January 2009
Dear Friends of Living Simply,Thank you for five fabulous years! As we celebrate our anniversary this month, we’re also celebrating our new name - Simplicity.
We’ve worked hard to meet your needs by greatly expanding our service offerings and the growth in our client base has been gratifying. Although our business has grown and changed, our central tenet, simplicity, has never wavered.
Let us help you carve order out of disorder and calm out of chaos. Your home and your life can become outward manifestations of your inner longings. We look forward to being your partner on your quest for simplicity.
Happy New Year,
Carson
Carson
2009 dawns with good intentions that are much easier to make than to keep. Holiday excesses are fresh in people's minds. Couple that with a yearning to live more healthy and productive lives, and getting organized becomes tops on many people’s list of resolutions. So what can you do to enhance your chances of success this year?
1. Be realistic: Remember, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
2. Celebrate small accomplishments: Since “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
3. Ask for help: Because “many hands make light the work.”
The clutter, chaos and disorganization that you want to conquer wasn’t created overnight and won’t be banished overnight. Your goals should be realistic. Start by making a list of projects you want to tackle. What will be your definition of success? If you have a busy family and work responsibilities outside the home, your success might look very different from that of the retired, empty-nester. Prioritize the organization tasks and projects. Estimate how long each will take. Be sure you have the necessary tools and supplies to do a good job. Remember, anything worth doing is worth doing well. A household that hums is surely a worthy goal.
The hardest part of getting organized is simply getting started. The enormity of the project can sandbag you from the outset. Now that you’ve identified and prioritized your problem areas, try this simple trick. Spend ten minutes filling two trash bags - one with actual trash and one with items for donation. Set a timer and spend only the allotted 10 minutes. When the timer goes off, you’re through until the next day when the exercise is replayed. At the end of a week, deliver the donation bags to your preferred charity and congratulate yourself on the progress you’ve made. The good news is that success breeds success.
When getting organized becomes a family affair, the rate of progress increases exponentially. If everyone played a part in creating the clutter, it seems only fair that everyone should help with the de-cluttering. If your organizational dilemma is overwhelming, outside help makes sense. A professional can provide whatever level of support you desire. Maybe all you need is the road map and a bit of assistance with the start. Maybe you want regular sessions with your organizer to tackle specific projects. Or maybe you want to have the organizational “swat team” descend on your home and not leave until there’s “a place for everything and everything’s in its place.”
Just remember, your home is the center of your family’s universe. With a bit of time and attention, it can be the sanctuary you all crave. If you’ve resolved to really get organized in 2009, Simplicity would love to help.
1. Be realistic: Remember, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
2. Celebrate small accomplishments: Since “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
3. Ask for help: Because “many hands make light the work.”
The clutter, chaos and disorganization that you want to conquer wasn’t created overnight and won’t be banished overnight. Your goals should be realistic. Start by making a list of projects you want to tackle. What will be your definition of success? If you have a busy family and work responsibilities outside the home, your success might look very different from that of the retired, empty-nester. Prioritize the organization tasks and projects. Estimate how long each will take. Be sure you have the necessary tools and supplies to do a good job. Remember, anything worth doing is worth doing well. A household that hums is surely a worthy goal.
The hardest part of getting organized is simply getting started. The enormity of the project can sandbag you from the outset. Now that you’ve identified and prioritized your problem areas, try this simple trick. Spend ten minutes filling two trash bags - one with actual trash and one with items for donation. Set a timer and spend only the allotted 10 minutes. When the timer goes off, you’re through until the next day when the exercise is replayed. At the end of a week, deliver the donation bags to your preferred charity and congratulate yourself on the progress you’ve made. The good news is that success breeds success.
When getting organized becomes a family affair, the rate of progress increases exponentially. If everyone played a part in creating the clutter, it seems only fair that everyone should help with the de-cluttering. If your organizational dilemma is overwhelming, outside help makes sense. A professional can provide whatever level of support you desire. Maybe all you need is the road map and a bit of assistance with the start. Maybe you want regular sessions with your organizer to tackle specific projects. Or maybe you want to have the organizational “swat team” descend on your home and not leave until there’s “a place for everything and everything’s in its place.”
Just remember, your home is the center of your family’s universe. With a bit of time and attention, it can be the sanctuary you all crave. If you’ve resolved to really get organized in 2009, Simplicity would love to help.
In addition to our tried and true services, we’ve added “A Year of Simplicity” to our menu for 2009. It incorporates the three steps outlined above. By committing to work on a specific project or problem area each month, you’re setting an achievable goal. Having scheduled a monthly block of time with your Simplicity associate, you’ve already taken that first step - the hardest one - toward an organized household. And finally, an experienced organizer will lighten your load enormously. Working side-by-side, you’ll learn the tricks of the trade so you can maintain the organization you’ve labored so hard to achieve. For more details, see A Year of Simplicity.
We have many additions to our menu of services and will profile them in upcoming newsletters, starting with “A Year of Simplicity”. It’s the perfect one for capitalizing on your enthusiasm for a fresh start in the new year. Begin this package (a four-hour block of organizing time for 12 consecutive months) in January and bask in the satisfaction of being able to scratch “get organized” from your list of goals for 2010!
Reduce Paper Clutter and Go Green in 2009
In 2008, over 650,000 people visited www.proquo.com to register to reduce their postal junk mail. Why not join them! ProQuo estimates that last year alone, 96,000 trees were saved and 25 million pounds of junk mail were eliminated by folks using their service. Simplicity associates are ProQuo fans. It really works. The sign up is totally free and less junk in your mailbox is absolutely freeing.
Did you know that January is National Get Organized Month? To celebrate, Simplicity and Rubbermaid bring you the Get Organized Contest. You can win an organizational makeover for any room in your home. Contest entries must be in by January 30th. Find details and enter to win at Rubbermaid.com/GetOrganized.
Visit the Simplicity Events page regularly for news, upcoming events, important dates, contest details, and promotions.
Gift Certificates are available for all Simplicity services. Give the gift of organization to someone special in your life. For more details visit the Simplicity website or contact Simplicity today.
Happy New Year from everyone at Simplicity!
In This Month's Newsletter
Carson Tate, CPO®
Simplicity Founder & Owner
Copyright © 2009 Simplicity Consultants, LLC. All rights reserved.
1227 Coddington Place, Charlotte, NC 28211 704.362.1526
www.simplicity-organizers.com