January 2020 - Ellen's Blog, Professional Organizing for Kingwood & Houston

Celebrating 10 years of Social Media, Blogging and Connections

It’s been a wonderful 10 years of social media fun! I love the opportunities to connect through blogs, podcasts and social media. It’s a way to share expertise about organizing, productivity and more. Most especially, it’s a way to connect to my colleagues, business partners, and clients. It’s a way to share ideas together.

Podcasts

Podcasts have energized social media in the last 5 years. It’s an amazing medium to share information. It’s easily found on your smart phone or device and offers an array of subjects.

Thank you to Leiann and John of Smead for your weekly podcasts. That variety of topics on organizing and productivity touches everyone! Thank you for including me in these contributions about ADHD, productivity, and routines.

Thank you to Peter Shankman and his Faster than Normal podcast to share organizing ideas, tips and routines for those with ADHD.

Thank you to Rachel Seavy of Collector Care and Hoardganize for sharing tips on ADHD and organizing.

Blogging

Thank you to everyone who has visited my blog, commented and connected. It a “mutual admiration” for us who are connected via our blogs. We learn new tips, get tech advice, share insider secrets and look at the newest thoughts in our industry.

Blogging has changed over the 10 year period. In the beginning I blogged about organizing primarily. Now my blogging is a bigger opportunity to share about ADHD.

Social media

Facebooks is a daily family reunion! It’s where I find my clients working together on organizing in Facebook Groups. I love sharing ideas to help everyone be their best self.

Who doesn’t love sprinkles and sparkles? Pinterest is where ideas and visions percolate. Having a pretty picture to share and recreate can help my clients have a vision for their organizing and productivity.

Twitter is where my writer friends and colleagues hang out. There is where I find a connection to share big ideas through articles.

LinkedIn is my connection to the business world. There I share and publish articles of my own focusing on the business side of organizing and productivity. My LinkedIn Groups connect me with like minded professionals.

Let’s connect if we have not already! It has made a difference for me in daily relationships, work – life balance and communication.

Who knows what’s next in social media? There’s new ways to share knowledge evolving all the time. I look forward to staying connect in each of these ways to share more about organizing, productivity and living a simple and organized life. The truly priceless part is the connection you make with individuals along the way!

20 Quick and Easy Organizing and Productivity Tips

January 23, 2020/3 Comments/in ADD and ADHD /by Ellen

Quick and easy solutions are what we need with today’s fast pace. Quick solutions are things we can do in 15 minutes or less. Easy…well that’s enough said for this! Here’s 20 quick and easy organizing and productivity tips and solutions as we enter 2020.

1. Recycle easily

Set up a recycling station vertically with bins in your garage or mudroom. Pay for curb side recycling or set a reminder on your smart device to take recycling each week. It’s our eco-friendly nature that reinforces this solution.

2. Return easily

Returns pile up and we get behind. Return easily by purchasing online only from Amazon or other companies that include a return receipt in the box. Amazon returns can be made at Kohl’s too.

3. Declutter easily

Locate a donation location on your way to work or school. Once a week or month place donations in the bag and drop off right away. More is always coming in and less is going out. This will equalize the amount of items in your home.

4. Donate easily

Say yes when you receive a call for donations to be picked up at your door. Mark the items in a bag or box.

5. Prepare meals easily

What’s the hardest thing about meal prep? It’s knowing what to fix. Ask your family for a list of favorites. Add the ingredients to your local grocery app and schedule delivery for Sunday.

6. Be on time easily

It’s not what to do to be on time, but what NOT to do. What trips you up in the morning keeps you from being on time? That includes getting on email, not allowing yourself enough time by getting up too late and doing that one last thing. Knowing that you have a timeline in the morning with enough time to do specific tasks makes it easy to get out of the house on time. Place an analog clock at important locations in your home like your bathroom, kitchen and exit. You see time elapsing with an analog clock.

7. Manage paper easily

Paper is overwhelming and arrives at an alarming rate. Make it easy by discarding daily. Set up a recycle and shred station and make this an easy daily routine.

8. Schedule your time easily

Use a planner that works well with the way you think and schedule. For me it’s a hybrid paper and electronic planner. Pull out your planner as soon as you see a date and schedule your time.

9. Coordinate plans easily

Are you and your family or partner on the same page? Make it easy with an online planner. Everyone enters dates and everyone can access plans.

10. Make routines easier

Routines are the backbone of productivity. These ensure you are doing what you intend on a regular basis. Make routines easier with assigning a day or days of the week to those tasks that need automating. It can be Money Monday, Admin Monday or Laundry on Monday.

11. Check email easier

Email floods in! There’s little time to process and catch up. You don’t have to be at it’s beck and call. Schedule 3 times a day that work for you to slow the tide.

12. Clear your desk easier

Is your desk top a chaotic and crowded space? Designate an unprocessed incoming paper spot to drop papers you have to review or work on. Keeping these off your desk frees up space and your colleagues know where to place these papers.

13. Know your most important tasks

Prioritizing can be a challenge when everything seems equally important. Write a list of your 3 Most Important Tasks (MITs) for the week. It will keep you on track and ensure success.

