One of the biggest and most common New Year's resolutions made every year is "I HAVE TO GET ORGANIZED"!!

Disorganization causes arguments, frustration, lost opportunities, embarrassment, stress and much more.  You can't find things when you need them and clutter takes over your home.  There is always too much to do and not enough time to do it.  There's no time left for YOU! 

The list of negative results from disorganization is sad and long.

I happen to know a secret - When you are organized you are free to live the kind of life you've always dreamed of, one that is free of clutter and stress, and full of time for the people you love AND all the fun things you want to do.

If one of your New Year's resolutions is to get organized in 2011 and you are ready to live the kind of life you have always dreamed of - one that is free of clutter and stress, then NOW is the time to take that first step.

I am an expert in residential organizing and have been helping others just like you since 2004.  I can help you too.  Take that first step and contact me.  Find out what A Better Space can do for you!

Wishing you a happy, healthy, prosperous and ORGANIZED New Year!

The end of 2010 is only days away. With that in mind, this is a great time to do some tasks to prepare for and be organized in the New Year.  Here are some things you can do now to make 2011 more organized:

Reconcile financial accounts. Now is the time to get all of your financial paperwork for the year completed so you’re ready to file your taxes when your forms arrive.

Year-end personal goal and resolution review. Review all you accomplished over the course of the year and create goals and resolutions for 2011.

Back-up all digital data. Even if you do this daily, it’s good to take a final snapshot of the digital year.

Review beneficiary information on all investments and policies. If your family has grown or changed in the last year, now is the time to make sure your beneficiary information is current. Additionally, it’s a good time to do a general review of these investments and policies.

Review systems and routines. Are the systems and routines you follow meeting your family’s and home’s needs? If not, now is a good time to create new practices to implement in the new year.

If one of your goals is to create a budget for the coming year, I invite you to check out my "U Can Do It Budgeting System" in the ABS Store.   http://www.4abetterspace.com/abs_store

If you need some help getting more organized and creating some new practices to implement in the coming year, don't hesitate to contact me.  I am here to help.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy, prosperous and organized New Year!

Have you ever heard of the ripple effect?  I'm sure you have.  Did you ever think about how it might relate to organization?  Well, it does!

I picture myself as a small drop in a large body of water.  I believe that my purpose is to drop my knowledge, information and value into that large body of water so that it can ripple and touch others' lives.  Then, the lives that I touch will pass their knowledge, information and value onto others.  That is the ripple effect.  I simply do it through organization.

I was speaking on the phone the other night to a new client and she asked if what I would be teaching her in the process of us working together would help her children.  Without a doubt, it would. 

We start by my teaching not only how to get organized, but, more importantly, how to stay organized.  With this newly learned knowledge, understanding and skills, it is easy to pass that information onto the others in your household.  You end up teaching them.

Many times, my clients were just simply never taught these skills - it's never too late.  I believe that my purpose is to stop the process of disorganization that might have been passed down from generation to generation simply because it was never taught.

With your new found knowledge, you become the teacher and are able to show your children, not only through conversation, but by example, how to control and manage the clutter in their lives.

These skills are so valuable and will carry them through the rest of their lives.  That is how the ripple effect works.  Are you ready to be that drop in the large body of water?  Simply by learning and passing your knowledge on, you will be doing just that!

If you are overwhelmed by the process of getting organized and don't know where to begin, contact me.  I will be more than happy to help you create your own ripple effect.

Have a great week!

Do you have an off-site self-storage unit that you rent each month?  Is this an extension of the clutter in your home?

Did you know that there is more than 2.3 billion square feet of self-storage space in the United States, according to The Self Storage Association. Some of this space is used wisely — by people serving overseas, people storing personal things while they sell their homes, or for other temporary situations — but a lot of self-storage space is used as a very expensive extra room to hold people’s clutter.

Unfortunately, when people stop making payments on these units, they are sealed off and the contents are put up for auction. The television network A&E is tracking this auction phenomenon in a new series called Storage Wars:

"A&E presents the new original real-life series "Storage Wars," which follows four professional buyers and their teams as they scour repossessed storage units in search of hidden treasure. Part gamblers, part detectives, these seasoned veterans have found everything from coffins to the world’s most valuable comic book collection, paying as little as ten dollars for items valued in the millions."

The series began airing last night (Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. EST/9:00 p.m. CST) with the episode "High Noon in the High Desert":

According to A&E it’s a showdown in the high desert as the buyers crack open a trove of abandoned storage lockers. Barry Weiss unearths the personal possessions of rap magnate Suge Knight. Jarrod Schulz and Dave Hester throw down their bankrolls in hopes of scoring a classic organ. And Darrell Sheets reveals a historic, one hundred and fifty thousand-dollar find. Classic items, wily personalities–let the storage wars begin!

I’m interested in seeing how A&E handles this material. I believe the editing of the show Hoarders ignores the mental health aspect of hoarding and instead focuses on wowing viewers with shock and awe. As a professional organizer who has worked closely with hoarders in the past, I think the show can be dehumanizing. (Please understand that it is the editing of the show that is dehumanizing this issue and not the actual professional organizers and psychologists who are working with the hoarders.) 

I am not sure whether or not Storage Wars is going to forget that there are real people involved who once owned the possessions that are being bid on. Although I missed the first episode, I’ll watch try to catch next week’s episode to see how this sensitive topic is handled by A&E. I hope they have found a way to highlight the self-storage problem in the United States without ridiculing or embarrassing the people who are losing their things.  I find it very sad.  It's an issue that can easily get out of hand.

If you get an opportunity to watch this show, let me know what you think of it and whether you believe it deals with the personal side of this issue.

Also, I am curious to learn whether you rent a separate off-site storage unit and what you tend to store in it. Is it for short-term or long-term storage? Did you rent it because you ran out of room in your own home to store your possessions?

Have you given any thought to eliminating the storage unit if it is intended for long term storage? I can't help but think about how much money you could be saving over the course of a year or more! But that’s a blog for another day!

In the meantime, watch the show, let me know what you think and have a great week!

As always, if you are feeling overwhelmed with your clutter and don't know where to begin, contact me at A BETTER SPACE and I will be glad to help.