I work with people all the time as a professional organizer setting up their offices and creating a filing system that works for them. As we clear clutter from drawers and other places we always create piles of documents that need shredding.

Shredding is easy to do if it is done a little at a time. As a professional organizer I recommend opening mail next to a shredder so it can be done sooner rather than later. If that doesn’t work keep piles to shred to a minimum so it is doable. When we put it off and think we will get to it later it becomes more than our small shredders can handle.

Here are two options for shredding:

•Call your bank or credit union and see if they have a shred day. In our community several do offer this service quarterly for free. Or if you are a member, some institutions allow people to bring papers in to be shredded any time.
•Office Max has partnered with Shred-it and you can take your documents to an OfficeMax retail location. They charge by the pound.

When you take your documents to be shredded there is no need to separate papers or remove paper clips, binder clips or staples. It is secure and once they have been shredded into confetti-sized pieces they are recycled for uses such as household paper products.

Do you have a favorite way to shred at your home to clear clutter?

Tuesday I was privileged to be on KLGB radio in Long Beach California. My friend and professional organizer Ann Negendank of Sensible Space invited me to talk about the most Frequently Asked Questions we are asked as professional organizers.

We agree that the #1 question we are asked is, “Where do I start?” We know that everyone wants to get rid of clutter but they just don’t know where to begin; either because they don’t know how to get rid of clutter or they think it is an impossible task and feel overwhelmed.

Here are 5 surefire answers:

•It really doesn’t matter where you start; the important thing is to just start. (I personally think this is too general of an answer).
•I recommend either the bedroom or (see below the other place I suggest starting). The master bedroom is a great place to start because we all need a room we can go to and feel it is our sanctuary. A place we can go to, feel peace and shut out the outside world.
•The front entry way where we first enter our home and visitors get their first impression of our home.
•Start in a place that bothers you the most because there is so much clutter.
•Start where there is the least amount of clutter and build your momentum towards doing larger areas where you need to get rid of clutter.

Where is your favorite place to start when you want to get rid of clutter?

I love getting thank you notes. I like reading what my friends have to say about the gift or service I have done for them. I like the beauty of the cards and I love getting “good” mail. The fact that my friends took the time to write me a note makes me feel important.

I foolishly started saving thank you cards about 10 years ago. (I am aghast it has been that long). As a professional organizer I am always giving ideas and organizing tips to people when I speak and also in my book about what to do with paper that comes into our homes.

I had taken the time to fill up an entire book with cards and I placed it in a basket. Then I just piled the rest of the notes I received around it. About 4 or 5 years ago I actually looked at all of the cards and read some of the sentiments. (I haven’t looked at it since). It dawned on me that keeping these cards was taking up space and they were a dust collector—one that never got dusted.

I took a deep breath and went to work. I read some of the cards that particularly caught my attention and ooed and awed and then I put all but 5 cards in the recycle bin. It was a tad hard but I kept my goal in mind which was to get rid of clutter. The five cards I kept I put in my folder in my filing drawer labeled “cards I like”.

I’m now using this basket to contain my small hand work project I am currently working on. It feels so good to get rid of clutter! Since I hadn’t looked at them in years what was the point of hanging on to them?

We have been watching the Olympics in Vancouver. Canadians can be proud of the fantastic Olympics they are hosting.

We were watching an interview of a skier who had flown down the hill at speeds higher than I drive my car. The reporter asked what was going through her mind as she was tearing around the curves. (Don’t cha just love some of the questions they come up with?) I know I would be thinking, “please let me live and I promise I’ll never do this again”.

The skier basically said they have no fear. This is what makes them champions. Being the professional organizer that I am; I know some people are afraid when it comes to getting rid of clutter.

They say:

•But what if I need this in 6 1/6 years or longer?
•But I paid good money for it—even though I don’t like it and I never use it.
•I Might miss it. (Might? Might?)
•But it was a gift.
•I’ll make the decision later.

Do you have a fear of getting rid of clutter for any of the reasons above? It is healthy and it will make you happy to let go of clutter rather than living in the future or in the past. Have no fear and get rid of clutter today!

What a lively time we had organizing this office together. As a professional organizer it is a heady experience to dig into an organizing project and see the results change from overwhelming to fabulous.

This business woman kept saying over and over “thank you for organizing my office; I never would have gotten it this organized. When I have tried before to clear clutter in my office I got tired and I just stuffed things where ever they would fit instead of finding homes for everything”.

We found places that made sense to her when she needs to retrieve them and we set up a working filing system. (As you know, I say this all the time, Freedom Filer is my favorite filing system).

Do you have a favorite container you use to organize in your office? Clearing clutter in the office or any other room is so much easier with the right container.

I love to read. (My favorite books are murder mysteries) I have to read every night before I go to bed no matter how tired I am. However the other night I couldn’t even get through one paragraph without dozing off. So I turned off my light and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was wide awake—what was up with that? I was irritated.

As a professional organizer I have recently worked with several families who also love books. They have books stacked all over their homes (and they don’t like it as these wonderful books create clutter).