14. Write a note easily

Hand written notes are appreciated and a way to connect. Order stationary online and keep the notes, stamps and address labels in your desk drawer. Save a few minutes after lunch to write your notes.

15. Connect with a friend easily

Keep all your contacts accessible in your data online. For me it’s Outlook and it can also be gmail. When you think of a friend or colleague, send a quick text. Knowing you are thinking of them is that special touch.

16. Practice self care easily

Set a bedtime for yourself. Get ready for bed early, brush teeth and get in your pajamas well before lights out.

17. Corral technology easily

Keep technology ready for the next day for you and your family with a common charging space in a common area. Also, it’s easy to find and take with you the next day.

18. Gather ideas and thoughts easily

Our minds are a cluttered space. Choose an online app to help you keep things clear. Trello, Asana, Google docs or Notes apps help you hold and organize all these details.

19. Strategize easily

Take a big picture approach to work, life and work life integration by scheduling time away. It’s easiest to step back when you have time to ponder. That can be a day or multiple days. Taking time to strategize gives you a more complete view of your accomplishments.

20. Set your intentions easily

It’s a new decade. Use your word of the year to propel yourself forward. That is a word that focuses you on your big intentions this year.

Take only one of these quick and easy tips to own this week, month or year. Making it easy makes things happen!

Celebrating of 20 years of Professional Organizing and Productivity

January 9, 2020/4 Comments/in Leadership /by Ellen

In 2000, I read an article in the Houston Chronicle about the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO) and professional organizing. The rest is history. It’s Professional-Organizer.com’s platinum anniversary!

Since 2000, the organizing and productivity industry has changed. It’s not only about organizing stuff. Just a few of the niches I work in with my clients with ADHD range from organizing spaces, to organizing families, to helping those with chronic disorganization, to organizing papers, to coaching about productivity, to coordinating teams and facilitating strategic small business conversations. My work is about simplifying and strategizing, helping my clients reach the goals they have defined.

Let the glass clinking begin with this celebration!

I celebrate the benefits that we together create. There’s a lot to be worried about in our universe and creating order and simplicity helps you keep calm and carry on. Each of us us knows that keeping it simple sweetie helps us follow through on our core values. My clients hold dear family, connections,

I celebrate with my clients on their big and small successes. The size of the success is in the clients’ goals and perspectives. Success includes keeping the kitchen counter clear of paper to tracking with dates for work life integration.

I celebrate my connections. It’s all about relationships and support. Support is an essential element in our lives. By bringing ongoing support to my clients, they have someone to turn to in overwhelming, difficult, complex situations.

I celebrate my industry. We are professionals with high standards of ethics, client focus, and education. My Certified Professional Organizer credential shares that I value this for myself and my clients. Our industry has grown to service so many in so many ways.

Thank you to each of you for our connection and our collaboration!

4 Top Trends in Organizing

January 2, 2020/4 Comments/in Home Organizing /by Ellen

I’ve been especially intrigued at looking forward at what’s new and different for organizing. Trends, what’s popular and what’s hip, show us the direction that our industry is heading. In the past there has been lots of interest in hoarding and clearing out stuff. There’s more substance to organizing now. New tv shows are sharing forward thinking trends in the organizing industry. Netflix show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo created buzz internationally. Here’s a few other trends that are trickling out into our world.

Organizing with Style

It’s what I call “the pinterest factor.” Organizing is not just about decluttering and categorizing. It’s more about the style of your home and office too. We have take organizing up a level to include a highly visible part of home design and function. That includes home design options with color and labelling. The style factor includes cute color or clear containers, chalk or faux chalk labels, and adding storage in innovative spaces. A file cabinet can be a repurposed ottoman or a series of matching notebooks. Style is a factor.

Small spaces, Multi purpose spaces and Multi-generational homes

Return on investment on space is a top priority. Dwellings are being evaluated for size, spacial options and use. Small spaces are inviting for cost and require a special approach to maximizing the space. At the same time, multi purpose spaces where people live and work at home give us flexibility and options. Multi purpose spaces maximize use of your home. With baby boomers caring for aging parents and new tots, many more families are living in multi-generational homes. Looking at the maximum flexibility of our homes and the connectedness of family, this trend is on the upswing. With more people in a home, there is a strong need for organization, easy access storage and lower clutter.

Artificial intelligence

We all have Siri, Alexa and other “organizing friends” who help us with timers, checklists, and more. The Smart Home is here to stay with lights, door cameras, and climate control in our homes. There is a long list of ways to use AI for productivity. Our digital native kiddos have their organizing friends wake them, tell bedtime stories and offer meditation.

Eco-Friendly Organizing

With more emphasis on ecofriendly products, organizing with shabby chic, re-usable products and re-purposing makes sense. Setting up a recycling center helps you stay on top of this trend. These stations are easy to access and drop in items, as well as take to the curb weekly. Donating helps you be a part of this trend, as opposed to trashing items and adding to a landfill. Regular donating is part of the big picture of organizing.

Organizing trends are turning us toward more practical, functional and inexpensive spaces. It all comes down to using our space wisely and productively. There’s no longer only a spring cleaning time and now organizing is all the time! Organizing has become more a part of our daily consiousness. Start now with one of these trends to empower and motivate you.