Skip to main content
Tag

The National Association of Productivity and Organzing Professionals Archives - DNQ Solutions, LLC

Letting Go Is An Act Of Bravery

By Be A Better Version Of You 11 Comments

As a professional organizer I often talk about letting go. When a client reaches out to me it is often because they are feeling overwhelmed by clutter. Sometimes it’s just in one area of their home. Other times it is pervasive throughout the house. No matter how much clutter or stuff there is, it is causing a problem for the client. Releasing things they’ve held onto for a long time is difficult and can make a person fearful. My goal is to provide my clients with strategies to help them be as comfortable as possible while they make decisions about…

Read More

Getting Organized Can Be An Emotional Process: Top 3 Reasons To Do It Anyway

By How to Organize Your Life Blog

Getting organized can be an emotional process. This is true even for people with very few things to organize. Some things that are in our homes just tug on our heart strings. We know we have no use for them, but we also don’t know what to do with them. It is even harder when emotions get in the way. Once that happens it is challenging to make progress. The logical information our brain needs to make informed decisions just doesn’t make it past those tough emotions. This stops us in our tracks. Even though it is tempting to avoid…

Read More
daughter having a difficult conversation with her mother

Caring for Mom

By Rightsize Your Life

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. Your children may be adults, mine are, but they are still your children, and you are still a mom. And this, my friends, is what makes it hard for our children to care (as in take care of) for us. Do you watch the television show This Is Us? It is one of my favorite shows, rich in innuendo and subtext. Last week’s show presented a beautiful and thoughtful representation of the amount of work that goes into caring for someone whose mind is drifting away. Caring for mom is one…

Read More

How to Know When to Call a Professional Organizer?

By How to Organize Your Life Blog

You know you have a problem in your home. It’s stressful. Things are piled up here and there. Sometimes you can’t find your keys. Boxes are opened, emptied, and left. You want to do something about all of this, and you know you can but somehow you just can’t get started. Maybe you think to yourself, if only I had an extra pair of hands. Then it occurs to you that you could call a professional organizer but who do you call and is this enough of a problem to warrant such a call?  Questions such as these stop people…

Read More
a woman wondering how to start decluttering if you're overwhelmed

How To Start Decluttering When You’re Overwhelmed

By Control Clutter

There are two questions potential clients often ask me during our initial free phone consultation. The first question is really more of a statement, and it goes something like this: I’m so overwhelmed by all my clutter I don’t know how to get started. The question is: how to start decluttering when you’re overwhelmed? The second question is: where do I start decluttering? Both are great questions. The second question is the easiest to answer, you start decluttering in the area that bothers you the most. That differs for each and every person. Let’s address the first question, which is…

Read More
Diane's dogs in her kitchen showing personality

Incorporate Your Personality into the Organization of Your Home

By How To Organize, How to Organize Your Life Blog

A house becomes a home when someone infuses it with their personality. When someone walks into my home, they know right away that my decorating taste tends toward the traditional. If they look a little more closely, they will notice that I have a sense of humor because I mix the traditional with accents of things that make me laugh. You may notice that I wrote the word “accents” above. Too much of anything becomes clutter. I love to needlepoint and have many needlepoint pillows in my home. If they were all in the same room on one piece of…

Read More
a woman doing the best she can do to climb a ladder

Ask Yourself: Is This the Best You Can Do?

By Be A Better Version Of You, How to Organize Your Life Blog

Do you ever ask yourself, Is this the best you can do? I do. If I’m stuck and feeling frustrated with a project, I sometimes throw my hands up in disgust and ask myself, Is this the best you can do? When the answer is, no, I give myself a little talking to, think about my purpose, and keep on working. Hopefully the answer is, yes and I give myself permission to stop, reward myself, and walk away. Since I am a professional organizer, I’m talking about organizing projects. What does the best you can do mean? Doing your best…

Read More

Be More Productive and Less Busy

By How to Organize Your Life Blog, Rightsize Your Life

We all want to be more productive but sometimes we are just busy doing stuff. We find lots of little things to do. This makes us feel like we are being productive and sometimes we are. Other times. However, we are just busy. Here are some tips to use so that you can be more productive and less busy. Ask yourself: Is this the best use of my time right now? When you find yourself scurrying around doing all sorts of little tasks ask yourself this question. This may make you pause and think. Is there one thing to do…

Read More

Remember Your Routines

By How To Organize, How to Organize Your Life Blog

Halloween has come and gone. We are back to standard time. I am very thankful for that since I walk my dogs early in the morning and it had been staying dark until after I was already home. Things are about to get crazy busy with holiday events, holiday shopping, holiday parties and the holidays themselves. How do you maintain your equilibrium? Stick to your routines! Routines serve to guide us through various parts of our day. Your morning routine may involve some household chores. Mine involves walking my dogs, watering my plants, and (on certain days) doing laundry. Then…

Read More

Organize Your Closet

By How To Organize, How to Organize Your Life Blog

Do you have lots and lots of clothes? Take some time and organize your closet. I’ve been talking about the concept of good enough. The definition is a personal one. What may be good enough for me may not be good enough for you. Think about that as I talk about organizing your closet and clothes. No matter the size of your closet unless you purposefully put your clothes away it can devolve into a disaster area quickly. Instead of letting your clothes drop into a heap on the closet floor, put them away. Let’s talk about the different types…

Read More