Organize Your Office

80/20 Rule

The 80/20 Rule is Your Friend

By Hazel Thornton | June 21, 2021 |

One of my favorite concepts in life is The 80/20 Rule. What is it? The 80/20 Rule, a.k.a. the Pareto principle, stems from observations made by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto in 1906, including the fact that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. Or, generalizing to other situations, roughly…

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10 Easy Steps to a Clutter-Free Office

By Hazel Thornton | July 6, 2020 |

More of us than ever before are working from home. A clutter-free office allows you to feel more comfortable, and therefore more focused, and productive. These 10 easy steps apply to any office, whether or not it’s a dedicated room, and no matter where it’s located. A quick, easy decluttering of your workspace does not…

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What do you love about your office? Here’s what I love about mine.

By Hazel Thornton | February 12, 2020 |

I think the key to being productive is to be comfortable and happy spending time in your office. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a corporate cubicle; a dedicated room at home with a door that closes; or another space you’ve carved out for yourself. If you love your office, great! Carry on. If you don’t,…

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Are your files backed up?

By Hazel Thornton | August 19, 2019 |

I originally wrote this post for World Back Up Day (Don’t be an April Fool – Take the Pledge!) But…really, shouldn’t every day be Back Up Day? (Click to view video: “What Would You Do if You Lost Everything?“)

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Organized for Tax Time

Are You Organized for Tax Time?

By Hazel Thornton | February 20, 2017 |

Whether you do your own taxes, or have them done by someone else, it’s hard to prepare for tax time if your paperwork is a mess! It will take only a few minutes to gather up the pertinent documents if you have good year-round paper management habits. Here’s what I mean:

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3 Tips for Clutter-Free Business Networking

By Hazel Thornton | November 30, 2016 |

Are your desk and office cluttered with promotional items? You know, the stuff you bring back from business networking events, seminars, expos, conferences, luncheons, and meetings? Don’t know what to do with it all? Here are my top 3 tips for controlling networking clutter:

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It’s All About the Labels (not the label makers)

By Hazel Thornton | June 22, 2016 |

I was sorting clothing with a client. Rather, she was sorting and I was managing the rapidly growing piles. We used white kitchen trash bags to contain categories, clearly labeled by me with a black Sharpie, such as: Keep; Donate; Repair; Try On; Wash. We talked about how, in this case, the labeled bags doubled…

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Don’t Let Your Containers Overflow!

By Hazel Thornton | July 13, 2015 |

Containerizing is the art and science of deciding which container will be a good home for your stuff. (Perfectionists take note: I said “good”, not “the very best imaginable”.) A container can be a box, bin, jar, or basket. But it can also be a shelf, closet or room. Containers provide structure for your things…

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What is Your Clutter Costing You?

By Hazel Thornton | January 27, 2014 |

You know you have clutter. We all do, in one form or another, and to varying degrees. But have you ever thought about what it is costing you? Sometimes the cost is obvious, such as late fees incurred for an overdue bill that was lost in a mystery pile of paper, or that you couldn’t…

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3 Steps to Falling in Love with Your Home Office

By Hazel Thornton | February 16, 2013 |

How does your home office make you feel? If you have the sort of business where you have clients in, are you embarrassed to let them see it? One of my organizing and redesign clients said, about her cluttered, drab room, “I feel like I’m going to prison every morning.” Oh no, that’s terrible! Depending…

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