Ok so I have been toying with the idea of having a Virtual Assistant division to my business. It makes perfect sense after all. So many of my clients need assistance with clerical work, odd jobs, administrative support and so on. It would be silly for me not to take advantage of this market niche. But here is the kicker, this division is not just a local service. I can help anyone in the world. The world of technology is so amazing.

So how do I get a grasp on the great big world and show people who have never met me (that need my services desperately) that I am a stand up business woman? Yes, I am on Facebook. Yes, I am on Twitter. No, I am not on LinkedIn. I know, I know, I should be. So maybe that’s step one. For now I joined an online community called ODesk.com. You can post jobs, find jobs and it even provides a downloadable service so you can keep track of your hours. These are the things that make a Professional Organizer drool. Silly, I know.

I am taking this opportunity to do a shout out to all my Twitter and Facebook peops. If you know someone who needs administrative support send them my way. I’ll soon have a separate website that will include information about these services I now offer. But for now you can find information by going to http://www.neat-organizing.com/virtualassistant.htm or by viewing my ODesk profile. 

Recently I took a webinar on transcendental meditation. It’s a new technique being used in schools to help children with A.D.D. The concept is to have two, 10 minute, meditation sessions while in school. It has been proven that this easy technique gives children with A.D.D. the ability to focus better, retain what their learning, and relax. If you have a child with A.D.D. you know how difficult it is for them to focus, learn and relax. Especially in school. So a technique like this is a great tool. It has even allowed some children to stop taking medication.

This isn’t just a great tool for children. Adults can use this at work or at home. Take a look at www.TM.org to learn how TM may be able to help you improve your performance at work, school or even in your personal life. 

This weekend my husband and I put together a yard sale. We just wanted to get rid of some odds and ends we have accumulated over the years. Overall the day went well and we made a few extra bucks. I have done yard sales before, but not since I have been in the Professional Organizing industry. My perspective has completely changed and it all became clear the day of the yard sale.

First customer of the day was a middle-aged man driving a pick up truck with his dog in the front seat. He had an Indiana Jones look with the hat he was wearing and the knife on his belt. We chatted while he shopped. I noticed right away there was no real method to his shopping. He picked things up, barely looked at them, and handed me his money. He walked away with some random objects and threw them in the back of his truck. Customer number 2 arrives. It’s the same scenario. He picks up a glass pitcher, barely thinks about his purchase, hands me his money and heads off. Throughout the day my own guilt began to set in. Here I am, a Professional Organizer practically giving away junk to people who are obviously pack rats or even hoarders. This goes against everything I preach.

I began to ask people who arrived if they were looking for anything specific. For my own selfish reasons it would have felt better to know if they were being more strategic and actually had a need. But, each shopper confessed they were pack rats and stop anytime they see a yard sale. None of them took any time to contemplate their purchase. Whatever they touched, they bought. And even more ironic… all the shoppers were men! When I placed the ad in the paper and designed the street signs I had a female market in mind. I had no doubts that we were selling to middle-aged and elderly woman. I was so far off!

So here is what it comes down to… I will most likely never have a yard sale again and I now need to start research on hoarders and pack rats to find out if most of them are men. I am totally intrigued.

Here is an opportunity for small business owners. I am hosting an upcoming webinar on blogging. I recently presented a similar topic at the NAPO National Conference in Orlando, Florida. I got some great feedback and lots of questions. So I am presenting this topic again to answer those questions and dig deeper into the topic. So whether you attended my seminar at conference and want more or have been curious about how to improve your blogging skills, take this webinar. Learn more and register here. 

I just got back from the NAPO National Conference in Orlando, Florida. If you’ve been to a conference before you know how motivating and fulfilling they can be. Well this conference was no exception. Once again I am in awe of our industry, how far we have come, and how devoted we are to our clients and profession.

I attended sessions on hoarding, creating workshops, media, and the future of the organizing industry. I even had the pleasure of presenting my own presentation on blogging and podcasting. From what I can tell it went well despite some annoying microphone problems. But it was such an honor to speak in front of such an amazing group.

