Just got back from the Los Angeles Organizing Awards.  Though I didn’t win the Philanthropy Award, I had an absolute BALL and I learned something really valuable: you don’t have to make it big to make a big difference.  More on that in a later post (need to get permission from client before I can post her testimonial, but it’s a good one!).

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Here’s a picture of me with some of the biggest names in my industry sharing a Friday night cocktail at The Standard in L.A. From left: Me, Hellen Buttigieg (host of Canada’s organizing TV show, NEAT), Lisanne Oliver (Australian organizing celebrity and author of SORTED!), and Jodie Watson, organizing expert on TLCs Real Simple, Real Life.

The following night was the awards ceremony where expert organizer Peter Walsh was the presenter for my category of Philanthropy Award. He was a doll!

And me with a very good friend and fellow organizer who I met at last year’s NAPO Conference, Gail Gray of A Fresh Start. Thanks for being such a great support, Gail!

More details to come…

Just found out I’ve been dubbed ORGANIZER OF THE MONTH by OnlineOrganizing.com.

This is an especially cool month to be THE organizer since it’s GO Month (Get Organized Month) per NAPO. Wheeee!

I recently discovered a website by Smead (best known for office filing products) that is a wonderful interactive tool for people looking for help organizing their desk space or office (the #1 request I get as an organizer). The site is called Smead Organomics and it provides organizing solutions through an interactive website. With January being GO Month, there’s no better time to check out such a site.

The site is divided into five sections: My Organomics, Hot Topics, One Minute Answers, Organomics Calculator (which can figure out how much time and money is lost during organization) and Club Organomics. Each section has value and offers expert answers.

Below is an example of the kind of problem-solving information you can find on the Organomics website to help you become better organized. The right office product for your project and learning style can really make all the difference in your success in maintaining an organized office space.

According to research conducted by Smead, all work can be broken down into six different types. Once you understand the specific categories of work you do, it is easier to develop organizational techniques for each of these categories that can help you manage workloads more easily and with less stress. The different categories of work include:

Projects

Anything you work on over a period of time, or that involves multiple tasks. If you are detail oriented (there are 5 work styles detailed on the website), projects could be made easier by using Colored Classification Folders. Or if you are team oriented, 10-Pocket Project Organizers would be a good option.

Meetings

Any purposeful gathering of two or more participants where information or ideas are shared. For people who are visually oriented, meetings would be more effective with Smead’s Clear Brief Covers.

To Do Now Items

Anything you need to do right away. For goal-oriented people, “To Do Now Items” can better be managed with Smead’s Colored Poly Project Jackets, which provide room to hold task materials and can be prioritized by color.

To Do Later Items

Anything you don’t need to do, or can’t do, right away. Team oriented people are better able to handle “To Do Later Items” with Smead’s 6-pocket Weekly Organizer while detail oriented people may prefer Smead’s Daily and Monthly Desk File/Sorter.

Immediate Reference – Items you need to access right away or that you use frequently. All types of work styles can benefit by using Smead’s Viewables Labeling System, which enables people to color code different categories of information.

Future Reference– Items you don’t need to access right away, things that might be important sometime later, or items that would be difficult or expensive to recreate. Visually-oriented people as well as goal-oriented people should consider using Smead’s Colored FastTab Folders, which have a large built-in tab for easy labiling.

It’s the day after Christmas and even though I did a good toy purge before the holidays (in anticipation of the influx of new things) I am still struggling with finding a home for each and every new toy my two children received.  I am vigilant about creating a home for toys and then showing my kids where those homes are so when I say, “Put that away” they know exactly where to put it and don’t just move it to another pile somewhere else.

Still, I find myself purging yet again on December 26th.  I have started a pile by the front door of toys that didn’t make the first cut, but have made the second. Out with the old, in with the new!

In the spirit of Oprah’s “Favorite Things” and Ellen’s “12 Days of Giveaways”—oh yeah, and that Santa guy, I am joining in the season of giving.

My favorite website for organizing tools and info, Get Buttoned Up, has agreed to offer my readers some FREE stocking stuffers as well as discounts on items from their site.

Click here to shop the website and receive 25% off your purchase of $20 or more (offer good through December 26, ‘09). Just use code: 25OFF at checkout.

