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How can I get organized?

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Sandra Polett
Professional Organizer
Guest Post Interview

Today I’d like to introduce a wonderful professional organizer I met last summer at Peets Coffee in Irvine, California. Sandra Polett recently organized a get-together for a group of women at her home and I could immediately tell she practices the art of organization. Everything in her home was in its place, her table was professionally decorated with home-made flower arrangements, a pink tablecloth and cones filled with candy for a Valentine’s brunch.

Interview with Sandra and helpful tips on how to get and stay organized right away.

1). What is the first thing you do when asked to help someone?
First and foremost I interview the person to see if they are really committed to investing the time and money necessary to do the job. The next thing I do is try to determine if our personalities are a good fit. I work very closely with my clients and am privy to a lot of personal information about their lives. They have to feel comfortable with me. A sense of humor is definitely an added plus. If I feel I am not the right person for the job I will not take it. I have a network of very capable organizers that I am familiar with and I will refer it to someone I think is a better fit if necessary.

2). What is the number one project you are called to help with?
Paperwork. Despite all the hoopla about the paperless society we are far from it. In some ways it has gotten worse because of all the new written disclosures that the government requires of financial institutions, a deluge of “pre-approved” credit card applications and all the new paperwork the schools require regarding internet use, use of children’s’ photos, bullying etc . We are all drowning in paper.

3). What is the Number One task we can do to stay organized?
I call it “defragging”. When you finish a project, finish the project. By this I mean if you come home from a trip take 10 minutes to go through all the reservations, local tourist maps etc and throw out what you don’t need and file the rest. When you finish having the new windows installed throw out all the competitor’s quotes you didn’t use and all the post it notes you accumulated during the process. Most people heave a sigh of relief that the project is done, throw the debris on top of the pile and go to the next thing. With our busy lives it adds up fast.

My favorite “stay organized” tip for people with children is to do a “walk through” before bed each night. Walk through every room in the house and see if there is anything of theirs that is not in its place. Collect all the hair brushes, shoes, and library books and put them in their place. If you do this religiously and don’t let it build up it only takes a few minutes.

4). What is your favorite project?
Paperwork. Sounds crazy but I am a real dot your i’s cross your t’s kind of person and have a financial background so it is really rewarding to help someone who is overwhelmed and unable to determine what to keep, what to throw and how to organize important paperwork. While looking at clutter all day is definitely stressful I think knowing that you are not on top of your important paperwork is even more stressful. Missing a deadline or being unable to find something you need for taxes can snowball into a situation with serious consequences. My second favorite thing is bedroom closets. Who doesn’t enjoy looking at clothes and shoes and making them beautiful?

5). If you like a home that’s clutter free, and your spouse is the opposite, what advice can you give?
Bring in an objective third party. Often when an outsider asks the person in a very pragmatic way to explain why they are keeping a particular item they have to admit that they are not being logical. A man I worked with who had an entire garage full of Motor Trend magazines comes to mind. He said he might need to refer back to them when he was fixing up an old car he planned to restore. I asked him how he would ever go about locating a specific article pertinent to his need. After some thought he admitted he wouldn’t and would probably “just go to the internet instead”. It was like an “Aha” moment for him. His wife had tried for years to get him to purge but the conversation was always fraught with too much emotion thus putting him on the defense.

6). What is your one “GUTSY” tip?
This is a tough one, and definitely requires guts, but start the dialogue with elderly relatives now. If you have an elderly relative with a house chock full of a lifetime of belongings try to get them to understand what a burden it will be for their loved ones. To have to deal with cleaning out an overstuffed home at the same time you are dealing with all the logistics of moving a loved one into a downsized living arrangement or dealing with grief when they pass away is a recipe for disaster . The stress in these “under the gun” clean outs is almost unbearable for the family and creates anger, resentment and a lot of mistakes in judgment.

7). Who is your “ideal” client?
One who is really engaged and excited about the process and especially those who hug me at the end of the job and tell me the weight of the world has been lifted from their shoulders. It is so gratifying to see their stress melt away and know that I was instrumental in making that happen.

Who is Sandra Polett?

