Between running 2 full fledged businesses (SOS & OPBC), designing websites and also trying to maintain a normal personal life, I find myself wanting to simplify as much as I can in every area of my life so that when I have free time, I can be present and not have my to-do list swimming in my head.

I do this with my physical space and as much as I can and I try to with my digital space whether it’s my computer, my email inboxes, profiles, photos, music, etc. etc.

In this digital age we live in it seems that there are so many options whether services or apps on how to organize our digital information and while that’s fantastic, it can be overwhelming to say the least.

This is one thing that I absolutely struggle with. Yes, even though I’m a Professional Organizer and I know how to organize, I still struggle with some things and I’m the first to admit it. What’s the old saying? “You teach what you need to learn”? This is has always been true for me.

So why have I not taken care of this issue before? For a few reasons. One is that my needs have changed in the last few years and it hadn’t caught up with me that I needed different systems in place until recently. Another is that I want it all to be perfect and organized and easy but it’s because there are so many options available that I don’t know which one to choose. Lastly, I want to get it ALL organized and NOW but choosing means I need time to research each option carefully and sometimes, that is where I’m lacking.

I stress to my clients how important it is to keep their computers organized and I often tell them it’s the most overlooked environment and rarely gets organized properly.  9 out of 10 of my clients need digital organizing and it’s one of my favorite tasks to help them.

I know this to be true because I see it over and over again: If there is no foundation, surface or organizational structure for “things” to land on, then when it reaches you, it goes nowhere and causes you to feel overwhelmed quickly. In this case it’s the digital information that can lead to rapid overwhelm.

So digitally speaking, there are mounds of things I’d like to iron out, tweak, organize and implement to make my life easier and in the last week or so I’ve become clearer on how to lessen some of the burden of having spread myself too thin in diverse areas. I’ve been contemplating this project and this blog post for quite a while  held back until I’d gotten to a point of absolute clarity and readiness that I want to streamline, simplify and make the most of what I’ve got.

I’m moving to a new area of town by the end of October so I’m challenging myself for the next 30 days to research, choose and complete the following items and each time I complete one, I will cross it out with the date of completion.

I’m using myself as an example of what I would suggest to a client do in this situation and I’m rising to the challenge and putting it out there in cyberspace to keep myself accountable.

I’m going to conquer this by using these steps:

• Make a list
• Prioritize
• Do a little everyday – Schedule it!
• Set a timer
• Smile as you cross each item off
• Smile again

Project Digital Clarity: The List

High Priority (complete by October 20)

1. Setup Twitter Lists and organize followers
2. Go to old twitter accounts and send tweets to followers announcing the deletion of those 2 unused accounts and request follows at remaining BOS twitter. - 9/18/12
3. Implement auto responder on new twitter followers – 9/20/12
4. Delete OPBC & SOS twitter accounts – 9/19/12
5. Delete OPBC & SOS Pinterest accounts - 9/11/12
6. Setup Hootsuite to manage twitter, linkedIn and Facebook - 9/20/12
7. Delete old facebook accounts - 9/19/12
8. Organize facebook friends into lists
9. Finalize Linked IN Company pages for SOS & OPBC
10. Follow more people on Pinterest
11. Merge Mail Chimp mailing lists into one handle - 9/20/12
12. Send out mail blast announcing The Sofia Life and the changes in blogs for SOS & OPBC – in process since 10/8/12
13. Research and choose best CRM Tool // Daylite or Salesforce or Insightly – 9/21/12
14. Research GTD apps – in process since 9/24/12
15. Delete Google + accounts and create new one - 9/21/12
16. Move all FeedBurner RSS feeds to my new Google Apps account - 9/19/12 
17. Setup Google Apps for Business to organize my email accounts – In Process since 9/17/12
18. Go through old email accounts and purge - 9/22/12
19. Add Hello bars to all my sites – 9/17/12
20. Delete old blogspot blogs – 9/17/12
21. Delete email addresses I don’t use - 9/17/12
22. Change Skype handle – 9/18/12
23. Get Portuguese Keyboard cover for typing  - 9/18/12 ordered, should arrive soon!
24. Transfer Feedburner accounts to new Google Apps Structure – 9/18/12
25. Transfer Google Analytics account to new Google Apps Structure – 9/18/12 – 9/21/12
26. Delete current Dropbox and replace with new TSL account – 9/21/12
27. Change Adobe membership to creative cloud to add more software options – 9/19/12
28. Upgrade computers to Mountain Lion – 9/22/12
29. Backup iphone - 9/22/12
30. Find app or service that will allow me to share client’s notes with said client (online whiteboard, notebook?) – 10/8/12
31. Phase out mac.com email and send out email blast to notify all – 10/13/12
32. Import new networking contacts into new CRM Tool
33. Update WordPress Plugins on all sites – 10/11/12
34. Go through Website folders – 9/22/12
35. Clean out Facebook Messages Inbox - 9/23/12
36. Go through all browser bookmarks. Purge and Organize – 10/1/12

