5 Favorite Apps to Organize Your Business Life

Since I have been recommending these great apps for organizing your business life to everyone, I though it would be nice to get them all in one place...
1. Flipboard (FREE)
Flipboard let's me consolidate my reading - from professional journals, LinkedIn & Twitter updates, to the blogs I subscribe to - everything is captured in a custom e-zine that keeps me focused on what's relevant to my business & relationships...
2. CardMunch (FREE)
I just downloaded this last night after reading Phil Yanov's blog (www.ThinkHammer.com). Take snapshots of business cards & not only capture the info, but also capture a new LinkedIn contact! Now you can check off "enter contact info" on your things to do list...
3. Notability ($.99)
Draw on forms! Need I say more?
4. Buffer (FREE)
Spend a few minutes once a week & schedule your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn posts. Another chore done!
5.DropBox (FREE)
Consider this your wireless external hard drive. Drop a file in at the office, retrieve it from your iPad on the job site.

OK, those are my favorites. What are yours?




WLOS Celebrates Get Organized Month on location with Garner Woodworks






January is National Get Organized Month.  So, this morning I was interviewed by Victoria Dunkle on WLOS News 13.  We were on location in Swannanoa with Garner Woodworks.

Victoria and I hit 4 main areas of the house:
  1. Kitchen
  2. Closet
  3. Children's Room
  4. Garage

While we were filming a number of people wrote in with questions on Facebook...

Here is the blog post I promised with the tips from the show as well as some answers to your (continuing) questions...

1) Kitchen
  • Reduce piles, stacks, &  on the counter by using bowls and baskets to corral everyday items like coffee, bread & fruit.
  • According to master woodworker Josh Cairns of Garner Woodworks, 80% of the lower cabinets in a kitchen should be drawers.
 
www.GarnerWoodworks.com
2)  Closet
  • Use a full-length mirror to help in making wardrobe decisions.  Even more than the old "haven't worn it in a year" adage, a head to toe reflection of yourself is an undeniable deal breaker.  You will either love it or hate it. (Looks like this is the exception to the rule...I was torn - 50/50. I had to send a txt photo to my sisters for the tie-breaking decision)
The full length mirror really is helping!
  • Hang like with like (short sleeved, long sleeved, jackets, pants, skirts...).  Within a category (shirts) hang by spectrum order (black, white, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet).


    Color Coding a Closet     
















3) Children's Room -
My "dessert" for helping a young client.  Vegetarian ice-cream (thus the lettuce). 
 
  • A Facebook-er asked about simplifying the process of organizing, which is important for both adults & children.  The easiest way to make life easier is to get rid of the unnecessary.  Knowing that your unused things will become someone's treasured belonging makes the decision to let go easier.  Think of Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill, & the myriads of shelters that need your stuff.
 
Bye bye stuff!
  • With everyone in the family (or for each room in the house) assign a floating basket that can be the half-step - a container to catch all those things that don't quite get put away but need to get put somewhere.
4) Garage -

  • There are OVER 52,000 storage facilities in the US.

  • Bye Bye Pod!
  • Label storage containers on all 4 sides & the lid so nothing is left to chance (inner family sabotage!)
The last Facebook  posts we addressed had to do with a lack of time & motivation to organize.  Try finding a friend you could time-share with.  A dedicated hour at her house working on an anti-clutter strategy, then a dedicated hour on your project.  You will find a new pair of eyes & an extra set of hands make all the difference!

Thank you again to Garner Woodworks for hosting us today.

Making Your Home an Oasis - Frenzied Female Conference "Embrace the Fabulous You"

These is a transcript from a speech I gave at the Frenzied Female Conference "Embrace the Fabulous You" on February 18th, 2011.

 MAKING YOUR HOME AN OASIS

I’ve been thinking a lot about this conference since I first spoke to Sherri last year.  The thing I hate is the beginning of a speech.  I could talk all day about organizing, but what are the most important things you need to know today – to stop feeling frenzied and to make your home an oasis?

I think we better start today at the same place all of my organizing project start – with the question “Where do I begin???”

