National Association of Professional Organizers
Washington, DC

The December NAPO-WDC chapter meeting was held on Monday, December 3, 2012, in Fairfax, VA.  There were 42 members and 8 guests in attendance.

The meeting started with very active networking.  Members visited the “Ask The Expert” table and the Corporate Partner tables: NoVAGold, LLC and Modern Image.

Janet Schiesl welcomed everyone. Kimberly Gleason introduced our 4 new members. C. Lee Cawley introduced our Corporate Partners in attendance:

Guests: David Swan, My Truck Buddy and Jimmy Foster, Rent Our Boxes

Joe Johnson from Shelf Genie spoke about their service area and their custom made shelf glide-out options that can be installed into any existing cabinet.  He also explained the process they use when working with clients.

Educational Program

Nealey Stapleton introduced the educational program: The 4 Step Formula to Organizing That Lasts! by Julie Gray, COC®, Profound Impact Holistic Coaching and Organizing

Julie started the presentation with the thought that our clients are NCRW: Naturally Creative Resourceful Whole.  Professional Organizers can use four steps to help clients realize this and create lasting organizing solutions.

Step 1 – Tap into clients intuition by helping them recognize they are the expert organizer of their own life, and they have the answers to create organizing solutions.  When Professional Organizers trust clients to co-create organizing systems, the client starts to trust themselves.  Julie gave several ways to create trust in clients.

Step 2 – Leverage science based behavior change research with clients. Developing action triggers is very helpful when helping clients create new habits.  If all the decisions around a task have already been made, clients can achieve goals in the moment.

Step 3 – Use a holistic approach so space systems are connected to client’s time and energy.  Help clients discover:

What do they need to do?

When are they going to do it?

Where are they going to find the items?

How do they have the energy to maintain it?

Is there a ritual they can create around the system (an action trigger)?

Because the answers come from the client, it is their system.  The client’s energy is a key part of their organization.  It’s important to help clients fully understand how everything impacts their organizational level.

Step 4 – Offer programs that build in accountability.  If client is responsible for getting results in desired amount of time, it will help them maintain their system.

The session ended with many great questions

Chapter Business Meeting

Karen Gardiner explained our GO Month Project with Building Better Futures at T.C. Williams High School.  Let Karen know by December 14th if you are interested in helping.  She’s looking for at least ten organizers to help out!

Our door prize winner was Tamara Laurent and Heather Cocozza.  They each won an oven mitt and a $100 Shelf Genie gift certificate.

The next meeting will be January 7, 2013, in Bethesda, MD.

As members of NAPO Washington, DC, we are part of an association and we lead each other. Who are the leaders of this chapter? All of us!

Leaders are people just like you who step forward and offer to serve. Why? Because they want to lead; they want to be part of the action and part of the circle. They realize that who they hang out with helps to formulate their dreams. Those dreams lead to changes and those changes become a new reality.

Why all this talk of leadership? Soon the chapter will call for nominations for the next NAPO Washington, DC board of directors. Before you say, “that’s not for me,” please take a moment to consider chapter leadership. For most positions, the only qualification is chapter membership. You don’t have to be an experienced organizer or know much about chapter operations to run for a board position.

You do have to be interested in participating at a higher level and joining the circle of the leadership. Consider all that you could learn…so step forward, jump into the action and become a leader in the industry by joining this new circle!

For questions about the NAPO-WDC board of directors and the board nomination and election process, please contact the Director-at-Large, Judy Parkins.

If you’d like to contact our President, you can email her at president@dcorganizers.org.

Monday, December 3, 2012 @ 6:30pm

Kena Shriners

9001 Arlington Boulevard

Fairfax, VA 22031

The 4 Step Formula To Organizing That Lasts

Are you frustrated by your clients’ inability to maintain the systems you’ve spent hours putting in place? Do you continue to organize the same spaces and discuss the same principles at every session? Is it hard to keep your clients focused and out of overwhelm?

The problem isn’t you. Or your clients. Or your systems! The problem is that your clients need more of you and more systems. And that’s not really a problem is it?

Join Julie Gray, COC®, Holistic Organizer and Time-Saver Specialist and learn the 4 Step Formula to Organizing That Lasts.

You will walk away with:

• Specific strategies for co-creating organizing systems that fit your client like a glove
• Understanding the holistic approach to organizing and how to leverage the elements that most resonate with you
• The #1 secret ingredient that holds ALL of your systems together

Julie Gray, COC®, Time Saver Specialist is passionate about teaching leaders and entrepreneurs the systems they need to get out of overwhelm, focus their time, and make the impact they crave.

Julie runs an organizational coaching firm, helping clients gain the mindful awareness and system alignment they need to develop, organize and achieve a business they love and a lifestyle they enjoy.

Julie Gray completed space organization and time coach training from the Julie Morgenstern Organizing Institute and is also certified as an Organizer Coach by the Coach Approach for Organizers, a 2-year ADD/Life Coach training program.

I tend to work with people that have been trying to ‘get organized’ for a very long time.