At my book signing in Colorado Friday night half the people who stopped to chat about my book had the same problem—books everywhere that were creating clutter.

Here is an organizing tip on how to clear clutter books can create:

·Instead of a traditional night stand use an attractive book case that has cupboard doors to hide the books and yet has space on top for a lamp, radio, a book, glasses etc.

What do you do to clear clutter when you have books everywhere?

What do you like best about your living room? Is it that it is free and clear of clutter. We visited someone once and were shown into their living room. (While we waited for her husband). There was a beautiful asparagus fern that had shed a few needles. She said she loved this plant because it shed sometimes and that reminded her to vacuum the room. I sure don’t need a plant to remind me when it is time to vacuum or get rid of clutter.

I took a look at my living room and I was secure in my knowledge (or so I thought) thinking there was no clutter in my living room. That is until I looked in my piano bench. There I found a scarf, a partially eaten chocolate candy bar, a beautiful print, and an old newspaper. I declare clutter can seep into just about anyplace.

•If you have your TV and DVD player in the living room keep a basket for the purpose of holding the remote controls. You can always find them and it helps with clutter control.
•A night light with an auto sensor or an LED night light (I love mine—there is never a bulb to replace and they have hundreds of hours of light) is nice to have to prevent stubbing your toe in the dark if you or someone else is in this room at night.
•When you start to get rid of clutter; start from the inside and work out. If you have bookshelves, piano bench, or an armoire start there. I know as a professional organizer this saves a lot of time.

What have you found in your living room that you have been looking for?

I was on KLBG radio show with Ann Negendank of Sensible Space today. We talked about my new book which will be in stores this December. The title is: Go Organize! Conquer Clutter in 3 Simple Steps. Here are some of the smokin’ highlights:

If you are you ready to take control of the clutter in your life then this is the book for you. It’s easier than you think. I guide you through the entire organizing process using my Lights On Organizing System, a simple but highly effective three-step process. You’ll learn how to use my Searchlight step to find the problem areas in your home, my Spotlight step to set goals and create a vision for your problem areas and my Green Light step that offers step-by-step instructions on how to physically get rid of clutter and reach your organizing goals to transform your surroundings and create an organized home that you love to live in. You get in-depth advice on organizing every area of your home including:

•The Kitchen
•Bedrooms (Master and Children’s)
•Closets & Storage Room
•Home Office & Paperwork
•Craft Room
•Laundry Room
•Bathrooms
•And more…

Plus, there is complete information on organizing memorabilia and inherited items as well as a special chapter on downsizing to help you organize for a move to a smaller living area, such as moving from a house to a condo. The best part is, you can tailor all of the advice to meet your specific needs. “There’s no right or wrong way to be organized”. What counts is that it works for you. Get rid of clutter once and for all with Go Organize!

My book will be available in major book stores this December. I am so excited! I know it will be a treasure to many people.

Does closet organizing get you down? Remember I am Showing and Sharing, these are not photos from a magazine. There are living and breathing people who use these spaces. Which means things are organized, but aren’t absolutely perfect.

As a professional organizer closet organizing is one of my favorite things to do. The messier the better as there is such great potential.

This is the hall closet. Coats are hung on wooden hangers with one hanger separating each person’s coats. This isn’t necessary, it is just something I am trying right now. On the top shelf are winter gloves and hats contained and easy to reach down when needed. The box with the vacuum bags is labeled so we don’t have to keep pulling it down and looking inside to see what is there. (I’m impressed I spelled vacuum right on the box).

An extra quilt is kept available for use in the nearby living room.

How do you clear clutter from your closet? What do you do to keep your closet organized?

We live in a wonderful world where technology is always at our finger tips if we chose it to be. In getting rid of clutter on our computers we also need to be conscious of online fraud and ID theft.

One way to protect yourself from online fraud and ID theft is with the FREE state-of-the-art Rapport security software from Trusteer. Trusteer works with leading banks to prevent criminals from taking money from your accounts. Their service has been specifically designed to combat online banking and shopping threats and represents an essential part of your bank’s security systems. (I have looked at their web site but have not signed up yet. It looks good site recommended to me by my financial institution so I am passing on this site).

Other things to do to protect yourself online:

Don’t click pop-ups and don’t download files from websites you don’t trust.
When making online transactions, be sure web addresses begin with https (not http) and look for a key or padlock icon in your browser window.
Don’t surf to other sites while you are visiting a secure banking site; finish banking, always log out and close your browser before you move on.
Don’t click links or open attachments in suspicious emails.
Never send personal or sensitive information by email.

Choose passwords that are difficult to guess and change them on a regular basis. My son-in-law who is a computer expert said to use complex passwords. A complex password has a capitol letter, a symbol, a number and lower case letters. These don’t need to be in any particular order. The people looking for personal information have programs that search by all words that are in the dictionary. By creating a complex password it thwarts their efforts to get your personal ID.

Back up your important computer files at least once a month.

As a professional organizer I work with people who have been the victims of fraud and that is why I frequently talk about protecting yourself on the internet and at home.