NEAT & SIMPLE LIVING

Neat Living Poll Results Are IN! Your Top Organizing Challenges

Here's what my dear readers have said are their Top 3 Organizing Challenges. With this in mind, I have written several blog articles on Paper Management. I'll be doing more on Clothing and Pantry in the future!

Thank you all for your input! If you haven't voted there is still time!

Sending neat thoughts!

NAPO & NSGCD Conference 2006 Highlights

This year I attended my first NSGCD and NAPO conferences.  It was an experience I recommend highly to all Professional Organizers.  I had a chance to connect with hundreds of other organizers from all over the country and Canada too!  We shared tips, ideas, lessons learned and experiences that will enable us all to be better organizers and provide the best possible service to our clients. 

I attended over 30 hours of workshops and educational sessions on many topics of interest to me and my clients.  Here are just a few of the highlights....

• Conducting Residential Needs Assessment using the Eyes of a Stranger Method presented by Kathy Waddill, author of the excellent book "The Organizing Sourcebook"
• Coaching Skills taught by Laura Berman Fortgang, internationally recognized as a pioneer in the personal coaching field and the best-selling author of "Living Your Best Life" and "Take Yourself to the Top" and the new, "Now What?: 90 Days to a New Life Direction."  She was amazing! I bought all her books and her CD training program as well. 
• Every Child Has a Thinking Style: Creating an Organizing System that Supports Their Needs by Lanna Nakone, author of "Organizing for Your Brain Type" and "Kids Can Be Organized Too!"
• Action Paper Management: Can't File 'em, Can't Trash 'em. Now What?
  by Rachel Claret.  She presented great ideas on paper management and how to determine which system will work best for different clients.
• Mindful Listening to Optimize Outcomes with Rebecca Shafir, author of "The Zen of Listening: Mindful Communication in the Age of Distraction" She covered effective communication strategies to help ADD clients succeed.
• Working with Chronically Disorganized Clients
• Current Techniques in the Treatment of Compulsive Hoarding with Dr. Randy Frost
• Reframing the Mind:  Helping Clients through the Process of Change with Phyllis Flood Knerr, CPO-CD
• Laying the Foundation for Getting Organized with Marilyn Paul, author of "You Can't Make a Difference if you Can't Find Your Keys"  Sharing her painful experience with recovering from chronic disorganization was both moving and enlightening. 

Attending these conferences helped me confirm that I made the right choice in becoming a professional organizer and renew my commitment to my mission -
Helping people transform their lives by empowering them to overcome chronic disorganization and clutter.

I also met some amazing people whose passion and dedication to helping others was inspirational and affirming.  I made many new friends that I look forward to staying in touch with. Lots of love goes out to Julie Muller, Liz Maffucci, Deb Hendrickson, Michael Delfausse,  Hildy Neumann, Klara Carames, Holly Graff, Molly Brady, Lynn Tapper, Barbara Boone, Jennifer Wry, Theresa Torres, Kim Rente, Ann Gambrell, Sheila McCurdy, Jean Goetz, Marla Dee and to my NJ Chapter friends Gayle Gruenberg and Victoria Pearlman - You made my conference experience truly wonderful! 

Thank you all!

Here are a few pictures from the conference...

Me with my new friend, Julie Muller, from Peace of Mind in Bend OR

Me with another new friend Molly Brady

Me with another new friend Victoria Pearlman

Neat Way to Store Stuffed Animals!

This is really neat! You will love it as much as the kids do!  The bars are flexible so the kids can easily get things in and out by themselves!  A really genious solution! Click the closeup picture to see an animated demo!

To learn more about the "The Zoo" click here!

Neat Kid's Playroom, Art & Craft Room Makeover Photos & Tips!

I finally got a chance to put up some more Before & After Photos! 

I gotta tell you it's not easy doing these.  Especially when all the furniture is re-arranged!   Or when you can't stand in the same spot to take both pictures.  Or when there's a lot of time between shots and you can't remember where you stood or whether the camera was vertical or horizontal!  Or sometimes I'm so focused on helping the client I forget to take the before shots.  And of course not everyone wants me to take pictures.  So when someone does agree I try to be as respectful as possible.  I truly appreciate my clients that are willing to share their photos in the hopes that it will help someone else.  I hope they help you!  So go have a look around my gallery!

Here's the link to see a neat playroom!  http://www.neatandsimple.com/gallery/kids.html

Enjoy!

Is it Personality? or Attention Deficit Disorder

Here's a great article for anyone who wonders if they have ADD, or feels maybe they are just really creative and get bored easily.  Like me!  I've always needed lots of variety, creativity and challenge in my work...I'm an ENTP!  I took this many years ago and scored off the wall on iNtuitive Thinking.  And you might think that being a P who enjoys spontaneity is a life sentence to being disorganized...but it's not true!  At least not in my case.

For me it was actually a driver.  I need to be organized so I can really enjoy being spontaneous! I HATE wasting time looking for stuff when I could be helping someone, reading, learning something new, or writing in my blog!  So that's always driven me to explore better and better ways to organize!

Being a creative personality just means we have to apply all that creativity to finding ways to make organizing easy! 

The article provides an insightful overview of personality types (which I sometimes use to help people figure out their organizing style) and discusses the similarities of certain types with ADD...very interesting reading.  Enjoy!

Link: Temperament Types and Attention Deficit Disorder.