May is National Move Month

Is moving day fast approaching? Based on the Employee Relocation Council, moving to a new residence is the third most stressful life event (after dying and divorce or separation). To ease the disruption, try these tips to help make your move easier.

1. Think about “staging” your home. This approach to neutralizing, decluttering, organizing, and beautifying helps prospective buyers to imagine themselves residing inside your home by touching on their emotions and thoughts. Staging also begins the “letting go” process for the sellers, as they adjust their much loved home to a more neutral-looking house. Staging will help you sell your home fairly quickly, at the best possible selling price.
2. Schedule your move date at a minimum of four to six weeks in advance. Typically the most popular months for moves include May through September and the very beginning and end of each month. So if you’re contracting a moving company, get in touch with them soon.   Connect with family and friends for reliable moving company recommendations. 
3. Begin packing up seldom-used belongings now. Check with your grocery market to get cardboard boxes for you. Pack heavier items in smaller sized boxes and less heavy items in bigger boxes. 
4.  Organize your boxes. Number each box and label which room it belongs in. Keep a separate list indicating the box number and its contents. You can create this list in MS Word, Excel, or The Paper Tiger. When you get to your new place, unpack everything as soon as possible. (Paper Tiger users, create a new database!) 
5. Complete change-of-address forms at the post office or online. And be sure to update vital records and documents including your address and phone number (e.g. driver’s license, checks). If you still have physical phone books with notes all over them, bring your existing phone books to your new home in case you will need get in touch with folks in your old town. 
6. Transport valuable items personally. Irreplaceable family pictures, heirlooms, and financial and legal documents should be packed and moved by you preferably instead of the moving company. 
7. Mail out postcards to family and friends with your updated address and phone number, along with a photo of your new home! My recommendation is to automate it using Send Out Cards.

If you are in the metro Phoenix area and need some help organizing your move, call me now at 480-442-2014.

Organization on the GO

6 Travel Accessories and Connected Devices So You Can Get Up and Go https://insidersguide.vzw.com/home-and-family/0012-travel-accessories/

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Closet inspiration

Tour A Colorful, Organized LA Closet http://www.housebeautiful.com/decorating/organize/catt-sadler-closet-elle-decor?spr_id=1451_52327683&src=spr_TWITTER

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Investing in a Business Coach or Professional Organizer

In an interview, I was asked how do I help people see the value in investing in personal productivity?

My response was that I learned to be very focused on what I am truly passionate about and to concentrate on the outcome and the completion of what it takes for individual personal productivity. Like my clients, I strive to not get distracted by the shiny objects. Just as I coach my clients, I avoid the peripheral “things,” the “maybe we should look at that too or look at this.” I focus on the simplified methodology for the issues they are dealing with, and that is really where I am the most successful.

I have clients who ask me to do things that are off my radar screen and although I may have a good experience, professional or personal, it’s really not in the mainstream of my core competencies. In those instances, I’ve learned that I have to say no and work with my wonderful network of colleagues from mastermind groups, The National Speaker’s Association, and other associations. I find other professionals and recommend my clients to those individuals and let it go. That’s where I feel I can be most of service, and I really learn from that. It doesn’t have to be all about me; it’s really all about the client.

People sometimes feel ashamed of where they are, and they are embarrassed to say that they need help. Oftentimes, they think they should have figured it out by now. At other times, they believe that someone in their organization, who already shares in their pain and knows the challenges, will be able to fix things. They consider using someone from the inside rather than bringing in an outsider. The issue with using insiders is that they may be enmeshed in the problem themselves and lack a sense of objectivity. Having an outsider, such as me, come in and take a look offers the organization that objective, non-judgmental, bird’s eye view. I am there to assess and analyze the problem, identify the root causes, and offer solutions that, once implemented, will result in consistent, positive, and efficient outcomes.

I always like to remind people that they're in business because they wanted to do something they care deeply about. Maybe they run an international nonprofit organization or want to be a physician heading up a healthcare company. That’s what their passion is, and my passion has always been analyzing methodologies to help people be more efficient. I’ve worked with so many different people through different industries—entrepreneurial to large organizations—that I can make more expedient decisions and not just set up little packages of quick fixes or band aid containers for how things should look. I can really give them systems that are repeatable and transferable to other people. Once those systems are in place, they will be there for the long haul. Their investment in me and my services is really a significant and worthwhile value to them and their organization.