Tell Your Story

Does Your System Need Tweaking Like Mine Did?

By Hazel Thornton | January 21, 2015 |

In Six Organizing Systems Everyone Needs I asked questions designed to help you create the RIGHT systems that will work for YOU. I also stated that every system needs to be re-evaluated periodically, and adjusted as necessary. Because things change. Here is an example of a system that worked for me for many years…until it…

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8 Motivational Quotes for an Auspicious New Year

By Hazel Thornton | January 1, 2015 |

Rather than telling you what I hope…I mean, resolve…to accomplish in the New Year, I want to tell you how I plan to keep myself motivated. It’s easy for me to set goals, even S.M.A.R.T. Goals, and then forget later why they were so important. (It is just me?) I even have an entire New…

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Buy the best. Forget the rest.

By Hazel Thornton | October 20, 2014 |

I’m pretty frugal, but perhaps not in the same ways you are. The definition of frugal that I like best is this: Spending money on the things you value and saving on everything else. I don’t have the best of everything, but I am willing to spend money on things that are important to me.…

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I Can See Clearly Now…Can You?

By Hazel Thornton | July 13, 2014 |

I was driving to a business networking luncheon, admiring the blue skies, fluffy white clouds, and Sandia mountains with my brand new eyes (post cataract surgery), singing the old Johnny Nash song (“I can see clearly now the rain is gone…”), and it occurred to me that cataracts are just another form of clutter.

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Why Am I Organized and You Aren’t?

By Hazel Thornton | May 8, 2013 |

The first thing you should know is that I am not a psychologist and this is not a scientific paper. I’m just a professional organizer sharing some personal observations. The second thing you should know is that I’m not organized in every possible way at all possible times! And my standards (what “organized” looks like,…

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How to Pack Like a Pro

By Hazel Thornton | April 29, 2013 |

Want to know how to pack a suitcase like a pro? A professional organizer, that is? Well, I can’t speak for all of them. OK, it’s just me. Want to know how to pack like me? Here is my philosophy of packing, to paraphrase comedian Steven Wright: You can’t take everything. Where would you put…

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Hoarders

Organizing the Organizers: When colleagues are few and far between

By Hazel Thornton | March 21, 2013 |

Eight years ago I moved from Los Angeles, where there are hundreds of professional organizers and a thriving NAPO chapter, to Albuquerque, where there are seven of us. Well, there are a few more than seven, but I am referring specifically to our little group, PONM (Professional Organizers of New Mexico). When I was planning…

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Does Progress Equal Happiness?

By Hazel Thornton | December 30, 2012 |

Last year I decided I wanted a mantra/slogan/motto/theme. Something that I could fall back on to keep me motivated and — dare I say it? — happy. As a fan of Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project (book and blog), I know that many things can contribute to one’s happiness, from kittens and rainbows and enjoyable…

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Be Prepared: How Girl Scouts helped me get organized for life

By Hazel Thornton | September 9, 2012 |

It probably wouldn’t surprise you to learn that I was a Girl Scout. I started out as a Brownie and ended up working as a counselor at Girl Scout camps in the mountains of Idaho and Colorado as a young adult. I recently reconnected with some camp friends who reminded me how valuable the skills…

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All I Really Need to Know About Organizing I Learned in Yoga

By Hazel Thornton | June 26, 2012 |

                  . As a professional organizer I have found that yoga provides a perfect metaphor for the balance we are all seeking in our lives. Balance helps us organize our space, manage our time, and improve our relationships with ourselves and others. Here are 7 lessons I…

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Hazel's Books

Book cover: What's a Photo Without the Story? How to Create Your Family Legacy

What’s a Photo Without the Story? How to Create Your Family Legacy

Cover of "Go With the Flow! (The Clutter Flow Chart Workbook)"

Go With the Flow! (The Clutter Flow Chart Workbook)

Cover of "Hung Jury: The Diary of a Menendez Juror"

Hung Jury: The Diary of a Menendez Juror

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