As I think about how to help my clients get this year off to a great start, I have to start with easy stuff: 1. On Saturday, Jan 7there will be a free Electronics Recycling Event at Wilson Farm Park. This is easy, just look around for all of your electronics that are not longer working or have been replaced by the best and newest. Anything that plugs in… For example, so far today, I have come a cross two dead cameras, lots of power cords, chargers, a dead hard drive, phone cables, Ethernet cables and I know there is more. Search your house and see what you can find. The craziest collection …

Ok, so you down to the wire on getting your gifts, you can still give great gifts! Here are some ideas for gifts that you can pick up in the next few days. Lately there are a lot of gift certificates that you can buy online and then print them! Instantaneous. If you have any other ideas, please let me know…we are always looking for new ideas. Service Gifts Cleaning services- everyone could use this one! Car wash tickets or car detailing gift certificate great gift to use during the sloppy winter months Spa services- nails, hair, skin & massages Personal chef package -I love having all that …

  If you haven’t decorated yet, ask yourself what would happen if you didn’t decorate? Ok, what would happen if you decorated minimally? That’s what I am doing this year, and it will be just fine! Look for light in my windows, and if I get very ambitious maybe wreaths on the doors. Get your wrapping supplies together. Create a spot in your house where you can wrap, put your gifts there when you come home from shopping, then you can wrap a few every day! Last year I set up a wrapping station in my den at a desk we rarely use, it really minimized the stress for me (I used to wrap on Christmas …

Here we are...everyone is back in school, summer is over. Now it's time to throw yourself into Fall, and of course as you are trying to do that Mother Nature steps in...  What a crazy summer it was 180 degrees for weeks at a time, then it rained buckets for what seemed like weeks at a time, then we had an earthquake, three days later a hurricane with 100 more feet of rain...then another hurricane...St Davids' was on a tornado watch...  It's no wonder that September is National Preparedness Month. Maybe it should have been in August? The National Preparedness Week website is full of all  the …

Even though a vacation is supposed to help us recharge somehow the preparations seem to be more stressful than life itself. If you haven’t made it out of town yet, you have the benefit of our basic tips this month, to help you out of the office and the house unscathed and hoping you can have a more restful vacation as well as a more relaxing re-entry (obviously you want to extend the good feelings as long as possible). Home: The goal is to do some prep before you leave your home so that your return is somewhat pleasant. If you are like me, re-acclimating is a big challenge, because no …

They are all moving back in for the summer, but of course your house is just a landing pad. It’s that time of year once again, when all of the darlings come home from college. They bring all of their stuff with them and deposit it at your house. One of my client’s kids dropped their stuff off, and left it by the entrance of the house, under the pool table, microwave and all! Your beautiful home becomes the base for all of the summer activity. Remember you were looking forward to having them home again. How about when they bring their college pets home with them? And you end up having to take …

Spring is springing up all around us. The daffodils are blooming and the forsythia is blossoming into that amazing yellow color. April is a month of renewal. Easter is a time of new beginnings. This is also the month we celebrate the earth. Earth Day began in Philadelphia in 1970. (Belmont Plateau anyone?) In the organizing and productivity industry we consider every day Earth Day.    Recycling opportunities in your community this month. Part of what professional organizers do when working on home organizing projects is teach clients about recycling. There is so much that we can currently …

Some of my clients put all of their tax stuff in boxes and bags (you are not alone by any means). So when the time comes to give their accountant their tax information, what do they do? Well, as you may have guessed, I have heard it all: Pull all nighters sorting paper Sending the box of receipts to their accountant (your accountant hates this) Getting extensions (which most of the time says, Hey I’m late, can’t get it together, AUDIT ME) Or the famous, I just made up my numbers (yep, people do this)  What I have found in my nine years as an organizing consultant is that people who live this …