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Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for May 2010: Organizing Tips for Busy Moms

Janet — Mon, 10 May 2010 18:32:06 +0000

This month's Blog Carnival is a belated Mothers Day gift for all the busy moms out there. Come to think of it, is there such a thing as a mom who isn't busy? I hope you'll take a few minutes to visit and comment on the posts submitted by my readers. It's a great way to network with your organizing colleagues while picking up ideas to benefit your clients or yourself!

Angela Esnouf starts us off with 7 ways to get organized in just one minute in her post, Got a Minute? Jodi Granok shares her strategy for dealing with household clutter in In a Rut? Clean it Up! In Help for moms to clear their mental clutter, Barbara Tako tells us that:

Clutter isn't always physical. Sometimes, as busy moms who lead hectic and stressful lives, we struggle with mental clutter--items we need to do, schedules we are holding in our heads, stuff we need to add to a shopping list. The mental clutter goes on and on...Try these tips to clear the mental clutter.

If mealtimes are a challenge, check out Audrey Cupo's Meal Planning For Busy Moms and Elaine Shannon's 3 Steps to Easy Meal Planning. Ellen Delap helps you prepare for summertime fun with her Six Steps to Summer Success. Unfortunately, summer fun sometimes leads to accidents, and Jacki Hollywood Brown offers a few quick tips to help busy moms to be prepared for unplanned trips to the hospital in Preparing for an Emergency. There are some really innovative products out there to help busy mothers get organized, and Krista Colvin tells us about one of her favorites, The All-in-one Schoolfolio, while Janet Baker describes The Smartest Filing System For Busy Moms. Janet says:

Happy Mother's Day! It's time to give mom a helping hand! Using smart filing system software, she can create one simple way to organize everything that needs filing and storing, no matter where it is in the house, the garage, the shed, or in storage.

Ramona Creel describes a common challenge as follows:

I have a client who is trying to simplify her life, and she would be succeeding at it beautifully, if it weren't for her family! Sometimes, it can seem like your housemates are hell-bent on making your life more complicated -- bringing in tons of unnecessary clutter, expecting you to pick up after them, and creating chaos in your schedule. For a simplicity strategy to really work, the whole team has to be on board...

Read Ramona's solution to this problem in Getting Your Housemates On Board The Simplification Train. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this month’s Professional Organizers Blog Carnival! You are welcome to submit your post on Organizing for Special Events any time up until noon on Wednesday, June 9. Be sure to come back and read the June Blog Carnival, because I have a special surprise in store for you! July's theme will be Book Reviews – we'd all love to know what organizing or business book(s) you recommend! Submission for July's Carnival will not be accepted until after June 10^th, so if you haven't yet written a review, you've got plenty of time to do so! Need some ideas? Visit The Bookstore for Professional Organizers! If you've got an idea for a future Professional Organizers Blog Carnival, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Professional Organizers Blog Carnival – September 2009 Edition

Janet — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:41:40 +0000

Welcome to this month’s issue of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival, a collection of blog posts submitted by some of the organizing consultants who enjoy reading Your Organizing Business. I'm so thrilled to be hosting this monthly feature, and I hope you'll take some time to read the various posts and get to know some of your fellow organizers.

As usual, we have an interesting variety of topics this month. Home and Family Terry shares some easy tips to get you and your clients thinking about Preparing For Disaster, explaining that

Preparing for a disaster is something that 90% of Americans know they need to do, but only 5-10% of them actually do.

Anne Blumer presents the first in a series of seven posts on organizing for Back to School. Other posts in the series will cover:

Parents Need to Stay Involved
Make Homework Routine
Use Tools Wisely
Teach Time Management
Teach Project Management
Help Them Find Their Own Way

Personal and Professional Development In How to Manage the Chaos of Transformation, Alex Fayle explains that

Renovating the soul has more in common with renovating the home than you might think... a little planning and chaos control can help through the transformation.

Margaret Lukens shares Four no-excuses ways to exercise for better productivity. Angela Esnouf describes The Journey to Expert, saying

I'm thrilled to be granted Expert accreditation and happy to share what got me there.

Collecting, Hoarding, Streamlining and Organizing All Kinds of Stuff Geralin Thomas, who is currently appearing on A&E's Hoarders, shares her expertise in Collectors and Hoarders: There is a Difference. Jodi Granok answers the question, Do Professional Organizers Ever Need to Organize Themselves? In What's In Your Memory Box? Creating an Organized Home for Your Prized Possessions, Lisa Montanaro shares her tip on dealing with personal memorabilia, and says,

A Memory Box is a great tool to use with a client that wants to save sentimental items, and get them in one place. And yes, even us organizers have Memory Boxes too! :-)

Lelah Baker-Rabe answers the question, Who needs a professional organizer? with a few warning signs that someone might be prone to overbuying and need some professional help. Jacki Hollywood Brown offers three Alternatives to Owning that will help you and your clients keep your space clutter free, while using stuff you don’t actually own. Janet Baker gives us 5 Ways to Deal with Paper using The Paper Tiger filing software. Contest! No, I don't normally include my own posts in the Blog Carnival, but I want to make sure you know about my contest, as described in Recommend a Planner and Win a Free E-Book! I've received some great entries already, but you may have an even better idea! 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! In the meantime, be sure to check out the above posts, leave some comments, and get to know one another!

Photo courtesy of Troy McCullough

Professional Organizers Blog Carnival – June 2009 Edition

Janet — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:28:38 +0000

Welcome to the first issue of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival, a monthly collection of blog posts submitted by some of the organizing consultants who enjoy reading Your Organizing Business. Please visit their blogs, read their posts, and leave a comment or two. It's an awesome way to learn something new and grow your network at the same time!

One of my favorite organizing topics is Technology, so I was very interested in Krista Colvin's review of the ScanSnap scanner. Krista says that it's "easy to take with you when you go see clients," and you can read all about it in ScanSnap me Baby! Also in the Technology category, Lauren Halagarda has posted some great instructional videos that will benefit anyone who answers "yes" to the question Got PC Clutter? She tells us that "While the post is from 8/08, I still find it quite relevant. I find most of my clients don't use a search engine or even really understand its value. This gives them the opportunity to read about them and see them in action." Amy Tokos notes that "It is travel season for families. Here are a few tips to help with the packing and planning. Enjoy!" Read Amy's advice in Organized Packing for a Family Vacation. If your clients' travel plans (or your own) involve a road trip, be sure to check out Julie Bestry's trunkload of resources for Organizing Your Car Maintenance Records. Lelah Baker-Rabe shares tips on another theme that's especially important this time of year, Preparing for an emergency. On a related note, Jodi Granok provides some valuable Emergency Information Resources. Before closing, we'll take a look at time management, as Janice Russell explains the benefits of timing activities in hosed in three minutes. Alex Fayle says that "While often people suggest focusing on only a few tasks is the best way to get things done, I do much better working on a lot of projects a little at a time." Learn more about his strategy in Productivity Marathons: Dealing with Too Long To-Do Lists. That wraps up this month's Professional Organizers Blog Carnival; I hope you enjoyed it! We'll do it again next month, so don't forget to submit your post and join the party! Be sure to come back on July 10^th for the next edition.