227 | Apps + Shoes + Vibration Boards + Saunas: a convo with some of our Inspired Organizers!

Jul 30

Today on the pod I'm taking you to a casual convo we had on a recent live coaching Zoom we do in our Inspired Organizer® group! This was just a snippet from a 90 minute coaching call but it has some great suggestions on apps and other things that help keep us physically healthy on our hard organizing jobs.

You can listen here, read the full transcript below, or find us on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you love to listen to podcasts!

LINKS FOR LISTENERS

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HIGHLIGHTS

Essential Technology and Tips for Professional Organizers

In this episode of the Pro Organizer Studio Podcast, host Melissa Klug shares insights into the tools and strategies that have transformed her professional organizing business. Melissa highlights the importance of technology in managing tasks, citing her use of apps like Notes, Google Keep, and Sortly for efficiency and client coordination. She further discusses the utility of Google Lens for assessing the value of items and several other handy apps like MileIQ for mileage tracking and Curio for inventory management. The conversation also touches on physical health tips like foam rolling, wearing supportive footwear, and using back braces to cope with the physical demands of organizing. Additionally, the podcast features recommendations from the Inspired Organizer community on various tech tools, apps, and health tips to enhance both business operations and personal well-being.

00:42 Live Zoom Sessions and Community Insights
01:56 Technology Tools for Organizers
03:02 Using Google Lens for Valuations
08:04 Mileage Tracking with MileIQ
15:10 Protecting Your Physical Health
21:28 Additional Tips and Tools

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Hey, Pro Organizers. My name is Melissa Klug and you are listening to the Pro Organizer Studio Podcast. Professional organizing changed my entire life. After 20 years of working at huge companies, I started working for myself. I opened a professional organizing business, grew it to six figures, and I never looked back.

Now I get to spend all day, every day, teaching organizers around the world How to find clients, how to market and sell yourselves, how to turn this business into what you want it to be. Whether you have been in business for 15 minutes or 15 years, you have a home at Pro Organizer Studio. I'm excited that you're here.

Let's get started.

Hey organizers, it's Melissa, and two times a month in our Inspired Organizer group. We have live zooms and you can ask any question. One of the calls, we try to focus more on technical stuff, like if you're having problems with your website or your SEO or Google Ads or Google Business, um, it's really technology based.

And on that call, one of our members, my good friend Michael Quan, of Fulfilling Your Future in San Diego, he asked a question. And it led to a great discussion, a wide ranging discussion on apps that we use and things we use to protect our physical health, uh, at jobs. Because this is a hard job. We're lifting a lot, we're moving a lot.

And it just was a conversation that was kind of all over the place and it gives you, first of all, some really good apps and other things. Um, but it also gives you a little flavor of the chats that we have in our group, and I just thought it would be fun to share with everybody.

I hope you enjoy this little peek inside our Inspired Organizer community and that it will help you on jobs. So I hope you have an awesome week.

Gallery View & Screen Share: So this, I know this call is focused on technology. What are some tools that all of you are using during your sessions technology wise? Because I find myself still going in with a pen and paper, like a manual label maker.

What are some technology tools that have helped you save time or efforts or bring less stuff with you? I love this question. So I'm more of a pen and paper person, but I always have my phone with me. I use, this is really, this is not a deep technology thing, but I use the notes app on my phone and if I'm with a client and like I think of something mid session or whatever, I will just keep a note for that client of X, Y, Z. I will also use it to take photos. You can embed photos, you can embed websites, you can embed everything. Again, it's a really simple tool, but I use it because then you can access it anywhere.

I have also used, depending on the client and for Moves but the Sortly app I have used to keep track of things especially during moves. So I really like that one. Yeah, Chrissy, I use I use Google Keep for the same stuff you use notes the notes app for, but I also use the Google app to take pictures to show people that their stuff is not worth anything and they should not try to sell it.

Oh, I love that. You literally, you take a photo and do Google lens and then I love that. This is not worth it. Or this is worth it and you should look at telling it. It's, and it's it's so fast. You can be like, here you go. Interesting. Okay. So tell us more tell us exactly what you do.

