I LOVE Containers

Containing your stuff really is an important step in getting organized. Think of a bookshelf with various things scattered and stuffed on the shelves. Or visualize clean bookshelves with fun colorful boxes or natural baskets holding their contents to minimize the visual clutter. Oh - that is better.

Keeping smaller objects in containers can instantly give a space a more organized feeling. And by keeping like items together you will save time when looking for things. For example, I have shelving in my office that I use to hold supplies, books and other resource materials. In one container I have all my computer supplies such as extra cords, straps to tie cables together, and some user manuals. In another container I have new file folders and another container holds office supplies like ink cartridges, tape for my label maker, and a paper cutter. Since I order business cards a thousand at a time, I keep my back up supply in a small container. Seeing these beautiful grass cloth covered containers sure beats looking at piles of office supplies. It gives my office an orderly cohesive look.

I recently used this system with a client who had no storage in her desk. No drawers. No shelves. Just a modern open desk. Because she had no other place to put all her officey stuff she piled it on her desk top and on the floor around the desk. This looked messy and wasn’t conducive to her finding things quickly. So she found some inexpensive decorative boxes with lids that can hold the supplies and stack neatly near her desk. Of course we labeled each box so that she could find things instantly.

Check out these sites for a great selection of containers:

Target

The Container Store

Ikea

Give this a try in your office, closet, or playroom and let me know how it works for you.

More Great Advise from Peter Walsh

My favorite guru gives some great advise.

http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/oprahs-de-clutterer-on-kerri-anne/xum5h1u

How can a Professional Organizer help you? Here's what I did for one of my clients

I have been so fortunate to have Kim Rocke of New Leaf straighten me out!  My office/craft room had become the catch-all for all the household clutter – if it didn’t have any other place to live, it came to my space.  And took over!  I dreaded walking into that room, seeing piles and boxes filled with “stuff.” I felt I didn’t have my own space anymore and my creative spark was smothered by the mess.

I consider myself a relatively organized person but I was overwhelmed by how much I thought I needed to tackle to get it under control. Kim and I met and discussed my distressing situation, I outlined my goals and desires for the room, Kim offered a plan of action and we went right to work.  Kim made it so simple and clear to get started, move forward and maintain the action plan.  Her ‘system’ was easily tailored to my needs and within 2 hours I had my desk workspace back!  By the end of our 4-hour session, I had a distinct and achievable vision of what the office would look like and a follow-up plan to get there.  And, most magically of all, Kim whisked away all the trash and donation items, to keep them from becoming yet another pile in another part of the house.

My space is my own again.  My creative spark is rekindled and I can attack any project with a renewed energy.  In fact, I’ve been going through my house, pinpointing all those trouble zones (like junk drawers) and addressing them, using Kim’s ideas.  Every area I clear out, the lighter I feel.  It’s a fabulous feeling.

So fabulous I wanted to share it with a dear friend who had a milestone birthday coming up. Her close friends wanted an unusual and different gift for this birthday and I suggested a gift of Kim’s organizational services.  Our friend was quite stressed out by the state of her guest room/home office/craft room. A professional organizer is something our friend would never indulge in herself, so we all pitched in and our friend now has six hours of Kim’s practical, effective and stress relieving services.  Our friend declared it “the best gift ever!”  I am so looking forward to hearing about their progress!

Kathi Dirkse

Organization Can Make Preparing Your Taxes Easier

This past year I decided to hire a bookkeeper and can I say what a smart decision that was! I hired Teresa Middleton of Middleton Bookkeeping.


I met Teresa a couple of years in a Heartlink Networking Group and she is such a good fit for me and my business.

I keep all my receipts in labeled folders for each category, such as networking memberships and dues, marketing and website work, supplies, resource materials like books and magazines. I send Teresa an email with my expenses listed and my banking statements she enters it all into Quickbooks. She can do this so much more quickly than I could, so her fee is very reasonable. Plus at the end of the year she gives me a simple profit and loss statement that I hand over to my Tax Preparer.

By having Teresa take care of my bookkeeping and by keeping my receipts organized through out the year, I literally gathered all my tax papers together in less than half an hour. Organization really can save you Time!!

Stop Clutter & Disorganization Before They Start

I've been following this newsletter from Emily Wilska for awhile now. This is exactly what I spoke about at Association of Women Entrepreneurs on Thursday. So since I couldn't have said it better myself, I'd like to share this newsletter so you too can stop clutter before it comes into your life.

Benjamin Franklin wasn't talking specifically about organization when he said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," but his words apply perfectly to keeping disorder and excess stuff at bay. When it comes to organizing, we tend to focus on clearing out existing clutter, trying to juggle an over-full schedule, or recovering from being overwhelmed by paper, possessions, or tasks. But what if we turned that model on its head and instead focused on ways of preventing clutter and disorganization before they become problems? Here are 5 straightforward ways to put Ben Franklin's words to work in the organizing realm.   to read more

The 2011 Los Angeles Organizing Awards

Next Saturday, January 29 is the Los Angeles Organizing Awards. As a Board Member of the National Association of Professional Organizers Los Angeles Chapter, I have been very busy getting the word out about the Awards with posting details about the event on the NAPO-LA website and sending out emails to our members.

Soon our hard work will pay off with a Gala Industry Exchange Event and then the Awards Show and Dinner. Seeing so many in the industry is such fun and I look forward to meeting more of my fellow colleagues from across the world.

Here's me with the Great Organizing Guru himself, Peter Walsh at last year's Organizing Awards.

If you are interested in attending the Biggest Event in Organizing, click her to go to the NAPO-LA website