In May 2008, Meredith/NBC Universal announced the results of their survey entitled “What Do Women Want?”™ More than 3,000 women revealed key insights on the female psyche across topics including health and well-being.

When asked which service professionals they would most like to hire, 24% of women responded that they wanted to hire a professional organizer to declutter their living space or office.

This finding suggests that women recognize the need to simplify their overwhelmed lives. But, do they realize the inherent health benefits of enlisting the help of a professional organizer?

As Debbie Jordan Kravatz, owner of Virtually Organized, noted on her blog…

Getting organized:

• helps reduce your stress levels (which can help with everything from anxiety and depression to cardiovascular and weight issues),
• puts more time in your day (which can be better used getting annual check-ups, counting calories, and exercising regularly), and
• frees you up to focus on things BESIDES your cluttered counter tops and overstuffed garage (such as spending time with your loved ones and enjoying your favorite hobbies—activities which have been proven to have lingering health benefits).

What are your thoughts? Have you noticed how the amount of clutter in your home affects your health? I’d love to hear details about your personal home/health connection!

Drowning in a sea of e-mail? Not to worry… I have discovered the solution! This weekend, I stumbled upon the coolest plug-in ever : Xobni. If you use Microsoft Outlook to read and send e-mail, you absolutely must download this free plug-in… your “eLife” will be forever changed!

Xobni is the San Francisco startup that is revolutionizing the way people manage email relationships and organize your flooded inbox.

Xobni extends Outlook by offering fast search, conversation threading, a social networking platform, and many other features designed to make email better.

The name Xobni is the word “inbox” spelled backwards. Xobni was founded by Adam Smith and Matt Brezina in the spring of 2006.

Be brave. Try it out. Then, tell me what you think. I’d love to hear about your Xobni experience!

So, how did things go? Well, as always, flexibility is key…

My week didn’t exactly play out as originally planned…

Monday

@ 8:30am : BNI 1-to-1 Meeting
AM : [ real neat ] brainstorm session
PM : tidy, dust, & vacuum apartment

Tuesday

@ 7:00pm : Toastmasters Speaker Seminar
AM : [ real neat ] phone calls, client follow-up
PM : play date for Amanda + wash, fold, & put away laundry

Wednesday

@ 7:30am : BNI Chapter Meeting
AM : [ real neat ] blog & website updates
PM : OPEN + park play date for Amanda

Thursday

@ 3:30pm : BNI 1-to-1 Meeting
AM : [ real neat ] phone calls, marketing letters
PM : play date for Amanda + [ real neat ] workshops

Friday

ALL DAY : no school for Amanda = play, play, play !!

What about you? Did your week go as planned? I’d love to hear all about it!

Need a girls’ night out? Wish you could have an individually-tailored one-on-one organizing consultation, but stuck with a tight budget? Love to have tons of fun as you learn new skills?

You need to host an organizing party!

How it works : You invite at least 3 friends over to your place, provide some quick and easy snacks and drinks, and then I’ll take care of the rest!

For a meager $10 per person, you will receive…

• Private shared access to organizing expertise in the comfort of your own home,
• Built-in accountability to friends who will motivate and encourage you after the party, and
• Hands-on organizing assistance from an expert.
• Bonus: Free hostess gift!

So, what are you waiting for? Schedule your first organizing party today!

The girls will love you for it!

I am a master of procrastination. Give me something that I don’t really want to do, and I’ll find a zillion ways to avoid doing it.

Today’s fine example : contact the insurance company.

On Friday, I stopped by the pharmacy to pick up Amanda’s prescription for antibiotics (re: ear infection). The total charge was nearly $75 for the generic form of the medication!

Since we have a decent health insurance plan, I questioned the price and was told that the pharmacy has our insurance information on file, but had been instructed by the insurance company to charge a $75 copay for the prescription!

Now, we normally pay a $10 copay for the generic form of any prescribed medication, so this answer concerned me…

Anyway, long-story-short, I need to call our health insurance company today to get it all straightened out (“Git-R-Done”). Ugh!

So, what about you? What important task have you been dreading? How do you motivate yourself to finally “Git-R-Done”? I’d love to hear from you!