Clutter is everywhere! It’s deep within ourselves and in our homes. I did not get a lesson on organization when I was in school, did you? I thought you were either born organized or you weren’t. I also thought because I wasn’t born organized, I wouldn’t be organized no matter how much I tried. Boy, was I wrong!!!

Now, there is something to the thought that people are born organized but it has to do with which side of the brain is more dominant, right vs left.  Left brain dominance is found in the analytical type who love order. This is not to say that people who are right brain dominant cannot become organized. Creativity is the key to the success of the organized journey. Many people are a combination of the right and left brain without a dominant side. They get to live in both worlds of creativity and order. 

As I write this, I’d like you to find ONE THING you can do to start your organizing journey. 

If you’ve never been organized, maybe some of these ideas will help: Pick one sm...

Well, it’s the most wonderful time of the year as the song goes but you and I know it can be the most chaotic time of the year! This is your opportunity to live this holiday season organized. This guide has a few of my favorite things. (cue the music on this one!) Just think how much better you will be for starting out early.  In order to do this, I am highlighting five popular parts of the holidays:  Planning, Hosting/Traveling, Shopping, Decorating and everyone’s favorite, taking down the decorations.

(In this guide you will see links to products that I make a small affiliate amount for, this is not being charged or added to what you purchase. I am just being up front with you) The products with links are what I think you might like from what I have used. They may even be on sale!

First and foremost, you will need a planner. It can be on your phone, your desk or the wall. Getting the dates in your mind helps set the tone for what the next couple of months will look like. Fill in th...

There are only 24 hours in a day...I needed 27. This has left me feeling as though I was running on a hamster wheel. Somewhere along the way, I had lost the order to my day and am reacting to whatever came my way. I cannot tell you how bad I felt about myself. 

One of the best tools to help create order in the day is to use a planner. This can be paper or digital. I have found the planner to be instrumental in moving from a “yes” person to one with purpose and intention. Once I got the hang of the using the planner, every aspect of my life improved.  

My planner helps me to:

• Keep less in my head 
  • I used to think I could remember everything and I was wrong! Missed appointments, paying late charges for bills I forgot to pay caught up with me. Now that I have a planner, there is very little of that kind of thing in my head. I have less brain fog than I did before that planner.  

• Set goals that are in line with who I am.
  • I have a clearly defined mission statement that ...

A little fun fact about me, my organizing journey began in the sock drawer. Kind of strange, I agree. I knew the clutter and disorganization in my life needed to change, I just didn’t know how to make that happen. It happened that my sock drawer had gotten out of control because I really had no time to deal with it while in survival mode. In all honesty, many areas of my home and personal life were in chaos and disorganization. In a moment of helplessness, I opened up the sock drawer and decided on the spot to organize that space. This seemed like an area I could make sense of without a lot of effort. For me, the sock drawer was not of importance because I am the only one who uses this space. I really didn’t have a clear idea on what organizing actually meant. In my mind, I had a vision of all my socks matched up and positioned in such a way that I could easily find them. After about fifteen minutes of emptying the drawer, matching socks and getting rid of anything that had holes or no...

This is a very different blog than what I usually write. This is going to give you some
feelings, not sure what type. In creating a life that is organized, there are things to think
about and this is what I am sharing.

EMPTY THE HOUSE

Imagine if you were challenged to empty all of the contents out of your house into your front yard.

1. How would you feel about the amount of stuff you have?
2. Would you to decide to bring less back in the house

SPENDING FREEZE

What if you took an entire year and only bought what you need (food, clothing and fuel)?

1. Does the thought of this trigger any feelings?
2. What does this say about your spending habits?
3. Could you implement something like this on a smaller scale ( maybe freeze spending
   for one month?)

HOBBY HOG

A hobby can be wonderful for many reasons. Isn’t it incredible to see how much stuff comes with a hobby

1. Evaluate how much time you really devote to your hobby
2. How many hobbies do you have?
3. If you have more than one, how much time
...

