Here it is once again – time for the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival! This monthly feature is a chance for you to share your best blog posts and learn from your colleagues in the organizing industry. We have a few new contributors this month, including a very special guest. I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag, so read on and enjoy!

Let’s begin with the 10 Best Reasons to Get Organized, in which Lelah Baker-Rabe shares some familiar and not-so-familiar reminders about how getting organized can improve your life.

Next, a few Organizing Products and Systems you may wish to recommend to your clients, or use yourself:

Jodi Granok has the solution for Fixing Our Food Storage Container Clutter in a photo essay, and Jeri Dansky answers a Reader Question: Organizing the Adult Toys.

Margaret Lukens describes Three everyday uses for mind-maps, and Jacki Hollywood Brown blogs about The King of Classification:

This Professional Organizer built an easy to understand, simple to apply, easily modified classification system for all life on Earth over 300 years ago!

The value of Professional Organizer Training, Certification and Credentials are discussed by Geralin Thomas in Working with Hoarders:  Training and Experience Highly Recommended and Janine Adams in Why training and credentials matter

Business Strategy is a topic that’s important to all of us, and Lisa Montanaro shares some great ideas in Time is on Your Side: 10 Ways to Reinvest in Your Business During a Slow Economy. Lisa says,

If business is slow for you, this may be the perfect time to do some of the business-building activities that you never have the time to do when you are too busy working in the business. This may also be a golden opportunity for professional development, reflection, and brainstorming.

Angela Esnouf states that:

To get change you need to make changes.  This holds true for our clients as much as it does for our businesses.

Read her post Different Actions Get Different Results for an example.

Since a carnival is all about having fun, we’ll close this one with Dave Gary‘s light-hearted way of presenting both sides of the organizing coin (at least through the eyes of one PO’s spouse) in Top 5 Reasons You Should Marry A Professional Organizer.

Thanks for stopping by, and a special thanks to everyone who contributed to this month’s Professional Organizers Blog Carnival! Be sure to read the above posts, leave some comments, and get to know one your organizing colleagues. If you didn’t participate, I do hope you’ll join us next time!

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

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!

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