It can feel anticlimactic that the physical remains of a decades-long career sometimes fit neatly in a stack of boxes. Some of my clients have multiple boxes that they brought home on their last day of work, even if that last day was many, many years ago.

So you’ve made some tough cuts and are finally willing to let go of what amounts to staggering tangle of old electronics. Woohoo! This is just part one though. 

It’s so easy to just load them into a contractors’ bag and drag them to the curb, especially since there’s something especially liberating about decluttering mystery cords and obsolete gadgets

The funny thing about drawers is that some of the most (seemingly) organized homes I’ve been in still suffer from messy drawers. There have been a number of homes I’ve worked in that are so orderly to the naked eye that I wonder where the mess is.  Many years into this career, I know now that these facades indicate that we’ll be spending a lot of time organizing drawers.

At first glance these may not look like the progress shots they are.  

A problem many of my clients have is the lack of room to spread out and sort. If you simply don’t have floor or table space, you can spin your wheels shuffling things around, sometimes making things worse.

Last week I had the wonderful full-circle moment of working again with my VERY first client. Mike hired me in 2001 when he saw my ad in DC’s City Paper. I had no experience as an organizer, and stated my rates at $25/room and $80/for a whole home. Mike knew a good deal when he saw it and my strategy was to get some “firsts” under my belt.

I can’t wrap my head around the fact that I’ve written 475 blog posts, especially since I absolutely do not consider myself to be a blogger. In 2008 I started sending a weekly newsletter. That first one went out to under 100 people.  Nine years later I’m still (sort-of) sending it weekly, but I average over post per week.