press release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OCTOBER 7, 2001

Organizing for the New Generation

Get Organized Week: October 7-13, 2001

Seattle – With the overwhelming amount of information being produced today, it is no wonder that the next generation is concerned about the future and its resources.

Unfortunately we are still wasting valuable resources by not using technological advances effectively. According to the HP Internet Printing index 2000, workers say they print an average of 32 pages a day from email and the Internet. Fax machines churn out more than 40 billion sheets of paper each year in the United State and Canada, reports David Shenk in Data Smog.

We can use technological advances to help minimize paper effectively and help to reduce waste. One of the three most prevalent technologies will be the personal digital assistants with nearly 75% of executive believing that e-mail will be the leading form of business communication for employees in the coming years. In order to make these technological advances useful it is important to be organized with them.

Organizing in the home and office are keys to reducing waste, saving time and resources, as well as reducing stress and the feeling of being overwhelmed. Get Organized Week (GO Week), sponsored by the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) October 7-13, 2001 is a time to take the next step for our future generation by getting organized in the office and home.

Laura Leist, a professional organizer, consultant, speaker, trainer, and NAPO member, offers these tips for organizing for the new generation:

1. Quickly scan your incoming e-mail for messages from the same person. Open them all before responding or you may waste time asking for missed attachments or information that was sent later.
2. Since more and more people refuse to open attachments from unknown e-mailers for fear of catching a virus, it pays to cut and paste documents into the letter itself where possible. It is also faster for the recipient.
3. According to Robert J du Puis, author of How To Avoid High Tech Stress, ever increasing technology parallels an increase in stress levels. Let technology work for you, not against you.

Prior to founding Eliminate chaos, Ms. Leist spent over a decade in the high-tech industry as a Business Consultant and in various management roles in the area of Product Management. Today, she helps her clients streamline workflows and designs business processes that allow businesses to concentrate on their core business, which in turn "Eliminates the Chaos so they have More Time For Life."

Ms. Leist is the President of Eliminate Chaos, LLC. Founded in 2000, Eliminate Chaos provides a variety of organizing services to Corporations, small businesses, and individuals. Eliminate Chaos is a member of NAPO. For more information, go to www.eliminatechaos.com.

Founded in 1985, NAPO, based in Austin, Texas, is a nonprofit professional association whose 1200+ members include organizing consultants, speakers, trainers, authors and manufacturers of organizing products. NAPO’s information and referral line is 512.206.0151 or www.napo.net.