GO Month Project: Organizing the PKD Foundations' New Office Space

January is NAPO's National Get Organized (GO) Month. It is a time for professional organizers around the world to give back to their community and educate the public about what we do and how it can be of help.

The professional organizers in Kansas City are giving back to our community by helping the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation. The PKD Foundation is the only organization, worldwide, dedicated to fighting polycystic kidney disease (PKD). The mission of the PKD Foundation is to: "Promote programs of research, advocacy, education, support and awareness in order to discover treatments and a cure for Polycystic Kidney Disease and improve the lives of all it affects."

We will be organizing their mail and storage rooms when they move into their new office space. Since their move doesn't take place until the end of February our GO Month project will not be finished until then. We didn't want to miss this opportunity to give the PKD staff a fresh, organized and productive start in their new offices.

Yesterday, three other organizers and I toured the PKD's national headquarters' current office space and then traveled to their new office space. We compared and planned how they could fit their current inventory into the new space to create optimal productivity, be visually appealing AND be easy to maintain.

Ray Smith, the National Director of Finance and Administration, commented, "The timing could not have been more perfect...Before construction begins on the new space we now have a plan to best organize our storage and mail room supplies AND a list of things to do to get ready for the move! Thank you!"

Be looking for the before and after photos in early March when the project is complete!

I am the Winner of the NEW $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook

Is there anything better than finding out you WON something?! I sat down this afternoon to check my email and read that I had won the brand new $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook! Laura, over at I'm an Organizing Junkie, has wonderful giveaways and product reviews along with her very informative blog that I subscribe to and love to read. I sign up for as many of the giveaways as I have time for and I have WON a very exciting prize.


Erin Chase, the $5 Mom, has a wonderful story. Visit her blog and read about her and her talents! Her website has TONS of deals that she finds out about and shares with her readers. She gives the links to print coupons or sign up for these deals. It is amazing. She has just published her cookbook where every meal in it she has made for $5! I cannot wait to see it, learn from it and cook from it. I spend way too much money on groceries and am not a coupon/deal queen. Since I do cook most of our meals from scratch though I am very excited to learn some new tips and recipes! Thanks, Erin and Laura!

FREE Program To Learn How To Achieve Lifelong Goals

I have just been introduced by Laura, over at I'm An Organizing Junkie, about a FREE program that started January 5th (but you can still join in). It is being given by Darren Hardy, publisher of Success Magazine. The program is called Designing the Best 10 Years of Your Life: Your Personal Strategic Plan for Achieving Lifelong Goals. Click here to visit his site and watch an 8 minutes video from Darren himself explaining exactly what he is doing in this one-time-only-FREE event. To register you will need to enter your email address in the right column on his site.

What a better time than NOW to strategically plan and learn how to achieve your goals. Darren does explain that he learned this skill when he was 18! Please feel free to forward this to friends, family or colleges so they, too, can join in. Lets do it together!

I love in the video when he says that the motivation and commitment we have when we sign up will disappear in a couple of weeks (isn't that the truth!) BUT that is when we need to push ourselves and keep going, completing the process! I will keep you posted on my progress. Keep me posted on yours!

2010 Workout Motivation

Okay, I don't know about you, but when I am on the treadmill my brain tells me things like, "You are going to DIE!" "You cannot make it!" "Stop NOW, you cannot go another step!!!" Do you all feel like this? I have found it helpful to have distractions - pictures, verses, very loud music on my ipod - to motivate me to keep going.

I also need new contests, programs or ideas to keep motivated. This year my sister-in-law and I are having a 12 week contest. I won't give you the details but I have my workouts planned -thanks to my personal trainer brother-in-law. Now it is just making sure I do those workouts!

As some of you may know my motto for 2010 is...

live Simple. dream BIG.

This week I spent some time enhancing (I had a few things up from last year) my motivation! I wanted to share this picture with you all!


I love it! The first thing I see is my motto which starts my mind to thinking, dreaming, planning... When my brain is telling me to quit I look at the two girls running and my "brain talk" changes! It says, "They are doing it, so can you!" "She is going up that mountain, look how beautiful it is." "Look at their muscles!" When I get bored I read my verse for the year and recommit to it in every area of my life.

It is nothing fancy - just a simple, unpainted cement wall! But, it works! Please share what motivates you!

Shelf Dividers

I LOVE shelf dividers! You can order them from The Container Store for about $7.00 a pair. They really do their job - which is to keep your shelves orderly! I also LOVE before and after pictures and have included some from a recent client's armoire. We used shelf dividers to keep her beautiful sweaters organized!

2010 - Paper or Electronic?

I am now "officially" a writer and have been published in The Great Calendar Debate!! This is a must read for the month of December - the end of 2009 - as we embark on a new year.

Twenty-one experts weigh-in with Stephanie Calahan, of Calahan Solutions, on which is better: paper or electronic...How to choose the right system for YOU for 2010! Valuable information, a fairly quick read plus recommendations, pros and cons and links to each preferred product. Don't miss it!! Leave a comment below on what you use or what you are going to use for 2010!

Jewelry Perfection!

Ever wonder what to do with all of your jewelry?? Before deciding, think through this question: Do you have more drawer space, closet hanging space or more wall/over-the-door space? Once you figure this out there are three types of products I would recommend...

If you have more drawer space I would suggest velvet, stackable jewelry organizers that can be found at Bed, Bath and Beyond or other similar stores. They have a wide variety for rings, bracelets and necklaces.

If you have more room in your closet hanging from a rod try this Hanging Pocket Jewelry Organizer. There are a several places to find these with a lot of variety as well.

If you have room behind your closet door or wall space in the closet, or close by, try this Over-the-Door Organizer with the option to mount it on the wall. It has a LOT of room for all types of jewelry! Here is a picture where I used it with one of my clients.

Whatever your unique jewelry situation think through which option would be best for you and have fun organizing, and possibly discovering, all of your jewelry!