This is how it works, I’m sitting at my desk returning emails and calls, or I check my voice mail after a session with a client.  So, I get someone on the phone (usually a woman, because truly men seem to be able to function longer in chaos than we can.  That’s not a judgment, just a professional observation.) “Hello!  I have this big organizing dilemma and it’s too much for one human to handle and I don’t know what to do anymore and it’s even making the cat crazy… And I don’t know where to start!”

If that is you on the phone, first I will give you the pep talk that we all need.  You are a successful woman.  You get things done.  Before I go on, I want you to seriously think about what you accomplish.  You have strengths, your superpowers – maybe you are an artist, maybe you are a great people person, maybe you can do outrageous math in your head and save the day.  What do you do that is soooo you?  So let’s get this mess into perspective, it’s just one little thing that isn’t your strong suit.  And it is always ok to ask for help.

Next step is me.  Organizing is my superpower; which means not only do I declutter for a living, but I was also born with a knack for seeing how things could be easier.  I would seriously rearrange products at the grocery store so they lined up… but being a professional organizer is not about making my life easier, it’s about what is best for you, for your space, and for your routine.

So now we are back to you.  No more beating yourself up, you have admitted that there is a problem and found help to solve it.  Now we tackle that big question “Where do we start?”  We, because you and me are in this together now…

Since I’m not talking to you individually right now, I need you to think for a minute about what space bothers you the most.  Is it at work, in your office?  At home, in your home office?  The garage, the kids room, your closet?  The trunk of your car?  Your purse?

If you still can’t decide, think of the one space in your life you hope people never see or know about.  The place that, when you close the door, you hope you never have to open it again.  

Whatever place you are imagining... that closet you hope no one will ever open because you aren't sure it will shut again, that filing cabinet that has eaten more paper than you know where came from, that junk drawer that became a junk room... that’s where we are going to start.  Think about it logically, this is your monster under the bed, the thing that scares you the most.  If you can tackle it successfully, all your other organizing projects will be a snap!  (Remember Monica's secret closet on Friends... )

Now we need to talk about timing.  I get a lot of extreme statements “the whole house is a wreck” “my whole life is out of control” “everything is a mess”.  That means we need to break that huge beast of a project into manageable tasks.  Like one shelf at a time, one drawer of files, or attacking just the top of the desk.  This is a special limit. If you aren’t sure where in the room to begin, just walk in, turn left, and attack the first thing you come to.  Then work clockwise.

If you can’t see a clear stopping and starting point, let’s set a time limit.  Work on one dedicated area for 15, 20, 30 minutes.  That’s another good way to stay productive and focused on a smaller picture.

And since we are talking about time, according to the book Natural Superwoman, our natural biorhythms mean that we are at our most focused at 10 am.  Which means that right now you are getting very sleepy and I better keep this talk exciting!  But the point I am making is, if it’s possible, work at your peak time for productivity.  Use the time when you feel most like a superhero to attack this monster of a mess.

That's enough generalities on how to attack any project, now let's talk about your specific mess.  Again, let’s go back to my typical day.  After all those pleasantries and plans, this is the next thing I usually hear “ummm, I think we better start with the paperwork.”

I saw some file folders yesterday at the office supply store that had large labels on them such as “last stop before the trash” and “never to be seen again”.  According to statistics provided by the National Association of Professional Organizers, approximately 80% of what we file is never looked at again. Peter Walsh, Oprah’s organizing guru, wrote a great book called It’s All Too Much.  He says that we show that we cherish things by how we store and display them.  The way people hang onto paper, with this terrible burden of filing cabinet after filing cabinet, really shows how scared of paper our electronic society really is.

It’s important to understand the difference between paper that must be kept – the paper that should live in your file drawer (I have a mock system here in the portable box – medical documents, retirement information, education & professional documentation.  These are things that don’t expire and may need to be called on.)

The other type of paper will eventually expire in usefulness (utility bills, credit card statements, etc.)– this is the paper that can be archived & then destroyed after 7 years.   Things the IRS may ask you about for now, but can’t after a few years.  And if the IRS doesn't want it anymore, why should you?  

The key with papers you are still not sure of – What are the repercussions if you get rid of them?  My biggest tip, and something I do right away with all the people I work with, is to unsubscribe from junk mail.

