National Time Management Month

NAPO Helps Put Time on Your Side During National Time Management Month

MT. LAUREL, N.J. — If the hustle and bustle of work, family, friends — and life in general — is bogging you down, let the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) help to better manage your time. During the month of February, National Time Management Month, NAPO is emphasizing the importance of improving time management as a way to achieve a more balanced life.

Organizational systems to manage your activities are key to effective time management, whether at home or in the office. According to a survey conducted on behalf of NAPO recently, 96 percent of the 400 adults polled said they could save time every day if theywere more organized at home. In addition, time management is one of the top 10 organizing specialties for NAPO’s nearly 4,300 members.

“Research indicates that people waste an hour or more each day searching for lost items or working in ways that are not productive,” said NAPO President Standolyn Robertson.

“This could translate into the loss of money and valuable time that could be used for other important projects. If individuals examined where their time was going on a daily basis, they could determine better ways to use it and reduce wasted time.”

Here are some tips to better manage your time at work, or at home:

General time management tips

• Use a planner to track appointments and tasks. It can be a paper-based notebook, a computer software program, or an electronic hand-held device.
• Make a habit of prioritizing your weekly tasks. Rank them in order of importance.
• Review how you are spending your time and make adjustments according to your
  goals and priorities.
• Create at least one hour of uninterrupted time per day to tackle projects and action items.
• Allocate more time for a task than you think it will take to allow for interruptions.
  • Break large projects down into small, sequential steps. Schedule these steps into
  your day with your planner.
• Group errands together so that you save time (and money) on travel, and the
  hassle of having to run out again because you didn’t plan your trip initially.
• Work while you wait. Have “busy work” on hand to do while you wait at the
  doctor’s office, are on hold with the cable company, or are stuck waiting for a late
  lunch date.
• Create time management goals. For example, set a goal that you will not take
  personal phone calls while you’re working.
• Track your activities to determine whether or not you’re accomplishing your time
  management goals.
• Establish routines and stick to them as much as possible.
• Be sure your systems are organized. If you waste a lot of time looking for files on
  your computer, take the time to organize a file management system.

Other organizing tips are available at www.napo.net.

Don’t Do It Alone: Consider Hiring a Professional Organizer

If getting organized is something you are serious about, you might want to consider hiring an expert. A professional organizer enhances the lives of clients by designing systems and processes using organizing principles and through transferring organizing skills. Professional organizers help individuals and businesses take control of their surroundings, their time, their paper and their systems for life.

About NAPO
The premier national association dedicated to the field of organizing, the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) is The Organizing Authority®. Formed in 1985 as a nonprofit professional, educational association, NAPO is dedicated to serving its members through education, networking, industry resources, and promoting the profession to the public. NAPO’s mission is to develop, lead, and promote professional organizers and the organizing industry. For more information, visit
www.napo.net

Get Organized Month

NAPO Press Release:

MT. LAUREL, N.J. —The National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) sponsors its fifth annual Get Organized Month in January 2009. Get Organized Month is a national industry-wide event aimed at raising awareness of the benefits of getting organized and hiring a professional organizer.

“January is the perfect month to get organized and start your new year off right,” said NAPO President Standolyn Robertson. “Getting organized is one of the top 5 New Year’s resolutions people make, and with 4,300 NAPO members ready and available to assist, it is easier than most people think.”

GO … Get Organized
With a dozen Get Organized Month Partners and a nationwide radio campaign, NAPO’s “GO” Month will be the best yet. NAPO members are expected to help more than 10,000 people get organized during this month-long event. NAPO’s dozens of chapters and thousands of members will hold public events throughout the country. Look for Get Organized Month events in your community, including reuse-and-recycle events, volunteer organizing events, vendor showcases and expos, shred-a-thons, seminars, panels, presentations, workshops, school outreach, and contests. Programming will take place in local libraries, bookstores, and community centers.

Get Organized Month Partners
Several companies who serve the organizing industry have partnered with NAPO to celebrate Get Organized Month. They will help support local NAPO events and raise awareness among their customers and clients.

