Speaking of memories! This was our Christmas card in 1993!!

I love being out at night this time of the year and seeing all the homes decorated for Christmas. It really is beautiful and some people go all out! My husband calls them the Griswold homes but I think they look cool!

You may find it interesting that even though I'm an organizing expert my Christmas tree is not up! I can't tell you how many people say to me in late November/early December, "I'm sure that you are all ready for Christmas, everything is decorated and your shopping is all done!" They are quite shocked when I say "No". I remind people them that being organized is not about perfection. Being organized is about doing things in ways that make sense to you and are productive, and that you feel good about. I love decorating about mid-December and doing my shopping in the last week. That's when I'm really all pumped about Christmas and I have a lot of fun getting it all done in a few days.

How about you? Any other 'late' decorators and shoppers out there?

My wish for you is that you really enjoy the sights, sounds, and wonderful smells of this holiday season. Take the time to do things that you want to do and will make memories for those around you. Slow down, smile more, and take time to 'be'.

Merry Christmas!

Elizabeth

When the children were small if I noticed a behavior characteristic with a child such as talking back, any meanness toward a sibling, etc. I nipped that in the bud right away. I knew enough that if you let little things like that slide they will become huge things as they get into their teenage years and beyond. I knew that if we didn't have pick-up time every evening in a matter of days the home would be a disaster area. I figured out very early that if they didn't have a pick-up time in their room each week their room would become unmanageable very fast.

This applied to the paper in the home as well—mail, magazines, school papers, etc. Small piles became huge piles very quickly. And, have you ever noticed that if you throw one coat on the railing, in a matter of hours there are 5 coats on the railing?

So I developed systems for keeping the home organized, for the mail when it came into the house, for magazines and newspapers, and for the kids' papers when they came home from school.

Let me give you an acronym for Systems:

Saves

You

Space

Time

Energy

Money and

Stress

And that is so true—set up systems in your life and your life becomes a lot easier.

So if you're feeling overwhelmed by the little things that have become big things—like your desk drawer, your bookcase, or your office closet; here's a great system.

The START™ Method system is what I developed and use whenever an area in my home and now office start to become chaotic.

The first key is that to really and truly get organized you need to take everything out of the area that you are organizing—if you don't you are cleaning or rearranging, you are not organizing. So, let's start with the junk drawer in your desk. Take everything out and put it all over the top of the desk and begin the START™ Method:

Sort through all that's on top of the desk—and decide what you want to keep and what you can get rid of.

Toss/shred/give—do this at the same time you are sorting and toss anything that you don't know what it is and it's broken.

Appoint a home—now everything that is left on the desk has a home—it belongs in this drawer.

Restrict to a container—as much as possible restrict things to a container whenever you are organizing—obvious containers for a desk drawer are the interlocking different size bins you can purchase at Target, Walmart, etc. Or you can use empty check book boxes, baby food jars, etc.

Take back control—it looks gorgeous. No longer does this drawer control you every time that you open it up—it looks great and you FEEL great. But, since we are not perfect and don't live or work with perfect people it will become a mess again—that's ok—just do the START™ Method again.

Are you ready to learn more 'mom' lessons that apply to your business?! Would you like to spend an entire day with an organizing expert and apply these lessons?

Join me for the first-ever Fearless Organizing Virtual Day on Friday, January 18, 2008! Imagine, spending the day in your office with an expert 'virtually' by your side for an entire day getting your office organized so that you can be more productive! This will be a great day!

You'll get me 'virtually' for an entire day helping you to organize your office, your time, and your brain.

Check me out at YouTube!

PLUS...membership in the Virtual Day Community Group, follow-up teleclass, and ALL the recordings of the classes throughout the day.

AND...the option to get the exclusive 'Get Organized Kit', the Organized Goals Webinar, and the 'Organize with Confidence' 3-CD audio set.

SO...NOW is the time act especially if you want the early-registration bonus worth $97! If you register by Friday, December 14, 2007 along with all the other bonuses you'll receive Kendall SummerHawk's mp3 teleclass and word-for-word-transcript "How to Create a Profitable Marketing Pyramid".

Go here to find out more and claim your spot at the Fearless Organizing Virtual Day.

You owe it to yourself to work in a productive environment.

You can get more done, have more time, and make more money in your business.

Spend just one day on Friday, January 18, 2008 to not only learn the tools and systems to achieve a productive environment but to actually take ACTION in your office for an entire day! You won't believe how much you'll get accomplished!