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The plan (and there's always a plan in the life of an organizer) is to create a blog that gives tips, advice, ideas, suggestions and anything else that jumps into my head related to how to get organized and stay organized. This is a resource for anyone who is organizedly challenged, as well as those who are just looking to hone their already polished skills. I also love hearing from those who read. Send me any ideas for the blog that you are interested in (info@clockworkorganizing.com).
Thanks and happy reading!
Legend from New York City is that the Collyer brothers were terrible hoarders. They eventually died due to the amount of clutter in their home. After their passing, the biggest yard sale in New York history was held. Many kids to this day are still called “lost Collyer” for having a messy room.
Read more about them in this article in the NY Times.
That’s back to school for me at least. I have made the massive decision to return to school. After completing a 4-year Commerce degree in 2006, some of those close to me think I may be a little nuts.
But have no fear, I will still be organizing all those that want to get organized. My studies will be in the field of Interior Design, which I believe to be a great complement to being a Professional Organizer. Soon I will be able to create beautiful spaces through declutter AND design. What a combination!
Don’t wait to go out and try something. The timing will never be right. Jump in head first!
I was reading this great article from Fortune magazine online: “The female economy - what women want.” It seems so obvious, that women are becoming the largest market of consumers with the most buying power. Yet, how many of us dread going to the car lot to look at cars, or dread phoning the drywall guy to fix the ceiling that has water marks on it? We don’t appreciate being talked down to or being made to feel stupid. And the businesses that figure this out, I promise, will make millions.
This article touches on the fact that women ranked time as the commodity that they would like more of versus money and love. Hint - hire a Professional Organizer. At the same time, I can’t help but think how sad that is that they would prefer time to money and love. Are we so busy working in order to buy more stuff to the point where we have to work more, and the cycle continues on and on? What if it was alright to not do it all? Something tells me time and money are not that disconnected.
I was perusing www.springwise.com and came across a cool new website where you can custom-create a year-long calendar. What a great way to end summer and head into the new school year. It’s great for families, business owners, anyone wanting to get in shape, and pretty much anyone who is visual and wants some help with their busy schedule.
www.bizzyboard.com/ (another great one based in the UK)
I will admit that when it comes to camping I will probably never be organized. I grew up in a family whose idea of camping was renting a cabin by the lake. I would occasionally go camping with friend’s families and be so impressed with all the gadgets they would bring along - something to make toast on the camp stove, enough tarps to cover a small city, and tents that you could actually walk around in. They would have everything covered. On the couple of occassions I had been camping, we would always forget something. Our brains just don’t seem to be programmed to the necessities of camping. No, you will not have running water necessarily, nor will you have flat ground to set up the tent, and you will also require some things to keep you entertained, such as cards, bikes, things for floating in the water.
So this past long weekend, guess what we decided to do at the last minute - that’s right, go camping. Well, our first hurdle was that the only camping equipment we own is a tent. A brand new, never-been-out-of-the-box tent (even if it is 4 years old). The next dilemma is that we drive a MINI Cooper. There is not a tonne of space for extras, but we managed. Our compromise being that we would simply only eat out; therefor, we required no camp stove, no utensils, no cooler, etc. That would have been fine except there really were no restaurants or places to eat close by. And the local “grocery shop” was a place I would never even let my dog (if I owned one) near. So we had to trek back for 40 miles each way for food. Not overly convenient.
While setting up our tent, we encountered dive-bombing flies. Now, we have had record breaking temperatures up here in BC and Washington. These flies were sleepy flies. We almost decided to pack up right then and there. Instead, we calmed down in our air-conditioned vehicle and headed out for some food. Fully realizing that we are probably not camping people. The fact that you are more excited to check out the local, dinky town’s fast food assortment is a bad sign. But when we got back a couple hours later, the flies had gone away with the sun and all was good. I highly doubt we will ever camp again, and if we do, can someone please remind us that we’re just not good campers?
Here’s a list of camping essentials for those of you who are the camping type: http://www.gonewengland.org/campgear.htm.
Signing off from the comfort of my home office, with a soy latte in hand.
Sometimes the heat makes it difficult to think clearly. I have made a simple check list, so that you don’t have to think. Don’t forget the following:
What else do you find are beach essentials?
How difficult is it to find a fan or air conditioning unit right now? Well, plan ahead for winter - go purchase a shovel while you can still find one and at a fraction of the cost. Canadian Tire has boat loads of them on their website right now. 
One of my bestest friends in the world asked me to be her Maid of Honour. The wedding took place this past weekend and everyone was thrilled - the weather was supposed to be 30 degrees and sunshine all weekend. In Vancouver, you never know what might happen. We are definitely known for our rain.
