When friends find out you have your own business, they often make comments like “You’re lucky. You can set your own hours.” Or “That’s great – you can take time off whenever you want to.” But although it’s true that your schedule is more flexible than others, it’s not without its challenges, is it?

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That’s especially true during the holiday season, when there’s probably a lot more going on in your personal life than the rest of the year. But where most of your friends with regular jobs can plan to do their shopping, baking, socializing and other activities around their work schedule, it’s probably more challenging for you.

For one thing, many people don’t realize they need a professional organizer until it gets down to the crunch. Perhaps they’ve realized they need to declutter before entertaining guests, or maybe they need to clear out the old toys from their kids’ bedrooms and/or playroom before Santa drops another bagful down the chimney.

It’s very hard to say “no” to these clients. After all, you started this business because you sincerely love to help people get organized. And let’s face it, it’s hard to turn away potential income at any time, but especially when you know there will be days you’re not  working, and your own expenses are probably higher than usual right now. But how can you meet the organizing needs of your clients and the financial needs of your family and your business, and still have time for your own holiday activities?

Why not apply the same strategies you teach your clients all year round?

1. Assess your priorities. Are there things you do simply because they’re tradition, or because someone else expects you to do them? Can any of them be eliminated?
2. Delegate. If certain tasks are necessary to your holiday celebrations, do you have to be the one to do them? Can your spouse or children help? Can you buy a dessert instead of making your own?
3. Establish a schedule. If you need time off for holiday preparations, special events, or even just to relax and enjoy your family, make it happen. Whether you close down your business for a week or two, or simply reduce the number of clients hours you’ll book, make a plan, and stick to it.

If these last few days before Christmas find you scrambling about and longing for the days when you had a fixed schedule, it may be too late to get out of the commitments you’ve already made, but you do have the power to say “no” to anything else that comes up. Your clients will respect you for practicing what you preach!

How do you handle the holidays in your business?

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Self-Care for Professional Organizers during the Holiday Season.

Welcome to the first Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for 2010! We’ve had a record number of submissions this month, and I’m sure your reading time is limited, so I’ve decided to split this month’s Carnival over two days. As you read today, I hope you’ll get acquainted with your fellow organizers while picking up some great ideas for your clients or yourself.

Christmas may now be just a fond memory, but we know it will come again next year, so let’s start off with a couple of Christmas-related posts.

Terry (The Mommy Organizer) shares some tips for Christmas Storage, stating that:

Putting Christmas decorations away isn’t so difficult with a little planning and a few organizing tools.

Cari Pemberton tells us about a unique and clutter-free gift that will last long after the decorations are put away, in Giving vs. Getting.

Whether you think of it as New Year’s Resolutions or simply making plans for the year ahead, in January most people are focused on making positive changes in their lives, either personally or professionally.

Angela Esnouf describes a great goal-setting method in The most productive afternoon of my life, saying:

This technique has helped me and my clients time and again.  It’s a perfect way to kick off the year.

Ellen Delap identifies that most popular resolution and shares some ways to achieve it successfully in her post, Top New Year Resolution: Spend More Time with Your Family.

Sarah Welch recommends a similar approach in 2010: The Year of Baby Steps.

January represents not only a new calendar year but a new semester, and Jodi Granok tackles that subject in Students – Get Organized for the New Semester!

For many people, a new year presents a chance to implement new time management strategies, and that was a very popular topic this month.

Joan Kosmachuk shares an interesting approach to looking at how your time is spent in Organizing your Time – start with a pie chart, and Elaine Shannon helps you identify where you’re wasting time in Are you a victim of the “Time Hijackers”?.

Ramona Creel helps you to make the best use of your time in Learning To Delegate More Effectively. Ramona says,

Delegation can be a tricky business. You don’t want to simply “dump” distasteful work on someone else — but you need to make sure the job gets done, and it doesn’t need to be done by you. Delegating can become a particularly sensitive issue when it is lateral — asking a fellow colleague, freelance consultant, family member, or friend for help. But by approaching delegation in the right way, you can make the experience enjoyable for both parties.

