How to tell when a Non Professional organiser has written an Article on Decluttering.

It never ceases to amaze me how obvious it is when a non Professional Organiser has written an article on "How to declutter". I have been doing a little surfing this evening and an amazed at how much interesting!!!! advice there is out there to help people become more organised and declutter.

A word of warning, if somewhere in the first 3 tips is the advice to "buy plastic boxes", "buy storage containers" or "get a storage unit" appears in any article you read about decluttering, you can rest assured it was probably not written by a PO (Professional Organiser).

One of the things I hear often is I cannot afford to get organised because I will need to by storage "stuff", and I want to dispel that myth here and now........ Buying storage equipment of any shape or form should be one of the last steps of any organising project if required at all.

By truly decluttering and clearing out items you no longer need or love you will often find you have more than enough space and storage that already existing in your home to accommodate these items. I am constantly amazed by how much clutter is created by someones belief that they need to "buy storage equipment" to get organised. When it comes to really clearing the clutter and stuff from their lives and space it is often the "plastic boxes", "storage containers" and other paraphernalia that is the first to go.

So next time you are reading an article on getting organised and decluttering, stop and look at who has written the article, who is quoted and where they get their advice from. If they are telling you to get storage equipment first then they are leading you down the garden path to more clutter. Do yourself a favor get advice and read articles written by real PO's who deal with clutter on a daily basis. There is plenty of this on the Internet.

Better still ensure that the advice you get is from a PO who is a member of a Professional Organizing Association such as AAPO, NAPO, POC, NSGCD or Get Organised in South Africa. These are the real professionals when it come to getting organised and they know their stuff and are passionate about the Industry. You cannot get any better credentials than that.

Happy Organising!

The best laid plans

Well I rose at the crack of dawn and dragged myself to the airport for an 8am flight to Auckland. I was planning to interview potential PO's in Auckland for our national expansion. It takes quiet a bit of planning to take 2 days out during school holidays, so was feeling confident with everything. Meeting room booked, hotel booked, nanny booked everything ready.

Get on the plane and then get off the plane, still in Christchurch. It seems it is foggy in Auckland. We shuffle back the the lounge and then 30 minutes later are advised that flight cancelled..........
Join queue to rebook, to be advised the earliest they can get me to Auckland in after 6pm tonight, "I do not think so, given my appointments are at 11,1 & 2 today". So trip duly cancelled.
Now I am madly rescheduling interviews and cancelling hotels etc.

All credit to www.wotif.com and to www.cliftons.com who have been really helpful with me needing to cancel, you guys are all great. So I recommend them to you if you are looking for a hotel or Meeting room any time soon.

I am now going to work from home base with the extra time I have here, and then have some bonus holiday time with my kids, so there is always a silver lining.

Here's hoping your days goes a little more to plan than mine has.

Great Article in the Waikato Times

Hi All,
Here is a link to an article written by Kate Monahan in the "Waikato Times" last week.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikatotimes

It has some great information supplied by your truly on clutter and a few tips on how to get organised.
Enjoy

I have tried!!!

Hi all,
My apologies for the Small font in previous blog but try as I might I cannot get it larger. Please accept my apologies for this, and if I could I would loan you a magnifying glass.

Get Organised & Go Green

Did you know they by getting organised you are doing the Earth a huge favor? Yes being disorganised is not only blight on your own productivity and efficiency, but also it is a drain on the earth. So here are a few tips for you to take on board in your life, become more organised and also do your bit for the planet.

When you declutter, remember to reduce, reuse, recycle and repurpose.

* Reduce - Cut down on your purchases and before you buy anything check and see how much packaging and if it is recyclable.

* Reuse - Go canvas or cloth for your shopping bags when you go grocery shopping. No more plastic bags!!

* Recycle - Buy things in recyclable packaging and then recycle it after opeing or use. Make the most of your local recycle collections or take stuff to the recycle centre.

* Repurpose - To repurpose something is to use it for something other than its original purpose. Old building materials can be good for repurposing. My desk is actually a repurposed door on trestle legs.

Whenever you are getting rid of "Stuff' make sure you consider if it can be reused, recycled or repurposed. Decluttering a space is the ideal time to make donations to goodwill groups in your area. There are so many groups that will benefit from your efforts to get more organised. It is important that you also dispose of refuse correctly, do not just throw old computers, batteries, paint and such into the general rubbish, take these items to your local refuse station and they will be able to point you in the right direction for safe disposal. Medication that is no longer required or out of date should be returned to a Pharmacy for correct disposal also.

So being organised and decluttering can have a positive environment on your own personal space but also an the earth as a whole.

Gotta Love a Quickie!

