I’m writing this from my room at a Comfort Suites. It’s not exactly a luxurious room. But as I was sitting here on the little couch that makes this room a “suite” (that and the half wall that separates the couch from the bed), I started thinking about why I love hotel rooms.
Tagged with: decluttering, order
Today is the Fourth of July where in the U.S. we celebrate the signing of our nation’s Declaration of Independence from England. I’m currently reading An Echo in the Bone, the seventh in Diana Galbadon’s wonderful Outlander series, which is set during the Revolutionary War. Maybe that’s why this year Independence Day really has me thinking about independence, and freedom, and what it means to me and my clients.
Tagged with: disorder, freedom, independence, order
I love the blog Unclutterer. Erin Doland, who writes most of the posts, is so smart and such a great writer. I love her perspective on striving to live a clutter-free life.
Tagged with: clutter, disorder, erin doland, order, routines, unclutterer
There’s an interesting conversation going on over at Unclutterer, one of my favorite blogs at organizing and clutter. Unclutterer editor, Erin Dolan, wrote a fascinating post about societal pressures women face to keep house.
Tagged with: clutter, order, society, unclutterer
I’m a messy person. And (clearly) I’m not ashamed of it. You might find it surprising that a professional organizer is messy. But that might be because you think that messy and disorganized are synonymous. Trust me, they’re not.
The past couple of weeks have been very busy for me and I haven’t been home a whole lot. I did take one glorious at-home day off a week ago Saturday, where I caught up on my TV and did some knitting. (Boy that day went by fast!) I did nothing but relax, which I sorely needed.
Tagged with: disorder, habits, order, pockets of time, routines
In my office I’m cord challenged. Like most people I have loads of electronic devices and their cables snake all over the place. I keep promising myself that one of these days I’m going to focus on the problem and come up with a great solution.
Tagged with: cords, home office, order
Spring has hit St. Louis. It’s been in the 80s this week. The fruit trees and redbuds are starting to flower. Daffodils are out. It’s fabulous.
Tagged with: closets, declutter happy hour, decluttering, order
Since I specialize in working with chronically disorganized people, I’ve seen a lot of clutter. I’ve worked in homes so full of stuff they were inhabitable (literally).
But I’ve also been hired to do consultations for people for whom there was no visible clutter, at least at first glance. Yet those folks made the effort to schedule an appointment and paid me to advise them on how to deal with stuff that was bothering them. To my eye, it was small, easily addressable stuff. But to them it was a problem. (I always have to remind myself never to trivialize someone’s problem.)
Tagged with: chronic disorganization, clutter, disorder, napo st. louis, order, perfectionism, unclutterer
I have a friend visiting this weekend and I’m very excited. I met Patti back in 1983, when I was a college intern at her office. She was in her early 30s, a real grown up. After graduation, I went to work for that organization (the Population Reference Bureau) and our friendship grew. Though we haven’t worked together in over 20 years, we’ve remained friends.
Tagged with: company, friendship, order
This fabulous blog post from Unclutterer really resonated with me. Its writer, Unclutterer Editor-in-Chief Erin Doland, is one of those folks who really seems to have it together. It shines through in her writing. And it feels very apparent when you spend time with her in person.
Tagged with: control, erin doland, order, productivity
This morning, I read this wonderful Unclutterer blog post, in which Erin Doland wrote about how she didn’t freak out when she learned her in-laws were coming for an overnight stay that day. Since she’s embraced an uncluttered lifestyle, the unexpected visit didn’t mean any scrambling.
In case you missed it, yesterday’s Oprah show was the debut of Oprah’s Clean Up Your Messy House Tour. Oprah is sending organizer Peter Walsh, of whom I’m an unabashed fan, around the country with a “clutter crew” of helpers (in VW Bugs) to help people get rid of clutter. (In this first episode, they were in New York City, knocking on doors of unsuspecting people.) Designer Candice Olson of Divine Design is also on hand to help with beautiful storage and design solutions.
Tagged with: clutter, container store, decluttering, oprah, order, peter walsh, snapfish
Some days I look around my home or office and say to myself, “I really need to xxxxx” and it’s a general task like, “get organized” or “reorganize my closet.” Sometimes it’s just “create some order around here” when things have gotten out of hand.
Tagged with: 15 minutes, order, procrastination, productivity, time management, unclutterer
I mentioned last week that I was leaving for Hawaii to help a client get settled in there. We’re working hard, having some fun, and accomplishing a lot.
I’ve been working with this client since September 2006 and she serves as a fabulous example of the benefits of getting organized.
Tagged with: balance, decluttering, empowerment, order, organized, priorities
Before I sat down to write in my journal on January 1, 2008, I decided to read the entry I wrote on January 1, 1998
Tagged with: clutter, journal writing, new year, order
Janine Adams, CPO®, CPO-CD®, specializes in working with chronically disorganized clients.
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