NAPO’s 2009 Get Organized Month Partners are:

Brother International (www.brother.com), Closet Factory (www.closetfactory.com), Delphi VIM (www.delphivim.com), Express Business Solutions Affiliated (EBSA) Group, Inc.(www.ebsagroup.net), Esselte/Pendaflex (www.pendaflex.com), FranklinCovey Products (www.franklinplanner.com/napo), Julie
Morgenstern Enterprises (www.juliemorgenstern.com ), MoveSeniors (www.moveseniors.com), Pixily, Inc. (www.pixily.com), Rubbermaid (www.rubbermaid.com), Smead (www.smead.com), and The Neat Company (www.neatco.com).

NAPO is sponsoring NPR (National Public Radio) in celebration of Get Organized Month. Listen for NAPO credits during the first two weeks of January on NPR stations nationwide.

What is a professional organizer?

A professional organizer enhances the lives of clients by designing systems and processes using organizing principles and through transferring organizing skills. A professional organizer also educates the public on organizing solutions and the resulting benefits.

Professional organizers help individuals and businesses take control of their surroundings, their time, their paper, and their systems for life. To locate one of NAPO’s professional organizers in your area, you can use NAPO’s free online Professional Organizer Directory, searchable by zip code, city/state, and organizing service, at: www.napo.net.

Why get organized?

At Home

• Bring order and control to home and family life
• Save money by organizing bills, shopping, and belongings
• Get more done in less time
• Find what you need

At Work

• Bring structure, logic, and control to the organization
• Increase productivity, reduce stress, and heighten profitability
• Build companywide systems or define responsibilities for a single employee
• Motivate the team with real solutions to the everyday or ongoing challenges of too much to do, changing priorities, and information overload

About NAPO
Founded in 1985, NAPO—The Organizing Authority®—is the premier national association dedicated to the field of organizing. NAPO’s purpose is to share information about this growing industry and to define quality standards for the organizing profession. NAPO is dedicated to serving its members through education, networking, industry resources, and promoting the profession to the public.

For more information about NAPO and Get Organized Month, including tips on home and office organizing, how to hire a professional organizer, a calendar of events, and organizing statistics, visit www.napo.net.

Letting Go of Clutter

Let It Go Day

I just missed posting the news about “National Let It Go Day” on June 28th. The day was originated by Thomas and Ruth Roy in regards to letting go of things that bother you, and I’m here to point out that clutter is one of the things that bugs most people. So, I’m looking at that as a motivation to let it go!

What do ya say? Shall we extend the event to take advantage of celebrating the activity of letting go of stuff? Who’s with me on this one?!

Take Charge: Get Organized

Take Charge of Your Life Week

June 19th marks the beginning of National Take Charge of Your Life Week and this can encompass many things and many areas of your life.

I am relating this week to getting organized because we can take this time to take charge and get organized. Set aside those excuses it can’t be done right now and commit to doing something — anything!

Here are some stories on taking charge:

• Take Charge of Your Email Overload
• Girl Unhappy With Her Room Should Take Charge
• Men, Take Charge of Your Lifestyle
• Quick Tips For Making Your Home a Safer Place

Garage Sale Day

Time to Clean Out

This weekend, May 13th, is National Garage Sale Day and that is time to make a little cash from your unwanted belongings.

A client recently said to me that she had dozens of towels she would never use but hated to get rid of them because they were perfectly good towels. I explained the concept of recycling and she liked it. That concept made her willing to get rid of things she didn’t need but didn’t want to wasteful about it.

So, consider going through your belongings and having a sale! Happy garage sale day!

Time to Get Organized

Organizing Events In May

This month has several national events to help motivate people to get organized. Here are some:

Revise Your Work Schedule Month
Business Image Awareness Month
Clean Up Your Room Day (May 10)
Garage Sale Day (May 13)

Now, you might be wondering how some of these relate to getting organized, yes? Although the Clean Up Your Room Day is an obvious one, let me suggest how you can incorporate the other events into organizing events….

In revising your work schedule, you could come up with a better plan to structure your day and make it more efficient and productive. You could implement a different daily routine agenda that enables you to tackle more in a day, or an agenda that includes certain projects on certain days of the week.

Being aware of your business image could incorporate organizing, which would thereby improving your image. I know if I walk into a cluttered office, the image I get of that company (or person) is not so good. So, think about this one.

And, garage sales usually come about after going through our stuff and getting rid of things we no longer need or use. That means it’s a good time to focus on streamlining your life and letting go of belongings we no longer need. It’s a wonderful means to recycling!

