Welcome to the 36th edition of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival! Evan Esar defined family as “a social unit where the father is concerned with parking space, the children with outer space, and the mother with closet space,”  and we’ve got lots of great tips this month to help families be organized not only in their spaces, but in their activities.

© See Tsay Yiap / Depositphotos

Congratulations to Tracy Hoth on achieving Professional Organizers Blog Carnival Star Blogger status, with her post Got Kids? Got Memorabilia!

We have two new participants this month, Stacey Agin Murray with her post Best Products for Organizing Your Car, and Pam Wedig-Kirsch with Beginning of Summer “To Do” List. Please join me in welcoming Stacey and Pam to the Blog Carnival!

Returning this month, we have:

Marlene Devine – Organizing is a Family Affair

Ramona Creel – Frugal Living 101: Raising Children

Sue West – Kids & Organizing: Teach Them What You Know

Audrey Cupo – Blended Organization

Margaret Lukens – Making a Family Communications Plan – Four Steps For Faster Reuniting

Linda Samuels – Share the Load

Janice Russell – Cluttered or Clutterless Legacy

Hazel Thornton – Six Organizing Sytems Everyone Needs

Leslie Josel – Have You Hatched It?

Deanne Kelleher – Kitchens, Kids and Keepsakes

Nancy Borg – Do Your Kids Have Too Many Toys?

Cena Block – Productivity Tip – Simplify Your Meals

Natalie Conrad – Packing Kids for Summer Camp

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to share your expertise. As always, I encourage you to take time to read your colleagues’ posts, leave comments, and follow each other on Twitter.

Next month’s Professional Organizers Blog Carnival will be dedicated to Product Reviews, and you’re welcome to submit your post any time from now up until 10 EDT on Monday, June 11.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for May 2012: Organizing for Families.

With 2011 drawing to a close, it’s time for something that’s become an annual tradition here at Your Organizing Business. For my final post of the year, I’d like to acknowledge the many professional organizers and other supporters who have shared their time and expertise with my readers in some way.

The following individuals contributed as guest bloggers or participated in a blog interview this year. Simply click on their names to read their posts.

• Linda Samuels
• Kerry Rego
• Michelle O’Sullivan
• Lelah Baker-Rabe
• Janice Russell
• Ellen Delap
• Julie Stobbe
• Lisa Montanaro
• Margot McClelland

The Professional Organizers Blog Carnival has continued to grow in popularity, with a total of 191 posts submitted by 61 professional organizers, including seven new Professional Organizers Blog Carnival Star Bloggers. A big thanks to:

• Ellen Delap
• Audrey Cupo
• Linda Samuels
• Ramona Creel
• Deb Lee
• Elaine Shannon
• Clare Kumar
• Jane Veldhoven
• Lisa Montanaro
• Tracy Hoth
• Jeri Dansky
• Julie Bestry
• Nancy Borg
• Geralin Thomas
• Janine Adams
• Lauren Giammarco
• Lelah Baker-Rabe
• Master Cruz
• Natalie Conrad
• Pauline Wiles
• Rivka Caroline
• Sue West
• Angela Esnouf
• Barbara Tako
• Jane Woolsey
• Janice Russell
• Jonda Beattie
• Leslie Josel
• Michelle Panzlaff
• Stephanie LH Calahan
• Debbie Pendell
• Hazel Thornton
• Heather Burke
• Hellen Buttigieg
• Jacquie Ross
• Janet Baker
• Laura Wittmann
• Paul H. Burton
• Shelley Molitor
• Alys Milner
• Ann Acquaviva
• Anne Blumer
• Deanne Kelleher
• Debbie Stanley
• Jacki Hollywood Brown
• Jennifer Crutchfield
• Jodi Granok
• Kate Brown
• Kimberly Eagles
• Krista Colvin
• Kristin Lindstrom
• Laura Lawrence
• Linda Vanderkolk
• Linda Williams
• Lurlene Anderson
• Margaret Lukens
• Margarita Ibbott
• MaryJo Monroe
• Michelle O’Sullivan
• Oksana Bellas
• Sheri Bruneau

With such a wealth of information and industry contacts at your fingertips, I hope you’ll spend a little time reading or re-reading their posts, leaving some comments, and expanding your online network.

I know that many of you support this blog by leaving comments and/or sharing your favorite posts by email or social media, and your efforts are appreciated as well.

As you prepare your Blogging Plan for 2012, you may find the following resources helpful for generating content ideas:

• 2012 Blogging Calendar & Planner (free download)
• Professional Organizers Blog Carnival monthly topics for 2012

And if you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to Your Organizing Business by RSS or email for lots of ideas for your blog and other aspects of your business!

