Organizing for uproot and upheaval is a different story from organizing for settling into a space. Preparing for big changes in your household — which can be a happy, planned event such as a child’s graduation from high school or unplanned, such as a divorce or death — is another situation where being organized can […]
Sandra Andrews-Strasko
Specializing in working with clients with ADHD, paperwork overwhelm and chronic disorganization, Sandra Andrews-Strasko is a member of NAPO, as well as the Institute for Challenging Disorganization, where she is in the process of becoming a Certified Professional Organizer (CPO-CD). emptyyournest.com 206-818-6472
Eat at Your Desk: Your Dining Table Might be the Best Workspace
Quick two-question survey. Do you use your dining (or kitchen) table as a workspace? Do you feel just a little bit guilty about it? A large portion of people will probably have responded yes to one or both of those questions. Why the guilt? For an answer, let’s rewind to the images we saw from […]
How Comfy is Your Comfort Zone?
A great deal has been written about mental comfort zones. The internet is full of Venn diagrams with a puny circle titled “your comfort zone” and a large circle with no overlap titled “this is where the magic happens” — implying that you must leave your comfort zone altogether to experience any magic. The notion […]
How to Reclaim the Prime Real Estate in Your Own House
Most of us have some idea in our minds about what “prime real estate” means. We sometimes use this phrase to discuss a particularly good location, a convenient parking spot or even (according to the Urban Dictionary) a desirable person. We probably also think of the first rule of real estate: location, location, location. We […]
So, You Live with a Messie? Tips to Help Keep the Peace
Opposites attract: Night owls marry early birds, party people partner with homebodies and we, neat freaks, just can’t live without some messies in our life. We love them: They are our partners, our children, our aging parents. They are spontaneous, funny, out-of-the-box thinkers who challenge us to think in new ways and try doing things […]
Tools That Almost Never Work
Organizing Culprit No. 1: The Filing Cabinet The No. 1 organizing fail is the one you’d least expect: the filing cabinet. That’s right. For anyone except the most organized people, filing cabinets are where papers go to die. This unorthodox view comes from years of working with client paperwork — the most important and useful […]
Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Stuff
The more stuff you have, the more stress you have, period. This is true not only for those on television shows who need teams of people to dig them out of piles of their accumulated personal effects, but for all of us. This applies to everything you own beyond the basic necessities of life. Look […]
