From The Canadian Jewish News – April 24, 2008
'Clutter busters' can help organize your life
Susan Portnoy – founder of the company Organized Success – defines clutter in a home as "anything that does not have value," but justifies this with the fact that what has value to her might not have to you and vice versa.
As we move forward into the 21st century, the need for being organized at home, at the office and with life in general increases every year. From maintaining our kitchens and cupboards, so that everything has a place, to organizing our photo albums, our daily activities and even medical appointments, we need to have a system that allows us to quickly and easily find what we need.
Professional organizers say that "if you don't need it, don't want it or don't wear it – get rid of it." Clutter can clog your home and your life, but help is available.
Portnoy and her team of competent professionals are "clutter busters". They will come into your home and help you clear out unwanted, unneeded and unused items. They can help you de-clutter your home, maximize your space, and even manage your time.
A teacher by trade, Portnoy eased into this profession, almost a decade ago, with many innovative ideas that she herself uses to keep her own busy life as stress-free as possible. Her passion is to help people, and she believes everyone can be taught and learn organizational skills.
The Organized Success team teach a method of orderliness so that each client can become independent of them. Portnoy specializes in using individualized colour-coded filing systems (by category and alphabetic within each category), which she says works for everyone, although she adds that nothing is written in stone and that her job is to find out what works for the client.
"We think outside the box," says Portnoy, who admits to learning much from her clients, especially that there is not only one way to organize, "and just because it works for me, doesn't mean it will do so for someone else."
Portnoy's premise parallels the significance of teaching a man to fish, rather than feeding him.
"When I teach a mother [how to be organized], her children benefit," she says, "and when we teach executives, it impacts on the entire office."
Portnoy, who has attained Silver Leaf status with the Professional Organizers in Canada, made her debut in the media on Tommy Schnurmacher's radio show. She has given seminars and workshops and has lectured in many establishments around Montreal and recently in Florida.
Along with her team, she works with clients to organize complete home offices, from the selection and placement of furniture to setting up computer systems. She and her team help clients organize their kitchens, playrooms, closets, makeup drawers and photograph albums, and will even help create a system for budgeting finances. The company offers a plethora of services including personal shopping, preparing a personal medical organizer (keeping track of appointments and medications), interior design and even home staging (when preparing to sell your home).
The company's latest venture is providing a service for seniors who are relocating to smaller retirement residences.
"Our goal is to make the move as stress-free as possible for them," says Portnoy, "and we help our clients to choose the pieces to take to their new home to make it familiar without any clutter."
Portnoy believes that a session with a professional organizer can bring a sense of calm to a person's life. She says it can make them feel empowered because they can then do it themselves.
"Organization is a means to end, and it's your way of leading a more productive, more stress-free life," she concludes.
Workshops offering tips on how to manage the paper jungle in our homes are being held at the Ben Weider Community Centre on May 21 and 28. For information on these workshops, call 514-737-6551, ext. 240, or go to www.organizedsuccess.com.
For a private consultation, call 514-733-1533 or e-mail susan@organizedsuccess.com.