Have a happy and prosperous new year!

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on A Shout-out to Our 2011 Supporters.

Since this is Stress Awareness Month, I thought I’d tap into my great network of professional organizers and ask them to share what they know about the connection between stress and disorganization. With so many being away at the NAPO Conference last week, I was a bit concerned that I might not get many submissions to this month’s Blog Carnival, but I’m thrilled with the responses, and hope you will be too.

We have two new participants this month, so please join me in welcoming them:

Sue West – Working on the Business Means Putting Myself First

Michelle O’Sullivan – Stress and Disorganization

Here are the rest of this month’s posts:

Pauline Wiles – Sniff Out Your Stress Sources

Elaine Shannon – Why do you want to get organized?

Michelle Panzlaff – Simplify for less stress

Paul H. Burton – Where Stress and Disorganization Collide

Janine Adams – Standards of clutter

Linda Samuels – Family, Friends, Nature & Clutter

Ellen Delap – Distress and Disorganization

Ramona Creel – Getting Organized To Reduce Stress

Janet Baker – Paper Tiger Filing System in the Office Can Prevent Melt Downs and Disasters

Audrey Cupo – Improve Your Memory

Heather Burke – The Craziness is in the Details

Master Cruz – Opportunities are LIMITLESS When Organized

There’s a wealth of wisdom here, so be sure to set aside some time to read all the posts, leave some comments, and get to know the bloggers! You’re sure to pick up some great advice, either for yourself or for your clients.

We are now accepting submissions for next month’s Professional Organizers Blog Carnival, when our topic will be Moving. The deadline is Monday, May 9.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for April 2011: Disorganization and Stress.

Today is Organize Your Home Office Day, and if you’re looking for tips on organizing a home office for either a client or yourself, you are definitely in the right place! In this month’s issue of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival, we have advice from 18 different organizing experts, so go ahead and check them out!

Congratulations to Audrey Cupo! Audrey became our newest Professional Organizers Blog Carnival Star Blogger with her post, Quick Tips For An Organized and Inviting Workspace.

Please join me in welcoming our new participants this month:

Linda Williams – Top Ten Tips for Home Office Organization

Laura Lawrence – How to Organize Your Home Office

Kristin Lindstrom – Perfectly Savvy Finds for the Office

And a great big thank you to everyone else who has taken the time to share their expertise through the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival this month:

Pauline Wiles – How To Climb Your Filing Mountain

Jeri Dansky – 4 Staplers to Brighten Up Any Office

Jane Veldhoven – The Importance of a Place for Everything

Elaine Shannon – Admin Day-Dealing with the Dirty Dozen

Ellen Delap – Effective, Efficient, Productive Home Office

Margarita Ibbott – Making a small pass-through a functional and stylish home office

Jane Woolsey – Piles Be Gone!

Janine Adams – Office Closet Makeover

Clare Kumar – Desk management – 6 strategies for a successful home office

Jennifer Crutchfield – Set a Timer Tuesday – Desks

Paul H. Burton – Three Uber-Effective Tips for Home Offices

Ramona Creel – The Work-At-Homer In Its Natural Habitat

Janet Baker – Home Office Organization: From the Start Date and Onward

Master Cruz – Home Office Organizing

Please read their posts, and be sure to leave a comment or two. It’s a fun way to learn something new and grow your network at the same time!

We are now accepting submissions for next month’s Professional Organizers Blog Carnival, when our topic will be Disorganization and Stress. The deadline is Monday, April 11.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for March 2011: Organizing Home Offices.

Welcome to the Motivation issue of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival! If you’re looking for some new approaches to motivate your organizing clients, you’ll want to set aside a little time to read the many ideas submitted by our readers. If you see something you especially like, be sure to leave a comment or share it with your social network!

I’d like to kick this Carnival off by congratulating our two new Professional Organizers Blog Carnival Star Bloggers, who have now participated in 10 or more editions of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival:

Ramona Creel – Staying Motivated To Reach Your Goals

Lisa Montanaro – Do You Suffer From Temporary Organizing Paralysis?

Thank you to Lisa, Ramona, and everyone else who participated this month! And now, the rest of the posts:

Janine Adams – The magic of linking new routines to old

Audrey Cupo – Do You Whistle While You Work?

Heather Burke – Vision Boards

Jodi Granok – A New Way to Look at New Year’s Resolutions

Linda Samuels – Futzing, Putzing & Getting Motivated

Clare Kumar – Getting Good at Letting Go

Barbara Tako – Quit trying to get motivated to clear clutter: Just do it

Pauline Wiles – Pin Up a Picture: 7 Tips to Muster Motivation

Geralin Thomas – Motivation: ABC, MP3

Ellen Delap – Motivation for Organization

Elaine Shannon – Routines or Rituals, how do you get stuff done?