This is just a quick post today, as I am totally "shagged" to use a good English expression. I have been juggling kids on school holidays and also getting people organised remotely.
Never underestimate the power of a phone call or email to the right person to keep you on track.
I had a call today from someone who was wanting just a nudge in the right direction when it comes to getting more organised. this was an existing client of mine and they had found that having kids at home during holidays had made her decluttering process take a backward slide.
We talked for a while and she began to realise that it is OK to put things on the back burner while circumstances change. We then went through all the amazing positive changes she had already made in her home over the past few months. We all need to reinforce the fact that small changes can make the most powerful difference in our lives, and to never give up just keep moving forward, one small change at a time.
So if you are feeling like you are getting no where fast, just remember if you keep the forward momentum going you are always going to be closer to your end result.
Have a great evening, and keep on moving forward.

Global Organizers goes Live

I have done something a little crazy today, but something I promised myself I would do while in Reno.
I have created a new blog http://www.globalorganizers.typepad.com this is my small contribution to our growing global Industry.
Today has been a big day for me. I have been really productive and done stuff that will move my business forward.
I am flying to Auckland on Monday to interview for new Organising Consultants in that area. I also have clients lined up ready to be seen by my new staff. So that is really exciting.
So if you are in NZ and in places other than Christchurch, rest assured the arms of Totally Organised Limited are getting longer and reaching nationally as the weeks passed.
Rome was not built in a day, but by crikey I am certainly laying the foundation.

Organising the Organisers

I am incredibly privileged to be the President of AAPO (Australasian Association of Professional Organisers), with this privilege comes responsibility. Sometimes that is great others it can help me to lose sleep.
You know that feeling when you are juggling to many balls????? Then hoping like heck none get dropped as it is your head they will land on. I feel a little like that today. I have returned from the most inspirational, exciting and uplifting Conference in Reno. (This is a pic of the wonderful Linda Chu, President of POC Professional Organizers of Canada who I shared some laughs with in Reno)
This has meant that I was able to see 20 years into the future.
The Profession of Organising has been alive and well in the US for over 25 years and this was the 20th Conference for NAPO. As an attendee I absorbed some fantastic words of wisdom from many speakers and other PO's alike.
This gave me so much faith and inspiration that here in New Zealand I am doing the right thing. I may be a little ahead of my time, as so many do not understand what it is we do, but I must not give in. As I now that if someone else comes along and starts a PO business in a couple of years time they will get the rewards for the amazing work that is being done now in this pioneering time.
As the President of our local association AAPO, I feel compelled to spend a good deal of my time promoting the industry so that the members of AAPO can grow their business's in an environment that is more accepting of this new industry. Yet some days I have trouble finding the balance between, spending the time promoting the industry as a whole and then others promoting my own business. TOTALLY ORGANISED LIMITED www.totallyorganised.co.nz (yes a small shameless plug).
So how does one organise the organiser, so that this balance can be fair, even and equitable? I am certainly open to suggestions from the floor.
Just a few Saturday evening musing for you to ponder.
Have a fab one.

When the energy is all wrong!

You know how there are days when you should and days when you shouldn't.
Well today was a day that we shouldn't. I worked with one of my favorite clients today, and in hindsight would have been better to reschedule for both our sakes.
We actually achieved quiet a bit today and whittled her "Action" tray down to 4 items from being the general dumping ground. Also we discovered some real deenergisers and also ways to overcome them in a future session.
However for the 2 hours we were together I could feel the energy in the room dwindling rapidly, her heart was not in it and she was feeling really BLAH (for want of a better word). So this is really a mental note to myself to in the future I will offer a reschedule to this client if I know certain things are going in her life on that coincide with our session, or if such and obvious energy lag is occurring to stop and reschedule the session.
I have returned to my office feeling Rather deenergised and dejected despite knowing that we achieved the major objectives of this mornings session. So will be spending a little time just realigning myself before I get on with the rest of my day. Writing about it here is part of that process.
So I thank you all for reading.
It is the weekend coming up and my kids are going on school holidays after today, so the energy completely changes in my home for the next two weeks, to one of mayhem and laughter, I am also interviewing for my own Mrs Doubtfire next week, to help me keep my home and life in order. So I will keep you all posted on how the search is progressing.

Virus in Comments

Hi All,
I have had 2 people attempt to comment on my last blog. The posts contained Virus's that would crash my computer. I have a policy to always publish comments. However these two were rejected as they contained direct links to a virus.
The contacts names are kagahn and ditaur both comments were identical and contained a link to a virus. Please be wary. this is new to me today.
Cheers

ONE good reason NOT to let your 13 year old see you have a facial!!