For formal time management training, Anne Blumer is Introducing the GO System.

That’s it for today! Be sure to come back later this week for Part 2 of the January Professional Organizers Blog Carnival, and to find out what’s in store for next month.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Professional Organizers Blog Carnival – January 2010 Edition, Part 1.

Here it is – the 7^th Professional Organizers Blog Carnival, and the last one for 2009. We have a record number of professional organizers participating this month, and I’d like to thank those who are joining us for the first time, as well as our regulars and everyone in between! Grab your favorite beverage and get ready to read and enjoy!

Since it’s the festive season, it’s no surprise that many of this month’s entries are related to holiday preparations.

In A Few Thoughts on the Holiday Season, Jane Veldhoven gets us thinking about what’s really important to us at this time of year, and how we can maximize our enjoyment of it.

Jacki Hollywood Brown has some great ideas for Clutter Free Gift Giving, and reminds us that:

The holidays can be one of the happiest times of the year as we enjoy the company of our family and friends. It is also one of the most clutter-generating times of the year. Take a look at these gift ideas to reduce clutter and save you time and money.

You can read additional clutter-free Christmas gift suggestions from Angela Esnouf in her special series, beginning with Angela’s Advent, Day 1.

Joan Kosmachuk tells us how to Simplify your Holiday Decorating with Live or Edible Decorations, and Lelah Baker-Rabe suggests a few simple things you can do to create a year-round gift wrap station to minimize stress and maximize efficiency, in her post Preparing for every day: Gift wrap station.

If you’re looking for a unique way to keep track of Christmas card lists for yourself or your clients, check out Jeri Dansky‘s Forget the Address Book: Use an Address BOX.

Of course, this is also a good time for making plans for next year. Elaine Shannon tells us all about her own Planning Day, saying:

I love organizing so much that I have organized some planning around my 2010 goals. Yes the organizer is organizing herself. So many people wonder why they are not moving forward in their business but don’t have a score card to compare it to. By failing to plan as we know you plan to fail. With a few strategies you can take charge of your new year and meet your goals..whatever they may be!

While you’re making those plans, you might find it interesting to read about other organizers’ success strategies. Anne Blumer tells us how she got to where she is today in her post, Ask the Organizer Panel, and Angie Weid shares The Story Behind Organized Solutions, saying:

This post is sharing a story of being kicked down, learning to stand back up and keep on working toward success.  My hope is that it encourages fellow organizers to be strong and succeed.

Lisa Montanaro offers some eye-opening information in Coopetition: A Fantastic Way To Boost Your Business, a sneak peek of “Don’t Go It Alone: It Takes a Village to Run A Successful Business,” which she’ll be presenting at the 2010 NAPO Conference in Columbus, OH.

Looking for interesting organizing resources? Be sure to read My Brain Book from Hellen Buttigieg and PaperBackSwap.com from Michelle Deo.

Janet Baker discusses the why’s and how’s of Indexing Your Document Management Filing System is Worth it When You’re on the Road.

If you’re curious about hoarding from the client’s point of view, you won’t want to miss Geralin Thomas‘ Anatomy of a Client.

Deb Lee tackles The Myth of Work/Family Balance, asking:

Is it realistic to think that work/family balance is possible?  Can you be a great parent and a great employee (or entrepreneur) at the same time?  Can a family where both parents work achieve this balance?

Janine Adams wraps up this month’s Professional Organizers Blog Carnival with a look at her favorite social networking site in Why I Love Twitter.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s edition. As you visit your colleagues’ blogs, be sure to take a moment to leave a comment or two and get to know one another.

As the Carnival continues to grow, I’d love to know what you’d like to see in the future. Specific topics for each month? Two separate carnivals, with one dedicated to organizing and the other to business ideas? Or just keep it the same?

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Professional Organizers Blog Carnival – December 2009 Edition.