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!

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

Exciting summer promotion starting June 21st!

What: Organize 21 Kitchens in 21 Days - by donation with 50% of profits going to the Food Bank of Greater Vancouver!

Who: The Duchesses of Declutter (launching our new business - the combined power of Clockwork Professional Organizing and Breathing Space Consulting). Call 604.617.5042.

Where: 2 hours in your kitchen with 2 Professional Organizers doing hands on work

Myself, Tara McDougall, and Jodi Carter have come together to create a new venture to help people get organized – The Duchesses of Declutter. The broader business we are creating is an entity to support women – Tangerine Duchess – with off-shoot businesses, such as (but not limited to) “The Duchesses of Declutter,” “The Duchesses of Coaching,” and “ The Duchesses of Money.” We are beginning with our area of strength which is the world of decluttering – website and email addresses will be along shortly.

To create some excitement around our business we are running a summer promotion – 21 Kitchens in 21 Days. We will be organizing a total of 21 kitchens starting June 21st and ending July 11th. Everything is by donation! And we will be giving 50% of our profits to the Food Bank of Greater Vancouver. The Food Bank always needs help during the summer months. We all think about the hungry during the Christmas season, but there are people who need help throughout the year. Our goal is to raise $10,000 to help the hungry – 1 kitchen at a time!

Book your space today for first priority on dates.

Let’s just get to it. Living in clutter is not about the stuff. And being organized is a learned skill, not something that we are born with or without. Living in a state of clutter is a direct reflection of what isn’t working in our lives. What does your stuff represent for you? Maybe it’s imbalance in your life - too much work, too much letting the kids rule the roost, too much fun (okay, I haven’t encountered that problem yet and would be ecstatic if I did) .

My job is not to point fingers and tell you that you are a bad person for being disorganized. There is something bigger going on. The word organizing even makes me cringe. It’s like having a finger pointed in your face telling you you’re a bad person and you “should” get organized. Eww. I don’t like being told I “should” do anything. I dig my heels in, and my reaction is “I’m not doing anything unless it’s fun.”

So find out what the reason is that you are resisting decluttering. And imagine what it would feel like to have everything in its place. If you start feeling stuck, go back to the end goal and the feeling of not having all that stuff.

In case you didn’t realize, it takes longer than 22 minutes to organize a room or house. I was recently watching Peter Walsh on Oprah and ended up screaming at the television. Sure, if you have Clutter Crew it takes a couple hours to organize a whole space. For most of us, this is unrealistic. It can be a huge disappointment for people attempting to get organized to realize that they have been slaving away for hours and the space looks more chaotic than it did before. I believe the shows that demonstrate how to get organized should come with a warning - “Beware: Results are not probable and will take substantially longer than our program demonstrates.”

There is some truth. You can get certain areas organized in short spans of time. It’s true that if you take 10 minutes a day, eventually you will get somewhere. Often times though, there is a real emotional attachment to the items that are being organized, which can really slow down the entire process.

My suggestion - plan for at least a couple hours of your day for organizing anything. Here’s the catch, don’t do any more than a couple of hours. It is exhausting and overwhelming to take on any more than that.  Stay focused on one area. It is easy to get distracted and move onto looking through your photo albums and old yearbooks. And don’t feel bad when you haven’t accomplished as much in 22 minutes as the show you just watched.

We all know how good it feels to be organized. Life is just easier when you know where to find your keys and your place is looking just how you like it. Sometimes it can be hard to remember that when you are in a state of chaos. What can get you motivated to get organized? How about money? Have you ever thought about what your clutter is costing you.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the average executive spends 6 weeks a year looking for lost paper. Yes, 6 weeks! For an employee who earns $60,000, that time lost costs the company a staggering $6,290. Now imagine if that person is making $120,000. That is $12,580 in losses. In these economic times, there are so many better ways to spend that kind of money or to save that kind of money. Not to mention that employees need that time to get their work done. What if that time was spent being productive? How much more revenue could be earned?

This is just one example of disorganization and what it can cost you. Here are other examples.

• Missed payments. Late payments cost extra money.  Too many late payments result in a dinged credit rating.

• Missed rebates. You know the one that comes with your cell phone to make it seem like a reasonable price.
• Missed opportunities.
• Emergency purchases. You suddenly realize you are out of a necessity - diapers, glue stick for your kids school project, or milk on Christmas day. So you run to the convenience store, where the prices are way higher.
• Throwing money out the window. That store credit you received when you returned that unwanted gift?  The one that was on the slip of paper that was the only record of the credit?  The one that the cashier said not to lose because it’s like losing cash?
• Overdraft protection fees. By this I mean the transfer from your savings account to your checking account that happens when you overdraw the checking account but have the savings to cover it.  Five bucks a check for a week — when you get the notice in the mail for the first one! — adds up in a hurry.
• Buying things you already have. The one you have is still good, but it’s either buried under something and you can’t find it, or you don’t remember that you have it.
• Extra trips to the store. Another few gallons of gas burned up to take back the item that was the wrong size or to buy something you forgot you needed.
• Dining out a lot. Because you ran out of time in the morning and didn’t pack a lunch.
• Out of control spending. Sometimes we just aren’t aware of how much we are spending.
• Stuff breaking before its time. Forgetting to change the air filter in your central air system or forgetting to drain the hose in winter time will cause expensive surprises.
• Spoiled food. Just like throwing a $5 bill in the garbage when you toss expired, moldy product.
• Missed tax deductions. Kilometres as a business expense?  Items donated to the Salvation Army?  These can be tax-deductible under some circumstances, but only if you have adequate proof.  No proof, no deduction.
• Overdue charges. Library books, movies, etc.
• Huge amounts of lost productivity. Spending mass amounts of time looking for misplaced items. Just being surrounded by clutter actually slows you down because of the visual and mental noise.

Before you begin organizing anything, ask yourself: “Why do I want to get organized?” “What is it that I want to get out of this?” “What is my goal?”

What is the motivation for you? This will be your go-to question any time you are unsure whether to purge something or not. There are many different goals for people. Some people just want that space back. Some people want to find something in particular. Some people want to be rid of someone else’s stuff. Some people want to be stress-free come tax time. There are thousands of reasons, so find the one that rings true for you.