You like get your phone and you go to, I'm gonna just show you on my, I don't know if it'll show up well, but Okay. I open the Google app. Yep. And then that's my it's really over here. There's a little Yeah, the lens thing. Yeah. You click on it and you take a picture of something. So I'm gonna take a picture of a vase I have on my desk and holy cow.

Might be worth $300. Oh, congratulations. You should sell that immediately. It's an heirloom. But so these are, it's a silver vase, so you could take a picture of that. Like you can take a picture of I've got a candy, a glass candy dish with a lid that looks just like what my grandmother had.

I took a photo of it 'cause I wanted to buy a second one, and I'm like, I should get one for my sister. It pulls up an eBay listing of the exact same thing. Amazing. So it's, you can do it to get an idea of what something's worth if you're looking to buy something, but it just gives you a, and it's not an appraisal.

Yeah. That gives you an idea of what other people are listing as like where you can, how much you would, like other people are asking for the same thing. Your Beanie Babies are not worth anything. Beanie Babies. Yeah. Not worth anything. Your China. Nobody wants it. Nobody wants it. Yeah. Nobody wants, I learned the trick from sanity check here.

What? It's good sanity check for your clients. That's sanity check. Yeah. I learned that trick from an appraiser. I love that. That's value added. 'cause I, I use Google, I think it's called Google Lens. I use that for if I can't figure out what something is, which I, it really bothers me when I can't figure out what something is.

And I'll use it for that sometimes. And it's very helpful. You also can use it when you don't know how to use something. Oh, so I have a kayak and I have a little trailer to hook it to my bike. Yeah. And I don't know how to use the damn thing, and so I'm like, I don't even know which way goes up. And so I took a picture of it that led me to an ad for it or like a listing for it so then I could figure out which way went up So you can like how smart?

Yeah. They're like a million ways you can use just that one feature. I was gonna joke that the way you use a kayak is you put it in the water. But you gotta get it from the house to the river. I'm totally kidding. But then it fell off, but so I did it wrong and it fell off like halfway there and I'm like, okay, now I've got my boat in the road.

That would be really good for looking up just like those random, weird little kitchen items so you don't what the thing is or whatever. Instead of having to bother your client, you're like, see, I knew what this was. Yeah. Find like parts to something and you're like, this might be like a tv. Mounting bracket part.

Yeah, sometimes. Sometimes it'll tell you, sometimes it will not. But it's fast, which is really nice. I get an extreme sense of pleasure slash smugness when I can figure out what something is without the client having to tell me. Yeah. And it really bugs me when I don't know what something is and I have to be like, Hey, sometimes I don't mind asking 'cause I'm like, I get an interesting story out of it.

But sometimes I'm like, I feel like I should know what this is and I don't know what this is. So that's, you could just act like you knew all along, but it was just Google. Nope, that's my secret trick. Just in general Jen, the woman who founded Pro Organizer Studio, she had a phrase that she used a lot, which is the what makes you a successful organizer is your ability to Google things.

And it's really not a joke. Like every once in a while I'll just be like, guys, we just gotta Google it. You gotta just Google it. 'cause it's got literally everything. And now, especially with, some of the AI features you can get stuff very quickly. Lily is telling us Curio is an app she started using for antique items, and she says it's great for sorting toys like the bottom of the leftover bin.

And no one knows what pieces, what the pieces go to. Yes. Often with those random pieces at the bottom of the bin, I will just put them in the, I think we can let these go pile and let the client look at it. I love it. Oh, measuring tape. Oh, this is a good one. The measuring app. On the phone I've used that.

The only thing I'll tell you is you have to be really careful if you are using it to measure for a closet, just hypothetically. If you're using it because you forgot your tape measure it does not always get the dimensions exactly right. But it's really great for just some pretty quick measurements that you need.

If I'm listing something for a client on Facebook marketplace, I will just do use the measuring app and I will just say approximately 36 inches wide, whatever air. Oh, so you use Airtable for moves. Airtable is basically like an online version of Excel. It's a little bit more fancy than that, but that it is a good one for organizing moves, things like that.

