Spring time is the time to get your home and your office organized.

Recently I spoke with Tonia Tomlin, President of Plano-based Sorted Out, LLC and President of Sorted Out Publishing, LLC.

As a professional organizer for 13 years, Tonia possesses Level 1 and Level 2 certification in the Study in Chronic Disorganization and ADHD, is the author of the organization book Chaos 2 Calm, and has been seen on HGTV’s Mission: Organization and on Martha Stewart’s Fine Living Channel.

Below Tonia offers three very important tips to help us get organized, and to stay that way.

Q: Organizing can be extremely overwhelming. Based in your expert opinion, what things do people typically struggle to get organized and keep organized?

A: In the 13 years I’ve been organizing, most of my clients struggle with the organization of paper and memorabilia. You would think in this “paperless” world it wouldn’t be a struggle but it is. I tell my clients if they are going to go “paperless”, they have be organized with the physical paper first. Then the electronic file system they create will mirror the physical system.

Q: What are the benefits of spring cleaning and organization?

A: The benefits are less stress, and finding things you forgot you had or needed. When you spring organize it’s like hitting the reset button on your home or office. You have a fresh start for spring and summer! So ultimately, you are saving time, saving money and most of all STRESS!

Q: What are three tips you would offer someone struggling to get organized? And when is it a good time just to call in the experts like yourselves?

A: Step one: Get rid of any paper that you don’t need. Old stagnant paper crushes new ideas and creativity. Ask yourself: How much reference do I need? Is what I have old and outdated? Can I find this information on the web?

Step two: When managing incoming paper, define your need – make quick decisions about what you need to keep and why. Also, use post it notes to further define the action items you intent to take with the documents you have saved. Are they being saved for tax purposes or for the attorney? Keep good notes, and then follow thru!

Step three: Set up a space for current paper, and set boundaries for how much you will keep. Do this by allocating one area of your desk to incoming items to be sorted and an area for outgoing items to be properly disposed of. Also, file anything that needs to be maintained immediately and consider it done!

Finally, it is always a good time to call in the experts! Typically clients call when they are overwhelmed and frustrated. I suggest that you stay ahead of the stress and develop a system before it gets out of hand.