They’ve read all the books and watched the TV shows and still nothing ever fits just right for them. These same people have built successful careers and businesses but they’ve always had the feeling that they could be contributing even more if only they could get their ‘stuff’ together. This is my favorite part of the whole organizing process: helping my clients realize that disorganization isn’t a people problem, it is a system problem.

Once this distinction has been made we move on to my very first step in working with clients, which also happens to be the most critical strategy for creating organizing systems that last.

That is, to connect all space systems to their time, task, and energy systems.

What the heck does that mean? I’m so glad you asked.

Let’s walk through an example of how you could use this strategy with your new client Susie and connect her paper system with her task system. Susie is struggling with paper. She’s got piles everywhere and is finding it all very overwhelming. She wanted to hire an organizer to get a new filing system set up, but when you get there you don’t immediately start talking about paper. Instead you ask her how she tracks her to-do’s, because paper is so often left out to remind us of other tasks we need to complete. This is why it is so critical to understand Susie’s tracking system in order to help her build a paper system that will last. The two need to be intricately connected.

As you finish building her new filing system, she is now left with an action folder of items she needs to complete. You ask her when she is going to have the energy and focus to routinely go through this folder. Susie decides that Saturday mornings from 10:00 – 11:00am is what feels best to her. You have now successfully connected another element of her new space system with her time and energy systems.

When we integrate all of the systems our clients are using at any given time, we create a whole new level of support and your client’s have an even greater sense of trust that nothing is falling through the cracks and that their system will be maintainable.

If you would like to listen to another example, click here to access my video on the same topic.

If you are interested in learning about more tools and strategies for taking a holistic approach with your clients don’t miss next month’s chapter meeting where I will be giving a talk on the 4 Step Formula for Creating Organizing That Lasts.

Hope to see you there!

Julie Gray, COC®, Time Saver Specialist is passionate about teaching leaders and entrepreneurs the systems they need to organize their space, time, and energy and make the impact they crave.

Julie draws on practical organizing and time-management principles as well as brain research, law of attraction principles, and mindful awareness to speed up the habit formation process.

Julie is certified as an Organizer Coach by the Coach Approach for Organizers, an ADD/Life Coach training program. She completed space organization and time coach training at the Julie Morgenstern Organizing Institute and has studied with the Institute for Challenging Disorganization.

The November NAPO-WDC chapter meeting was held on Monday, November 5, 2012, in Bethesda, MD.  There were 35 members and 4 guests in attendance.

The meeting started with active networking. Janet Schiesl welcomed everyone. Kimberly Gleason introduced our 4 guests.

Terri Fischer introduced our Corporate Partners in attendance:

Denny Stotlemyer spoke about the services Closet Factory offers and how they customize cabinets for whatever clients need.

Educational Program
Pierrette Ashcroft introduced the educational program: Overcoming Your Client’s Challenges, by Liz Goli Lerner from Inspired Choices. Liz is a Consultant, Psychotherapist, Art Therapist, and Accelerated Breakthrough Coach.

Liz discussed several way to help clients breakthrough barriers that may be holding them back from reaching their organizational goals.  It is important to show empathy, employ strategic thinking, and find out what the client’s motivation is for organizing.  It is also important to honor how clients think when developing organizing solutions.

Members did an activity to discuss the toughest problems they face as professional organizers. Liz offered several different solutions.

Chapter Business Meeting
The November meeting was the chapter’s annual meeting.  Several board members gave updates on activities in their area. Highlights included:

The chapter’s financial position is strong.

The membership renewal rate was 79% and the chapter currently has 91 members.

The Corporate Partner program had a 93% renewal rate and the chapter currently has 17 Corporate Partners.

The NAPO-WDC chapter is social! Find us on facebook (facebook.com/napowdc), Twitter (@NAPOWDC), and YouTube (youtube.com/user/NAPOWDC)

The next meeting will be December 3, 2012, in Fairfax, VA.

Only a few short weeks ago, we gathered in Bethesda, Maryland for a day of networking, learning and fun. Wouldn’t you like to relive that day? Well now you can!

Recordings of the 2012 Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference for Professional Organizers (MARCPO) are now available. VWTapes.com has edited and posted all the 2012 MARCPO sessions on their site for purchase.

If you missed the conference or want a copy of your favorite speaker, order yours today. Each session is available in CD or MP3 format for $10 each or you can purchase the complete set of 8 sessions for $70. Visit http://vwtapes.com/marcpo.aspx to place your order or for more information.

Most of our day is spent doing little work. Responding, reacting, polishing . . .

The challenge is to find time for the big work.

Big work is the stuff that scares you, the stuff that is risky, and the stuff where you might fail. It’s also the work that is done when resources are low and time is short.

Don’t wait for big work to knock on your door. As entrepreneurs, we need to go out and find it. Inspiration can come from anywhere: a conversation with a colleague, revelation from a client, or a daydream of your own.

Find the time to start that “next thing” you have been thinking about. Big work is always available as soon as you decide to do it.

If you’d like to contact our President, you can email her at president@dcorganizers.org.

