Do you like to tell stories? If you do, I bet you’re good at it. I don’t consider myself a good storyteller. When I was working at a school library, I always practiced reading the stories aloud so they would be entertaining for the preschool/primary school students. Just as when I’m giving a presentation or teaching an organizing class, I practice what I want to say. Jokes, when I tell them usually land flat because of my delivery. And, when I go to tell a story to a small circle of people at a party, I get a little tongue-tied and lose the thread. These are facts, not fiction. There are other ..read more

I love it when out of the blue my phone rings and the person calling is someone I have worked with before. They are looking for my help again. Why? Because something in their home isn’t working the way they want it to. Can they fix it themselves? Probably. So why don’t they just do it themselves? The reason is that they know they are more productive when someone is helping them. I’m happy that it is me they call. In truth, most people, whether they have ADHD or not, are more productive when someone is helping them. I often hear clients bemoan the fact that they know how to sort papers, how to ..read more

This week is a difficult one for me. It is the anniversary of my mother’s passing. I can’t believe it’s been 14 years. There are times when grief reappears, and it feels like she passed away yesterday. It is also my brother’s birthday. The brother closest in age to me is still with us – thankfully. But my other brother is not. We always used to celebrate their birthdays together even though their birth years were three years apart. The anniversary of my brother’s passing is coming up on Halloween. I was thinking about my mother and brother and rather than sit in my thoughts and allow myself to ..read more

Recently I spent the better part of the week with (as one person said) frolleagues – friends who are also colleagues. We were all attending the 2023 conference with the Institute for Challenging Disorganization® in Waltham, Massachusetts at the Embassy Suites. In the interest of transparency, I helped to organize the conference with Kim Cox. It was a wonderful event! I participated in many great conversations, shared warm hugs, and received terrific education. I want to give you my reasons to attend the ICD® conference. There are several things to know about the ICD® conference in general. The ..read more

As a professional organizer I often talk about letting go. When a client reaches out to me it is often because they are feeling overwhelmed by clutter. Sometimes it’s just in one area of their home. Other times it is pervasive throughout the house. No matter how much clutter or stuff there is, it is causing a problem for the client. Releasing things they’ve held onto for a long time is difficult and can make a person fearful. My goal is to provide my clients with strategies to help them be as comfortable as possible while they make decisions about what stays and what goes.   This oft ..read more

Typically, around this time of year I post a blog about preparing for disaster. The truth is that you are never as prepared as you later think you should have been when disaster strikes. As I recently wrote, the people in Maui were lucky to escape with their lives when disaster hit their beautiful island.  So, what can we do? I believe we can prepare for change in lots of big and small ways. No one wants to be caught off guard when life happens. Big ways to prepare for change Create a home inventory. As I recently wrote, one of the best ways to prepare for disaster is to have a complete h ..read more

Recently I had a conversation, really it was a series of text messages, with a friend. He told me he was worried that his daughter would come into his home and toss everything without thinking because it is very cluttered. In the interest of full disclosure, I have never been to my friend’s home, but he told me it is full of valuable stuff. As we all know, one man’s treasure may be another man’s trash. In this case, I think his home may be full of truly valuable things. I asked if he had ever considered taking the time to create a comprehensive home inventory. He had not. We know that when dis ..read more

We’ve all experienced those moments of waiting. It can be truly frustrating to think that you’re spending this valuable time twiddling your thumbs. You may be waiting in line, waiting for an appointment, or waiting for a friend to arrive. It’s easy to let this time slip away, lost in the void of anticipation. But fear not! There are plenty of productive things to do while you wait. Here’s a list of things to make the most out of those waiting moments: 1. Read a Book  Keep a book handy in your bag or on your phone (eBooks or audiobooks). You’d be surprised at how much reading you can get d ..read more

Organizing can often feel like a tedious and overwhelming task. However, it doesn’t have to be boring or mundane. With a little creativity and a positive mindset, you can turn the process of organizing into an enjoyable and even fun experience. In this blog post, I’ll share three exciting ways to make organizing not only effective but also an activity you look forward to. Deciding to organize a whole house or just a whole room is a huge and overwhelming task. Challenge yourself to conquer the task by doing it in small blocks of time. Use the following strategies to make organizing enjoyable. Y ..read more

Have you noticed there’s a lot of talk going on about habits and routines? Jonda Beattie posted a blog about the benefits of habits and routines. I have been writing about incorporating household routines into daily planning as well as evening routines. My August newsletter is all about routines and in a couple of weeks Jonda and I are teaching a class on Falling Back Into Routines. That’s a lot of talk on a particular topic. There’s a reason for this. When you have good habits and routines, you can use them to support you when your circumstances change. This is absolutely true. Routines will ..read more