In addition to this discount, STARTING TODAY (12/7/09), I will be offering a giveaway-a-day for the next 6 days. You simply need to follow me on Twitter (YourHomeEditor) and when I post the giveaway for that day, the FIRST person to respond to me (via twitter OR email: heather@yourhomeeditor.com) will receive that day’s gift from the kind, awesome folks at Get Buttoned Up. I will reply to you letting you know if you won and post your name through my twitter as well. HINT: I will post that day’s prize some time between 8am – 5pm EST (do I sound like a cable installation guy or what? Lol)

Wheeeee. I feel like one of Santa’s elves. Here are a few of the very cool stocking stuffers and items we will be gifting:

ButtonedUp.coupons (2 winners)

Make someone feel truly pampered and loved this Holiday. This fun, friendly little coupon book from Buttoned Up® has 20 cleverly illustrated coupons that enable you to lighten the load of someone you love – mom, dad, roommate, or friend. The set includes coupons for everyday tasks like taking out the trash, doing the laundry, and running the errands. Each one is perforated, so you can give one coupon at a time, or the whole book at once.

Greetings.stash

The Greetings.stash™ from Buttoned Up® will make sure you don’t come up empty-handed when it counts! This nifty little package of 12 stylishly designed cards (6 birthday, 2 anniversary, 2 thank you, 2 blank) has you covered for birthdays, anniversaries…and any other occasion you can think of.

Birthday.book

The Birthday.book from Buttoned Up® functions as an extended memory bank for all of those people you want to remember on a particular date. Because it’s paper-based, it’s super-easy to use, and will never go bad or accidentally delete the records.

File.starter

Keeping household paperwork in order should make life easier, not create more work. The File.starter set from Buttoned Up® comes with ten labeled, color-coded, file folders grouped into three simple categories; Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise. Also included are two blank files for you to fill in with whatever suits your needs.

Tax.filer

This pre-labeled accordion file makes it a snap to wrangle all those forms, receipts and records that accumulate like weeds between January and April. Tabs are written in English, not in complicated financial lingo, so it’s easy to follow –”Money In,” “Money Out,” “Money Saved.” Use it to go from W-2’s to completed returns with sanity intact.

GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I googled myself (have you ever done this?) and found this old great interview I did with Tampa Bay’s SKIRT magazine (now only online). It was pretty cute so I thought I’d share it again in case you wanted to know a little bit about me before you booked me.

Do you have any questions about holiday organizing? If so, please write in and I’ll answer them!

I go on a mother/daughter trip every year with my mom. We just did our trip the first week in November to Savannah, Georgia (my first time there).  We stayed at the amazing Mansion on Forsythe Park hotel.  Here’s the room, which was a delightful combination of traditional and modern with lacquered baroque furniture and chandeliers next to mirrored nightstands:

Here’s a piece of furniture from their dining area. LOVE this shiny orange lacquer! (though I know it’s not for everyone)

But enough about the decor. The real reason I’m writing is to confess that, though on almost every day of the year I am insanely organized, while traveling, I let it all hang out.  I live like a pig.  It’s funny because I spend so much time before a trip meticulously packing my bag, organizing every last piece of clothing and every last planned detail.  But once I arrive at my destination, it’s like a “Get out of organized jail” FREE card. I leave piles of clothing and papers around the room.  I don’t make the beds.  I don’t even put the cap back on the toothpaste tube.  It goes against everything I preach and everything I am, but there’s something ’bout being on vacation that makes me treat my hotel room like an 80s Glam Rock star.  Perhaps it’s that I know it’s only for a few days.  Or perhaps I am a closet sloppy person (doubtful).

Just wanted to share that confession with you and see if I’m the only one.  Do you keep your hotel rooms ship shape when you travel?

I scanned it in so you all could see.  This was SUCH a fun process.  I worked all summer developing a curriculum for the program and got to design the patch and to see it finally come to fruition is well, awesome.

The GSWCF stands for Girl Scouts West Central Florida.  For now, the patch is only available through their regional catalog, but once it has a big enough following, it will go national.  Here is the link to the Patch Program catalog in case you or anyone you know is a troop leader and might like to have their girls become Organized for Life–and get the patch to prove it. :)  (just scroll down and click on the Organized for Life patch).

… is now up on YouTube.  Check it out!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy0ZeQunKj8

Also, you can see my 30 minute interview (!!) on Fox 13 news with Kathy Fountain here in several sections (YouTube only allows 10 min videos):

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BeHrpfGils
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6BEVKuQhaU
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgp4U1cc_FM
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai9_rz4poLI