So Saturday morning we awoke to sunshine, birds singing and coffee brewing. By 4:00pm the ceremony has commenced, and I was standing by my friends side at their beautiful outdoor wedding at Hycroft Manour. I felt a few drips and by the end of the ceremony it started to come down a little harder. By the time we began photos, the skies had cleared and there seemed to be no chance of further showers. The caterers made the executive decision to go with the original plan of dinner out on the veranda. I was later informed that they never do this if there is even the slightest chance of rain.
So about half way through dinner, the rain started. Some tables were under cover, but about half were not. For anyone who has planned a wedding, this is your worst fear come true. Thank goodness for the wedding planner, Simone Greenwood of Social Weddings & Events. She took over like the true professional that she is. She materialized umbrellas and tents out of nowhere. She set up tables inside for those who wished to be out of the rain. And I never heard one complaint from anyone. She managed to turn what could have been chaos into a minor blip. She was truly prepared for anything. As an organizer, I admired her never-ending supply of all things you could possibly ever need at a wedding. (On a side note - I secretly wish I had hired her for my wedding. We could have avoided not having the marriage license, but that’s another story). She did everything with grace and if she was stressed, I certainly couldn’t tell.
My friend now has a story for her wedding that she will never forget. She also got the most amazing pictures of the most beautiful red sky I have ever seen. And the lightning display kept all the guests in awe.
I just wanted to share the story of my life over the last month and how being organized can make life flow without issue or stress. For most, moving or getting married is enough chaos - independent of each other. Throw in the fact that I am launching a new business and my husband started a new job, and you have the list of the most stressful events you could take on. However, people kept coming up to me and saying you look so relaxed. And I thought, well yes, I am relaxed. I didn’t think about not taking on any one of these opportunities, and I knew we could get everything done.
The story starts back at the end of April, when the hotel we were originally getting married at was not returning calls, had not booked our rooms and would accuse us of being terrible clients. We made the decision then to change the venue for our wedding. Wedding date - May 24th. No problem! We weren’t having a large wedding, and we would just have to change the location for the Justice of the Peace, the photographer (Devin Card - fabulous!), as well as our family’s rooms. Not to mention still choose the menu, get the decor pulled together, and a million other minute details.
At the same time, we had been looking to buy our first condo since last summer. We happened to walk by a building that was a couple of blocks from where we currently lived and there was an open house. We checked it out and it was perfect. Thanks to some great work by our realtor (Claire LeLacheur) we bought our place for $24,000 under asking price. The only catch was that we had to complete for May 29th and move in on May 31st. Well we would still be in Ucluelet for our wedding until May 30th. By this time it was already May 9th. We had a week and a half to get all our mortgage financing completed and legal documents signed, so that we could complete while we were away. Not to mention have everything packed, so that we could move the day after we got back from our honeymoon. Just to add to the fun, we thought, “Why are we paying rent for June when we don’t have to?” So we asked the owner of our rental to post our old place for rent for June 1st in hopes that someone would need it. This meant that we had to keep our place in tip top shape for viewings, so that we could save ourselves $1200 (no half packed boxes and clothes strewn everywhere). Also note, when you run your own business, you don’t get days off and since my husband was just starting a new job, he could not take any vacation days.
The great thing about living with less, is that we didn’t have to go through the purging of the unnecessary. We began packing that day and lined up all our documentation. We lucked out with a long weekend, where we could pull the details together - such as hiring a moving company, getting boxes, booking a cleaner, changing addresses for all the bills, setting up cable, Internet and phone, ensuring there would be hydro, and the list goes on.
We managed to get away with the move prepared, old place rented out and wedding planned. We met with our lawyer the day before we left and signed all the closing documents, so that we could enjoy our time without thinking about whether everything went well or not. Still, we were asked, “Are you going to cut your honeymoon short to come back and move?” Our answer was always a firm “No way.” The wedding at Black Rock Resort went flawlessly. And we enjoyed a week of surfing, hiking and delicious food.
We got home the day before we moved at about 4pm. By 8pm, we were walking along the beach and enjoying some peace and quiet before move day the following morning.
Two days after moving in, we had all our boxes unpacked and the boxes disposed of (actually ready for re-use to avoid the landfill). Everything has a home and is put away. And now we get to relax in these beautiful, Vancouver summer days.
I want to emphasize the fact that anyone can enjoy life with less stress. I am not a miracle maker! I simply am organized.
I just loved this tip so much. More and more people are commenting on the effects of decluttering and how much it can change your life. I also participated in the Ladies Who Launch program in Vancouver. Fantastic! Women do launch differently and it was spectacular meeting other entrepreneurially-minded women.
Check out this one: Ladies Who Launch Tip for May 20, 2009