Julie Bestry, CPO®

The free webinar series from the 14th Amendment Center for Law & Democracy begins this week on Tuesday 9/16 & Wednesday 9/17 at 6pm, w/a two-part session on birthright citizenship.
You can register now. howard.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
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I spent my day thinking about Melissa Hortman and her husband and her doggie. Every time I found a vile social media post screaming in religiously-coded language about Charlie Kirk, I searched the poster’s history. Not one said a word when Melissa was murdered; not one post decried it.

Organize to Help the Seniors in Your Life With Technology | Best Results Organizing This post was originally published on May 27, 2024, and has been updated as of September 8, 2025 to reflect additional information and resources, including revised links. We love technology. However, ...

Organize to Help the Seniors in Your Life With Technology juliebestry.com/2024/05/27/o...

Organize and Lower Your Medical Bills: Spot Errors, Negotiate Costs, and Save Money | Best Results Organizing And, of course, if you are recovered and back to work, you're probably trying to maximize your time to catch up on everything you missed while being waylaid by illness or injury. How do you decide it'...

Organize and Lower Your Medical Bills: Spot Errors, Negotiate Costs, and Save Money juliebestry.com/2025/08/25/o...

How to Track, Lower, or Cancel Your Recurring Subscription-Based Bills | Best Results Organizing Categorize subscriptions however you like, and use the color-code calendar view to track payment dates and the generated graphs of subscription expenses to analyze your costs. You'll have to do your o...

How to Track, Lower, or Cancel Your Recurring Subscription-Based Bills

juliebestry.com/2025/08/18/h...

Organize Your College-Bound Student for Grownup Life: Part 3 | Best Results Organizing Parents, you're counting down the precious days left with your college-bound students. Meanwhile, they're counting down until they experience "freedom" and (gulp) adult responsibilities. In recent pos...

Organize Your College-Bound Student for Grownup Life: Part 3, covering time management, academic success strategies, etiquette, car care, avoiding scams, and random life skills, plus a plethora of resources for parents!

juliebestry.com/2024/08/12/o...

Organize Your College-Bound Student for Grownup Life: Part 2 | Best Results Organizing From living with strangers to not having parents and teachers overseeing study habits and self-care, college is a melange of delightful freedom and terrifying responsibility. Last week, in Organize Yo...

Organize Your College-Bound Student for Grownup Life: Part 2, covering communication, health, safety, and the bane of every college kid's existence: laundry!

juliebestry.com/2024/08/05/o...

Organize Your College-Bound Student for Grown-Up Life: Part 1 | Best Results Organizing In a matter of weeks, fresh-faced first-year college students will be headed off to begin their adult lives. Everyone needs a little organizational guidance on this path. Last week, I re-shared a popu...

Last summer, I wrote almost 11,000 words over three posts on how to get your kid ready for college. Here you go! Starting with essential paperwork and info, finances, and insurance:

Organize Your College-Bound Student for Grown-Up Life: Part 1 juliebestry.com/2024/07/29/o...

How to Stay Organized When Travel Goes Off the Rails (or Runway) | Best Results Organizing (This wasn't my flight. But in a way, don't we all feel like this was our flight?) The temperature continued to rise. Passengers were polite and resigned, except that after about half an hour, an anno...

How to Stay Organized When Travel Goes Off the Rails (or Runway) — with shoutouts for @thepointsguy.com @nomadicmatt.bsky.social @budgettraveller.bsky.social @tripit @wanderlog.bsky.social @flightradar24.com @thecontainerstore.bsky.social @usdot.bsky.social

juliebestry.com/2025/08/04/h...

Why the Humble Bankers Box is Still the MVP of Office Organization | Best Results Organizing Perhaps it's these negative images of bankers that often left my clients dubious over the past 24 years when I've suggested that they might benefit from using Bankers Boxes. Some (younger) clients had...

Why the Humble Bankers Box is Still the MVP of Office Organization*

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*with a correction to the type that previously appeared in the graphic. It's so Monday.

Paper Doll Plays Ice Cream Man: Cool Organizing and Productivity Treats for Hot Days | Best Results Organizing We've managed — perhaps with a few bumps and bruises to our productivity — to make it through one-half of the year. Perhaps you've reached your goals or are on our way toward them. Maybe the temperatu...

You deserve sweet treats! Keep your timers safe, customize the lengths of your sticky notes, and organize away your stress in today's Paper Doll post!

Shoutouts for @Time Timer, @victortechbrands.bsky.social, Anxiety Bookshelf, & Workman MJ (and his mommy).

juliebestry.com/2025/07/07/p...

Digital Disaster Prep: How to Organize Your Tech Info Before You Need It | Best Results Organizing Do your digital devices ever frustrate you? You probably use your computer much of the day. Even if you don't, you likely grab your phone or your tablet with some frequency. You're on the internet, an...

NEW Paper Doll Post | Digital Disaster Prep: How to Organize Your Tech Info Before You Need It — with shoutouts for @hivesystems.com, the late, great Alan Rickman, the movie Office Space, and my never forgotten ruby iMac G3.

juliebestry.com/2025/06/30/d...

