Loose 10lbs of Clutter

Happy Organizing in 2020!

Wishing you a very happy new year!

How are you? Is your new year off to a good start? I hope so. Although I’ve had a bit of a head cold, I’m gearing up for a great year. This January marks my 12th year in business and I thank you for your support and patronage throughout the years.

Ready to Get Organized in 2020?

Follow this path to success…

pile of gifts

Best Gift Ideas Ever

BEST GIFT IDEAS EVER
Presenting Organizer friendly gift ideas:
> Give experiences and consumables instead of stuff

Share the gift of live entertainment
> A cultural experience to a play or theater***
> Tickets to a sporting event
> Movie passes or movie night
> Tickets to a concert or musical performance

Organizing with My Clients

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Who’s taking a summer vacation? Mine is planned.

  

 
 

I’m looking forward to some rest and relaxation. I’ll be on vacation from August 9th to August 25th.

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Recent Blog Articles:
Question:  In which season are you more motivated to get organized? Summer? Fall? Winter? Spring? 
 
Please share.
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Hi  Janine,
Hope all is well with you, and I hope that summer is on it’s way. I’m ready for sunshine and visits to the beach. In this newsletter I wanted to share more details about how I work with my clients and my price increase. The two articles below provide more details about my organizing consultation and my organizing process with clients. The price increase will take affect once I return from vacation, August 25th. I will be increasing my hourly rate by $10.00 per hour. If you have questions regarding how I work with my clients or the price increase please contact me by email or call me directly at 508-699-6652.

What happens during an organizing consultation?
Below are some questions that I typically ask while doing an on-site consultation. Based on the answers I ask more questions in order to get a complete picture of how I can best assist.
1. How are you feeling about having me here and showing me your home?
2. What is your goal for your home?
3. How long have you lived here? How long has your home been like this?
4. Do you want to reduce? If so, by how much?
5. What bothers you the most about your home?
6. What is your biggest stumbling block when you organize?
7. How difficult is it for you to get rid of things? What steps do you take to get rid of them?
8. How difficult is it for you to make decisions on what to keep or not to keep?
9. How good are you at maintaining order once it’s established?
10. How would you like me to help you? What do you consider my role?
11. Ideally, what would your home look like?
12. Are you willing to put in the necessary time and effort to organize?

If you want to organize on your own, think objectively and ask yourself these questions. The answers will help you plan your organizing strategy.

What are the Organizing Steps I use with my clients?
Here are the organizing steps I use.
1. Pick a target area.
2. Tackle the floor and flat surfaces first.
3. Sort like items together into categories and label each category.
4. Go through each category and decide what stays and what goes.
5. Get rid of what goes as soon as possible.
6. Decide where to put the items that are staying, even if it’s a temporary place until you can address the target area it will be in.
7. Pick another target area and repeat steps 2 through 6.
The work definitely goes faster when another person is present and physically helping you. If that person is me I also provide input, possible resources, support for decisions, and knowledge of donation and recycling options. My physical presents also helps hold you accountable to do the work, helps you stay focused and on task, and helps you make decisions more quickly and objectively. If you’d like more details I’d be happy to have a conversation.
From,

Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®
(508)-699-6652
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I’d sincerely appreciate a review:

     

If you’ve worked with me in any capacity, I’d be grateful for a review.  Simply click on this link and answer 2 questions.  Thank you and happy organizing!
Organized client closet

Helpful Organizer Newsletter January 2019

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Celebrating
11 years in business
in 2019!
 
 
Thank you for supporting me and my business. I’m pleased to be celebrating my 11th year in business. A special thank you to all my clients both past and present. I value and appreciate your trust, collaboration

and fortitude.

 
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Recent Blog Articles:
Question:  Does your New Year Resolution involve organizing?
 
Please share.
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Hi,
      Happy New Year! How are you? What does your 2019 have in store for you? Any plans to organize, reduce, and let go of stuff? If so, I’d like to hear about your plans, please email me. This year I’m excited to plan a town recycling event and to embrace minimalism.