So now I am home, exhausted, overwhelmed, and completely motivated. I have my list of tasks for the week and I can’t wait to get started. To all you professional organizers out there that I met this week send me some love. Let me know what you thought of my session by commenting here. Follow me on twitter as NEATOrganizer, find me on facebook. I look forward to seeing you all again next year on Columbus. 

Coming from a family full of depressed and anxious people this article was intriguing to me. There appears to be a very big difference between the brain of a normal person and the brain of a depressed person. Therefore, cognitive problems are more likely. Like difficulty concentrating, difficulty picking up social cues or poor memory. So the questions is, do these cognitive problems cause the depression? It’s possible. And this research also helps mental health professionals identify depression early so development can potentially be reduced. Read on and learn more.

It’s been a snowy day here in Richmond and It was a great opportunity to veg. Suze Orman was on the public television station talking about her “8 Qualities of Wealthy Woman.” As usual, everything Suze says can directly correlate with getting organized.

Her story is fascinating. She worked as a waitress until her early 30’s. A man she waited on for many years ended up lending her $50,000. He recommended she invest it. She made an attempt and the stock broker ended up being a pig who lost/stole all her money. She then decided she was going to become an ethical stock broker in an industry full of men. Many years later here she is “the expert.”

You can read her “8 Qualities of Wealthy Woman” on Oprah’s website. You can also buy her book “Women & Money” on her website. In the book she gets into the qualities in more depth. And let me tell you, her 8 qualities can be applied to anything in life.

Many of my clients seem to have trouble getting their kids involved in organizing the home. By the time I come into the picture mom’s are exhausted and worn down. Today, I heard from my client “Beth” who had these issues and she told me about one of the techniques she used that I suggested.

It’s simple. Make a list of chores that can be completed daily, weekly or monthly. Write each chore on one index card, fold them in half and place them in a fish bowl. Now make a list of fun rewards your kids would enjoy like more time on the computer, special candy, or even create a card that says “No Chores Today!” Fold each and place in the fish bowl. Use the system daily, weekly or however often you need. Have your child pick a card from the fish bowl and see what they fish out. It gives children an opportunity to have fun with chores, they like knowing there may be an exciting reward and you don’t have to become a demanding witch who draws out tantrums.

Beth put this technique into play a few weeks ago and she has been having a blast. She said her kids wake up first thing in the morning and instantly want to pick from the fish bowl. Her son even asked to pick out an extra chore. He was willing to take the chance to pick a chore for an opportunity to get a reward!!!

What this tells me is creativity goes a long way. Especially when it comes to getting organized. Using creative techniques like this one can reduce the amount of time you spend organizing and cleaning your home, it makes it fun for the kids and it doesn’t have to get boring. Replace old rewards with new ones, add different chores as the seasons change, create new rules like “do-overs.” If your child isn’t in the mood to do the chore they chose give them one do-over so they can pick another. The possibilities are endless.

Does anyone out there have other game ideas for kids to get them organized? I’d love to hear them.

It’s officially official. I am having a baby and yes, it’s my first!

So as you can imagine, it has me thinking about organizing in a whole new way. My friends make fun of me because I have already painted the baby’s room (I am at the end of my first trimester). I let them laugh. I agree, I am way ahead of the game. But all I can think about is my friend Jennifer who had her baby almost 2.5 months premature. She called on me in a panic because her baby room was no where near done. There were clothes to fold, and put away, gifts to unpack and store, furniture needed to be put together and the room needed to be painted. I got to see first hand how having a premature baby can be overwhelming in more ways than one. I vowed then that I would not wait to get things in order when I find out I am pregnant. So far, I am sticking to it.

So I thought it would be interesting to log my organizational progress during my pregnancy. Hopefully it will help others in their preparations for baby number 1.

If you’re part of the Facebook mania catch a glimpse of my NEAT Tips. You can send your friends organizing tips anytime. There are tons of topics. So you’re sure to find something helpful for anyone you know. Here’s a sample:

So this is interesting… it’s a phone made out of grass. No, I’m not kidding. It’s biodegradable and slowly degrades over the life of the phone. It’s genius really. How often do you change your phone because something bigger and better came out or because the phone crapped out on you? Generally we keep our phones for roughly 2 years before replacing them. Therefore this phone was made to last just that long. Pretty cool huh?

