There's still time to participate! Clear out excess shoes from your closet and do a good deed.

The Georgia chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO-GA) is participating in the Soles4Souls project.

Soles4Souls is a non-profit that "collects new shoes to give relief to the victims of abject suffering and collects used shoes to support micro-business efforts to eradicate poverty." All donations are tax deductible. Go to soles4souls.org to learn more.

Soles4Souls accepts all types of shoes: athletic, running, dress, sandals, pumps, heels, work boots, cleats, dance, flip flops, boots, just as long as they are new or gently worn. Any donated shoes that are not wearable will be recycled.

Find a drop-off location near you and do two good things at once!

You can save money. You'll know what you already own, eliminating the need to buy duplicate items. A professional organizer can help you find the perfect organizing products for your space and lifestyle, so you stop wasting money on things you don't need or won't work.

You can become more productive and efficient. A professional organizer can create order and structure out of chaos. You'll receive systems that work for your dominant learning style, your lifestyle, your needs, your challenges, and your dreams.

You'll have a positive self-image and ditch the shame. Once your home or office is neat and tidy, you won't feel embarrassed to have guests visit. The guilt will fade away as you take pride in your surroundings.

You'll have a healthier environment. Physical and emotional clutter obscures your surroundings. An organized home and office is more easily cleaned. Lose the clutter and cut down on time spent moving piles of paper and stuff around.

Your stress level will decrease dramatically. When you can find what you need, are on top of your to-dos, and arrive on time, you'll feel calmer and have more peace of mind. No more feeling overwhelmed by life -- you'll be the one in control.

You'll discover more time for yourself. When you're organized, your days go as planned, and you get a lot more done. That leaves more time to indulge in a little "me time."

Your energy will shine. Clutter is a mask and a professional organizer can help you take off that mask. Once the clutter is removed, you can showcase your talents, skills, and personality and have the life you deserve.

A&E's television show "Hoarders" has brought attention to this most extreme form of disorganization. According to Owen Kelly, Ph.D., pathological or compulsive hoarding is a specific type of behavior marked by acquiring and failing to throw out a large number of items that would appear to have little or no value to others, severe cluttering of the person's home so that it is no longer able to function as a viable living space, and significant distress or impairment of work or social life. Although hoarding often occurs with obsessive-compulsive disorder, the two are not always linked.

What is Compulsive Hoarding?

• The acquisition of a large number of possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value
• Failure to discard apparently useless possessions
• Difficulty making critical decisions about discarding or retaining possessions
• Clutter that precludes daily activities for which living spaces were designed

Signs of Hoarding (depending on severity)

• Extreme accumulation of "stuff" or "clutter", at times overwhelming the home and yard
• Difficulty getting rid of items
• Losing important items like money or bills in the clutter
• Blocked exits
• Infestations of rats, mice, or insects
• Rotting food, used/dirty food containers
• Pet waste
• Neglect of home maintenance
• Non-working utilities, such as heat, water, appliances
• Refusal of entry for repairs, services, etc.
• Limited family and social activities

While engaging the services of a qualified professional organizer can help address compulsive hoarding, most people need to be actively engaged in therapy to address the underlying mental health issues. There is more likely to be a better outcome if there is a collaborative relationship between the client, therapist and organizer. Even then, progress can be extremely laborious and slow. We usually refer hoarders to an expert at the Atlanta Hoarding Task Force or Institute for Challenging Disorganization, who are equipped to handle these types of situations.

Buried in Treasures:  Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving and Hoarding

D. Tolin, R. Frost, G. Steketee, 2007 

Buried in Treasures is a manual for people with hoarding problems, family members of people with hoarding problems, and service workers who work with hoarding. Primarily designed as a self-help reference, Buried in Treasures walks the reader through the cognitive-behavioral therapy interventions used in clinical research trials.