Closet Clean Out
Did you know the best day to clean a closet is laundry day? On laundry day everything you like is in the laundry being washed and your least-favorite items are still in your closet. So, this is the perfect time to make decisions on what hasn’t been worn.
Did you know that we wear 20% of what we own 80% of the time? Laundry day is the best day to scrutinize that unworn 80% and consider giving some(or all) of it away.
Therefore, on your next laundry day, I’d like to encourage you to be decisive about your unworn clothes, while your favorite clothes are spinning and rinsing. If you need some help deciding what to keep and what to let go of, below are a few more articles that will offer some guidelines and direction.
Please share with me your results.

Resources for Less
In keeping with the theme of reducing the amount of clothing we have, I’d like to introduce you to Project 333 by Courtney Carver. It is the minimalist fashion challenge that invites you to dress with 33 items or less for 3 months. I have not personally done this challenge, but I continually weed through my closet and practice seasonal purging of my wardrobe. If you try Project 333 I’d love to hear about your experience. Please share.
I feel like I must mention the hot topic of Marie Kondo who is the author of The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. She has a new Netflix series that is creating a lot of buzz. All I want to say is that if it works for you, do it, but if it doesn’t that’s okay!
From,

Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®
(508)-699-6652
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I’d sincerely appreciate a review:

       

If you’ve worked with me in any capacity, I’d be grateful for a review.  Simply click on this link and answer 2 questions.  Thank you and happy organizing!
one dollar bills

Shopping Guidelines

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Celebrating
10 years in business
in 2018!
 
 
I apologize for not sending out a newsletter in July. I was traveling and the summer just flew by. However, I did write some blog articles that you may find inspiring and interesting. Please see below.   
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Recent Blog Articles:
Question:  Have you ever experimented with minimalism? Please share.
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Hi  ,
      How are you? Can you believe it is already the end of October? Summer has come and gone, and once again we are gearing up for a cold, snowy New England winter. Time marches on and with winter comes the gift-giving-season. Are you ready? Would you like to do things a bit differently this year? If so, I have a few organizer friendly shopping guidelines.
  1. Make a list and check it twice (like Santa).
  2. Set limits on number of gifts to give each person and dollars to spend per person.
  3. Always shop with your list and have a specific purpose for each purchase.
  4. Buy gifts that get used up instead of things that take up space. A few examples are bubble bath, art and craft supplies, and sweet treats.
  5. Use technology as a gift-giving inspiration and acquire downloads of books, movies, and games.
  6. Purchase gifts of experience like movie passes, sporting event tickets, zoo memberships, concert tickets, and ice cream shoppe gift cards.
  7. Check out my list of clutter-free gift giving ideas.
  8. Store gifts in one spot, so you can easily see what has been purchased.
  9. Update your list each time you make a purchase.
  10. Schedule time to wrap gifts so you don’t have to stay up till 3:00AM the night before the big holiday.
 If you have other shopping guidelines that have worked for you in the past, please share them with me.

Giving Resources

Looking to clear out some stuff before adding more during the holidays?

Here are a few giving options for toys:

  1. Cradles to Crayons helps families and children in need.
  2. Project Smile works with police and fire departments
  3. Daycare centers
  4. Domestic and homeless shelters
  5. Children’s Homes
  6. Social Services
  7. Hospitals and doctor’s offices
Here are two on-line giving communities:
  1. FreeCycle
  2. Buy Nothing

Happy 2018!
I’m truly grateful for you and your support of me and my business. Thanks for helping me make it to my ten year anniversary. Wishing you all the best in the final two months of 2018 and a happy and safe holiday season!
From,

Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®
(508)-699-6652
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If you’ve worked with me in any capacity, I’d be grateful for a review.  Simply click on this link and answer 3 questions.  Thank you and happy organizing!