I'll have to look up curio. That's a good one. I finally started using my MileIQ app. I'm so proud. I've been signed onto it forever and avoiding it, and now I'm like, oh, I'm an idiot. This is so easy. I'm just swiping. It's so easy. The other thing that MileIQ does because I will wrap myself out, that I'm ho I hate bookkeeping.

I'm just really bad at, it's not that I hate it, I actually like it. It feeds the busy work side of my brain, but like actually doing it, I have to like really overcome that. And it's so great when you're like, oh crap. I went to that client three weeks ago, but I don't remember exactly what time I got there.

MileIQ knows exactly when I got there and exactly when I left. I literally just finally started using it. I had another one I used to use and it was too clunky and then I've just been avoiding it, but I registered for it forever ago and just whatever. Two days ago, I was like, I need to freaking do this.

I'm already at $50. Oh yeah. One year. I think, I'd have to look back, but I don't like thinking about or looking back at taxes. I think I had $8,000 in deductions. Yeah. For mileage. It adds up so fast. So yeah, it really does. And by the way, even for tiny things, like if you're making a run to a donation place, it's, you're still using your car.

No. So the fact that you can categorize all of that stuff, it's, and you can categorize really deeply too. Like you can say customer errand or, like visiting a client, customer errand, blah, blah, blah, whatever.

Any of those business, any business meeting you have, if you're going to your accountant it's mileage. That type of thing. Yeah. The necess ScanLily for inventory. Tell me more about that.

Yeah, so I just found this by accident. I was trying to figure out, IW I've only been doing this since May and I doing, I was doing a friend's house and so I was just like, I'll just get stuff from Home Goods and I'll just put it in your house and if you like it, you can pay me back, which is not good to do 'cause I would forget what was in there and how much I paid and all these things.

But anyway, I was thinking, is there an easy way that I can do this without just like ordering the same things every time? 'cause I wanna have options and whatever, but scan Lilly, you can just scan the UPC code and whatever it is. If it's like common, we'll just pop up and it will be a picture, it will be a description, it'll be measurements.

And so it keeps track of what it is. So then in the future I can show it to a client and say here's a product. I bought presents for my friend's kids as like at the end of the job because it was a playroom project and I scanned the things that I bought for them. And so then those are business expenses, right?

That I can, yeah, I can say look, you can see what it is. It's like blueys sidewalk chalk or whatever. Yeah. I just thought that was so cool. I don't know. It's a little bit clunky and not that refined, but so useful. I love that. That's awesome. I'm gonna give everyone a random one that has nothing to do with organizing, but that I am newly obsessed with.

It's called ReciMe, R-E-C-I-M-E. So if you like me, are scrolling Instagram and they're like, here's a recipe of blah, blah, blah, and I'm like, that looks good. You can just forward it to this recipe app. And it literally downloads the entire recipe, tells you what to do, tells you how to cook it straight from the reel.

And it is magical and it works for lots of things. It's not just, it's mostly for Instagram, but it's seriously is I can't even believe, I don't understand the technology, how they could possibly do it, but it's really cool. So highly recommend that if you are scrolling Instagram and instead of just clicking save on everyone and never going back to them, you can have 'em all in one place.

I am up for any other apps. And do you guys any, even if they're not business related, what's the coolest app that you use? Missi? There's an app called Too Good to Go that I'm now obsessed with. Oh, she was telling me about this the other night. Donuts. And it it is nationwide, worldwide, so wherever you live you should have it.

And it's local restaurants who are committed to not having too much food waste. So you can go on and order like an Indian food dish and they, it, you don't get to pick what it is, it'll be just like a grab bag. But it's usually about a third of the cost of the menu item. And I did it the other day for like day old donuts and it was really good.

Any other apps that you guys love? Be present? Oh. Turns your phone into a brick when you need to get off of it. Oh, I need that. I need that.

Or self-control one of the two. And I don't think self-control is just gonna grow on me anytime soon. I need that. I see all those things. Like the actual brick thing. But I probably just need a phone to make my phone into a dumb, make it into a dumb phone.

