Eleven years ago, after a particularly enlightening conversation with a career counselor about the direction I wanted to take after leaving my teaching career of twenty years, I established my professional organizing business, The Organized Way. I worked hard to learn and refine my craft, becoming one of only around 300 CPO’s (Certified Professional Organizer®)
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Every year around this time, I’m reminded of how blessed my family and I have been to have a comfortable home filled with love, affection, kindness, good health, and yes, probably more material things than we need. I think that in the world of organizing and decluttering, we can get so caught up in letting
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I’m often asked about what my favorite organizing and productivity tools are, and while the list includes some physical items like paper planners and digital items like task management apps, my favorite tool is probably my brain! There are lots of great resources out there to help simplify and make our work and home lives
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I can’t remember where I first stumbled across the phrase, “Don’t trip over what’s behind you,” but I recall that it made a significant impression upon me. We all struggle with letting go of negative stuff that has happened in our past, and have heard the “don’t live in the past,” “just let it go
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Last month, I wrote about the misperceptions around minimalism as they pertain to our physical clutter. But many of us still struggle with overly full schedules, to-do lists, and commitments. Our lives are full of “time clutter.” A wonderful quote by author and organizer Peter Walsh addresses this issue: “Clutter is not just the stuff
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Between “minimalism,” “sparking joy,” and “the magic of tidying up,” the organizing and productivity world is full of buzzwords these days. Of all of them, I think minimalism is the victim of many negative misperceptions. When folks conjure up minimalistic spaces, they see sterile and impersonal homes and offices. The process evokes feelings of extreme
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Staying organized in your office, home or business, requires regular maintenance. Taking some time at least once a year, preferably once a quarter, to cull through and purge paperwork and files is an important step toward that end. While it’s usually easy to see paperwork and other physical clutter pile up over time, it’s often
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For the past few years at the beginning of each year, I’ve chosen a “word for the year” to inspire and motivate myself. It has helped me define my goals for the year and reminded me to stay the course throughout the seasons as the activity in my life waxes and wanes. I set out
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One of the most frequently asked questions I get in my presentations is about how to deal with the disorganization and clutter of someone else other than the person posing the question. Occasionally the guilty party is a co-worker (or a boss), but the majority of the questions are related to frustration with the people
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Keep it simple, keep it consistent! Three more stumbling blocks to increased productivity:
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