Stephanie LH Calahan – Monday Motivation – When You Fall Do You Get Back Up?

Deb Lee – GO Month Day 6: How to Stay Motivated

Margaret Lukens – Following Through: The Pink Poker Solution

Tracy Hoth – Motivation – Where Do I Find It?

Master Cruz – Keep Moving

Our theme next month will be Organizing Home Offices, and we’re accepting submissions from now until noon EST on Monday, March 7.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for February 2011: Motivation.

As I go through the process of planning my blogging schedule for 2011, I can’t stop thinking that “Your Organizing Business” would be no more than random thoughts passing through my mind if it weren’t for my faithful readers. This final post of 2010 is therefore dedicated to all of you.

I would especially like to thank the individuals who contributed as guest bloggers or took part in a blog interview this year. Please click on their names below to read the posts that you missed or that you’d like to enjoy again:

• Candita Clayton
• Deanna Koller
• Deb Lee
• Jane Veldhoven
• Judi Suraci
• Julie Bestry
• Karen Shinn and Gail Shields
• Katie and Kelly McMenamin
• Lynette Chandler
• Porter Knight
• Randi Hutton

The Professional Organizers Blog Carnival continues to be a popular feature, with 45 bloggers submitting a total of 151 posts, and 7 qualifying to be named Professional Organizers Blog Carnival Star Bloggers.

• Ellen Delap
• Elaine Shannon
• Jeri Dansky
• Angela Esnouf
• Audrey Cupo
• Ramona Creel
• Geralin Thomas
• Julie Bestry
• Lelah Baker-Rabe
• Debbie Pendell
• Jacki Hollywood Brown
• Joan Kosmachuk
• Stephanie LH Calahan
• Barbara Tako
• Clare Kumar
• Deb Lee
• Lisa Montanaro
• Margarita Ibbott
• Anne Blumer
• Christine Simiriglia
• Jane Veldhoven
• Janet Baker
• Michelle Deo
• Hellen Buttigieg
• Jennifer Crutchfield
• Jodi Granok
• Kimberly Eagles
• Master Cruz
• Michelle Panzlaff
• Tina Blazer
• Angie Weid
• Beverly Coggins
• Cari Pemberton
• Carmen Coker
• Eva Wallace
• Heather Burke
• Jacquie Ross
• Janet Nusbaum
• Janice Russell
• Krista Colvin
• Margaret Lukens
• Paul H. Burton
• Sarah Kimmel
• Sarah Welch
• Terry

As you make your own plans for 2011, I hope you’ll keep the monthly Professional Organizers Blog Carnival topics in mind. It’s a great way to share your expertise with other organizers and to generate traffic back to your blog!

I also encourage you to download your free 2011 Blogging Calendar, if you haven’t already. It includes a full page for every week with enough space to plan your blog topic ideas and other related activities.

If you’re interested in being a guest blogger, please let me know, even if you don’t have a specific topic in mind.

Here’s to your success in 2011!

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Reviewing 2010 and Looking Forward to 2011.

As the new year approaches, many of your clients will be asking you about choosing a paper planner or an electronic calendar, selecting the one that best meets their needs, or using their calendar more effectively. This month’s Professional Organizers Blog Carnival includes lots of tips from your colleagues to help you provide your clients with the guidance they need!

Let’s begin with Stephanie LH Calahan‘s post,  The Great Calendar Debate – Paper or Electronic – 21 Experts Weigh In. As Stephanie explains,

One item frequently purchased at this time of year is a calendar or planner for the upcoming year.

But, what is the right kind of planner to use?  Some say the traditional paper planner is the best, while others swear by their smart-phone or on line tool.  How do you decide what is best for you?

Learn what my colleagues and friends had to say about the “Great Calendar Debate.”   They provide tips to help you decide as well as some recommended tools.

Clare Kumar brings us Time Management Strategies – 3 Tools to Manage Your Time. Clare says,

As we approach 2011 with alarming speed it’s time to select a calendar. This requires some thought to the need for portability, number of users and the amount of information you need to capture there.  It’s quite possible that one is not enough.

In Your Calendar and You, Ellen Delap offers some tips on choosing a calendar and tells us which one she likes the best.

One organizer who supports the electronic version is Deb Lee, who tells us why in her post, Simple Tech: 6 Benefits of Using an Online Calendar.

