"Get Organized Month" a Success for NAPO-NC and Barnes & Noble

Who doesn’t want to start the new year with all their closets organized, their photos in albums, their kids’ clothes neatly arranged, and a feeling that all things un-used are going to be recycled or donated to a good cause?

Even most professional organizers would settle for a fraction of this in their own lives. So in January, professional organizers in the triangle area set out to help others accomplish these goals and more.

Since January is typically the time for getting organized … starting the new year off on the right foot; it has been designated "Get Organized Month," or "GO Month."

And to celebrate, Barnes & Noble at the Streets at Southpoint (Durham, NC) joined forces with The National Association of Professional Organizers, North Carolina Chapter (NAPO-NC) to host free organizational seminars each Saturday in January.

Customers of Barnes & Noble were treated to lively presentations on a variety of organizing topics, even livelier Q&A sessions with a panel of professional organizers, tables of organizing books and products, and some one-on-one advice for patrons willing to wait around after the crowds dispersed.

"You can really tell what the hot topics are this year by listening to our audience’s questions," said Stefanie Watkins, community relations director for NAPO-NC.

"Green organizing is really popular … people want to do the right thing by finding places to take dead batteries, old PCs, cell phones and the like. Usually a quick call to a town’s solid waste department will turn up locations that will recycle these items. One of our professional organizers suggests looking at the web site www.emagazine.com for great recycling resources."

"Couples and organizing, this was another big Q&A topic. There is such a stereotype of one spouse being a neat-freak and the other a slob, but even minor differences in organizing style can make it difficult to decide on a plan for organizing a home. Often this is where a professional organizer can help."

"We are part organizer, part therapist for the household!" Watkins continued.

The GO seminars were held every Saturday in January, from 1:00 – 2:30 PM. Topics this year were:

• January 6th: Personal Organization with two specific presentations on “Personal Information Centers” and “The Freedom of an Organized Life”
• January 13th: “Eco-Friendly Organizing and Simplifying Your Life”
• January 20th: Organizing for the Family with two specific presentations on “Organizing your Grocery Shopping” and “Organizing Your Photos”
• January 27th: Organizing Potpourri with two specific presentations on “Organizing and Making Money from a Yard Sale” and “Discover Feng Shui”

Anyone can download a list of resources from the seminars, or head to the Barnes & Noble store at Southpoint and ask for the section on home or office organizing.

"This series of seminars was really well received by our customers and we had a capacity crowd a couple of weekends," said Angela Born, community relations manager for the Streets at Southpoint Barnes & Noble.

"I’m so glad NAPO volunteers to do this with Barnes & Noble because it even inspired me to get more organized! We can’t wait to have NAPO back again."

GO Month is a national event sponsored by the National Association of Professional Organizers. Founded in 1985, NAPO is the largest national association of and for professional organizers, with over 3350 members throughout the world.

"Our GO Month seminars represent the chapter’s group effort to educate the public about the benefits a professional organizer can provide," said Geralin Thomas, NAPO-NC chapter president.

"Our chapter is grateful to Barnes & Noble for providing the great location and support materials to help people learn more about organizing and what professional organizers do."

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