Recycling Month

Giveaway options for your overflow

The latest issue of Domino Magazine has advice to offer your things a new home and make a difference in “Clear clutter, help others.”

For books, it says you can send them at a special low rate (U.S. media or library mail) to Books For Africa (booksforafrica.org): 253 E. 4th Street, St. Paul, MN 55101.

“They will funnel your reading material into schools and libraries in regions where it’s desperately needed.”

For furniture, your items can go to needy people referred to the National Furniture Bank Association (NFBA) by social-service organizations.

“The National Furniture Bank Association accepts chairs, tables, beds, cribs, and more…There are currently 34 furniture banks (in Atlanta, Chicago and Seattle among other cities), but there will be 62 by year’s end….For the nearest furniture bank, check the website and click on “Help1Up Locator” at thenfba.org.”

Housewares and clothing can go in a Goodwill bag, the article suggests.

“When you upgrade your toaster oven or coffeemaker, pass along the still-functioning old model. Goodwill has more than 3,000 drop-off spots across the country.– goodwill.org.”

Before I go, let me suggest reading my latest newsletter feature article “Recycling Your Stuff.” And, if you should care to subscribe to this quarterly newsletter, you can subscribe on this page.

Spring Into Order

First Day of Spring Starts With Clutter Awareness Week and Organize Your Closet Week

Today marks the beginning of two national events that celebrate the first day of Spring –Clutter Awareness Week and Organize Your Closet Week.

In a recent post, a few tips are offered to organizing a closet. There are many storage solutions available to put order into your closets, and some advice from “Ask the Builder” provides one type of solution for messy shoes by using closet cubbies. I also suggest HomeTips.com for advice on choosing a closet system for your needs.

If you’re shopping for solutions, you can always check out Organized-Living.com’s closet storage products for ideas or items that will be helpful in your closet organization project.

Clutter Awareness

Does Your Clutter Think It’s Invisible?

When you walk into a person’s cluttered home or office, sometimes you would wonder if that person is aware that there’s all this “stuff” lying around taking up space and hiding furniture surfaces. I wonder, if they were to see it, wouldn’t they object to it?

I can’t help to conclude that it must have been there so long that they don’t see it anymore, and that’s how they have managed to work around it all this time (and I say the word “work” loosely).

Maybe that’s why someone invented the national event “Clutter Awareness Week,” put on the calendar month the third week of March — the week Spring season officially starts. This year, the event falls on the week of March 20. I’ve also seen Clutter Awareness Week listed for the fourth week of March, so maybe we have two weeks, who knows?!

In one of my columns “Clearing Clutter Frees Space in Home, Mind,” there’s a quote from Don Aslett’s book, “Not For Packrats Only,”

“Across the board, rich or poor, mansion or bungalow, twelve kids or two, junk and clutter causes more headaches, strained backs, strained budgets, and strained relationships, more frustration, discouragement, guilt, embarrassment, chaos, and confusion than any other housework challenge!”

I guess that tells me that some people actually SEE their clutter, or how else would they be stressed or embarrassed by it? That’s a good start: knowing the clutter is there.

Doing something about it is another matter. In “How To Organize In 4 Easy Steps,” I describe how we make our choices in life, and coming to the decision “to be organized or not to be organized — that is the choice.”

So, take a long, hard look around you and see what’s there…I mean, really SEE it. If it’s not to your liking, then at least you’ll know you have choices about whether to do something or not do something about it.

Just be aware. That’s step one.

Then decide to do something about it. That’s step two.

Then do it. That’s step three.

Then be it … The last step: be organized. Enjoy the lifestyle!

Organize Office

Organize Your Home Office Day

Today is the annual national event to organize your home office. I’ve written numerous articles on the subject to help individuals establish more efficient work spaces and create a work environment that helps them focus better.

In an article from Home Decorating Made Easy, “Create a Home Office Design That Matches Your Work Style,” it provides advice on setting up a functional and attractive work area in your home.

“…to create a home office design that will meet your needs, you should first identify all the activities that will occur in that space. For example, will you be the only user or will it also be a room for your children to do homework, play videos, or watch television?”

A home office doesn’t have to look like a corporate office. Add a sense of style and give it a taste of your favorite things and color schemes.

Make your home office environment a place you enjoy spending time in!

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