It is a truth universally acknowledged that spending more time at home equals more mess. Welcome to domestic life in 2020! It can be a huge challenge to manage all of the moving parts in a household while working from home, plus homeschooling, being a supportive partner, parent and friend while generally staying sane. First [Read more…]
How to Plan An Organized Move (During a Pandemic)
Moving to a new home can be a challenge at the best of times. From packing to searching for the coffee pot on the first morning, there are many moving parts involved (pun intended). Add a global pandemic to the mix, and the whole process can become very overwhelming. Since we’ve been helping clients with [Read more…]
Organizing The Household Paper Trail: Tip #1: The Household Hub
As organizers, we tend to notice similarities and trends in the organizational challenges of our clients. Some are unique to certain people, some to the layout of the home. And other clutter causers are the same in every single household. Perhaps the most notorious of these is….THE PAPER TRAIL (cue imminent shark attack music).
Design Ideas While Social Distancing: Interview with Kimberlee Jaynes
This week, we had the pleasure of (virtually) sitting down with Kimberlee Jaynes, award-winning interior designer and owner of Kimberlee Jaynes Interior Designs in Portland OR. Kimberlee merges both modern and traditional styles to create bold yet simple interiors. Her designs have been featured in The Portrait of Portland and Oregon Home magazines as well [Read more…]
Spring Cleaning Tips from Professional Organizers and Home Repair Specialists
Spring cleaning season is here! Regardless of whether spring cleaning is something you typically do, we recommend adding it to your life this year. More time at home due to the COVID-19 lockdown means that we are exposed to the dust and allergens that collect in our homes for much longer periods of time each [Read more…]
Love, Contagion and Organization in the time of COVID-19
It’s been fifteen days, ten hours and four minutes since the Coronavirus became real in our household. Not that I’m counting. I went to pick my son up from school on a Wednesday, and the teacher reported that he was definitely under the weather. Coughing, sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes. A regular, run of the [Read more…]
Chaos to Calm: Organizing Systems for Busy Families
Now more than ever, modern families are busy, overwhelmed and challenged by too much stuff. We have an opinion on this common difficulty, known as the cult of busy, which you can read here, but that is a different topic. The truth is this: the single most effective way to get organized is to drastically [Read more…]
Interview with Productivity and Happiness Maven, Paloma Medina of 11:11 Supply
This month, we are so excited to interview Paloma Media, owner of 11:11 supply, a Portland boutique that specializes in beautiful organizational work tools to aid productivity and create balance. Paloma is also a coach and trainer, and she speaks on topics ranging from equity and inclusion to the science of managing goals and stress. [Read more…]
Word of the Year Ideas for 2020
There’s something deliciously rewarding about the start of a new year. It’s the figurative act of pulling out a fresh, blank notebook, opening it to the first page, and writing whatever we choose. That said, we’ve always been cautious about New Year’s Resolutions. Here’s Why. It is very common to set goals that are unrealistic [Read more…]
Teaching Kids about Giving: Reverse Advent Calendar
We love this post! We love it so much that we edited and updated the original version, published in November 2016. As you know, I have spoken extensively here on the blog about the need to teach our kids to let go of toys and games that they have lost interest in or outgrown. Here [Read more…]
What An Organizer Wants You to Know About Productivity and the Cult of Busy
The word “productivity” has, in many ways, been the mantra of the past decade. And it refers not just to the accomplishment of lofty lifetime or business goals, but also to things like remembering to unload the dishwasher. Today, the “Cult of Busy” (an almost proverbial reference to our addiction to filling our days with [Read more…]
6 Tips That Will Make Your Organizing Project Successful
Organization is a buzz word these days, and as professionals, we understand why. It feels SO GOOD to get organized, and can have multiple effects on your life, including a greater feeling of happiness, less stress, more energy and improved relationships at home. So now that you’re ready to tackle some big organizing projects, how [Read more…]
How a Task List Saved Me
If you follow the Organizers NW blog, you know that I’m a fan of being totally honest when it comes to living the life of a professional organizer. Contrary to what you might think, we are real humans who learned this trade through lots of study and training, with a good measure of trial and [Read more…]
Why This Professional Organizer Only Shops At Trader Joe’s
Please note that I am not affiliated with Trader Joe’s in any way – all ideas expressed in this article are my own. This is absolutely not a paid ad. I realize that that this headline might be inflammatory and a little surprising, but I promise to explain all! So, how did I come to [Read more…]
Ten ways to Stay Organized while Posting to Social Media
Whether we like it or not, participation in social media is necessary when running a business these days. If you run a small business and create your own web content and social media marketing, staying on top of all social media platforms and online marketing can be a huge challenge. As professional organizers, our goal [Read more…]