Jeri Dansky doesn’t reveal her personal preference, but tells us that One Calendar That Deserves a Post All Its Own was one of the most popular ones she’s written recently.

Of course, to be a useful time management tool, even a carefully chosen calendar must be used effectively, and several experts had advice in this area:

In Unclog Your Calendar to Avoid Opportunity Overload, Lisa Montanaro shares an excerpt from the Time Management chapter of her new book, The Ultimate Life Organizer: An Interactive Guide to a Simpler, Less Stressful & More Organized Life, which will be published by Peter Pauper Press in February 2011.

In her blog post, Michelle Panzlaff offers several Tips to use your calendar effectively, adding the following tip for readers of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival:

Manage your time. Create a schedule for yourself as you would for any project. When life gets busy or you get distracted it can be easy to let things slide so having a written schedule will help keep you on track.

Paul H. Burton reminds us to Schedule Snippets of Time Between Appointments, and Barbara Tako explains how to Simplify your calendar in 2011

Ramona Creel warns us about Overscheduling Syndrome. She says,

If your family’s calendar is too full and your children are inheriting your exhaustion at having too much to do, maybe it’s time to revamp your schedule and set some healthy boundaries!

We close this month’s Professional Organizers Blog Carnival on a lighter note, with Julie Bestry‘s Lost Time, Dinner With the King of Norway and The Curse of Multiple Calendars. Since this is Julie’s tenth time participating in the Carnival, she is our newest Professional Organizers Blog Carnival Star Blogger. Congratulations, Julie!

The next Professional Organizers Blog Carnival will be published on Tuesday, January 11, 2011, and the theme will be Goal Setting. Submissions will be due by noon EST on Monday, January 10, so why don’t you mark that on YOUR calendar right now! Going forward, the Carnival will always be on the second Tuesday of the month, so those of you who use electronic calendars can go ahead and create a recurring appointment.

See the complete schedule of topics and dates for 2011.

A big thanks to everyone who took the time to submit a post at this very busy time of year! Looking forward to seeing many of you again next month and to welcoming some new participants. In the meantime, please take a few minutes to check out this month’s submissions and to network with your organizing colleagues by leaving comments and sharing your favorite posts with your social networks.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for December 2010: Calendars.

Once again, it’s time for the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival, a monthly collection of blog posts submitted by our readers. This month we’re taking a peek into the bathroom! It’s generally the smallest room in the house, yet it holds many of our daily needs, so it poses very special organizing challenges. Read on for some great tips for organizing your clients’ bathrooms or your own.

Without further ado, here is October’s line-up:

Audrey Cupo – Beauty Products – What To Keep And What To Toss

This topic can be confusing at times so I have laid out the various types of beauty products for you and how long to keep them.  This will get you ready for the upcoming holiday season without worrying about a reaction to a bad or expired product.

Jennifer Crutchfield – Today – 10 Minutes in the Bathroom

Lelah Baker-Rabe – Bathroom blitz

Tossing out old makeup and bath products is just as important as tossing out old food from your fridge!

Hellen Buttigieg – Transform Your Bathroom: From Stuffed to Spa-Like

Master Cruz – January 15th Organizing Tip

Although this post was originally for Get Organized Month in January, you don’t have to wait until January to organize your bathroom. You can start today!

Elaine Shannon – Care and Storage of your Beauty Routine Stuff

Jeri Dansky – Medicine Cabinets Don’t Have to be Boring

An oldie but goodie – even though this post was written three years ago, all the products mentioned are still around.

And last but not least, I’d like to welcome our newest Professional Organizers Blog Carnival Star Blogger, who has now contributed to 10 Blog Carnivals:

Ellen Delap – A Spa Treatment for your Bathroom

Your bathroom may need a spa treatment as much as you do!

Congratulations, Ellen, and thank you to everyone who shared their bathroom organizing posts!

I hope you’ll set aside a bit of time to read the posts, share your favorites, and leave some comments.

I’m really looking forward to next month when our theme will be Food, Glorious Food! If you’ve already blogged about organizing refrigerators, pantries, recipes, or another related topic, feel free to submit it now! If you haven’t, you have until noon EST on Tuesday, November 9.

For those of you who really like to plan ahead, the theme for December will be Calendars.

Photo: Sarah Blackstock

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for October 2010: Bathroom Organizing.

Welcome to the Technology issue of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival! You’ll find lots of great tips here for using technology to organize today’s busy lives and for organizing your (or your clients’) technology. Be sure to read the posts and leave some comments – it’s a fun way to network with your organizing colleagues!

Five Productive Jobs for Evernote by Margaret Lukens

Over time, Evernote has proven its usefulness again and again. The more I use it to deal with those information bits on the desk and in the brain, the more I love it.