Yep, that is me, after 6 international flights in 5 weeks I figured the face could do with a bit of a rejuvenation.
My darling daughter Grace came to the Beauty Therapists today, and low and behold she dug my camera out of my bag and started snapping.
Those of you that know me well know I am not afraid to make a fool of myself occasionally, so here it is! The result of letting your 13 yr old sit in while you have a facial.
Thanks to my dear friend Myf, the therapist, for indulging me. Yes a facial is a great cure for jetlag, and having your photo taken a great leveller.

"Is the future Organised?"

I am safely home in NZ from Reno. One of the amazing people I met was Julie Bestry, she has posted me a comment asking "Is the future Organized?".
This is no doubt referring to the fact that NZ is one day ahead of the USA on the calender, I laughed when I read this. It inspired this very quick post.
In a word "NO", I arrived home at 9am this morning, Tuesday 15th April, after losing Monday the 14th into the ether of the International dateline, to find the clutter fairies had been visiting and collecting in my home during the week away.
But that is OK, the best thing was seeing my kids, even through the mounds of mess saved up for me during my 7 days of travelling to the conference.
So rest assured everyone, right now the future is not organised, however in a day or two everything should be back to its chaotic normality in my home.

Reporting in from Reno

Well Hi Everyone,
I am sitting here in a computer booth and wanted to check in with you all. i had a great journey over here. Despite Air NZ not getting me my upgrade, here's hoping on the way home, LOL. it was approx 18 hours door to door.
Reno is an interesting place, i have seen very little of it, only the road from the airport to the Nugget Hotel and the road to Target.......
I went fro a walk to Target yesterday to get my retail fix, needed to cab back though as the jet lag flushes kicked in.
Wow, Conference, this is an absolute blast. Everyone is so kind an welcoming, I have meet some amazing people and know there will be friend forever from this Trip. As for the how to's of Organising. Well I have attended two Leadership forum session over the past 2 days and have some amazing gems to being home and implement in my role as President as AAPO as well as in Totally organised Limited.
The Conference Proper starts in about an Hour and I have some amazing sessions booked to learn.
If you are a business organising client, boy you are in for a treat. i will be attending a session on Business Organising and the new directions and strategies that are working with Business clients. I cannot wait.
I also will have some very exciting news for those of you in the industry in the next 48 hours, so keep your eyes out for a "Special announcement".
Well I must go and have some lurch and check out the expo, then try and win a fortune on the Slot machines to pay for my excess baggage when I fly home on Sunday.
Cheerio

Reno Here I come!

Well tomorrow is the big day that I fly out to Reno, Nevada, USA via Auckland and San Francisco.
Anyone with kids will probably understand the somewhat sick, apprehensive, stomach flipping anxiety that I am beginning to fee about being so far away from my family.
Fort hose of you that do not know my kids are. Grace 13, Samuel 9 and Ben 8. They will be capably looked after by my fantastic husband Pete and a sitter until Sunday. You see my Husband is off to Asia for business, so the kids are "home Alone" till Tuesday, JUST KIDDING....
The amazing Margaret is coming to keep things in order till Tuesday AM when I come home.
Yes it is a flying trip.
So I will do my best to blog a little while in Reno and I promise that future blogs will be more about helping you get organised than my serious case of anxiety and nerves at being away from home. You see I think I am a control freak and hate not knowing what is going on in my little nest, LOL.
So sit tight hang on and get ready for some amazing Organising advice and ideas on my return.
Cheerio.
W

The Countdown is on...

Well it is four more sleeps (as my kids would say) until I fly to Reno, Nevada for the biggest gathering of Professional Organisers on the Planet. Yes it is the 20th NAPO Conference. I am going with a couple of hats on.
* As the President of AAPO, I will be networking and learning about NAPO and the future relationships of Professional Organising Association in the future. We are building a very exciting Global industry.
* As the Owner and Director of Professional Organising company, Totally Organised Limited. I am really excited about the new contacts, products, systems and ideas I can bring to all our clients.

You are all going to benefit from the journey to NAPO Conference in Reno, as it is all part of my journey to providing the Best and most recognized Professional Organising service in New Zealand.

Introducing

It is really exciting that I can introduce you all to my wonderful two sidekicks here in Christchurch. I have just taken on board two Organising Consultants. They are Jane Madison-Jones and Jeanne Pearce.
So if you know anyone who needs to get organised in Christchurch get in touch as we can handle more clients than ever and solve three times the organising issues.
Our national expansion is continuing with Interviews for a our Auckland based Organising Consultants taking place in late April and Wellington not long after that.
Exciting times for us here at Totally Organised and even more exciting for anyone who wants to get more organised.
Welcome on board Jane and Jeanne.