07, Nov 2022
Food is more expensive than ever, so organizing your shopping and buying only what you need is essential. Overbuying leads to waste; not buying enough means you make more trips to the store and not necessarily get the best price. Here are some tips on building a grocery list to… Read more
20, Jun 2022
You may have done a few DIY moves over the years. Often students will throw their belongings into a buddy’s pickup truck and drive over to their new place all for the low, low, price of pizza and beer. Everyone wants to reduce moving costs, but there are several common… Read more
21, Mar 2022
When it comes to household chores, some people would rather clean toilets than manage their money. I can understand that. We used to have paper-based banking (Do you remember having a bank book?) Then, financial institutions moved towards digital banking. However, some accounts are still paper-based, so we end up… Read more
17, Jan 2022
Over the past few weeks, store advertisements have flooded my inbox with their storage container sales. The deals are tantalizing – from shelving units and storage bins to food containers and toolboxes. Discount prices seduce you with the idea that by purchasing these containers, you can miraculously organize your home…. Read more
13, Dec 2021
In theory, when someone gives you a present, it is yours to do with as you please. In practice, however, when people give gifts, they choose a specific item with the recipient in mind. When you think about it in this way, regifting can be a precarious endeavour. However, you… Read more
07, Dec 2021
Most people think professional organizers rarely shop, so I bet you are surprised to learn I am a frequent shopper. I explained my reasons to Anita Saulite in the Tangerine article “What Kind of Holiday Shopper Are You?” (internet archives) I created a “Gift Ideas” list in the Notes app… Read more
21, Dec 2020
At the end of children’s birthday parties, each guest gets a “loot bag,” a small bag of goodies (candy and cheap toys), to take home. Children devour the candy quickly, and the toys and gadgets break equally fast. As a professional organizer, I find loot bag clutter in almost every… Read more
09, Mar 2020
After managing hundreds of moves, the Out of Chaos team has learned a thing or two about which furniture is easy to move and which is not. We’ve seen what pieces are simple to assemble and disassemble, which items will withstand several moves, and which will fall apart. With about… Read more
06, Feb 2020
I was happy to write an article to help people with organized buying on MaxSold Auctions. Here is the intro… “I normally spend time helping people downsize and sell their items by auction with MaxSold. However, people do need and want stuff, despite wanting to have a clutter-free lifestyle. They… Read more
11, Nov 2019
Most Canadians do not consider moving in the winter as most of the country experiences freezing temperatures, snow, and ice for several months. However, there are a few benefits. Moving companies are generally less busy during this season. There is more flexibility on dates, and the costs could be significantly… Read more
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I am extremely organized but was overwhelmed in a major life transition about how to move forward. Linda came in, sat on my floor, took my laptop in hand, and asked me to tell her the story of each piece of paper I was immersed in. Four hours later, I had a neat basket of properly sorted “active” files and, more importantly, a fantastic “to do” spreadsheet which has allowed me to move forward quite dramatically in the days since. I have felt clear, excited, and energized about my life and business again. I know exactly what my priorities are and how to honour them.
The service was expensive, but worth it! Linda is warm, comfortable, relaxed, non-judgmental, and easygoing- yet very focused, efficient, and fast. She is knowledgeable and skilled. She can “hear” a person’s presentation of needs and blocks quickly and accurately -she is clearly experienced with how overwhelmed people are feeling and thinking. I loved having my blocks understood and Linda having ready strategies for those. She is also referring me to tradespeople to whom I can delegate some of my tasks.
The irony of this is that, again, I am *very* organized and have even developed similar systems for moving forward. But Linda’s system introduced a couple of tweaks that made all the difference for me. And, frankly, having paid her I feel that much more motivated to follow through on the system I paid to have developed!
— Yelp R.