This isn't app related, but it's just because it just happened. I don't know. I don't get a ton of stuff from Walmart, but I definitely get some standard things. And I had some stuff to return, like big boxes of things and instead of having to drag it to the store, there's an option now where they will just come pick it up from your house for free.

Oh. So you just print out the return label, slap it on there, pile it up at your door and they just come get it. And it literally just happened right now outside my door. Really? Yeah, it's easy. That's very exciting. Especially after I had the snarky ladies at Walmart returns. Try and tell me that my account was banned.

Oh, I forgot you got banned from Walmart. I forgot that was you. And that was bs because I called corporate, so Yeah. So I don't think it works Necess, I haven't tried it for like literally things. Mostly it's I had some extra like boxes, you like over order some of the acrylic bins or whatever.

Yeah. So I don't think you even drop your, like kids like goggles you don't want anymore, but Sure. Anyway. Wow. That was a really enjoyable discovery that I've made. That's made my life a lot easier.

I know someone on this call that might get banned from the Container Store for that same thing.

That's all I'm gonna say. So they created this monster. If the Container Store bans us for returns that, not that I don't shop at Container Store, but I know they've created this whole world we're in. So that would be pretty, yeah, lame on their part. They are not nice when you bring things back and you're just like how about you look at the net of the spend versus the return and bring that with you.

I would bring those numbers with me. I guarantee it's up on their screen. I guarantee it. 'cause when you type in your number, they know who you, I guarantee that number is on their screen somewhere and they just then go to a big target haul and then pretty woman. That's how I've done. Come back with your receipts from Target and be like, big mistake.

I've moved all of us, all of my client purchases to Target, even though I know Target has its own problems and issues and all the things. Just also cost-wise, I think there are some things you can only get at the Container Store, but I think cost-wise, container Store has gone like off the rails, so it's hard to justify Container Store when you're like, I can buy this exact same thing on Amazon for half the price.

Yeah, that's good. I really, not tech related, but how is everybody protecting your backs? 'cause my back is completely out right now after a project I did this week and I'm finding that I don't bounce back as quickly. Yeah. Wait until you turn through. Don't wear like back brace or anything. That's a good question.

I have seen a lot of like posture correcting braces. I do wonder maybe if there's, first of all, what shoes do you wear? I wear things with arch supports. We can't wear shoes inside here, but I did find some like indoor house like slippers that have arch. But here's, yeah, we don't, but even when I'm in garages and it just doesn't matter, even though I have like my good expensive, like Brooks shoes, like my back's just not, here's the problem.

Okay. Here's what I'm gonna tell you. Also, Minnesota is very much a shoes off state. We are close to Japan and shoes offness. Yeah. I have shoes that I bring to clients and I say, these are in only shoes. Oh yeah. And it has to have to wear them in the house. I do. Yeah. No, a hundred percent.

Okay. Yes. Definitely that. But, I just think it's, you lift something wrong, you just do that one. But I'm just wondering if like a, I don't know, does anyone use a back brace? Are we there yet? First of all, do you roll out when you get home? Do you have a foam roller?

No. No. Okay. No, I do have one. Yeah, I should do that. Yeah, I'll start doing that. Foam rolling. So any sort of like foam rolling and get a really good foam roller. So any sort of that kind of stuff like stretching, as silly as it sounds like stretching beforehand. Things like that. Epsom salt baths, like I will buy, the target has like a giant.

Giant thing of Epsom salts. They're not in the makeup area, so they have Epsom salts in the makeup area, but you go to the, like pharmacy area, I will dump an entire thing of Epsom salts in a bath and just sit there for an hour and a half and it legitimately helps me. Okay. I've never tried Aries like black the people like at the hardware store.

Yeah. No, but I haven't done that. That's what I'm wondering is I do wonder like if it, is it your lower back? Yeah. It's always kinda the same place and I feel like it's not every time. So that's why probably I'm not in the habit of doing stuff after. 'cause sometimes I'm totally fine, but man, every once in a while my back's nope.

I would do it. But I would foam roll before and after especially if you have a big job. So mine bothers me the most. First of all, I am old. I definitely have some pounds I can lose. And I'm not in the world's best shape. You're definitely in better shape than I am, but I, when I find that I do consistently.

