So, one of our clients emails and calls with this request….can you come to my office this week…will send pictures. And she did. She sent about 5 pictures of her business office with request that we come for a 3 hour session (she asked us to stay 4) and just help with the clutter. She said she had reached a point where she couldn’t ignore it anymore and needed to restore order to her work space. Some background-she is an executive at a large organization, overseeing people and projects many of which come with lots of “stuff” that end up in her office. When we walked in the first thing we noticed is not only papers but all the items that had landed in and were being stored in her office. Our comment to her…your office is not a storage room! So we set to work removing all those items, placing them in a storage space and then we were able to get to work in her office. There were many papers and files on her desk and conference table leaving very little room to work. She has several filing cabinets, a bookshelf, and armoire for coats and other storage cabinets, so what was the problem? One filing cabinet was filled with snacks, tea and other such items; one cabinet had very old, outdated files; one storage cabinet had personal items. There was plenty of storage it just wasn’t being used effectively. Solution: Clear out the food from the filing cabinet and place in the cabinet above her desk; sort through the very old files and shred, leaving space to archive older but still needed files; use the filing cabinet under and next to her desk for the daily used, more current files; use the coat armoire for her coat and all personal items; use the bookshelf not just for decorative items but also for books and notebooks. All the components were there, items just needed to be housed at their point of use and by purpose. Result: She was left with a clear work space; items housed at their point of use and easy to access; a conference table that could accommodate people; clear floor space and most importantly a feeling that order was restored and work could be accomplished without the stress of too much stuff everywhere.

Take a look at these before and after photos…

“… I can't tell you how over the moon my family and I are with our newly organized spaces. I feel like it's my birthday!”
MS in Falls Church

 “A Sorted Affair managed to do the impossible-- They helped my teen girl scouts come up with an organization plan! After reading an article about teens lacking basic life skills, I wanted to get professional help to make sure our girls were prepared for high school and beyond. This was one of our most successful meetings! I’ve heard back from the girls and their parents. Mary Beth and Nicole gave them tools for organizational techniques, but more importantly, helped them visualize what they would gain by becoming more efficient!“ 
LF in Alexandria, Troop Advisor for Cadette Troop 901 

“…I did want to drop a quick note though – before we see you again at summer end-to thank you so much. You and your team just did a superb job with a lengthy project-top quality in every aspect. You are just amazing…”
AW in Arlington  

We are always looking for and clients are always asking about reputable, reliable handymen and contractors. Well, we found Paul, referred to us from one of our clients. We use him and hope you will too. 

Paul R. Young
Construction Remodeling Contractor
703-573-8670

If you have been to our website lately, you may have noticed the "new" logo at the top of our home page for the Institute for Challenging Disorganization. That is the new name for the former NSGCD which took effect January 1, 2011. Their mission remains the same; check out their new website www.challengingdisorganization.org.

So, it’s Thursday evening and we receive a phone call from the family of one of our long time clients; they need to move him out of one apartment and into a bigger one in the same building by the following Thursday. Can we help? Well, of course we can! Helping clients with the moving process has become not only something that we do but has also become a bit of a passion for us. It is so satisfying to help people with the business of moving.

We quickly set our plan in motion and 2 days later, Saturday we begin the process. Our goal is to have him completely moved out of the old apartment and completely set up in the new apartment by Sunday. Two full days’ work and viola on Sunday, his new home is ready. Except for the fact that this apartment is larger one might not even realize the move occurred. Our job here is not only to move the things but to make sure his place is set up in a familiar way so he transitions to his new place easily. We have been working with this particular client for a while and we are very familiar with his routines, what he likes, his particular needs and what papers are important, where they are filed, etc. This familiarity allowed us to execute the move with little direction from his family and therefore their time was spent with him as it should be. We moved bookshelves, dressers, clothes, home office, computer, art, medicines, his bed, photos and more. On the other end we set up the bookshelves, books, home office, bed, clothes, hung art, labeled drawers, etc. We also researched information the family requested such as bill paying services and tech providers who could un-mount, move and reinstall the large flat screen TV.” There were certain tasks that the family chose to do…going through some of the papers, selecting books to donate…just part of our collaborative approach with clients. One of the great things about our move management services is the client can choose the type of help they want.  

How do we do all this work so quickly? We are a team, in sync not only with each other but with our clients’ needs. We come prepared with gloves, boxes if needed, tape, labelers, hammer, nails, drills, wipes, lots of energy and even our very own dolly (moving dolly that is). I think we must find a name for it, rather than just dolly, as it became our best friend and team member during the move. Toward the end of the second day, Sunday, while we were putting on the finishing touches we had an epiphany of sorts or maybe we were just deliriously tired…for this move we were “Two Women and a Dolly” of A Sorted Affair organizing. It doesn’t get any better than that!  

We love it when clients truly enjoy the benefits of their hard work.  After working in a client's office, this is what she had to say: 

“… I am sitting in my office paying bills, sending emails, enjoying the view of this sunny day, and breathing freely in this room. Thank you for giving me my space back!!!”  RB    

MSY

Another new service that we will now be providing as part of our move management services – Estate Sales. It was an obvious and natural extension as many seniors that are moving into retirement communities are downsizing and therefore have quite a lot of items remaining. It also makes the move easier in that you only have to decide what you will be taking to your new home and we take care of any remaining items through the estate sale (and you earn a little cash!). We are very excited about this service so pass on the word!

STOP unsolicited junk mail:

http://privacyrights.org 

http://greendimes.com 

STOP unsolicited catalogs:

http://catalogchoice.org 

STOP Credit Card and insurance offers: 1-888-5-OPTOUT

“Hi, what a great day. I am so thrilled with all you did! And I am especially thankful for the way you have inspired  me to get these tasks done. In fact I could not help myself -- just had to finish the basement closet. It is hardly full! Also  put away the rest of the things in the bedroom so both basement family room and bedroom are all straight and tidy.”

M.R.C., Alexandria, VA