Here I go, telling the world my deepest darkest secret. Well it’s not that deep and dark. I want to write a book. It’s actually not so much that I want to write one, I just feel one in me. I feel I have so much to share and say. I feel others can benefit from my perception in some strange and twisted way. The biggest problem is I cannot decide what to write about. There are so many topic choices. Here are some I have thought of already:

Clutter Addiction - Addiction and the role it plays in your cluttered home

The Clutter Myth - The REAL truth about clutter

Co-Dependence Equals a Cluttered Life - How your inability to care for yourself is cluttering your life

Through the eyes of a Professional Organizer - What one PO learns through her experiences with her clients

So does anyone out there have an opinion? I need guidance and would love to know what intrigues you the most. Maybe it will help me get started.

I found an organizer with a great idea to jump start the year in celebration of Get Organized Month. Take a look at her Go Project 365.

So, it’s a new year. Happy New Year to all of you. I won’t go on about New Years Resolutions. I am sure you have heard it all already. I am however, going to start the New Year with new phrase.

I learned this phrase watching The Suze Orman Show. As dramatic and humorous as she is, she does have a great way of telling it like it is. Not only is her financial advice helpful, there are so many ways you can easily translate her advice into other areas of life. I have quoted her before when she said “Say NO out of love, instead of YES out of fear.” Applying this concept with my clients when we work together is extremely helpful. Well now Suze Orman has provided me with another one. “Face it to erase it.”

It’s not as easy as it may seem. In fact, as I sit here now watching the show, Suze is hounding a guest on her current debt of 230,000, her mortgage of 900,000, her monthly expenses of 15,000 and her income of 9000 per month. From the outside looking in it seems crazy right?! Well Susie never got through to her guest. She was advised by Suze and others to sell her home, sell her cars and start over by renting a two bedroom apartment. Of course, this was not acceptable and the guest admitted bluntly that she would never take such steps to be financially free. In other words, she wasn’t facing it to erase it.

What will it take for you to see you have a serious problem with your finances or even your clutter? Because, as you know, you can’t erase it until you face it. So before you make those New Year Resolutions, think about it in depth. Are you truly willing to CHANGE?

If you’re a book junkie or a tech guru you may have heard of the new Kindle. A device that holds up to 250 titles that you can read in digital format. I have been asking around about this device because it sounds so intriguing. So I thought I would pass along what I have learned.

At the present time it is somewhat unclear how well the Kindle is selling. However, amazon is sold out of them until February. So that has to mean something. The price is pretty high, roughly about $350.00. From what I have read it doesn’t seem this device will take over the real deal. People still love to hold, smell and read their books and flip the pages. But the Kindle has advantages. You can carry so many titles with you that you can seriously avoid book clutter. So many clients I have worked with just cannot bare to get rid of their books. This could be a means to reducing some of that clutter. The Kindle also allows you to take notes on what you’re reading, you can look up the definitions of words you don’t know and you can download titles directly from the device. I also learned from friends who have one that the screen is not like a monitor. It’s not back lit so you won’t get a headache reading in this new format.

I don’t see the Kindle taking over printed novels. However, I can see a whole new use for it. It is a great item to bring with you when you travel. How great would it be to have a Kindle when you’re in Italy, for example. You can read from a book that teaches Italian. Also, if you have a long commute on a train the Kindle can really keep you occupied. It can also save you a few bucks because you can avoid spending full price on a book you end up hating. You can read the book on Kindle and buy the real book if you love it and keep only the books you love. The Kindle can also be very useful for college students. Often they have research papers due for several classes. They can carry all the material they need in one device. They can compare books and write their papers using a quick resource. It can also be helpful so they don’t have to carry so many books to their classes.

The Kindle has already got me thinking outside the box. Does anyone have anything bad to say about it? I would love to know.