When we moved to our new house nine years ago, my seven-year-old daughter was delighted to find a small loft off her bedroom. She called it her “office”, and we furnished it with bookshelves, a desk and a cozy chair. Over the years, she accumulated a collection of broken crayons, dried up markers, half-finished craft projects and Hello Kitty accessories. And we kept buying more baskets and bins to corral all her stuff.

When she entered high school, I knew I had to deal with her “office”. She needed a simple study space without distractions (facebook, texting and skype are enough of a hazard). The idea of clearing out nine years of her childhood paralyzed me and upset her. To avoid the mega battle, I hired Ellen. They disappeared upstairs. Occasionally, I’d hear a burst of laughter. Twelve bags of trash (!), piles of recycling and several donation boxes later, I couldn’t wait to have a look. And there sat my daughter, in her sparkling office, completely organized and ready for a fresh start.

Unbelievably, a year later, she keeps it (almost) the same way. Her closet, of course, is another story. That’s the next Ellen project. My advice? Hire Ellen. She’ll tackle your endless to-do list and more: transfer your CD’s to your iPod, edit your photos and archive your family memorabilia, happily and painlessly. She even hauls the cast-offs to recycling, the library or where ever else they need to go.