All Sorts of Organizing Video Tips for Your Life

Rubbermaid came up with this FANTASTIC idea at the recent National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) conference:
Asking organizers to share a quick organizing tip
... and they had their video cameras rolling!

Last checked there are 26 organizing tip videos available for you to check out. Look for the NAPO 2010 Organization Tips playlists in the right column. What's neat is we all came up with different suggestions to help you get organized.


Great job Rubbermaid for sharing some
organizing love with the world!

Thank you for including me.

What video tip would you share?

All Your Organizing Questions Answered Here!

"Ask an Organizer" is one of the most attended sessions at the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO)conference sessions. Yours truly was honored to be one of the 5 awesome women to share our wisdom to our fellow professional organizers. The questions asked were wonderful and shared a great deal of insight into client and business situations.

... which got me thinking ...

What questions YOU may have out there in blog world about organizing, downsizing, sorting, purging, filing, donations, moving, labeling, tossing, keeping, deciding and eating (well not really eating, though I can give my opinion)?

Lately it seems many questions and comments are being left at the Facebook Fanpage of Organized Solutions, which is great. You are invited to join, if you wish. Ask your questions here, there or send me an email. I will answer all your questions ... and I promise to be creative on the ones I have no idea.

So ...

What's your organizing question?

Collections vs. Clutter

Collections are an accumulation of objects gathered for study or comparision for exhibition or hobby.

Clutter is to fill or cover with scattered things that impede movement or reduce effectiveness.

Collections are shown with pride and joy for all to view.

Clutter can consume and overwhelm your surroundings causing you to withdrawl.

As a professional organizer I hear many times, "I have a lot of collections." But are they REALLY collections if the items are stored in dust covered boxes unopened for months ... years?

It's OK to love something for awhile and over time your interests change. (though I'm not sure when my boys are going to phase out of bringing a collection of rocks home everywhere they go)
Remember, these are things.

Items that make you cringe, roll your eyes or feel sad -- need to go.
Things that are broken (are you really going to fix it?) or ugly (yeah, we all buy ugly stuff) -- it needs to go.

If you're struggling with an item, pick up your favorite piece from your collection. How do you feel when you look at it? Now, pick up the item in question. Yeah ... you know what to do.

Collections are fantastic. You share them with the world.

Clutter can be suffocating, perhaps causing you to hide.
You are too beautiful and wonderful
to miss out on the happiness of life.
Look at your life and home. My mission is to help you love your space again. If you're not loving your space, your space is not going to change until YOU make some changes.

This transformation is not going to happen overnight. Be patient and reward yourself for the little successes along the way.

Take a hard look at your collections.
Sort out the clutter.
Share your home with the world.
Enjoy the day.

What collection has overgrown your space?

Only Happy Endings

There is a history, story or drama to every item you have in your home.

If the history, story or drama is does not have a happy ending, your item no longer should be in your life.

Let it go.

What are you letting go?

Getting Your Clothes Ready for Summer!

Looking to get your clothes organized as we transition from the Winter to Summer season?

Here's a quick little clip on some easy organizing tips from a recent appearance on WTOL CBS:


The items mentioned in this video are:
Rubbermaid's Revelations storage bins
Closetmaid's Horizontal Organizer

... of course my favorite organizing tool: a black garbage bag
Which really does not have to be black or a garbage bag, any other color bag will work just perfect. Boxes do the trick, too.


Bottom line: You gotta have a way of getting your items
out of your home!

Take a good hard look at your wardrobe and let go of a few items.

You will feel amazing!

What's your favorite organizing tool?

Be a GlowWorm (or another version of extreme awesomeness)

"We are all worms,
but I do believe I am a glowworm."
~Winston Churchill
This quote came across my random quotes of the day and it made me chuckle a bit. If you think about it, it's the perfect way to think about yourself.

We're all the same, though if you can think of yourself as special, unique ... heck, let's just say you're a ROCKSTAR!

Keep that mindset throughout your day, repeat it to yourself. It's not being pompous or self-centered. This is your own fun little mantra for the day. No one needs to know about it but YOU.

I bet you will begin to feel more confident, walk with a little swagger or bounce in your step because you are believing in yourself.
Nothing is more powerful than yourself.

C'mon, give it a shot.
Whadda got to lose??
You Glowworm, Rockstar, Diva, Empress, Ruler, Guru you.

Who are you?
"We are all _____ but I believe I am a _____."

Bring Out Yer Dead ... Spring Organizing is Here!

We are all beginning to crawl out of our cooped up caves inside our homes as we enjoy the spring thawing the mounds of snow from the winter season. Along with discovering all the great "treasures" your dog has bestowed upon your yard, you begin to look at your garage ... Egads, what happened over these past winter months.

All winter long, items have been tossed and dropped as you scurry into your warm home. Though as you begin to look about the garage, you may start to think, "Uh, we gotta get organized." As one friend mentioned on Facebook:
"Spring weather is perfect weather for organizing the garage not too hot, not too cold!"

Spring is an inspiring time of year. All the cold, cloudy short days become warm and sunny. Turn off the furnace, bust open the windows and get some fresh air into your home. Fresh air will bring a new flow of energy into your home. You'll be surprised the positive difference, even if the windows are only open for 10 minutes.

With your home's energy feeling a dose of new found adrenalin, pop open your garage door and take a good look at what's happened over the past winter months.

Is there stuff you didn't use last year still piled up in the corner?
- Let it go. (clang)
What about the toys the kids have now outgrown or lost interest?
- Let it go (clang)
Do you have items that you no longer even like?
- (yeah, I know you do) Let it go (clang)

Once you get a bit of the dead stuff out of your garage, you'll feel so much better. Hopefully during the process no one was clunked over the head for not wanting some items to "go on the cart."

... and if they did, it was probably for the best.

What's your favorite Monty Python quote?