professional organizer Archives

Jan 07

Get Organized To Be Organized

By Diane Quintana What is Your Reason to Get Organized?

Ask just about anyone what their New Year’s Resolution is and a large percentage of them will tell you something about getting organized. Some want to organize their garage, their attic, their basement, kitchen, closets, and the list goes on. It may not even be a specific project; they just say they want to get organized this year. Here’s the problem. Organized is not a destination. When someone says they want to get organized I want to ask what happens when you get there? Something has to change because anyone can get organized. The trick is learning how to be…

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…

Aug 01

How to Shift Your Focus from Yourself to Your Stuff

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

As a professional organizer, I often am on the receiving end of comments like: I’m so stupid, why did I let this happen? Or some people say: I’m a slob, I’m a packrat, I’m a collector just like my parents and things like: I’m so lazy, if I were not so lazy my house wouldn’t look this way. Can you relate? Do you call yourself out? What are the names you call yourself or the things you say to yourself? Are these things on repeat? Do these nasty phrases cycle through your mind over and over again? Shift your focus…

Jun 13

5 Ground Rules for Difficult Conversations

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

We’ve all had difficult conversations with spouses or partners, colleagues at work, children, and parents. We call them difficult conversations because they are just that, difficult. It may be that we are fearful of the person’s response. We don’t want to alienate them. Sometimes we don’t know how to bring up the topic because it is sensitive, so we struggle. Other times we gloss over what we really want to say and walk away knowing we didn’t make our point. What if it could be easier with ground rules that everyone followed? Wouldn’t that be great? As a certified professional…

May 30

3 Surprising Things You Must Do So That The Best Organizing Tips Work

By Diane Quintana What is Your Reason to Get Organized?

Most experienced organizers offer their clients much of the same advice. They may say it slightly differently but if you read between the lines and boil the advice down to its essence, it’s the same. It doesn’t matter if you follow Marie Kondo, Peter Walsh, or Martha Stewart the heart of the advice is identical. We, experienced organizers, give our clients the best organizing tips that are tried and true. We know these tips will work but you must do your part to ensure they continue to work after we leave. Let’s start by talking about the best organizing tips….

May 23

How to Organize Your Handbag or Purse in 10 Minutes or Less

By Diane Quintana How Long Will it Take to Organize X

Is your handbag, purse, tote or whatever you are using to carry around your stuff like a deep, dark cavern? You know, a place where anything and everything can hide? It’s hard to find what you’re looking for in a bag that’s full of everything. Do you sometimes feel like your keys, phone, wallet, credit cards, checkbook, or sunglasses are lost because they are hard to find quickly in your bag? My mother used to call my handbag, my suitcase, because it was big and could hold just about anything. The point is that if just about anything can fit…

May 04

Clutter Support Groups: The 411

By Diane Quintana 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…

Mar 30

professional organizers: Diane Quintana and Jonda Beattie

5 Reasons to Hire a Professional Organizer

By Jonda Beattie 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…

Mar 23

The Best Reason to Incorporate Laughter into Your Organizing Sessions

By Diane Quintana How to Declutter: Use Simple Strategies

I love to laugh and bet you do too! In fact, I always smile at people when I’m walking outside and find that they smile back at me. It makes me feel really good when that happens. Generally speaking, I’m a happy person and tend to look for the bright side in every situation. Because of this I find that incorporating laughter into organizing sessions is one of the strategies I can use to help my clients make lots of progress. Let me give you the best reason to use laughter. Right now, I’m visiting my son and his family….

Feb 02

Simple Strategies Need Simple Rules

By Diane Quintana How to Declutter: Use Simple Strategies

My mother used to like to say, ‘keep it simple, stupid – KISS’. She was right. The simpler the strategy the easier it is to follow. This is why the primary rule I follow in organizing with my clients is to ask the questions: do you love it? Are you using it? Is it beautiful – to you? When a client answers ‘yes’ to one or more of these questions then the object in question is something to keep. Sometimes people over-complicate the strategies they use to get organized by creating impossible rules to accompany the strategies. This can cause…

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