceived notions of where things should live or how things should be used, I had magical results….

Jan 28

Project Bins Promote Productivity

By Jonda Beattie Ask the Organizer How to Organize, Blog

When I am working on a project, I like to have my desk clear of everything but the current project. However, I am always working on multiple projects. I would go crazy if I didn’t have each of my projects filed away in project bins. These project bins promote productivity for me and help me maintain my sanity. Imagine that you’re working on a project. You are on a deadline and people are waiting for you to finish. There are stacks of papers scattered across your desk and on surfaces around you. Some of these papers belong to the current…

Jan 16

3 Reasons to Organize Your Digital Files

By Diane Quintana Ask the Organizer How to Organize, Uncategorized

My friend, colleague, and business partner, Jonda Beattie, just wrote an article about organizing paper files. I am following up with an article on organizing your digital files. Are you wondering why? Even though we can’t see them, digital files need to be organized, too. I am going to share with you 3 reasons to organize your digital files plus I will tell you how to go about this. Very often people think that they can just save digital files in their computer and the computer’s search engine will find the file for them – no matter what. This is…

Jan 02

Start Your New Year With a Workable Filing System

By Jonda Beattie Ask the Organizer How to Organize

While making a workable file system may not be top of your list of fun things to do, you will thank yourself over and over throughout the year for having made the effort. A workable file system will make you more productive. Having that workable file system in place will expedite clearing your desk and greatly reduce the amount of time you spend looking for documents. For the purpose of this article, I am focusing on the basic file system for papers that are needed most frequently. Analyze the current problem If you have a file system now but it…

Dec 11

Delay New Organizing Projects Until 2022

By Diane Quintana Ask the Organizer How to Organize

Yes. I am a professional organizer, and I am advising you to delay new organizing projects until 2022. Please note, I do not advise that you forget about them. Rather I would like you to take a piece of paper and a pen or pencil and make a list of all the organizing projects you would like to complete in 2022. Once you have made your list, look at it a second time and determine if it is realistic. Maybe some projects can be deferred even further to 2023. Rank the projects you want to complete with number 1 referring…

Oct 31

For a Stress-Free Holiday the Calendar is Your Best Friend

By Jonda Beattie Ask the Organizer How to Organize

We are definitely in the midst of the holiday season. Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year are all on our radar. If you want to have a stress-free holiday, now is the time to start planning. Thanksgiving is marketed before Halloween. Christmas ads are already in full swing. New Year’s Eve champagne party ads collide with Christmas carols. And Kwanza and Hanukkah wedge ads in between, over, and under the big 3 – Turkey Day, Santa Clause, and the dropping of the crystal ball on New Year. The overlapping of holiday marketing can be very stressful. We want it all….

Oct 24

a woman taking a continuing education class

Continuing Education is Important

By Diane Quintana Ask the Organizer How to Organize

Jonda Beattie and I recently attended the 2021 Institute for Challenging Disorganization Virtual Conference. There were 10 world-class experts in their field presenting valuable and current information to the attendees. All of us there were inspired and re-energized by these fabulous continuing education classes. I want to share some of what we learned and why Jonda and I feel participating in classes such as these is important. Continuing Education Classes Anyone can call themselves a professional organizer. What sets us (and others who feel as we do) apart is that we are constantly taking classes and listening to recordings. This…

Sep 05

Are You Ready For A Natural Disaster?

By Jonda Beattie Ask the Organizer How to Organize

September is National Preparedness Month. The 2021 theme is “Prepare to Protect. Preparing for disasters is protecting everyone you love.” While you can never be truly ready for a natural disaster, you can be somewhat prepared. Some of us might be tempted to think, “I don’t live in an area prone to natural disasters. It will never happen to me.” As someone who was once ordered to suddenly leave their house due to the possibility of a tree crashing on top of it, I can tell you that we all need to be prepared for a disaster. Natural Disasters Can…

Aug 22

5 Common Reasons You Don’t Complete a Project & How to Move Forward

By Jonda Beattie Ask the Organizer How to Organize

As Professional Organizers Diane and I often get calls from people who are overwhelmed by projects that have been hanging around for what seems like forever. It might be a huge project like clearing out a cluttered home to put it on the market, dealing with unopened boxes scattered around since a move 5 years ago, or paper that has taken over an office and spilled into the rest of the house. We have found that most people have common reasons for leaving these projects hanging. These people are not stupid or lazy so why can’t they do this? These…

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