Currently living in California, Sandra was born and raised in Delaware, has a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics from Hood College in Maryland and has also lived in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
She spent 15 years in the pension planning industry and has a Q.P.A. (Qualified Pension Administrator) designation from the American Society of Pension Actuaries. She also worked in the Regulatory Affairs department of Merck & Co. Pharmaceutical and been a feature writer for the Branchburg News in New Jersey.
Sandra has been a professional organizer for over six years and is a Golden Circle member of The National Association of Professional Organizers and the Organizer’s Network of Orange County. She organizes both homes and small businesses.
She has been married for twenty – six years, has one teenage daughter and is a volunteer with her local chapter of The National Assistance League.

She can be contacted at spolett@cox.net or (949) 838-6807.

Any questions for Sandra? Any organizing tip you can’t wait to have answered, please ask Sandra, and she’ll answer in the comments section.

Is blogging messing with your mind?

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For once, I’m determined to get my posts ready for the week. It’s Sunday afternoon and I’ve been glued to my office chair, staring at my computer for several hours. What the hell am I doing? the sun is shining and I’m inside my kitchen writing. (No need to tell me I’m crazy, I already realize that thank you.)

Fortunately, I find a blog post that resonates with what I’m thinking today and it’s called: “5 ways fear can mess up your blog,” by Tess Marshall from The Bold Life.

Tess points out “5 ways fear steals your joy and what action you can take in order to enjoy life and the blogging process.” Please hop over to read her great advice.

1. You obsess about the competition.
2. Your content Lacks pizzazz.
3. You Doubt Yourself.
4. You’re unmotivated and stuck.
5. You want to give up and quit.  
  
“Become aware of how many times in one day you wish for a better and bigger blog and all that goes with it?

Now estimate how many times a day you say to yourself,’My life is great just the way it is today!'”

Of course Tess is right, but once you get bitten by the blogger bug, it’s very difficult to erase it from your mind; especially when you’ve been asked to join a panel and speak about “Beyond Blogging” at the Orange County Branch of the California Writers Club.

A romantic dinner at home.

Last night I set a romantic table next to our fireplace. I had candles, roses in a vase, and champagne flutes ready for our dinner. With the kids gone, my husband and I can finally have romantic dinners at home. As we sip our champagne with some smoked salmon appetizers, I ask him, “Do you think I’d spend as many hours in front of my computer if we moved back to Ambergris Caye? (Photo at the top is from Ambergris Caye where we lived from 2004-2005. This is Victoria House, a beautiful resort on the island.) Before he has time to answer, I say, “I’m sure I’d blog and spend hours on my laptop.” In a way I’m scared Gutsy enough to admit that blogging and writing is my obsession, but since statistics show that women outnumber men in the social media world, perhaps society has created a new female disease that requires a new form of treatment.

So my question to you is: “Is blogging messing with your mind?” If so, in what way? 
This question is for men too. Please ask your friends and share.

Has blogging improved your writing?

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Belize: A place that inspires me to write.

Sandra Lee from Always Well Within, wrote a post “Has Blogging Murdered Eloquence and Elegance?” that inspired my article today. I wanted to write about something that’s been bothering me but didn’t have enough to add, until I found Sandra’s article.

Sandra asked her readers some interesting questions regarding their writing styles. I have listed them below, but would urge you to read her detailed post.

1). Have you altered you writing style as a blogger?  Where do you draw the line?
Have you simplified your writing style?

2). Do you use formulaic headlines?  If not, how do you write effective headlines?
For example: 10 easy ways to get organized today.

3). Which words turn you in the opposite direction?
Sandra mentions words such as awesome, killer, kick-ass, dude.

4). What do you think about the use of swear words and vulgarity in blog posts?

My response to several of her excellent questions and points is: Who is your audience?
If you’re appealing to a young crowd of 20-30, your writing needs to relate to them. Since I cannot write like twenty-somethings speak, (half the time I don’t understand my own sons,) they are probably not my audience.

I added two of my own questions below.

5). Has blogging improved your writing skills? We all put more time and effort into writing and editing our blog posts than we would in an e-mail to a friend. My problem is I speak French and Danish, and notice after I’ve read or spoken French, my sentence structure is incorrect in English. (How do you like my excuse?)

