Jane Stoller is a Swiss-Canadian life-biz organizer, speaker, author and university instructor whose passion is in decluttering spaces and organizing business processes. Jane wrote her first book in 2016 to help friends get more organized. It ultimately gained international attention, and this allowed Jane to turn her passion into a profitable business, Organized Jane.
Jane’s love for organizing began on a small farm in Seeley’s Bay, Ontario, Canada. As a young girl, she was often found happily lining up her cats by size, her stuffed animals by color, and her parent’s books by publication date.
Stoller’s global reach has helped thousands gain clarity and get organized with her critically acclaimed books, Organizing For Your Lifestyle: Adaptable Inspirations from socks to suitcases and Decluttering for Dummies (Wiley Publishing), and through her Business Booster Course. Stoller and her sought-after decluttering expertise, products and books have been featured on numerous international talk shows, podcasts, and magazines.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you ended up writing a book?
My name is Jane Stoller and I am a Swiss-Canadian life-biz organizer, speaker, author and university instructor. My passion is in decluttering spaces and organizing business processes, and I wrote my first book in 2016 to help friends get more organized. It ultimately gained international attention, and this allowed me to turn my passion into a profitable business, Organized Jane.
My love of organizing began on a small farm in Seeley’s Bay, Ontario, Canada, where I grew up. As a young girl, I was often found happily lining up cats by size, stuffed animals by color, and my parent’s books by publication date. Soon, friends began turning to me for guidance on how to part with cluttered sentimental items.
After many years in corporate work for a global cement company, I self-published my first book, Organizing For Your Lifestyle: Adaptable Inspirations from socks to suitcases, for friends and family as they were constantly asking me for advice. I was in awe of the reach and impact it ended up having.
A few years later, I was lucky enough to connect with Wiley Publishing, and they had me author Decluttering for Dummies. Yes, from the infamous Dummies series!
What draws people in is the fact that I do not strive to create a magazine perfect home or office. It is not sustainable. Every organizing system you implement needs to fit your lifestyle, and be manageable.
What do you hope your readers take away from this book?
With all of my books and future books, my main goal is to help inspire people and businesses to get more organized in a fun manner. Oftentimes, when we think about getting organized and decluttered, we already start to stress and or the subject matter is too dull – I want to change that! I hope to get people excited about this topic and make it a part of their lifestyle.
What are the top three tools you are currently using to write, publish, and promote your books?
Great question, as I am all about tools that can help improve productivity.
1. My first tool is a time cube to help me stay focused when I write. I use this tool and set the timer for 30- or 60-minute blocks of writing and only focus on the task at hand. I like these so much I branded them and now sell them on my website.
2. The next tool is Instagram – a great way to promote your books! As with anything, we need to constantly be promoting our products or services and books are no different. If you want to sell your book, get ready to market it!
3. Lastly is my website platform, Squarespace. I use this for many things such as blogs, calendar scheduling, and also to promote my book. Your book needs to be on your website front and center!
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
I talk about my fears a lot, so much that I wrote a blog post about how I had to overcome my fears. I had a lot of self-doubt that came up when I decided I wanted to write a book. The constant thought that came up was, “I’m not a writer.” To give you a little more background, spelling has never been my strong suit. Let’s be honest, I’m always making spelling mistakes and can have a tough time getting my thoughts down on paper. Once I reframed this thought to “I am a writer,” I started feeling more confident in myself and what I wanted to share.
What’s a productivity tip you swear by?
Using a time cube – can you tell that I love them? Focus on the task at hand for 30- or 60-minute blocks and this will change your life. Plus, it gives you less time and you will get more done.
What helps you stay driven and motivated to finish writing your book?
For some reason I knew I had to write this book and lack of motivation was never an issue with any of my books and I don’t think it will be going forward. If you have something important to share you have the motivation, you just need to learn to plan and get focused when you are writing it.
Can you recommend one book, one podcast, and one online course for entrepreneurs and authors?
- I am a big fan of audiobooks and podcasts as we can listen to these anytime – while driving, doing laundry and or just relaxing. My favorite podcast for entrepreneurs is Amy Porterfield’s, Online Marketing Made Easy.
- My favorite book is, The One Thing, which helped me figure out how to really focus on my main goals. Often as entrepreneurs we think we have to do everything!
- My business coach Sunny Lenarduzzi has an amazing course that I cannot recommend enough, The Authority Accelerator. She helped me create and scale my course making it my #1 impact and income generator.
What are you learning now? Why is that important?
Right now I am continuing to learn about new digital marketing strategies, including LinkedIn, which I was not fully using before. It is extremely important to learn and utilize these marketing platforms to not only sell your current books and offers but to create the community and network that will continue to support you, and you, them.
If you only had $1,000 dollars to promote a new book, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
I would happily spend $1,000 on a photoshoot and book launch event. Although you won’t sell any books at the event, you will get content that you can then use all year to market your book on all free social media platforms. It will look very professional which will make you and your book stand out.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new authors?
Know that you are writing your book because you are an expert. No matter what topic interests you, you have the skills, talent and resources you need to get it out into the world.
What is your favorite quote?
“For every minute spent organizing an hour is earned.”
– Benjamin Franklin
What is your definition of success?
Doing what you love to do and not thinking that it is “work.”
How do you personally overcome fear?
I still have to overcome fear every day. I overcome it by being surrounded by positive mentors and tribes both on and offline. We all need support systems and today we are surrounded by them, you just have to make the effort. Do not underestimate the power of your online network, especially during the pandemic.
How can readers get in touch with you?
I would love to hear from you and learn more about your decluttering and organizing dreams – whether it be for your business, or in your personal life at home. I am well equipped to help, and it does not need to be overwhelming.
Please send me a note at organizedjane.com, or send me a message on Instagram @organizedjane.
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