Monday, November 5, 2012 @ 6:30pm

Rock Creek Mansion

5417 West Cedar Lane

Bethesda, MD 20814

Overcoming Your Client’s Challenges

Your goal is to help your clients achieve their goals. What do you do when their challenges seem to prevent them from making progress? Join us when Liz Goll Lerner leads an interactive evening that includes case studies, attendee participation and brainstorming.

We will learn what makes our clients behave the way they do and how to turn those challenges into opportunities.

Liz Goll Lerner, founder of Inspired Choices, is a psychotherapist, life coach and art therapist specializing in private practice and group transformational workshops. In practice for over 30 years, Liz’s specialty is working with the whole person — mind, body and spirit. She helps people meet their full potential by helping them heal, get in touch with their heart’s purpose and take action. Liz enjoys working with each new client with fresh eyes; She believes that each person is unique with a unique set of circumstances. With individualized programs Liz assists her clients to see life in a new way and take the actions needed to live a more balanced and fulfilled life.

Connect with her on Twitter @yourinspired and on Facebook.

6:30-7pm – Ask the Expert” Focus Group

If you are new to organizing, attend the “Ask the Expert” session. It is an informal gathering where new organizers can receive free advice on owning an organizing business from members of the Golden Circle, a prestigious designation within NAPO for experienced organizers.

How many times do you stare at your computer in anguish because you can’t remember the password to your credit card account? Or you use the same password and five different variations of it, with the hope that you’ll never get hacked? I used to have the same problem until I was introduced to LastPass.com and ever since then, I can’t stop talking about it!

What is LastPass? Well, their tagline is “The Last Password You’ll Have to Remember!” and here’s how it works:

You go to LastPass.com, download the software, and create a username and password. Then here’s where the fun begins. Your passwords that are already stored on your existing internet browsers can now be imported from your computer into LastPass. Your passwords are then stored in your unique and secure web-based LastPass vault.

At a friend’s home using their computer and need to get into your bank account online, but can’t remember your password? No problem! Just go to LastPass.com and then type in your LastPass password and then access your bank’s password and username without having to download the software onto their computer.

You might be thinking, “What if someone uses my computer. Won’t they be able to get to my passwords?” Don’t worry, because you can choose to turn your LastPass vault off to keep it secure when you are away from your computer. When the vault is on, the LastPass icon on your browser is red. When the vault is off, the LastPass icon turns black. When the vault is on, any site stored in your vault has the ability to be auto-filled with your username or password.

When you start to visit new sites that require passwords, LastPass will detect that this site is not in your vault and will prompt you to save the site in your vault. It will even allow you to generate a top-notch password, so instead of “FluffY123”, your password would look more like “1z9Yx3p8w.” You can then “file” your password by type (i.e. banking, shopping, business).

Another cool feature is the ability to share your password without sharing your password (huh?). Yes that’s right, you can share your password with another LastPass user and your username and password will auto fill for them to access the account but all they will ever see is ******. There’s a ton of great free features and for $1 a month you can even use LastPass on your tablet or smartphone.

Like any software, LastPass may not be perfect, but for the heartache it’s saved me from staring at my computer in anguish, I say it’s worth it!

Andrea Hancock is a professional organizer and owner of B Dexterous, LLC. She loves to help busy professionals create simple and personalized organizing systems and teaches efficiency tips to keep their already stressful lives running smoothly. A member of the Association of Personal Photo Organizers (APPO), she also has a love for memory keeping and helping her clients organize and store their photos and memorabilia. She has served on the board of directors with NAPO-WDC since 2011 and is also expo chairperson for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference for Professional Organizers.

The October NAPO-WDC chapter meeting was held on Monday, October 1, 2012, in Fairfax, VA.  There were 34 members and 2 guests in attendance.

The meeting started with active networking.  Members visited the new Corporate Partner Meet and Greet tables: Resale Solutions and Partners Estate Sales.

Eileen LaGreca welcomed everyone.

Terri Fischer then introduced Corporate Partners in attendance: Ron Goodes with Resale Solutions, Helen Long with Partners Estate Sales, Joe Johnson with ShelfGenie, Raea Jean Leinster with Yuck Old Paint, Alonso Zamora with B-Thrifty, Zach Johnson with 123 Junk, Denny Stotlemeyer with Closet Factory, Andy Reiman with Modern Image, Alex Powers with Junk King, Shellie Abel with Nova Gold, LLC.

Maria White introduced our 2 guests and 2 new members.

Educational Program
Pierrette Ashcroft introduced the educational program: Is Your Jewelry Box a Treasure Chest? by Jamie Grasso, NovaGold, LLC.

Jamie discussed how NovaGold, LLC works with clients to liquidate their jewelry, coins, or other metal objects.  She shared several stories of clients who didn’t think they had anything valuable, only to find out they had a real treasure!  NovaGold, LLC can also work with clients to redesign jewelry to make sentimental pieces useful again.

Chapter Business Meeting
Membership renewal has ended.  Prospective members should join now!

There is still time to register for MARCPO – it’s October 13th!

Our door prize winner was Keri Myers and she won a DVD.

The next meeting will be November 5, 2012, in Bethesda, MD.