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If you’ve promised yourself that 2012 will be the year you finally get organized, don’t rush out and buy plastic bins and shoe holders. Instead, start your project by defining your organizing goals in specific terms. Describe what the end result will be. Next, identify what’s getting in the way (or might get in the way) of achieving your goals. Until you know what you need and want and how to cope with obstacles you may face, your organizing efforts are not likely to succeed.

What Does “Getting Organized” Mean To You?

Start with the end in mind. How will your home, office or other space look when you finish organizing it? How will it feel when you walk into that space? How will it function and how will you function in it? Yogi Berra said it best: “If you don’t know where you’re going … you might not get there.” If you cannot write down or say aloud what it is you need or want then achieving it is not likely to happen.

Let’s say you want to organize your master bedroom. read the entire article»»

You can now sign up to receive an e-mail that will let you know when I’ve posted new tips and blogs to the Central Carolina Organizing LLC website. My tips and blogs are all about helping you make your life easier and more organized and sane. To subscribe, click on the Blog button, look down the column on the right side of the page and click on Subscribe. If you decide you no longer want to receive these e-mails, you can opt out at any time (you’ll break my heart if you do, but …. OK, kidding). So subscribe. Please. Pretty please?

But don’t stop with just reading the tips and blogs. Please, please give me feedback about what you’re reading. Is it helpful? Does it make sense? What questions do you have about organizing? I really want to hear from you. Is anyone out there?

October is National Clean Out Your Files month. And right now you’re thinking, yeah, I’d rather have a root canal than tackle my files.

Take a deep breath and keep reading. Cleaning out files may not be as annoying, difficult, tedious [fill in the blank] as you think it will be. Here are five things you can easily clear out that will greatly reduce the quantity of files and paperwork you have.

1. User Manuals. If you keep user or product manuals when you buy appliances, electronics, software and home improvement items go through those manuals and be sure you read the entire article»»

September is National Preparedness Month in the United States. It’s a time to prepare for disasters such as floods, tornadoes, epidemics, civil unrest and terrorist attacks. You know the drill: buy and store enough food, water, toiletries, pet food, medication and first-aid supplies for at least three days, check on your flashlight batteries and make a plan with your family members on where you’ll meet if you’re separated during the disaster.

My question is this: Are you ready for the boredom that will probably read the entire article»»

Question: My sister says that when you get a tax receipt from a charity for donations of used clothes and household items, it’s OK to write on the receipt that you donated four bags of clothes and two boxes of kitchen items (as an example). I say that if you want to itemize the deduction for the charitable contribution on your taxes you have to have a detailed inventory of everything you donated. Which of us is right?

Answer: Great question, and one that my clients often ask. I’ll tell you what I tell them. I am not an accountant and, although I did practice law way back in the day, read the entire article»»