As someone who wants to keep your home and office organized, it’s your job to immediately identify when things are out of wack and some attention needs to be paid to those places that might be out of place or broken and then fix the situation. There are a few easy ways to do this:

1. Create a "Closing Duties" or "Daily Chore Chart". It seems elementary to write out chores and end-of-day assignments, but these lists can be very beneficial for helping you avoid Organizational Demise. Before leaving the office or heading to bed, review your printed list of closing duties or daily chores to make sure all tasks were completed properly. If they weren’t, quickly do the chore or re-do it. Don’t leave work or go to bed with an essential task undone.
2. Keep an easily accessible shopping list. Again, this is pretty basic, but having a grocery shopping checklist (such as the U Can Do It Grocery Shopping Checklist) can be a huge help in avoiding Demise. This list needs to be in a place where any of your family can effortlessly add to it (right when they notice something is running out or has broken.  A pen or pencil needs to be kept in at this location for convenience.  You then take the list with you when you go to the store or run errands.
3. Having the right tools. If clothes end up on the floor of your bathroom, then you need to put a hamper in your bathroom. If clothes end up on the floor of your bedroom, you also need a hamper in your bedroom. If you want to shred junk mail by your front door and also shred sensitive documents in your home office, have a shredder by your front door and also a shredder in your office. Having multiples of something isn’t clutter if you actually need multiples of something to stay organized and keep from avoiding Organizational Demise.

Do you have receipts on the top of your bedroom dresser that accumulate?  If you empty your pockets and just set the receipts down on the top of the dresser, within a week you can cause Organizational Demise.  It’s amazing how something as small as receipts can cause complete disorder, but time and again they can become a culprit.

If, instead, you have the tools necessary to keep these simple types of clutter from accumulating, you will eliminate these problems.

At the end of the day, leave enough time to finish those tasks that can cause Organizational Demise and it will go a long way.  Simply processing those little slips of paper, getting your dirty clothes into the hamper and all your other end-of-the day chores completed is the key to success. 

So, what is your Organizational Demise?  Can I help?  Let me know.

Until then, have a great week!

It's that time of year when we tend to spend a lot of time in the car.  We take the kids back and forth to summer activities, camp, go on vacation, visit friends and family, take day trips.  You name it, it involves the car.  So let me ask you...

If you had to produce your driver's license, registration and proof of insurance in a hurry, could you? Many of us don't give a lot of thought to controlling clutter in our cars. We spend so much time in our cars and yet we often don't think of it as a place for organizing.

The best place to start is removing the clutter. Depending on the time of year will determine how you tackle it.  If the temperature is warm (right now it's broiling hot where I live and you can't even stand to be outside for more than 5 minutes!), it’s not a problem working outdoors. If the temperature is cold, you may want to put everything into boxes and take it indoors.

Once the car is empty, vacuum it out thoroughly, clean all the windows, wipe down the dash and console and clean leather seats. Stores sell cleaner made for upholstered seats as well.

When you begin to sort through the boxed items, sort out the trash and of course, trash it. Then sort through the remaining items. There will be items that won't need to go back into the car and you can put them into a ‘goes somewhere else’ container. These can be put away as part of your cleanup.

Some of your 'return to the car' items can go into the trunk. You will probably need a way to contain them. Standard items generally consist of a small tool kit, jumper cables, a flashlight, and if you live in cold area of the country, emergency supplies like water, high-energy snacks and blankets. These can be contained either in a collapsible open top container or in a container with a lid. This will keep all of your supplies in one neatly contained area in your trunk.

Inside the car, you can contain items to keep them safely stowed, yet accessible. Things like your car’s care manual can go into the glove box or console. A small tissue box can go into the console, along with antibacterial wipes and such.  Keep some reusable canvas bags to cart things in and out of the car.

Don't forget to put a little sack or plastic bag in both the front and back seats for trash. You could also store a couple of extra collapsible crates to allow you to carry your groceries into the house in fewer trips.
Don't neglect this important area of your life.  It is just as important to organize your car as it is to organize your home.

If you need any assistance, please feel free to contact me.

In the meantime, keep cool and have a great week!

Are you in "disorganization" denial?  Let's be honest.  We get used to living a certain way and sometimes forget to look around and see what is really going on.

Have you gotten so comfortable in your cluttered environment that you cannot "see the forest through the trees" so to speak?

I think it's time to be honest with yourself.  Take a good look around and really see what is going on in your home and in your life.

If you are not sure whether you have clutter and disorganization issues, I recommend that you check out my "Quiz" found on this website [the tab is at the top of this page] to determine whether you might need to get organized.  This short quiz can be very helpful in doing so as it triggers in on main issues that you might be experiencing.

It might be time to stop living in denial and start focusing on improving your situation. 

Whether you take on the task yourself or reach out to a professional organizer like myself, it's time to do something about it. 

No matter how small or large a task you might think it will be, you can do it!  If you are feeling too overwhelmed, there is help out there.  You just need to ask for it.

Imagine how much better your quality of life will be when you don't have to continue to be stressed out because you can't find things in your home, you are late for appointments or the paperwork is piling up.  Putting systems into place that are manageable are the key to your success.

You deserve a better way of living and getting organized can give you that.

So, are you ready to be honest with yourself and admit that you are living in clutter and disorganization?  I challenge you to take that first step and admit that you might need to make a change.

Contact me if you do and I will be more than happy to help.

In the meantime, have a great week!

Sometimes it can be difficult to motivate others to get and stay organized, especially a loved one. 

Perhaps you are working to get organized but you feel that the people you live with are undermining your progress by not helping out.

There are some questions that you can pose to that person to help make decisions about what to keep and what to toss - without starting arguments or passing judgment.  Getting organized can sometimes be a sensative subject if it is not approached in a positive way.  Remember, the goal is to reframe the discussion away from the item or items themselves, but rather towards its significance in your lives.

Here are some examples of how to refrase the question:

1.  Instead of "Why don't you put your tools away?", ask "What is it that you want from this space?"

2.  Instead of "Why do we have to keep your grandmother's sewing kit?", ask "Why is it important to you?  Does this particular item have meaning?"

3.  Instead of "There's no room for all of your stuff in there", say "Let's see how we can share this space so that it works for all of us".

4.  Instead of "Why do you have to hold onto these ugly sweaters your dad gave you?", ask "What do these sweaters make you think of or remind you of?"

5.  Insteady of saying "I don't understand how you can live with all this junk", ask "How do you feel when you have to spend time in this room?"

Hopefully these suggestions will help you better communicate your message to someone who you live with who has clutter issues.

Let me know how you make out and if you need any assistance, I am here to help.

Have a great holiday weekend!