It’s almost the New Year and time to begin again. Is one of your resolutions to finally get organized? If it is, you’re not alone. Many people say they want to get organized. January is National Get Organized month – a perfect time to start. How should you begin? The first thing many people do is go shopping for organizing supplies. Now, if you’re organizing a filing system I would say ‘great’! Go ahead and get manila files, hanging folders, a shredder and perhaps extra tabs for the hanging files and a few sharpie pens. You absolutely need those supplies when…
Quite often I hear things like this from my clients: I don’t know where to start; I have so much to do, I don’t know what to do first; I sit around and think of all the things I have to take care of and by the time I’ve decided what to do I don’t have time to do it. Do any of these phrases sound familiar to you? Do you ever find yourself wondering what task to begin first or having so much to do that you spend all of your time trying to remember all those things and…
What does organized look like? I believe that being organized feels and looks different for everyone. Some people like having a little bit of clutter or disarray around. They are really O.K. with that. They know they are organized because they can find what they are looking for, the amount of clutter they allow to accumulate does not stress them out, and they feel in control of their environment. Other people get stressed when there are a few items lurking around without homes. These people like to have everything put away and do not allow any clutter to accumulate. Part…
I was at my local grocery store earlier today. Grocery shopping was just one of the many errands I had to do today. I took some time last night to organize my grocery list. I went through the recipes of the special dishes my family has requested for Christmas Dinner. I wanted to include some of the non-perishable ingredients on my grocery list. This will save me a little time next week and I’ll be able to do a little pre-cooking! I love my neighborhood grocery store. I know many of the people who work there. They are always friendly…
Do you ever say things with conviction and then not follow through? I know I do sometimes. I have made promises to myself and then, I guess, not made that promise a priority – so it never happens. I have done that regarding this blog. I have told myself time and again that Wednesday mornings I will take a few minutes and create a new blog post. As you can see from the date of my last blog post a full month has gone by. What have I done with my Wednesday morning blog time? I can give you lots…
At the beginning of this calendar year I made a quiet little promise to myself that I would write a new blog post every week. As you can tell, since it is now the second week in March and my most recent blog post was the second week in January, I did not keep my promise. I got really busy and something had to fall by the wayside – I let that something be this blog. One of the things I teach my clients is better time management. So, how is it that I didn’t have time for this? Honestly? I…
Do you ever put things off for another day or time? I know I do. I usually put off the things I would rather not do at all. I tell myself “I’ll get to it tomorrow” and guess what? Unless I plan the time in to take care of this unwanted activity I never get around to doing it. Sometimes it doesn’t matter. Sometimes these are necessary chores. When the chores are necessary(bill paying, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping) I make sure that I schedule them into my day. Sure, it would often be easier to ignore the dust, let the laundry…
As a professional organizer I am all about making the best use of my time. I like to think I practice what I preach in that I try not to overload myself with commitments. It can be really stressful when you overload yourself with commitments. I really wanted to sign up to be a volunteer maintenance gardener at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. I even went so far as to go for training. Then I totally stressed myself out because I realized that the only day I could confidently give the garden 3 hours is a day that I have a…
How often do you, when you come home, put things(like the mail or your briefcase, or a jacket) down and think ‘I’ll get to that later..’ ? Maybe you need to empty your briefcase or tote bag. Do you ever ‘loose’ the keys because they are in the pocket of your jacket or the bottom of your bag? The things you put down stay where you put them until you take the time to go back, pick them up, and put them where they belong. You can save time by completing the tasks. It takes longer to remember what it is…