midtown atlanta | Claire Kurtz is The Well-Organized Woman

8 Reasons to Hire a Professional Organizer

September 7, 2012 By Mandi Leave a Comment

We often meet clients that are well-versed in the general principles of organizing. They understand what needs to happen to get them on the right track and yet their homes are still disorganized. When they call us they are initially skeptical about the need for an organizer, but end up extremely happy with the service and results. You may wonder why is there such a discrepancy. We’ve put together the top 8 reasons why hiring a professional organizer is better than attempting to do it by yourself or with a friend.

1. Objectivity: We have no attachment to your belongings and thus can help make difficult decisions about parting with said things a bit easier. We come prepared with lots of thoughtful questions about the frequency of use, necessity, and usefulness to assist in determining whether to keep or cull.

2. Calm & Collected: We organize people’s homes for a living, so we’ve pretty much seen it all. No matter the extent to your organizing needs, we will not become overwhelmed. We can help you achieve this peace of mind as well.

3. Efficiency & Organization: Instead of just making things fit anywhere they can, we strategize about the bigger organizational picture to ensure that your home and life is left with increased efficiency.

4. Completion: When attempting an organizing project by yourself, you can sometimes get distracted and leave things in a more disorganized state than when you started. When you hire us to organize we promise the job will be finished to your satisfaction.

5. Expertise: We are full of recommendations for products, resources, and information that will help you to achieve the organization that you’re looking for. Be it a storage solution or a way of setting up your desk to maximize productivity, we’re happy to impart our wisdom.

6. Fresh Eyes: When you are living in the disorganization for a long time it can become normal and blind you to new ways of doing things. Professional organizers can walk into your home and see patterns of disorganization, as well as potential solutions that you may overlooked.

7. Maintenance Strategies: While physical organizing is the first step, keeping things that way is the hard part. While we organize we impart strategies for how to correct behavioral habits that are contributing to the long-term disorganization, thus leaving you prepared to maintain things on your own.

8. Donations: Before we leave your home, we take the items that you are donating to charity for you. It may seem insignificant, but often times people never get around to donating the items they cull and then they eventually reintegrate themselves into the home. By removing the items immediately we can guarantee this doesn’t happen.

Obviously we’re partial to hiring a professional to help you with your organizing needs, but if you’re still unsure, feel free to give us a call and we can discuss your particular situation.

TWOW

Guest Post: Is Your Bed Linen Keeping You Up At Night?

August 31, 2012 By admin 1 Comment

The kind of bedding you use can mean the difference between a good night’s rest and not getting any sleep at all. People spend about a third of their lives in bed, but many don’t take the time to actually understand what kind of sheets and duvets are the best for them. In fact, many people don’t even know how much of a difference a quality duvet and good sheets can make for their sleep. Many people suffer with bedding that is too hot, doesn’t breathe well, is rough on their skin, and doesn’t wick moisture away from their body. This short guide will teach you everything you need to know about sheets and duvets.

Sheets
Sheets are probably the most complicated piece of your bedding to understand. There are so many options to choose from which can make it feel overwhelming. There are three primary things you need to know about when shopping for sheets and they are thread count, fabric types, and weave styles.

1) Thread count is often touted as the easiest way to determine the quality of sheets. This is only partially true. A good rule of thumb is the higher the thread count, the softer and smoother a sheet will feel. But the problem is that some manufacturers use smaller threads to increase thread count. Another problem with using thread count as the measure of quality is that higher thread counts may trap more heat and not breathe as well as lower thread counts. That can be good in the winter, but bad in the summer.

2) The type of sheeting fabric used can make a big difference in the quality and softness of a sheet. Usually you’ll see sheets made of standard cotton. It’s a good starting point, but it’s not the only available option. Pima cotton is another popular material that is a little softer and has more sheen than normal cotton. Finally, there is Egyptian cotton, which is known for its exceptional quality, softness, and sheen.

3) Weave styles may arguably be the most important thing when considering sheets. The weave is what is primarily responsible for how a sheet feels and how well it traps heat. Sateen weaves resemble satin and can feel very soft and almost cool to the touch. Flannel weaves are thicker and yield a fluffy and very soft feel. Percale sheets are very lightweight which makes them good for keeping you cool at night. Trying to sleep on a mattress on floor is also a good idea.

Duvets
Duvets are less important than sheets when it comes to bedding, but they can still mean the difference between restless nights and a good night’s rest. Three things to take into consideration are the fabric, fill, and type of construction.

1) Most outer parts of duvets are constructed of cotton. The same rules here apply for thread counts in sheets. Usually a higher thread count means softer and higher quality, but that isn’t always true.

2) The fill is the most important part of a duvet. The way this is measured is in terms of fill power. A high fill power means a fluffier duvet, while a lower fill power means a denser duvet. Higher fill powers usually cost more, but they don’t necessarily equal more comfort. Generally fill powers that are on the low side are a little cooler.

