Take a walk through your home. Pretend that you are getting ready for out of town visitors or that you are putting your house on the market. Notice if you have stacks of papers and other items on the floor or out on exposed surfaces. NAPO (National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals) states that the average American receives almost 15,000 pieces of junk mail in their lifetime. How much of that is hanging around in various parts of your home right now? Cl

Pumpkins, Turkeys, Menorahs, Santa Clause, Baby New Year are showing up everywhere. It may be getting too late to make reservations to see Santa. I saw an article at the end of September saying where the best places were to see Santa and how to make reservations. Scary! How do we deal with all this holiday stress? Right now, is the time to sit down, breathe, and write down your vision of how you want the holidays to look and feel. What is important to you in each season. Has

On Sundays I set out my intended schedule for the week. I have a plan for every day. It is pretty rare if my schedule ends up the way it was planned. I may have someone new call in for an appointment. More often I have clients who need to reschedule, move the time a bit, or cancel for the week. So, what to do when I get a cancellation or postponement and now have some found time? It it’s an entire day, like a snow day, the best way to use the time might be just to relax. Read

It’s back to school time already. School generates a lot of paper even though more and more of it is on line. Plan for the onslaught of paper now. Have in place a plan to store the needed paper before the paper starts to build up. You will likely receive: General school information such as a school calendar and a calendar of events, papers with school hours, rules, fees, sports information, contact information, PTA news Welcome letter from your child’s teacher with her inform

I read an interesting blog this past week by the Clark Howard Staff. It was entitled “39 ways to sell your old stuff for the most cash”. Below are some tidbits from their blog and my take on it. According to the Wall Street Journal report several years ago, Americans spend $1.2 trillion annually on goods and services they don’t need. According to Orlando Sentinel, nearly one out of 10 American households rents a storage facility, costing anywhere from $125 to $165 a month. Of

Weather is getting nicer and many of us are looking forward to some spring or summer travel. I know it is not fun to schlep around multiple or huge suitcases. Here are some tips to make packing for that trip a breeze. Make a list. I keep a master list that I modify for each trip. This keeps me from forgetting my phone charger or medicated face cream (both in original pack and repack to come home). Then for each trip I list what I am really taking and print it off. This goes i

School is almost over and vacation time must be coming up soon. I love to travel. Give me an airline ticket and put me on a plane for almost anywhere and I am happy. However, when traveling with a family, a little more planning and organizing will make the vacation less stressful and a happier experience for everyone. First the “when” needs to be addressed. Even in the summer children and adults have busy schedules and obligations. So get out the calendar and find a period of

One of the things I like about my family gift giving plan is that each year we give to a different family member. This year I give to my sister and her family in Washington. Next year I will give to my brother and his family in Ohio. When I reflect on gifts I consider: The gift should be personal. I like gifts that show you know the person. You are aware of their interests and needs. I do not want a gift card unless it is for an event or an experience. As an organizer, I hav

There are several choices. Put in a whole day set aside just to w0rk in the office. Let this zone bleed into the next month. Let it go and just move on to the next month’s zone because I know I did this zone well last year and will do it well again next year. Because the office zone is very important to my business and part of this zone is setting up my files for the next year, I am opting to do the first choice. What I can’t get done in the one whole day may bleed into the n

Every year, almost 2 billion holiday cards are sent to bring warm holiday wishes to those we love. The custom of sending greeting cards can be traced back to the ancient Chinese, who exchanged good will messages to celebrate the New Year and to early Egyptians who ssent greetings on papyrus scrolls. So, this is not a new thing. For me this is often the only time I connect with some of the people on my list. I catch up on a year’s worth of happenings with this card exchange. S

Jonda S. Beattie Professional Organizer #friendship #timeline #celebration #party #books #plan

I would love to have some feedback on how you would tackle this situation. Jonda S. Beattie Professional Organizer #organization #purge #home #satruated #zones #plan

Jonda S. Beattie Professional Organizer #organization #gardening #maintenance #vision #plan