How to Manage and Organize your Social Web by Elaine Shannon

Site-Saving Bookmarklets: Keeping Up With Online Reading While Reducing Paper Clutter by Julie Bestry

If you’re a voracious web reader, it sometimes seems like you have only two alternatives: paper (printout) clutter or an endlessly scrolling tower of bookmarks. These nifty bookmarklets offers the chance to keep up with your reading without cluttering up your home, office or computer.

3 Firefox Add-Ons That Increase Your Productivity by Deb Lee

Getting Organized in the Google Era by Jeri Dansky

This book, which was published earlier this year, talks about ways to use technology effectively. Do you organize information – or just search for it when you need it?

Technology and You! by Ellen Delap

Ergonomics in the Office – Using your computer safely by Clare Kumar

Technology brings many benefits, but using it safely is critical. Set up a comfortable workstation and enjoy maximum productivity.

Cozy Up To Cozi by Janice Russell

TeuxDeux (To Do – an online list maker) by Margarita Ibbott

Are you a chronic list maker?  Do you feel a sense of accomplishment when you cross that item off your list? How about writing a list out electronically that you can access from any computer? Find out about a simple and easy to use on-line list maker from TeuxDeux.

Before wrapping up this month’s Carnival, I’d like to welcome two new Professional Organizers Blog Carnival Star Bloggers, who have each contributed to 10 Blog Carnivals to date:

In her post, Clutter-free gifts: Technology, Lelah Baker-Rabe tells us how to

Help the tech-savvy people in your life stay clutter-free with some thoughtful gifts of technology that won’t add to their box of random cords and cables.

Digital photographers are sure to appreciate Geralin Thomas‘ Four Steps to Organizing Your Photos.

Congratulations, Lelah and Geralin, and thank you to everyone who took part in this month’s Carnival.

Next month, our theme will be Bathroom Organizing – please submit your posts by noon EDT on October 12, 2010. In November, we’ll celebrate Food, Glorious Food! so get ready to submit your posts about organizing refrigerators, pantries, recipes, or another related topic.

Photo: joiseyshowaa

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for September 2010: Technology.

Welcome to the August issue of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival! I sincerely appreciate all the submissions, but am just catching up on my work after a mini-vacation, so I hope you’ll forgive me for not inserting my usual commentary, and simply publishing a list of the back-to-school organizing posts submitted by my readers. Please enjoy, comment, and share!

This is a busy time for families with school-aged children, so it’s not surprising that many bloggers focused on this audience. Don’t make the mistake of thinking these posts are much the same, as you’ll find tips here on organizing school lunches, school supplies, daily routines, and a lot more. You’re sure to find some advice here to benefit your clients, or even your own family!

Audrey Cupo – Start The New School Year Being Organized

Geralin Thomas – Getting Organized for School Lunches

Ellen Delap – Back to School Preparation Checklist: Being organized and having a list makes all the difference for a successful school year.

Heather Burke – Getting Organized for the New School Year

Tina Blazer – Organizing Ideas for Back to School

Clare Kumar – Be Prepared for Back to Class: Although many of us are reluctant to think about the coming school year while we’re still reveling in summer, planning now will pay off in a smoother transition for you and the kids.  I’ve included 5 quick tips to get you started.

Jane Veldhoven – Yikes – Back to School Already?

Jacquie Ross – Top 12 Back to School Organizing Tips – Shopping for School Supplies: Organizing tips for shopping for back to school supplies.

Barbara Tako – Three frugal simple ways to get organized for back to school: Frugality and simplicity can work together here.

Janet Baker – Organization Is The Key When Going Back To School

Kimberly Eagles – Staying Sane During the School Year

Back-to-school isn’t just about young children, and a couple of our posts are geared towards high school and college students:

Jacki Hollywood Brown – Summer Job Organizing: It’s important to prepare for the school year but it’s also essential to record necessary information to help you in your job search for next summer. Here are some tips to help you keep your employment information organized!

Anne Blumer – My son leaves for college in one month…so, what does that have to do with organizing?

As always, I’d like to thank all the bloggers who have participated in this month’s Professional Organizers Blog Carnival. This is a monthly event, so if you didn’t submit a post, feel free to join us next time, when our topic will be Technology. It’s an important part of our lives now, so we can all use tips to keep it organized, or to use it to keep us organized! The deadline for submissions is noon EDT on Thursday, September 9.

The October Blog Carnival will focus on Bathroom Organizing.

In the meantime, be sure to check out this month’s posts, leave some comments, and get to know one another!

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for August 2010: Getting Organized for Back to School.