Clutter Support Group to Begin February 25th

Join us for a 6 week educational support group for those struggling with getting and staying organized!

There is an educational module we will cover each week, and participants will benefit from discussion and the facilitation by two Certified Professional Organizers. All members of the group will receive a Success Binder, and learning materials. This is a highly interactive group.

Location: The Productivity Center at Discover Organizing
672 Washington Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15228
Time: 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Day: Thursdays, beginning Feb 25, running through April 1

Facilitators: Jill Revitsky, CPO, and Jodi Eisner, MSW, CPO

Call 412-344-3450 or email jill@discoverorganizing.com for information on pricing and how to register.

Past participants have found this to be a very effective way to learn new ways to conquer their challenges with getting organized in their daily lives. Stop wishing your life could be simpler, start making some changes with the right support!

HOGSS Bags to be sold at Discover Organizing

We cannot wait to get these in our store!

We will be selling these portable dumpsters, packaged in a lightweight carrying bag, for $30.00 plus tax. They hold 3000 lbs. of your trash and junk - just open, fill, and give Michael Brothers Hauling a call to come pick it up!

http://www.hogss.com/


See the video here: http://www.hogss.com/id55.html


If you are renovating, or decluttering your home, this is the WAY to go!


If you fill it, they will come...

Jill is nominated President-Elect of NAPO!

I am very honored to have my nomination for President-Elect of NAPO accepted! The election is going on right now, through electronic ballot, for not only the President-Elect, but also Active Member Directors, and will be finalized by the middle of February, 2010. Officers will begin their terms of service in May 2010.

This is an exciting time in NAPO - for all types of Professional Organizers and their various business models. I am just happy that I will still be able to serve as Secretary on the Board of Directors, and continue on the board no matter what the outcome of the election!

I have been honored to be a part of such a great team of leaders thus far, and I anticipate many new and exciting milestones to come in our industry.

If any of you who read this think that you would like to enter the field of Professional Organizing, please visit the website, and let NAPO show you the way!

Plan a strategy for taking down decorations - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Plan a strategy for taking down decorations - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Here you will find a plethora, that's right, a plethora of tips on what to do with those holiday decorations!

TWO TIPS to Simplify the Holidays - Part II

This edition of TWO TIPS will focus on Gift Giving for the Holidays...cut down on clutter by sharing your time and helping the environment! These tips are especially good for the person who has EVERYTHING...

1. Give an experience!

• Buy movie passes, dance lessons, museum tickets, or spa certificates to local businesses.
• Make a card that includes "coupons" for day trips, entertainment events, etc. Be creative!
  

2. Think GREEN

• Use newspaper comic strip pages to wrap your gifts, or re-use gift bags in great condition.
• Get your friends together and give what money you would have given each other to a combined choice of charity.

Tune in next week for my quick Two Tips about Entertaining...

TWO TIPS to Simplify the Holidays - Part I

Since it is the first week of December, my TWO TIPS for you will focus on Holiday Decorating!

Keeping it Simple
How many bins/containers do you have for the Holidays? Are you dreading pulling those bins out of the attic, garage or basement? Maybe there is a reason for this. Maybe the anticipation that you used to have to get the house ready is not what it used to be, and you look more forward to celebrating the holidays in a different way than you did 5, 10, or even 15 years ago. This is OK! Maybe you enjoy going to parties and events...or taking a holiday vacation. If this is the case, then maybe decorating isn't so much your thing anymore. So why not donate your excess decorations (you still want to decorate a little, right?) to someone in need. So many people lose their decorations each year due to fire, flood, and other disasters. Some new couples are starting out with very little, and why not give them the chance to go to the donation store of your choice to purchase that angel wreath you no longer love?

Memorabilia or Decor?
Do you pull out things from your Holiday bins/containers, and then put them back in the bottom? Are they craft gifts that your kids made 10 years ago (it's ok, you don't have to get rid of them!)? If you are finding yourself putting those special items back for safekeeping, why not create a special bin just for Holiday Memorabilia? Call it such, and add to it every year, weeding as you go. There, now that paper plate angel with gold glitter will have a new home!


Next week's TWO TIPS involve gift giving. Part III will be all about Entertaining, so stay tuned!

Professional Organizer Actually Buys a Large Piece of Exercise Equipment - Hires Local Hauler

It all started with an innocent email from one of my Organizing clients.

"Jill, remember that elliptical machine you liked, the one my husband has? Well, he doesn't want it anymore, so would you like it?"

Ok, so any good, self-respecting Professional Organizer is going to ask these questions before he/she brings anything new into the house:

1) do I need it?
2) will I actually use it?
3) where will it live?
a) if I put it there, what will have to be moved or gotten rid of in order to have it fit?

Then, after answering all of these questions satisfactorily to myself, I replied:

"Yes! I would like it!"

(Excitement on both ends here)

So I called my dependable hauler/mover, Erik Snyder, who this client has used before as well, and we set it all up. I also mentioned that we were going to be doing some yard work this weekend, and would be pulling out some debris from the summer/fall that he could take with him to dispose of once he delivered the machine. Since he was going to have an empty truck, we worked it out that he would load it the same morning. (yeah!)

My great client was very flexible with the timing, and Erik was very communicative and prompt about when he could do the pick-up and delivery. We settled on Sunday morning (today).
I was hoping that worked out for everyone involved, as I was hoping to get it all done before church and the Steelers game!

I rearranged some things, and the big day arrived - Erik was early, friendly, and professionally dressed. His truck had a hydraulic lift gate on it, so he just lowered the machine to the ground, and rolled to my backyard, and easily got it to its new home in my basement, facing the TV. He even moved a loveseat, on his back, mind you, to its new home across the room.

He then loaded his truck with my junk from the yard and under the porch - I paid him easily with my debit card, and he was gone by 10:30. It was a very reasonable fee for all the work he did!

Erik is also great at moving furniture within your house, or in an office setting - he has a great, strong, insured team of professionals to help with any moving project as well!

Erik's Hauling and Moving 412-758-9736

Several of my customers absolutely swear by him - and wouldn't use anyone else!

Getting the machine here was the easy part, now I just have to figure out how it works...