AAPO members are bound by a Code of Ethics.  This Code of Ethics is a set of principles to provide guidelines in our professional conduct with our clients, colleagues and community.

Take a look at it here, and be assured AAPO members maintain the highest integrity.

Is a Professional Organiser the same as a cleaner or housekeeper?

Professional Organisers often get asked this question, and the answer is a resounding NO! AAPO's Immediate Past President, Wendy Davie, from Totally Organised, recently wrote about the difference, and I'm pleased to share her very clear explanation.

There are a few differences between these professions.  Some of these are:

* A Professional Organiser does not come in and clear your space without you being involved in the process.

* A Professional Organiser will transfer the skills of being more organised while working with you.

* A Professional Organiser should be involved in some Professional Development and Education relating to clutter, hoarding, strategies and project management etc.

* A Professional Organiser will teach you how to increase your productivity.

* A Professional Organiser should be involved with their Professional Association and work to build the industry profile.

* A Professional Organiser does not offer "Cleaning" services.

I love to read, and now I'm a grandmother, I love to share my love of reading with my granddaughter.

That's why I'm pleased to pass on news of the Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation's Share-A-Book Campaign.  Marie Claire magazine and Officeworks are getting involved too.  (Thanks to Marianne Shenton for alerting AAPO to this great program.)

Visit the Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation website for full details of how Professional Organisers, their clients and the whole community can get involved in improving child literacy standards in remote indigenous communities.

AAPO encourages Professional Organisers to become members and actively participate in the programs we offer. Through these programs, AAPO is establishing standards and by hiring an Accredited Professional Organiser, the public can be confident these standards have been met or exceeded.

There are three levels of Accreditation – Member, Accomplished and Expert. Accreditation supports clients in making the choice of who to work with, and also provides a professional development path for our members. For further details of the three levels, see the Accreditation overview table.

It's how we spend our time here and now, that really matters. If you are fed up with the way you have come to interact with time, change it. - Wieder Marcia

How are you spending your time, here and now?  Is it time for a change?  To take back control?

Professional Organisers are experts at seeing the possibilities for successful change.

Last week was another productive and busy week behind the scenes at AAPO. 

• Registrations opened for the annual conference, and bookings are already being received
• The PR sub-committee met, created a great media release, developed some ideas for National Organising Week and more
• The AAPO Executive Committee met
• We started reviewing the member survey results
• The Chapter Leaders met (and that’s the last time we’ll call them that)
• The website sub-committee met to discuss fine-tuning to the new website
• New links were added to AAPO News on the website
• Our newsletter editor started assembling the March issue
• And lots more

Not bad for just one week.  I hope yours is as productive.

The answer for one lucky Melbourne woman was $2.5 million!

Think it's just a once off?  Couldn't happen to you?  Another Melbourne woman carried a winning lottery worth $1.3 million around in her handbag for 5 months before discovering her fortune.

What more motivation could you need to get organised?

AAPO members are standing by to help.  Find an Organiser here.

Read the article here.

Did you hear the news?  AAPO will host not one, but two!, big names in the Organising world for its Annual Conference in September this year.  Dorothy Breininger will be the Opening Keynote Speaker and Julie Morgenstern will close as Keynote Speaker.  These 2 amazing women have a lot to share with AAPO conference attendees.  So save the dates - September 13th and 14th in Christchurch, New Zealand.  I've booked my flight already.

2 families have just paid $455,000.00 - yes, nearly half a million - for storage.

That amount was paid for a 22-square-metre boat shed.  The boat shed cannot be fitted with electricity or plumbing by law, and that price did not include the land, merely a lease.  The 2 families who bought the beach box plan to use it to store their beach gear.

Read the full story here.

Now I ask you, is this the most expensive storage ever?

The moving stories of compulsive hoarders can now be seen on the Bio channel in Australia. The first episode of Hoarders aired last week and showed the impact hoarding can have on family relationships, with one hoarder having her children removed from the house, and another under pressure from family members who felt their safety and quality of life were being compromised.

Definitely worth checking out. Wednesday nights on the Bio Channel.

If you did see it, what did you think?