I recently discovered the hard-to-hear message of Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Edward Humes, author of Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair With Trash (2012) and Door to Door: The Magnificent, Maddening, Mysterious World of Transportation (2016).  It was his 2016 NPR interview on Door to Door that led me to his equally fascinating and disturbing 2012 NPR interview on Garbology. 

A few weeks ago I drove from my home in Silver Spring, Maryland nearly two hours to Winchester, Virginia.  The scene accurately matched my client’s story.  She told me ahead of time that she felt paralyzed by her piles. 

As much as I love Evernote and all things digital organizing, sometimes I too have to get away from my screen and plan a project in a highly visible, more kinesthetic way.  I had been working off of a classic to do list wth checkboxes in Evernote, but the longer it got and the nearer the launch date loomed, my tasks all blended and I had NO idea where to focus.

Have you ever had a sneaking suspicion that somewhere on your hard drive lurked a completed book, written by you, neglected by you, that had never seen the light of day?  

Ok, so I am the only one….  

Here in Montgomery County, Maryland we’ve enjoyed unlimited free shredding for years with an organization that recently shut its doors.  We’re left to hold our shredding until a random community shred even pops up, shred it ourselves, or pay a fee. 

Some of my clients think “If I only had a bigger office, I’d be more organized.” Offices of all sizes are plagued by clutter though.  This was the case with a large home office that I organized over a couple of years ago; this set of photos is from back then.