Lower Priority (Complete by November 30)

1. Setup app or system for usernames + passwords
2. Make a checklist of items needed for web design projects/clients with timelines
3. Design mail templates for leads
4. Research WP Featured images & Multimedia box
5. Go through hardcopy books and decide which to buy in Kindle
6. Donate unwanted books
7. Research online photo storage solution for 60 GB of photos
8. Createweb font kit for fonts purchased through MyFonts
9. Make a list of all my favorite hex codes for graphic design
10. Purchase Pantone Color Books for Graphic Design projects
11. Purchase external hard drive and backup the backups

Someday Soon

1. organize photos (this will be its very own project)
2. organize music into cloud service
3. organize playlists
4. scan all my files into digital format

So as you can see, this list is huge and all these details have literally been swimming around in my head for months now but I’m done. I’m ready to SOS myself out of this digital overwhelm.

I’d love to do this challenge with you so feel free to comment and share your list with me and let’s do this! Let’s conquer the digital chaos!

The post Conquer Your Digital Clutter appeared first on Sofia's Organizing Solutions.

Learn to de-clutter the most overlooked area of your life and business – your computer. Sofia will walk you through the process of creating an effective filing system in your computer to eliminate wasting time with endless searches for important information.

Sofia is offering this workshop at The Spectrum Center as part of a 2-Day Fun-Raiser “Open Your Mind, Open Your Heart” for Tina Borja, daughter of  Spectrum Center Director, Rosa Glenn Reilly, to help her while she beats the odds of brain cancer and in the spirit of Keeping Tina’s Dreams Alive.

Join us for one day or both days.  Donate to a great cause, make a difference, attend amazing classes and receive mini chair massages,psychic readings, energy healing and other surprise mini services.

When:
Saturday, June 2 @ 3:30 – 4:30 pm

Where:
Spectrum Center
4100 Westheimer @ Mid Lane, Suite 233
Houston, TX 77027

Register here for one or both days of workshops to benefit Tina or pay **$20 at the door for Sofia’s class ONLY.

**If you choose this option you will not be eleigible to attend the other classes offered for this event.

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The Organized Business Owner

The Organized Business Owner: Organization & Transformation for your Business!

Sofia Alvim presents a show talk on what it takes to be an Organized Business Owner!

The post The Organized Business Owner appeared first on Sofia's Organizing Solutions.

• Can you walk into your Walk-In Closet?
• Do you have multiples of the same item because you can’t find the original “item”?
• Do you have clothes that you don’t wear, don’t fit or you don’t like in your closet?
• Do you have a hard time letting go of clothes?
• Is your space not very cluttered yet just not functioning well?
• Could your closet stand to be more efficient and flow better?

Come join Professional Organizer & Productivity Consultant, Sofia Alvim at Addison Memorial shoe store in Memorial City Mall for tips and info on how to organize your closet. Sofia will be featuring products from the Container Store!

This will be a casual and fun event. Feel free to bring a friend!

The post Closet Organizing 101 appeared first on Sofia's Organizing Solutions.

Hiya! I hope you have gotten a some good motivation and gusto from my spring cleaning tips from last week’s post.

Let’s continue stepping into spring shall we?

Kids Rooms: Closets & Toys:

• Go through your children’s clothing, just as you did for your own closet in part 1 and take stock of what needs to be taken out. Make sure their winter clothes will fit by next season and if not, let go of the pieces that it doesn’t make sense to keep.

• Store the pieces that do remain in clear zippered bags or in a clear bin or drawer earmarked for seasonal clothes.

• Since children outgrow their toys from year to year, go through their toys as well. Be sure to let go of any broken or worn out toys and perhaps donate the ones in good condition that are not age appropriate anymore, to a friend who has children that age or to your favorite charity house.

Reading Materials: Books, Newspapers & Magazines

House Cleaning:

The post Step Into Spring: Part 2 appeared first on Sofia's Organizing Solutions.

Remember in my spring cleaning post Step Into Spring: part 1, I mentioned some steps to clean out your pantry?

Well inline with that topic, here’s a great post by one of my organizing idols Peter Walsh on tips to organize your pantry. You can do this after you follow the steps in my post and they are great suggestions!

I would however, like to add one product to this list that I love using when organizing my clients’ pantries. An adjustable 3-tier shelf. Some are called Expand-A-Shelf. These are great for organizing canned good, spices, vitamin supplements or jars. They help display the items clearly so you can see and reach for what you want. They also help you save space by having 3 tiers and you can adult the width of the shelf according to the dimensions of your pantry shelf.

Here are my favorites.

Expand-A-Shelf, if you prefer a white shelf.

3-Tier Bamboo Expanding Shelf, if you prefer a bamboo shelf.

