Do you have a plan for something that you want to do or make? Is this a plan that is floating around in your head? Often, I hear clients say something like, “Someday I want to organize this room and turn it into my office.” Or “it would be great to clean out the garage so that my car can fit inside.” You can replace this wishful thinking with thoughts of your own. If you have a someday plan or idea like these pretend clients, I have a solution for you. There are 7 steps to make your plan a…
As a professional organizer it’s easy for me to say that I don’t get overwhelmed when tasked with an organizing project. I maintain my calm because I’m doing what I love to do. I love to teach my clients how to organize without getting overwhelmed. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when we over think the problem. When you take a breath and plunge into an organizing project you maintain your calm by following a few simple rules. First let’s talk about how to organize without getting overwhelmed then I’ll give you the few simple rules to follow to maintain your…
We all know the holidays are coming. Television and email ads have bombarded us for months now. My local tv station gives a countdown – and today marks 9 days until Christmas and only 8 more shopping days. Nothing like a little pressure. Are you overwhelmed? Gifts need to be purchased and delivered, holiday parties given and/ or attended, holiday dinners organized, and holiday outfits put together. Giving Gifts: While the intentions of the massive amounts of advertising are to give us ideas of things to give our loved ones, they also give us the feeling that if we aren’t…
Have you ever noticed how little you get done when you are stressing, anxious, or upset? You spend time worrying about all the things you have to do and little time focusing on getting things done. It’s overwhelming and frustrating! Think about how much you could do if you took the time and energy you spent on worrying and applied it to your task list. I am, I think, in the middle of one of the busiest times of my life and that is saying a lot! I think back to other busy times; when I moved our family from…
5 Tips for dealing with the feeling We all feel overwhelmed from time to time. Maybe we feel overwhelmed by the amount of stuff in our homes. Or maybe we feel overwhelmed because we get over-scheduled, over-worked, over-committed and want to get everything done on time and done well. How do I know this? I fall victim to doing exactly the things I mentioned above. I agree to take on almost everything I’m asked to do. Why do I do that? Well, because I like doing things for other people and I’m really good at getting things done. Why do…
Most of us have heard about hoarding. We have a mental picture created by tv shows of what hoarding looks like. According to the shows, it’s a huge mess. Piles of stuff everywhere. It’s dark, dreary, and overwhelming. People we know say things like, ‘I’m a hoarder’. But, what do they mean by that? Are they saying their home is as full as the ones on the tv shows? Do they have an enormous accumulation of stuff in one room or many rooms? Or, more likely, do they have a problem with some clutter they haven’t yet dealt with? Maybe,…
Earlier this year I read the life-changing manga of tidying up by Marie Kondo. This is a wonderful story written as a comic book. Just in case you don’t know anything about Marie Kondo, she is a professional organizer from Japan. Her first book: The Magic Art of Tidying Up is one of the bestselling organizing books of all time. I had not previously read any of Marie Kondo’s books and just loved this comic book. The primary character is a young woman, Chiaki, who has a very cluttered apartment. Marie teaches Chiaki, through a series of lessons, how to…
What do you do when you’re feeling overwhelmed? Do you walk away from whatever it is that is overwhelming you? Many of my clients are challenged by that feeling of overwhelm. It doesn’t matter if it is piles of paper, too much to do and too little time, too many emails to respond to or deal with or too many household chores when you’re feeling overwhelmed you don’t know where to start. My advice is to pick a place and start small. If we’re talking about household chores, look at your calendar, figure out how much time you can give…
