Organization is a muscle to be exercised!

When I turned 30 I had my first real taste of adulting. Living in LA at the time, I was a regional manager for an upscale heath and fitness company, enjoying my first ‘big kid’ job and the bump in income that came with that.  It was what I had been dreaming of after being a poor college kid, then struggling to find my place in the workforce following that. But success wasn’t exactly as I had pictured it would be - instead of relief there was a level of stress I didn’t expect.  Money was rolling in but bills went unpaid and debt mounted, mail and important notices were lost.  I couldn’t keep up with the increasing stream of emails, voicemails and text messages that were streaming in, business or personal.  My lack of organizational skills were blowing up in my face as my work schedule became more and more demanding.  I needed help in a major way.  So I did something very LA and hired a personal assistant.  

Enter Caitlyn; my hero and organizing angel.  At the time I didn’t know I would be getting an education in organizing, nor would Caitlyn have described herself as a professional organizer, but that’s what she really was.  Caitlyn brought me into the digital world with calendars and notes, helped me purge old and unnecessary papers, and introduced me to budgeting software and automated bill pay.  The beginnings of bringing order into my life were difficult and, at first, I kept falling off the wagon.  Slowly but surely, though, I became better at keeping myself together.  I was getting stronger and stronger in my organizational habits, which was leading to a more productive and stress-free life. Now 10 years, 2 cities and a career change later, I look back and I’m so thankful I was able to learn the skills to keep myself from plunging further into stress and debt.  With the help from an outside perspective I was able develop a stronger process for order and more freedom in my life.  So begin now, and strengthen your organizational skills for maximum mental health and vitality in the long run! 

Written by: Amy Young, Project Coordinator, Professional Organizer