The old adage that a messy desk is the sign of a busy mind doesn't wash with organizer guru Maria Gracia. They may be able to find the paper eventually, but they are still wasting a lot of time. Through speeches, books, organizer products, personal consulting, a Web site and an e-mail newsletter, Gracia helps people find a place for everything and put everything in its place. As she sat on her couch talking to a visitor, she referred to notes with bullet points to make. But there's a line between organized and anal retentive that Gracia doesn't cross.
People wrongly confuse being neat with being organized.
While many of her clients are homemakers, others are owners of home-based or other small businesses whose productivity is sapped by disorganization. Being disorganized keeps you from doing more important things to help your business grow. Gracia provides other advice on how to manage time, organize computer files and keep e-mails from piling up. She also co-owns Effective Business Systems with her husband, Joe Gracia, who does marketing consulting out of their Brown Deer residence. She started her business by going to individuals' homes to straighten out their housekeeping or home offices.