3-Tier Stainless Steel Expanding Shelf, if your prefer a stainless steel shelf.

If you don’t have a Container Store nearby and don’t want to order online, you can sometimes find similar products to these at Bed, Bath & Beyond and Target as well.

The post Organizing Your Pantry appeared first on Sofia's Organizing Solutions.

Spring is here in full bloom! I wish I could say that the sun is shining a lot these days but I can’t. In Houston we’ve been under a good rain spell lately. However, just because the sun isn’t shining all the time doesn’t mean we can’t take advantage of Springtime!

Spring is a great time to get motivated to get organized because we’ve left behind the cold, dreary weather the makes us lethargic and everywhere we look there is new growth and the feeling of new possibility. We become more energetic with the longer hours of daylight and it’s generally a great time to being new projects.

Here are some simple tasks you can complete to get you motivated and moving forward! Let’s get to it.

Bedroom & Closets:

• Begin by going through your fall/winter wardrobe (including shoes) and determine what doesn’t fit, what you haven’t worn this past season and what you know you won’t wear next season. Let those pieces go! Please let go of clothing that is threadbare, worn looking, has stains or holes or just looks outdated. You don’t need to be wearing those pieces!

• Next, store away your winter clothes and shoes that you are keeping so you can make room in your closet for lighter apparel and airy shoes for spring and summer. If you don’t have room in your closet to store away you fall/winter wardrobe, put them off to one side of the closet so they are separate from your current season’s clothes.

• Do the same with your bed linens. Flannel sheets and heavy blankets get put away to make room for lighter linens. Also go through the linens and make sure they are still suitable to be used for next season.

• For both the clothes and linens, make sure to put cedar blocks or sachets in your drawers and closets to avoid yucky moths! The Container Store has many good options for this. I like these blocks for larger drawers, these balls for smaller drawers or these Moth-Away repellent sachets as well.

Kitchen & Pantry:

• Go through your pantry and look for anything that is expired and toss it in the trash! If you need what you tossed, put it on the grocery list for your next shopping trip.

• After you’ve tossed the expired goods, remove everything from the pantry and clean it thoroughly. Dust the shelves, sweep and mop the floor and make sure there are no pantry bugs. They tend to show up in cold weather.  Here are some traps you can use. There are many kinds, but I like these because they are non-toxic. Make sure to include these after your pantry is clean so they don’t re-appear.

• Go through your all your food containers and make sure to toss any that have been damaged by washing, freezing or heating your food. If you need new ones, add to your list!

Stay tuned for Part 2 next week!

The post Step Into Spring: Part 1 appeared first on Sofia's Organizing Solutions.

This linen closet had everyday linens mixed in with seasonal linens for 5 family members. Since linens are used by everyone in the household, it’s important that they be easy to access as well easy to determine who’s space they belong in whether bathroom or bedroom linens.

Before  - Disorganized Linen Closet

After –  Organized Linen Closet

Each sheet set lives in a labeled fabric bin describing the sheet size and family member it pertains to.  Seasonal linens are contained in a zippered comforter bag. Now all family members can find their own sheet sets easily!

The post Before & After: Linen Closet appeared first on Sofia's Organizing Solutions.

File drawers that look like this one are difficult to manage and keep up with for a few reasons. The first is that there are too many hanging files in this filing cabinet drawer.  The second, is that it’s extremely tricky to tell what each folder contains. No labels in some cases and handwritten ones in other cases make it difficult to find a specific folder.

Before  - Disorganized
File Drawer

After –  Organized File Drawer

The end result yields a much cleaner and more spacious file drawer with an easy system for file labels. Easy to read and easy to find what you are looking for!

The post Before & After: File Drawer appeared first on Sofia's Organizing Solutions.

Monday, November 14, 2011
9:00 – 10:00 A.M.

Sofia Alvim presents a free one-hour workshop on what it takes to be an Organized Business Owner!

Central Market – Community Room (2nd Floor)
3815 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77027

The Organized Business Owner

• Do you need to get organized?
• Is disorganization affecting your business and the way you run it?
• Do you feel uneasy or overwhelmed when you walk into your workspace?
• Do you miss or overlook appointments?
• Do you have paper everywhere?
• Can’t find the records you need?
• Do you have systems and procedures in place that aren’t working?
• Do you keep printing the same thing over and over?
• Could your workspace stand to be more efficient and flow better?
• Want to simplify & take control of your workspace and business?

If you or someone you know can answer yes to one of the questions above, then this workshop is for you!

Come join us for this free 1-hour workshop given by Professional Organizer & Productivity Consultant, Sofia Alvim where you will learn about:

1. Pitfalls of being disorganized in business and how they affect all areas of your business
2. Key environments that need organization in business
3. How to begin to think like an organized business owner and begin the process of getting organized.

This will be a casual and interactive workshop. Feel free to bring a friend but please have them register!

FREE and open to the public.

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