Do like the right things in terms of stretching and rolling out before and after a job and making sure that I'm wearing, like I wear hokas now and make sure I have really good support inside and outta the house. That helps me feel better. For my move jobs, I do wear a back brace that really helps, you just yeah.

Wrap it around. You could get a, any drugstore, also Google physical therapy remedies for back pain. It's all online. Yeah. And YouTube. And it helps 'cause I had major back problems and that really helps. Just you have to do it every day. Yeah.

So the vibration board, I've never tried that is magic. Really? Yeah. We have two different kinds at my house and I use both of them. Do you have a link? Can you link us? No, but if you want me to carry my laptop, I'll just take you out and show you.

We'll go on a walk with you. We don't care. It's two steps. Okay. We're gonna have, but you'll have to, or someone is someone. Oh, I'll find the links. I'll find the links later. And the second one we got at Costco and we got it for a broken foot bone.

'cause the vibration promotes healing. Oh. It's also really good for diabetes, like blood flow, restless legs. And the other one is more wide. It, so the one that's smaller is like really vibration. Like this. Yeah. The other one is a wobble board and it wobbles back and forth and so it's a totally different sensation fascinating. They're weird, but they're awesome. Oh, Kim is, Kim's absolutely right about in the comments she's showing, like laying the other direction on a foam roller or two. So if you really dig in, if you can feel like what muscles are specifically bothering you, you can lay in on it.

And then laying that way on it. Sometimes I will lay on mine like. The other direction. I basically look like I'm doing back bends. But fricking phone rollers are great also. Pilates is supposed to be like the best thing for your core and back, which I do not do Pilates, but I've heard, I just like working on core strength and then maybe doing like a, watching some videos or even doing one personal training session where you can learn like proper lifting technique and be like, I need to pick heavy things up off the ground and put them back down or put them on the counter.

So maybe just help with like technique and form. So my brother is a medical researcher. He's insanely smart and he works with professional sports teams and stuff. He's very legitimate and he would also tell you you should be going to the sauna every single day. He's very into saunas, so if you have regular or just those infrared ones, regular, he believes in the regular ones.

If you only have infrared, then that would be fine. I'm gonna get him on the podcast at some point, and then he can tell us all the things that we're supposed to be doing that probably none of us are including his sister. But any sort of sauna is really, it's actually, there's a bunch of research about it.

Not only physical health, but brain health as well. Sometimes too when it's your back, it's actually your hips, so it could actually be a totally different part of your body. So yeah, getting older, you guys, it's no joke. And this is a hard job. So I don't think we probably talk about that enough.

This is physically a very hard job and as you, everyone on this call, except for Michael Quan goes into perimenopause and menopause. The the heat the heat factor on jobs is very real. And so there are just, there are a lot of physical parts of the job that are genuinely difficult and protecting yourself as much as possible is very smart.

A hot tub that's legit too. Like any, so any sort of heat applied is going to help. That's why I like the Epsom salt baths too. But I don't have a hot tub. My family would like that, but I'm mean, and I won't get one. Okay, we got an extra, we have a. An exercise board link in the, and I will leave this in the, I'm gonna put this in the comments when I do the recap so everyone can have a vibration board.

That's, but here's the information the endorsement. No one asked for. My best friend who has ADHD got has the, and it's the one that like, it wobbles wider. So it's a wobble more than a vibration I guess. But she has a DHD and she loves it 'cause it it helps like her settle. Oh, interesting.

So it, so for a DH, adhd, just providing just enough stimulation can actually, so if you think of like stimulation like waves, it flattens the waves out and so applying a little bit of something helps her like reorganize, like in a sensory way. Probably the same logic as you get Adderall, which is speed E exactly.

So we've got the little weighted blanket for your eyes and you like put that on, you lean your head back, you wobble your feet and it's awesome. I do not personally own one yet, but I have another friend who is a little younger than I am, but she swears by the red light masks too. So this is, now we're going way off the track and I'll have to add that to my list 'cause I don't have that one yet.

She really recommends the red light mask and says that it legitimately makes a big difference for women of a certain age.