3) Duvet construction is something most people don’t even think about, but there are several ways a duvet can be constructed and the differences can be big. Baffle duvets tend to be the warmest because they keep the down in place, while sewn-through duvets can lead to thin spots in the down. Finally, box construction ensures that the fill remains in place so the warmth is evenly distributed.

About the Author
This post was written by Robin Beaumont co-founder of The Best Bed Lin en in The World. Robin is an avid writer on the subject of fabrics both as a guest and on his own blog andworks with some of the biggest and best 5 start hotels in the world.

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Exercise Routines: How to Create & Maintain One

August 28, 2012 By Mandi 2 Comments

As discussed in the recent post about The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg, exercise routines can be one of the most challenging things to adopt and maintain. Although the endorphins produced by exercise can be powerful reinforcers, for many the routine is simply not a top priority among life’s other responsibilities. In order to assist in making exercise a consistent part of your weekly schedule, we’ve got a few tips and tools.

Workout Routine Tips:

Scheduling: Instead of fitting in a workout whenever you have availability, decide on a specific time and days per week that you will commit to exercising. Add the workout to your calendar as if it were an appointment, and make sure that no other consistent obligations are going to interrupt.
Workout Cues: As recommended by Duhigg, creating a cue for exercise will help put you in the mood for the task. He recommends setting out your workout gear the night before a morning workout. This will help to remind you that exercise will be your first task of the day, not checking your email or picking up the house.
Accountability: For those who do not enjoy working out, any excuse will usually be enough to keep it from happening. Ensure you make it to scheduled workouts with an accountability trick. Some popular tricks include, working out with a more motivated friend so that you are not alone, signing up for a scheduled workout, such as a bootcamp, or tracking workouts and progress in a logbook. The last one may seem trivial, but science shows that logs provide a sense of accomplishment and encourage consistency.
Find Your Niche: Not all workouts are created equal. If you are new to exercising, I recommend trying out many different styles of workouts until you find something that you like. The more fun you have while working out, the more likely you are to continue. And remember, whether it’s running, yoga, or Zumba, the more you do it, the better you will get, so don’t worry if at first it’s very challenging.
Reward Yourself: An important part of making anything into a habit is the reward aspect. Create achievable goals for your exercise routine that are tied to non-food rewards. For example, for the first month, set a goal of working out at least 3 times per week for one hour per day. At the end of the month, reward yourself with a new piece of workout gear or clothing. The vital thing to remember is that goals should be reasonable, specific (where, when, what, how long), and measurable.

Tools:

MapMyRun App: This GPS-enabled app allows you to track distance, routes, time, and the pace of your runs. Just like the accountability tip above, this tool will help you to see your progress and share it with friends. A great way to get a little extra encouragement is to allow the app to post your run details to Facebook. You’ll be surprised how much praise and support the posts will garner.
FitnessBuddy App: This is another exercise tool that provides hundreds of exercises and workouts for all fitness levels. It also has a workout journal for tracking what you did and when you did it.

No matter how you workout, just remember that the consistency is the key to maintaining the routine.

Good Luck!

Mandi

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‘The Power of Habit’ by Charles Duhigg

August 21, 2012 By Mandi Leave a Comment

I’m currently reading a book called ‘The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business’. The book discusses the science behind habits and how we can use this knowledge to alter various routines in our lives. Whether it be poor eating, smoking, or the collecting of excess belongings, much of what we do stems from the process of habits.

If you would like to change a habit in your life, the author suggests you start by figuring out the three things that form what is called a ‘Habit Loop’. First is the ‘Cue’. This is a signal, a feeling, or anything else that triggers the desire for habit action. Second is the ‘Routine’, which refers to the actual act. Finally, there is the ‘Reward’, which is obtained by completing the routine. The reward can come in many forms, but essentially is anything that provides satisfaction. Determining each of these items can be difficult as they are not always obvious. For example, if someone wanted to stop eating a sugary snack in the afternoon, they might realize that the cue is a lull in work and the reward is actually a distraction from boredom, not necessarily the snack itself.

Once you have identified the elements of the Habit Loop, you must then attempt to replace either the routine or the reward with something you feel is more appropriate. To expand on the example, if the sugary snack is causing weight gain, but the real reward is a break from boredom, the person may consider taking a walk with a colleague instead of eating. The cue and reward will remain, but the new routine will provide a healthy alternative.

The reason I mention this book is that the understanding of how habit’s work can help us to change the way we manage organization, time management, and general control in our lives. We often see clients that are overwhelmed by disorganization. I suspect that if they closely examined the habits that form the basis for the problem they could make edits to the loop that result in drastic overall routine changes. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to make changes in how they operate and what they do.

Happy Reading!

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