I love the concept of sharing our inside secrets as organizers. Throughout the month of May I have asked my colleagues to share what works for them.  I know you will enjoy this guest post from Geralin Thomas, owner of Metropolitan Organizing.

For me staying organized is an organic process. At different times in my life, different tools and techniques have been helpful. There have been several things that worked for awhile, but no longer work due to changes in my lifestyle. For example, before having children my filing system looked much different than it did after my sons were born. Now, as they finish high school and head off for college, again, my system has been revised and updated as I have increasing grown to use more technology and less paper. After all, even report cards are now electronic as are SAT and ACT test scores; that means fewer papers to file.

One organizing gizmo that has been with me for at least a decade and used non-stop is my metal collator. It’s definitely one of my very favorite tools to use. I’ve used it to sort writing projects, family photos, homework assignments, tax papers, recipes, gardening ideas and almost anything else you can think of. When not in use, it collapses and sits in a drawer. And, best of all, to dust under hundreds of sheets of paper, I simply lift the collator up and relocate it. I don’t think I’ll ever be completely paper-free, nor do I want to be. So, for me the collator is one tool that helps keep me organized and I’ll continue using it on a daily basis.

A Tarheel fan and graduate from The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Geralin Thomas, owner of Metropolitan Organizing, lives in Cary, North Carolina.  She’s a Past President of the North Carolina Chapter of NAPO and if she looks (sounds) vaguely familiar, perhaps you know her from A&E TV’s Emmy-nominated show, Hoarders where she’s appeared in over 20 episodes. She enjoys coaching new professional organizers and socializing on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and her own website, http://www.metropolitanorganizing.com