 “In order to unlock the full potential of a closet or room you must have the right key to unlock the door!" - Darlene Illig

A door can do many things, have you stopped to consider how it could help you become better organized? The one tip I share in almost every client home I enter is to use the door to improve efficiency and maximize space. 

Let’s talk about why the door is such a good space for organizing:

1. It is open storage which works really well for people who are visual and do not want things put away so that they forget about them. 
2. This is free space that was never allocated to anything else. 
3. Simple organizing accessories work, there is no need for a complicated system to be used. 

BEST PRODUCTS

These products have been used by myself and my clients. (I do receive a fee if you purchase using my link but this is not at any extra charge to you)

• Over The Door Shoe Organizer- I have talked about this a lot, in fact I use at least 3 in my home unrelated to shoes! The
...

No one likes being sick. A lengthy illness or hospitalization stay can leave you with lots of doctors, tests, follow up appointments and bills. It can overwhelm quickly. Depending on the type of illness and lingering affects it can be impossible. I am here to tell you there is help out there.There are Social Workers and Case Managers that can help. A trusted person can also do this with the information I am going to share. I am not just a Professional Organizer, I have worked in healthcare for over thirty years and bring my experience to my clients and to this blog. 

One of the first recommendations I have is to get a notebook, at least a 3 subject. If you feel you need more you could make it a 5 subject notebook! Keeping everything in one place makes it easy to take to appointments. This notebook will be a place for writing down appointment dates and times and what was discussed at the appointment. (This is so important because it’s really easy to forget what was discussed and can...

Organizing systems do not always work. I know that sounds strange coming from a Professional Organizer. Let me explain! Creating an organized space doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective. Here are some common mistakes to avoid. 

1. Not decluttering first

Organizing clutter is not organizing. In order to create order in a space, it is necessary to purge items that no longer serve you. Once you have done this, it is so much easier to give items a place to live. This is true for every area of your home. 

Purging makes organizing easy!

2. Buying before purging

The purchase of organizing accessories is more cost effective after the process of decluttering is complete. The goal is to have less to store. It’s also good to know what you have exactly in your home.  As you purchase bins, baskets, shelving, etc it should be matched to amount of items that will in or on them. 

Hold on the purchases!

3. Categories that are too specific

Depending on the space you are organizing,...

Clutter is the kind of thing that accumulates over time. The problem is that we can put our clutter blinders on until it adds up. Unfortunately, there is no easy way around decluttering. With some awareness you are better apt to spot clutter before it gets to the point of overwhelm. Tackling this from another angle, how can we know when it is time to declutter before it gets really bad?

1. When you are not able to find what you’re looking for in 15 minutes or less. Hide and seek with your “things” is just not fun, is it? A good organizing system is one that makes you more functional and finding things quickly will definitely enhance your living space.
2. No room in your closet. This is an absolute clutter wake up call. It is widely known that we only wear 20% of what we own 80% of the time. Best practice is to get rid of 2 items when purchasing one.
3. Having difficulty putting things away because there is nowhere to put them. Realistically, it is necessary to understand how much space you
...

Organizing your inside is equally as important as tackling the outside. So much of what people carry with him manifests itself as physical, mental and emotional clutter. It is one reason I try to help my clients get to the route of their clutter. This is the best way to be aware and work through the emotion, thoughts or words that hinder the full organizing journey. In this edition we will focus on mentally decluttering. All tasks (good, bad or otherwise) can weigh you down especially if they are connected to big emotion.

The brain can become fatigued with the plethora of things we hang onto. Decision making can become a real chore, shutting down the necessity in making a decision. Feeling stuck is one of the biggest side effects of mental clutter. Stimulus from so many different people, places or things make it necessary to declutter.

The goal of mentally decluttering is personal for you. I am not a Professional Therapist and if you feel you need more support for your mental state t...