Clearing a path to order, ease, and freedom.

Though the vast amount of my time spent organizing is side by side with the client, there is the occasional situation where I find myself sorting solo if a client simply can’t be with me throughout the entire process. There are also the cases where we are sorting the items and papers of a client’s loved one without them being present.

Do you have a story about an item that was (or still is) unbearable to part with from a loved one who has died? Is it something you suspect you’ll be able to let go of one day, but not yet? Did you ever have a moment where you knew it was the right time to part with something of theirs? What happened that allowed you to let it go?

Before sitting down at your desk or approaching your to-do list or cleaning a basement that could take weeks, ask yourself first "What does done for today look like?" There are many opportunities to reach "done" before the entire home is organized.

2023 was my 22nd year as a Professional Organizer and this is my 12th year-end post! 22 years in, I'm still learning so much - more than I can ever collect here with these annual round-ups. This work still gves me life, expands my heart, makes me laugh, and exposes me to the human experience. Thank you to all of my clients who let me into your lives! It's my pleasure.

Have you noticed that the final step of trashing/donating is a significant speed bump in your decluttering process? Do you already have a "stairs concept" in place? If not, what are your ideas for cutting off this last step?

Discover the secret to effective organization: it's not about products, it's about practices! Read how a simple change in habits transformed clutter into order. Avoid unnecessary purchases; embrace smart strategies instead.

Some systems are meant to be permanent, while others are temporary. It's the temporary systems, like the one pictured here, that put out immediate fires. It's the permanent ones that keep those fires from igniting again.

In the "before" pictures, you are looking at frustration, exhaustion, and overwhelm. The office clutter wasn't piling up for lack of trying. It had just gotten to a point where even if he did want to clean up (and he did!), there was no were to put anything away.

I was honored to be featured in Business Insider. Click through to read more about my journey as an Organizer + my 5 tips for an organized office.

if you've ever felt the agony of parting with something you still like, maybe the list in this post will help. Here's what choosing between what you like and what you like looks like.

Since there’s never a good time to sort the scrappy, stressful minutiae of life, now will always be a better time than tomorrow. Don’t wait for the time to feel right, because that moment might never come.

I follow the financial teachings of Dave Ramsey who says, "You can wander into debt, but you can't wander out." The same applies for getting organized. What are you doing already to focus your solo organizing sessions?  What can you add to this list? 

Here are some suggestions for sounds to help focus you while you work. Do you routinely listen to something specific to help you focus? Have additional app suggestions? Please add to the list in the comments!

If you're not a "paper person," you might be surprised to know how many people in these modern times still receive statements and hold on to paper for various reasons. In the case of the photo here, my client is 90, but I've created systems just like this for people in their 20s. Sometimes, it's actually a crucial step in a journey towards digitizing more.

20 years into my organizing career, I'm still learning new things. (2021 marked my 20 year anniversary as a Professional Organizer!) I always make it a point to not recycle lessons learned, and this year was no exception. To be honest, I only outlined this a couple of weeks ago. This means a LOT more was learned, but I scrambled at the last minute and most lessons remembered came later in the year. In 2022 I'd like to create these lists more often, triggering me to reflect as I go.  

Ever since I joined the library a couple years ago, I've become an avid reader. 90% of my reading is done for about 20-30 minutes in bed before turning the lights off. One night at a time, I finished 18 books this year.

No matter where you are in your organizing journey, it’s possible to feel relief. No matter how much you have to sort, it’s possible to feel hopeful from where you stand. What can you do today to put yourself on the path to being more organized? 

When I'm in a client's home organizing their paper, it's common for woes about a disorganized financial life to enter the conversation. I'm always listening out for what tools and resources people I personally know are using. Here are five that my clients and me use and love, from apps to financial organizing pros.

Many of my clients have a shelf or more of old notebooks. They range from barely filled to completely filled. These can date back many years and take up a lot of space. Just knowing they're there can subconsciously weigh us down. A lot of us are keeping them for too long, never taking the time to review their contents to see if any of it is worth keeping.

I recently read about famous makeup artist Bobbi Brown's creative way to make donating as easy and regular as possible. She embroidered a few L.L. Bean totes with "Give" and scattered a few around the house. Genius, right?! As soon as she comes across something to give, she drops it in.

Adding to my photo collection of me in crawlspaces, here's a pic from when my sister and I went down to South Carolina last weekend to help our aunt downsize for a pending move (this coming week!).

Hello! I’m back from an unintended hiatus. I should have known that with an August vacation and a general late summer lag in motivation to write that my newsletter would take a hit. I’ve still been collecting stories and resources in the background, so let’s get back to it!

Clutter takes many forms. Oftentimes, each frustrating item is in our face or lurking in a corner for a "good" reason. I recently zapped a piece of my own clutter after walking by it multiple times daily for about a month. It was a decorative white elephant that was given to me as a Christmas in July white elephant gift exchange.

One of my favorite moments as an Organizer was when my client exclaimed, “The little things ARE the big things!” This was as she realized we had spend much of our office organizing time that day clearing off the top of her bedroom dresser.

I’m a proud Evernote user and Evernote Certified Consultant. I too once was mystified by it until my friend and client @cassmetz taught me how to use it.

If I still had this file cart in my possession I would have done a video to explain a novel way I used it recently. I don't, so picture this:

How am I such a big fan of author Cal Newport and only just discovering his podcast now? His books include Deep Work, A World Without Email, and Digital Minimalism.

Our "Covid corner" mini-makeover was recently featured in The Washington Post! About a year ago we put up a shelf that I had bought years ago from an antique shop in VA and promptly buried it under the most unsightly collection of Covid paraphernalia.