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Category: Random Musings

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree

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If you don’t believe that you can be taught organizing skills, think again. My oldest daughter was recently preparing for a trip out of town. She began planning (organizing) for the trip about 2 weeks ahead of time by starting a list of things she needed to bring or do before the trip. She had learned these organizing skills by living with me. Some of the skills were taught and some of them she just observed me doing. As a professional organizer, I got such a kick out of her list that I just had to share her outline. Things… read more »

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I remember when…

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I can still remember a time so vividly, almost like it happened yesterday. When in fact, it’s been closer to 20 years ago (yikes!). I was a recently divorced, single mother of two young girls, 6 months old and 3 years old. I held a very good full time job, but since we were not receiving any type of financial support from their father or my family, and I had to pay ENORMOUS daycare bills, were struggling to put it mildly. We had just the very basic things in our apartment. What I remember most is that we only had… read more »

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The Tree

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When I bought my house 10 years ago, I noticed there were two trees in the front yard that had been growing very haphazardly. They looked very messy and unkempt. I tackled the trees and trimmed out all of the branches that were growing between other branches, going in the wrong direction or were too low. When I was finished, both trees looked like they had taken on a new life and a new direction. Finally free of the cluttered branches that weren’t serving them, and were actually harming them, they will now be able to grow stronger and more healthy.… read more »

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My home is not perfect

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People always ask me if my home is in perfect order, well it isn’t always. I do have a home for everything though, and so when it gets chaotic or I need to put everything back where it belongs, it doesn’t take long. You know, I have always been aware of the mental drain that a chaotic home or office environment has on people’s lives, but I recently got a taste of it first-hand. Within two weeks of each other, my older daughter moved back home and my younger daughter moved out. My older daughter had lived on her own… read more »

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Getting organized is like going on a diet

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Being overweight is a daily downer; your clothes don’t fit, you don’t feel good physically or mentally and you have less energy than you would otherwise. Unfortunately, I know this first hand. Being disorganized is a daily downer; you can’t find what you need, you miss appointments, your stress level is high and you suffer mentally from it (depression, anxiety, etc). Since we don’t find ourselves overweight or disorganized overnight, it is unrealistic to think it is going to go away over night, or without some work. Most people don’t want to do the work that is required to change… read more »

Category: Random Musings

Battling procrastination

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It’s human nature to put things off that we don’t enjoy doing. We procrastinate about doing them, which in the end only makes them seem bigger and far harder than they actually are. Many people want to get organized but they don’t know where to start. This causes them to feel overwhelmed and then they procrastinate about getting organized, period. Once people finally decide once and for all that they are going to get organized no matter what it takes, and they call us for help, they feel absolutely amazing when it’s done. You know why? Because things we put… read more »

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Preparing for the unthinkable

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I’ve always been very proactive when it comes to preparing for my own death. I want to make sure that the things I’ve worked so hard for will transfer seamlessly to my children. Since I assume they will already be devastated enough by my death and the grief associated with it, I want to make things as easy as I can for them during that time. I am intrigued by the many, many people that don’t plan for their death. It’s inevitable, right? Death is the one thing that we can all count on. We’re all going to die. Because… read more »

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Decluttering your smart phone

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Check out these stats from an article in The Wall Street Journal. Clutter isn’t just physical stuff. Be careful not to clutter up your smart phones with apps you don’t use, need or love! The number of apps the average smartphone user world-wide is expected to download this year – 37. (ABI Research) The number of apps expected to be downloaded world-wide this year – 36 billion. (ABI Research) The number of apps expected to be downloaded world-wide in 2017 – 136 Billion. (ABI Research) The number of minutes people spend on average each day on mobile apps in the… read more »

Category: Random Musings

Disorganization results in losing millions

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Illinois State officials are urging people who regularly play the Illinois lottery to check junk drawers, glove compartments, unused purses and old wallets to make sure they’re not holding one of 77 unclaimed prizes from 2011 totally $2.4 million. Winning tickets are no longer valid if not collected within a year of the drawing. The first of the unclaimed winnings from 2011 expires January 4th. Five Mega Millions tickets worth $250,000 each remain unclaimed. They were purchased at retailers in Bolingbrook, Herrin, Decatur, Crete and DeKalb. Four Powerball second-place tickets valued at $200,000 a piece and bought at locations in… read more »

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What is the point of pen sets?

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When organizing an executives extremely cluttered home recently, we must have found at least 20 expensive pen sets that were all still in their cases, never used. That made me wonder why anyone would really give a pen set as a gift. Does anyone really ever use the pens? Why don’t they use them? I think part of the reason they aren’t used is that they come in a perfect little “pen set box” and so people think they have to keep them in their box. Since they’re in their pretty little “pen set box”, no one ever thinks to… read more »

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