Movie you've watched more than six times using GIFs (hard mode: no Star Wars, Star Trek or LOTR)

How to Stay Productive When It’s Too Darn Hot | Best Results Organizing The meteorologists tell us that we're experiencing a heat dome. All I know is that my air conditioner is struggling and my brain is melting. I've debated with myself as to whether I really need to wri...

How to Stay Productive When It's Too Darn Hot

Chill out w/Cole Porter, Ella Fitzgerald, Bananarama, Chubby Checker, Heat Miser, Blanche Devereaux, and a thirsty octopus, and learn how to be productive when it's sweltering.

juliebestry.com/2025/06/23/h...

Paper Doll on the Power of a DONE List | Best Results Organizing DON'T BE LISTLESS We all know the power of a To-Do list. When we're feeling overwhelmed by all the little dings in our brains reminding us, over and over, of what we have to do, we turn to a brain dum...

See the surprising benefits of a Done list and explore strategies for creating one that will provide a reality check, improve your productivity, & boost your self-esteem.

Shoutouts: @katherinefirth.bsky.social
@rdegges.com @agawande.bsky.social @oliverburkeman.com

juliebestry.com/2025/06/16/p...

a little girl is asking why not both while standing in a kitchen . ALT: a little girl is asking why not both while standing in a kitchen .

Yes.

PSA: CNN will be live broadcasting Saturday night's performance of George Clooney's Broadway play Good Night and Good Luck on TV - but also online *without requiring a login.*

cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2025/06/02/h...

Post a random photo otherwise everything goes wrong in June.

People also like something smaller as a memento of a day out, and something that they can easily carry until they get back to the car. Also, it’s fun to spin spinny things. 🙃

Watch those become your biggest sellers this weekend!

I’ll be more respectful than he has been to literally anybody except Putin.

Organize Your Desktop with Your Perfect Desk Pad: 2025 Update | Best Results Organizing This post originally appeared in November 2023 and has been updated for June 2025. As you examine your options, ask yourself, will this material deflect spills? Morning Starbucks? Afternoon Starbucks?...

Organize Your Desktop with Your Perfect Desk Pad: 2025 Update — create a workspace that supports your comfort and productivity, enhances your reputation, and delights you.

juliebestry.com/2025/06/02/o...

Organize Your Summer So It Doesn’t Disappear So Quickly | Best Results Organizing with your one wild and precious life? You've got 98 days. Whatever your answer to the question, go for it!

There are 100 days from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend until Labor Day — they zip by. This post from the Paper Doll vault offers strategies to make your summer serve your goals, figure out what you want, and set benchmarks for celebrating. Happy summer!

juliebestry.com/2023/05/29/o...

Happy #WorldOrganizingDay! I celebrated by helping a client organize a home library & office.

napo.net/WorldOrganiz...

Need support getting more organized or productive? As a Certified Professional Organizer® & productivity specialist, I can help. My colleagues (in NAPO & worldwide) are here!

How to Use Timers for Improved Productivity — Part 5: Hybrid Timers and Bonus Material | Best Results Organizing The Timer Timer Watch is particularly ideal for school and testing situations because it's not a smart device, isn't connected to the internet, and can be used in silent mode. Set the visual timer to ...

How to Use Timers for Improved Productivity — Part 5: Hybrid Timers and Bonus Material
juliebestry.com/2025/05/05/h...

5 Ways 'Guess Culture' Disrupts an Organized, Productive Mind — and How to Fix It Learn how "Guess Culture" quietly undermines productivity, boundaries, and clarity—and discover simple, actionable strategies to move toward direct, confident communication.

As a Metafilter person, "Ask vs. Guess Culture" is one of my favorite concepts for understanding people, so I love that my professional organizing colleague has written "5 Ways 'Guess Culture' Disrupts an Organized, Productive Mind — and How to Fix It"
www.onetozenorganizing.com/post/5-ways-...

How to Use Timers for Improved Productivity and Focus — Part 4: Digital Timers | Best Results Organizing A variety of white noise will help you focus more. If you concentrate well, Tom will praise you. You can change the session time in the settings. You can reset the timer by pressing Tom's belly button...

What do an Italian grandmother, a forest, and a bear's belly button have to do with productivity? Come see in the 4th installment of How to Use Timers for Improved Productivity and Focus; this time, our focus (heh, heh) is on digital timers!

juliebestry.com/2025/04/28/h...

How to Use Timers for Improved Productivity and Focus — Part 3: Tangible Timers | Best Results Organizing To operate, just turn the timer so that the side with the number faces up and the timer starts counting immediately. A red light blinks while the timer is in use, which can either be comforting or ann...

How to Use Timers for Improved Productivity and Focus — Part 3: Tangible Timers

juliebestry.com/2025/04/21/h...

How to Use Timers for Improved Productivity and Focus — Part 2: Pick the Right Timer | Best Results Organizing Perhaps the visual aspects of a timer are less important to you than the auditory ones. Maybe you prefer your timer to have an alarm or musical alert that won't be jarring. In the comments on last wee...

How to Use Timers for Improved Productivity and Focus — Part 2: Pick the Right Timer
juliebestry.com/2025/04/14/h...

Good news: the Trump Administration has backed off its planned cuts to Social Security’s phone services.

Putting pressure on the Administration can work—let’s keep at it!

www.axios.com/2025/04/09/s...