6). Have you ever left a comment on someone’s blog you regretted after you clicked submit?
When I’m in a hurry or over-tired, I have commented without thinking before I hit submit.

This happened to me the other day on another excellent guest post, “5 Steps to Captivating Readers With Your Secret Message,” by Carol Tice on Copyblogger. Copyblogger is huge, the Guardian named it one of the world’s 50 most powerful blogs.) And this is what I wrote:

“I don’t have a secret message. I want my readers to share their opinions and encourage them to be open. I love cross-cultural comparisons from around the world regarding topics that we can all relate to in one way or another. Thanks for asking.”

After you read “5 Steps to Captivating Readers With Your Secret Message” you realize I did not pay attention to the article’s main focus. It was about how our writing is an opportunity to tell readers what we’re about; to convey our personality, passions, expertise, and attitude.

I realized my stupidity, or shall we say, “misinterpretation” and tried to redeem myself by writing a second comment in the Reply section, to myself (like the world cares!)

“I hope to be authentic in a Gutsy way, that inspires viewers to think about everyday issues in unusual ways.”

Please hop over to Sandra Lee’s “Has Blogging Murdered Eloquence and Elegance?” and Carol Tice’s article on Copyblogger’s  “5 Steps to Captivating Readers With Your Secret Message” to help with your writing and content.

Please share anything you care to about your writing and commenting experiences.

Pitching at a conference is like bull-running.

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My mind is foggy after two full days of networking, listening to presentations by agents, editors and publicists, and pitching my memoir.

This SDSU (San Diego State University) writers’ conference is known for being intense, especially when so many are hoping to get an agent or editor to fall in love with their work.

Here’s how the pitching sessions work. Prior to the conference, you’re allowed to select one agent or editor to do an advanced reading of your your first ten pages, and as many consultations as you wish to pay for.

This is what it felt like charging into the editors and agents appointments.

Numbered tables are set up in a large room and each agent or editor sits at his/her allocated table. Approximately fifty or so nervous and excited writers line up outside the room and charge into the room when told. Just like spectators chancing their luck in the streets of Pamplona, Spain, during the bull-running, here we are fifty or so writers chancing our luck at landing an agent or an editor. A bell rings two minutes before the session is over, and you realize your ten precious minutes are up.

During my third appointment, another woman took my seat. I couldn’t believe it. Had I made a mistake? It so happens she missed her 1 p.m., meeting and arrived at my 1:12 appointment instead. There am I waiting for her to get out of the chair as the clock is ticking. She’s negotiating with the agent to give her another appointment. Meanwhile, I’m losing precious time, but fortunately this agent liked my pitch and requested 50 pages.

If you’ve attended a writers’ conference, you’ll understand the mixture of emotions that comes from a weekend of intense workshops, networking, and getting the attention of an agent or editor. It’s exhausting for all attendees, and I admire the agents and editors for coming to the west coast from New York, where numerous canceled flights and delays due to snow, caused them to wait for hours at the airport.

So how did it go? I’ve been asked to submit 50-70 pages to two agents, my first chapter to two, and invited to contact three others. I am now on the second phase of my journey, and feel like a nap right now, before I can cope with the marketing proposal I have to work on.

By the way, all agents and editors, expect an online presence and about 10-20,000 unique hits per month. That’s significant. If you have figured out how, please share with us.

A useful tip on pitching to editors and agents.

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I’m nervous yet excited. I’m off to the San Diego State University Writers Conference to pitch my memoir to agents and editors this weekend, and my twenty-one word pitch has to wow them. I hope it does.

I’ve spent weeks, months, years, getting to this point; there’s no time or point in doubting myself. That’s not allowed. I must keep in mind that the agent and editor are in the book business and want to make money. They want to sell, therefore I need to pitch so they realize I’m thinking like they are, and not like a writer in love with her own story.

Well it’s time to be Gutsy, and say, “They will either like it or not. Who cares?”
Of course I care, but I’ve found that being relaxed, and saying to myself, “You either want me or you don’t. Your choice,” worked in my previous interviews, so I’ll try this approach again, and maybe it will work, or maybe it won’t. But I have to be me.

Please share any pitching stories you have, or useful tips.

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