I was recently reminded of a favorite organizing expression: “Don’t put it down — put it away”. I love that saying because it is so simple, yet so rich a description of human behavior. Take a look around your home or office. Do you see things lying around simply because you placed them somewhere, meaning to get to them later, but never did?
Read more →Nearly every client I’ve worked with has old cell phones tucked in a drawer. When I offer to recycle them, they usually jump at the chance to get rid of them. Recycling your cell phone is easier than you think.
Read more →In many ways, I am very tech-savvy, but in other ways, I’m an old-fashioned girl. So when e-readers came out a few years ago, I was not the least bit interested. I love books. I love the look of them and the feel of them. I love bookstores and libraries. The idea of reading a book on a skinny, slick device did not appeal to me. But over time, I found that I was not reading that much, even though I…
Read more →Every year, from Thanksgiving until New Year’s, the business pages of the newspaper are filled with prognistications of whether holiday retail sales will meet expectations. In 2011, holiday sales represented 20% of total retail industry sales. For some retailers, holiday purchases represent 40% of annual sales. Those people are allowed to stress out about the holidays. But why are the rest of us so stressed out?
Read more →I spent Veteran’s Day engaged in what might described as a busman’s holiday. (For those not familiar with that quaint phrase, it means spending your vacation doing something very similar to your normal work.) In my case, the activity was cleaning out closets, sorting and packaging items for donation and recycling, and discarding the rest. What made this activity different was that the items belonged to my mother, who passed away earlier this year. I had help from my sister, and moral…
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