Let’s talk about the rest of the house now – think about where you want to do things (wrapping presents & sending cards), and where you actually do them right now (on the coffee table).  You have to analyze your & your family's routines and see what makes more sense, is it more reasonable to move your space around to create a wrapping station or does it seem better to create a home to store cards and tape and things near the coffee table so you don’t have to change your routine.  It’s just an example (I could have said dealing with the mail, but even I get sick of talking about paper all the time).  And there is no wrong answer.  I have set up whole rooms dedicated to gift giving and letter writing, and I have also arranged a drawer in the living room to accommodate personal whims.

Now, how do you store things?  If it’s going to be out of sight, I am a big fan of clear plastic storage containers.  Clear is good because even when things are clearly labeled, you can still see what is inside and it takes away the fear of what unknown mess may be lurking in that box.  Get all the same type of container for an area, so they will stack and nest most efficiently.  Name badge stickers (without the “Hello! My name is…”) are the perfect size.  Now that we have all the storage tucked neatly away, let's talk about what might still be visible.

In the book ADD-Friendly Ways To Organize Your Life, it addresses a problem called visual clutter.  Visual clutter is differences that our brain picks up on but we may not immediately notice – like if the books on the shelf are in no particular order.  You may not think it bothers you, but subconsciously your brain is aware that the books are in a jumble instead of being grouped by category or size or color.  I have a terrible time with this, because I seem to be hyper-aware of things not in order.  For instance, I can’t sit in my office and work if the desk isn’t completely clear and everything filed or put away.  It doesn’t make my life easy, but it does mean I can spot things that might be bothering you and you don’t even know.  You can practice doing this yourself.  Sit in a chair in your nemesis room and just look.  What bit is the most agitating?  Go fix it!  Keep going until you can sit in that room and feel peaceful and happy.

Now we come to the last question I get on the initial phone call… Do you know what it is?  “What can I buy before you come?”

I know it is more fun to go shopping than to do the actual work, but I always say the same thing – you have more space than you realize, and you probably already have the basic tools that we need at your house.  And this is when you would say “Yes, I knew I wanted to tackle this project so I went and bought a bunch of file folders and a label maker and some containers.”  And I get a little sad, because I would love to shop for this stuff, but everyone already has it!

I am NOT encouraging you to shop before you work on your project, because after you start you will have a much better idea of what you truly need.  But, I do want to show you my top five favorite things:
2 – drawer organizer – no drawer should be a junk drawer!
3 – literature holder – best thing for turning piles into accessible papers
4 -  lazy susan – great for unexpected places like in the fridge and under the sink
5 - label maker – Brother P-touch
 
Don't forget to call today for your FREE PHONE CONSULTATION, and don't worry -  I HAVE SEEN IT ALL BEFORE!




Don't ruin your weekend by organizing

I just read a auto-biography I posted describing myself as Casual Obsessive Compulsive. It seemed more attractive than some of the populated choices like "introvert".

So, to casually yet compulsively enter the world of blogging... I will try to share 3 useful things with you, more or less. You know, so you won't get bored with a bunch of incessant chatter on how much I love to stacking containers and well-lit color-coordinated closets. I am well aware that you don't all share my obsession.

So, here's the top 3 ways to enjoy your weekend without letting organizing guilt get in the way:
  1. Don't beat yourself up over what you haven't done. Is your mess calling you ugly names and blowing rasberries behind your back? You had a hard enough week. Relax. Use the weekend to enjoy life and know your organizing project will be there when you have the strength to tackle it. And, yes, it will still be calling you names.
  2. If you start a project, don't feel obligated to finish it. Your mother is not watching. It is best to break your project up into smaller bursts anyway. So pick one shelf, one file, or drawer, make note of where you leave off and congratulate your self on making forward progress.
  3. The Secret of Life. Why are you organizing? Is it because, like me, you are obssessed with Ending Global Clutter©? Probably not. Hopefully you realize that organizing will make your life easier. So if an organizing project this weekend is going to make your life harder, forget it! You will be much more productive on a rainy day when you are stuck inside and want to do something.

TA DA! End of Blog #1.

Remember, Don't Panic.