Before I start a writing project, I generally do as much research as I can about the topic at hand, which I’m sure most of you do as well. So, today’s task was to gather some ideas of what to include in my brief autobiography for this month’s GCC MOPS newsletter.

A search on Google.com for “autobiography outline” led me to an interesting website: OurStory.com. It’s a collaborative online environment where you can collect and share all kinds of media: letters, photos, videos, audio recordings, and more.

OurStory is an online service where family and friends collaboratively create, share, and preserve their family history, life stories, anecdotes, photos, and videos in an organized visual photo-history timeline.

OurStory combines the best of blogging, photo sharing, digital storytelling, and family history with rich features such as an interactive visual timeline, privacy controls, collaborative email requests, guided templates, and a library of over 2,000 prompting interview questions.

OurStory helps family and friends share and preserve their stories from life’s shoebox in a lasting format online, backed up to a home computer, and/or made into heirloom-quality books, CDs, and DVDs.

OurStory is a full-featured free service on the web. It is also available as a premium subscription for $39.95 (USD) per year, which adds features such as multiple profiles and timelines, unlimited privacy circles, style embellishment, and discounts on books and CD/DVDs.

What a great way to organize your memorabilia… an organizer’s dream! Learn more online.

So, how does one go from kitchen counter choas to kitchen counter oasis? Aaaahhh… Let me show you the way!

To start, I moved items, one-by-one, from the kitchen counter into sorted, like-with-like, categorized piles on the nearby dining room table.

What!?! You don’t think this looks any better!?! Are you crazy!?!

OK, OK… It still looks like crap, but there really is a method to my madness…

From top to bottom, left to right, I sorted everything into categories: family paperwork (archive files), junk mail (shredder), Amanda’s art supplies (playroom), business paperwork (office), personal items (master bedroom and adjoining bathroom), and miscellaneous kitchen items.

Hey, whaddya know… there were a few little things in that huge pile that actually belonged in the kitchen! Huh! Imagine that…

And last, but definitely not least, I returned all sorted, categorized items to their respective homes. So, not only do I now have a sparkling clean work surface in my kitchen, but my family can even sit down to dinner tonight!

So, what about you? Have you made any progress clearing off your own kitchen counter? Did you find any really strange things lurking in those piles?  (I actually found a pair of socks… very weird…) Anyway, I’d love to hear from you! Just add your two cents in the comments below.

The end result of my personal Monday Mission project is a thing of beauty, isn’t it? Oh, how I love having a clean kitchen counter!

* sigh *

Well, as promised, I shall stand tall and brave (just like my clients) and reveal to you one of the best-kept secrets and hidden truths of a real-life professional organizer’s lived-in home…

[ insert an overly dramatic drumroll here, please… ]

Yes. It’s true. This was the fate of my kitchen counter nearly one month after Amanda and I returned home from our two-week summer vacation!

Normally, like many of my clients, I’d hide my head in shame if anyone outside my immediate family were to see my kitchen looking this way. In fact, I was incredibly grateful that the weather remained pleasant enough that the MOPS playgroup could meet at the elementary school playground rather than my home (which was our designated rain-out location)!

Now mind you, if our group did end up meeting at my house before I completed this week’s Monday Mission organizing project, everything that you see on the kitchen counter would’ve simply been gathered in one fell swoop, hauled into the office, and dropped onto the floor in the middle of the room.

I’d close the door to the disaster, of course, so that anyone—who, heaven forbid, might need to use the restroom—could make their way down to the guest bathroom at the end of the hallway, completely oblivious to my messy little secret!

… suffice it to say that everyday living can even get in the way of a professional’s best intentions! You’re not alone!

Whew! This post has turned into far more than I had originally anticipated, so stay tuned… Next week, I shall continue to reveal how I successfully managed to clear off my kitchen counter (and keep it that way)! Until next time…

This week’s mission is to clear off the kitchen counter!

Brace yourself for an organizer’s true confession… In its current state, my kitchen counter should be placed under quarantine by Hazmat! Really.

Though originally unintended, the kitchen has simply found itself to be the natural landing spot for everything that comes into my home. When you enter the house through the garage, the kitchen is the first large space that you encounter.

Yes, I have attempted to find other landing spots, and I have tried many different organizing systems to no avail. Now, I realize that I simply cannot change my family’s natural tendencies. The kitchen counter will be my nemesis forevermore!

I have, however, stumbled upon one or two great organizing solutions that have (mostly) worked for me. But, until I can share these handy tools with you, I must delve into the abyss that currently exists on my kitchen counter. So, please join me in tackling this week’s mission…!

I’ll post photos of my progress by week’s end, and I encourage you to share photos of your progress in the comments below! Let’s get to it!

This week’s mission is to make your bed each and every morning!

Believe it or not, the tidiness of your bed can either make or break your day! Get out of bed and take just a minute to pull up and straighten your covers (even if your significant other is still snoozing).

Check out the perks below…

• Your bedroom will instantly look twice as clean and organized.
• You’ll get a little ego boost from your first completed task of the day.
• You’ve created a clear, flat surface on which you can work (i.e., fold clothes, prepare luggage, read books).
• Your bed will be a wonderfully comfortable oasis to fall onto (or climb into) at the end of the day.