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overwhelm

make a difference, spread kindness

Make A Difference Day

By It's All About You: A Personalized Approach to Achieving Your Organizing Goals

I think we all know that we make differences in people’s lives and in our world but Make a Difference Day is a day to think about what else we might add into our lives to make a difference on this planet. Make a Difference Day was created by “USA Weekend” magazine in 1992 to offer community support and encourage volunteerism across the country. This year the official day is October 28. The idea behind Make a Difference Day is to remind us that each and every one of us can make a difference in our world. As we read…

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April Is Stress Awareness Month

By It's All About You: A Personalized Approach to Achieving Your Organizing Goals

Did you know that April is the National Stress Awareness Month?  It’s common to hear someone say that they are “stressed out” but what is stress and how are we aware of it? According to Psychology Today, we are aware of stress when we feel a disconnect between the situation in which we find ourselves and our resources to deal with it. Sometimes the stressful situation is very real, like when we are attacked by a dog. At other times the situation is imagined like thinking about heavy traffic each morning. Real or imagined, our bodies act the same way….

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a man using a workable filing system

Start Your New Year With a Workable Filing System

By 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…

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Emergency Kit for natural disasters

Are You Ready For A Natural Disaster?

By 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…

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Why Clutter Hotspots Occur & How to Control Them

By What is Your Reason to Get Organized?

You have hotspots of clutter throughout your house, and it is beginning to really annoy you. There are three common clutter hotspots in most people’s homes: the laundry, kitchen and office desk. If you are like many people, the first thing you will do is to go out and buy some more containers to hold or sort all the stuff. Perhaps you get out one of your organizing books and decide your first step is to sort and purge. Maybe you call in an organizer with the hopes that they will make it all go away for you. Since you…

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online group meeting

Clutter Support Groups: The 411

By It's All About You: A Personalized Approach to Achieving Your Organizing Goals

Does clutter bother or overwhelm you and you don’t know what to do about it? Have you ever thought about joining a clutter support group? I am here to reassure you that almost everyone has some form of clutter in their lives from time to time. I am a professional organizer and even I have times during the year when one part or another of my home is full of clutter. Take the holidays, for instance. My family room, leading up to the holidays, can get cluttered with gifts, wrapping paper, ribbon, cards and holiday decorations. But I know where…

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dinner party table

Something is Better Than Nothing

By How to Declutter: Use Simple Strategies

Have you ever been told that doing something is better than nothing? This expression applies to almost every circumstance you may come across. Below is a scenario that occurs frequently in my house. I wonder if it has happened to you? A Dinner Party You just prepared a fantastic dinner for a couple with whom you enjoy spending time. The food was fantastic. The company was great and the bottle of wine they brought was simply perfect. They leave about 9:30. You are feeling happy and replete. Then you go into your kitchen and see the natural disaster that has…

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professional organizers: Diane Quintana and Jonda Beattie

5 Reasons to Hire a Professional Organizer

By Uncategorized, What is Your Reason to Get Organized?

People are often reluctant to hire a professional organizer because they wonder why they should  pay someone to do something they feel they can probably do by themselves. Would you hire someone to help you lose weight? To do your taxes? To mow your lawn? There are many tasks and projects we probably could do ourselves without help but these projects are not getting accomplished, and we are feeling overwhelmed. We can’t do it all. Let’s look at five reasons to hire a professional organizer: 1.You want to get unstuck, reduce stress, and alleviate that feeling of overwhelm You may…

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coat closet - before organizing

Organizing in 10 Minute Blocks: Coat Closet

By How Long Will it Take to Organize X, How to Declutter: Use Simple Strategies

Coat closets, if you are lucky enough to have one, can become a dumping ground for items without an immediate home. You can shut the door and put it all out of sight – at least until you open it to hang a guest’s coat. Since the closet is used for guests’ coats as well as your own stuff, it should be tidy, functional, and well organized. My Coat Closet My coat closet holds coats, jackets, sweaters, a couple of tablecloths, and a bag of bags on the rod. The shelf holds hats, gloves, lint cleaner, a flashlight, and a…

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Change your attitude; attitude is everything sign

Change Your Attitude to Get More Things Done

By It's All About You: A Personalized Approach to Achieving Your Organizing Goals

Have you ever heard the expression, “Attitude is Everything”? This is part of the title to a book by Jeff Keller entitled: Attitude is Everything: Change Your Attitude…Change Your Life. The first part of the title: Attitude is Everything is posted on the walls in several places at the gym where I go to workout. The owner of the gym firmly believes, as I also do, that your attitude as you approach something difficult determines whether or not you will succeed. If you change your attitude to a positive outlook you will accomplish more than you anticipated. The gym owner…

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