I recently returned from the annual conference of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) in Scottsdale, Arizona. I spent several days with my colleagues from all over the world, hearing new ideas for serving our clients and running our businesses. The NAPO conference is always fun, energizing, and inspiring. In coming weeks, I’ll be reporting on new products, and other lessons I took away from the conference. I flew back on the red-eye from Phoenix to JFK Airport. I…
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Have you ever felt stressed because you knew you had bills due but weren’t sure where the bills were or if you had missed the deadline? Have you ever been charged a late fee? Have you ever spent hours on the phone trying to straighten out a bill payment that was never received? If these sound like common occurrences in your life, I have three words for you: automatic bill pay.
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It may sound counter-intuitive, but sometimes the cure for clutter is having multiples of certain things. Take, for example, a pair of scissors. How often have you gone into another room to get the scissors, brought them back to where you needed them, used them, and then neglected to return them to their usual place? Days later, you go to get the scissors and they are aren’t where you expect them to be, resulting in lost time to search for them,…
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Long-time readers of my organizing tips may recall an earlier rant of mine on the tyranny of coupons (Coupons: To Clip or Not To Clip?) Coupons induce us to behave in irrational ways that waste our time and create clutter. Similarly, sales are likely to have the same effect. When we are shopping for something specific, it’s quite delightful to find that the item we planned to buy is on sale and we can purchase it for less than expected. However,…
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Doesn’t it make you crazy when you send an e-mail to someone and never get a response? I’ve discovered that there are a number of reasons why this happens. It has very little to do with you, and all to do with them. Most people are just not very efficient e-mail managers. When I give talks on e-mail management, I ask, “How many of you have over 1,000 unread e-mails in your inbox?” Usually most of the attendees raise their hands!
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