Organize Your Office

How to Live and Work by Design, not by Default

By Hazel Thornton | January 14, 2013 |

Living and working BY DEFAULT means choosing the easiest path, either by unconsciously resorting to bad habits, or by maintaining the status quo. Sometimes we seek to avoid the conflict that can come with making a change. Sometimes we feel we have no choice in the matter. But I’m with Henry Ford, who said, “Whether you think…

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Are Your Bookshelves Full of Friends? Or Strangers and Houseguests?

By Hazel Thornton | September 8, 2012 |

“Friends, Acquaintances and Strangers” is a popular method of de-cluttering, introduced by Judith Kolberg in her book Conquering Chronic Disorganization. This game can be played with any category of clutter, but I most often use it with clients whose bookshelves are overflowing. (Not to mention their floors and other surfaces.) Readers are loath to part…

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Inbox Zero, Really? (How to Declutter Your Email Backlog and Keep it Under Control)

By Hazel Thornton | April 9, 2012 |

Inbox Zero – WHAT?  Have you heard of Merlin Mann’s “Inbox Zero” method, whereby one processes the items in one’s email inbox down to zero emails on a regular basis? Is this possible? Yes. Is it necessary? Well, let’s just say that some version of it — Inbox Zero, Inbox Twenty, Inbox Weekly, or my…

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How to Create Your Own Simple Filing System

By Hazel Thornton | October 18, 2011 |

No two people are alike, and no two filing systems need to be either.  Create your own unique filing system using the S.P.A.C.E.* method:

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How to Create More S.P.A.C.E. in Your Life

By Hazel Thornton | October 13, 2011 |

S.P.A.C.E. is the system I use to organize anything and everything — a room, a closet, a junk drawer, a calendar — you name it! This acronym was coined by Julie Morgenstern, whose book Organizing From The Inside Out is such an industry classic that I often find copies of it in my clients’ homes!…

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Mystery Piles & Action Files

By Hazel Thornton | October 8, 2011 |

Have you ever heard the organizing rule, “Touch each piece of paper only once”?  (a.k.a. OHIO — Only Handle it Once) Well, it’s a myth. But the kernel of truth inside the myth is this: If you sift through a pile of mail, or other type of papers, and if you don’t decide the first…

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Is it Clutter?

By Hazel Thornton | September 29, 2011 |

This is the companion article to The Original Clutter Flow Chart. It answers these questions: What is Clutter?  Why can’t I part with my clutter?  What should I do with my clutter?  What if, despite my best intentions, I am still living with clutter?

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