Tag Archives: Family

An Olympic-Sized Clean Up

23 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by in Clutter, Personal, Residential

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Olympic - 2Can you imagine how many people and how much time it’s going to take to clean up Sochi after 100,000 were there?

Just cleaning a teenager’s room could be considered an Olympic event, especially if doing closets and under the bed!

Our living areas can become a jumbled mess and we find ourselves stepping over objects or looking for space to put down a drink We step into the kitchen and need to clear a spot to just to begin preparing a meal.

Are you overwhelmed when walking into a room? Do you need to “train before you jump in?

Do you wonder “How did this happen?

Do we, as Americans, “over own”? Based on the Pareto Principle, we only use or wear, about 20% of what we own. So why do we keep all this STUFF?

Here are several justifications we use… 

Reason: “I may not use it, but I paid a lot for it.”  Neiman Marcus

The Challenge: Then why are you keeping the evidence? If you keep it another year, will you have paid less for it?

Reason: “It’s valuable.”

Challenge: Its value is based on what somebody else is willing to pay for it. If you keep a lamp in the attic, it has no value. If you sell the lamp, it has/had value (not to mention you have more space).

Reason: “It was a gift.”

Challenge: The person who gave it to you didn’t mean for it be a burden, it’s o.k. to let go; it doesn’t mean you don’t love the person. (If it makes you feel better, take a photo of it before you “let it go”.)

Reason: “I don’t have time to deal with it.”

Challenge: But you can have your time burdened with facing it everyday? Even if it’s not right in front of you, you still KNOW it’s there and that if you put one more item in that closet or attic you may trigger an avalanche.  (The burden is still there.)reduce, simplify, donate, etc

Here are 6 ways to “Reduce Ownership”

Give-away – it’s a much better feeling to pass on treasures to loved ones
Donate – a box of items here and there is sometimes easier than trying to do it all at once (this is my preferred method)
On-Line – eBay, Craig’s List, Facebook or community boards
On-Site – garage sales and auctioneers
Recycle – Google to find the site closest to you
Toss – call your local city office to see what, where and when to take items or you may want call a refuse company to bring a container to your home
 
Need a little help or encouragement?  Feel free to phone or email!

Name Your Space!

16 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by in Clutter, Residential

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Pack Rat? Neat Freak? Mr. Clean? Or Perfectionist? 

Are you able to relax in your living space? Do you have ample room to spread out for puzzles, board games or entertaining? Or is your living space a little jumbled and in a muddle?  

Clutter in your physical surroundingsCan you sit down and enjoy your surroundings or are you still semi-consciously seeing the toys strewn and the magazines & newspapers all over? 

Worse yet, do you panic when the doorbell rings and you haven’t had time to “prepare”?

Here are 8 QUICK TIPS to a neater space. Plus, you end up with a clearer MIND and you cut your cleaning time later in the week!   

  1. Have a “home” for everything you own and let everyone know where it is!
  2. Put all your like items together & decorate a box so it feels good to put something away.
  3. Use a basket at the top/bottom of the stairs so the next person by takes the items with them.
  4. Use attractive baskets for hat, mittens, backpacks, etc.  or small dishes for keys at the door etc.
  5. When a friend phones to chat, open a cabinet and find a few things to toss out, we all have a few too many plastic containers or pens that don’t work.
  6. During an evening of television grab a drawer during the commercials and you’ll be surprised how much you can get done.
  7. When it’s time to empty the dishwasher or fold a load of clothes, time yourself!  When you realize how quickly you can get it done, less chance you’ll procrastinate next time.
  8. Finally – If it takes less than 2 minutes, do it immediately, don’t put it off!

 Pour that glass of wine and toast to a tidier room and a tidier mind!toast

3 Strategies for a Successful Non-New Year’s Resolution

09 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by in Office, Organizing, Personal, Planning, Residential, Time, Work Space

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NY Resolution

Have you made a New Year’s Resolution yet?  Well, if you haven’t, I recommend you don’t!   Instead, consider beginning with a few goals that are realistic and attainable.

Aim for success in the “first quarter” and you’ll feel better moving on through the year and setting more goals. Wondering what the difference between a goal and a resolution is?  

Resolutions – are often abstract, they may have a vision but rarely include the details.

 Goals are specific, measurable and have a timeline associated with them.

Don’t Make a Resolution, Create a Goal!

3 Strategies to Help You Succeed 

1) BE kind to yourself – Don’t try taking on too much at once – set yourself up for success!

2) DEfine your goals – write them out  in detail and what “success” will look like to you! 

3) REmind yourself – put them on the bathroom mirror, above the kitchen sink or in your smartphone (they can pop up during the day as encouragement)

“Good habits are as addictive as bad habits, and a lot more rewarding.”       – Harvey Mackay

Choosing Your Goals

Business – Is it completing a business plan, installing a new filing system, or going paperless? 

Home – Is it painting a room, getting the garage organized or cleaning out specific closets?

Good Habits – If it’s a habit, commit to the practice, not perfection. Start with small changes and permit yourself time to build the habit slowly.  You can always increase your goal as continue. 

Need some encouragement or ideas? I’m just an email away and would love to help you define and execute your goals!

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The Home Command Center

17 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by in Organizing, Planning, Residential

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Home Command Ctr - Mid-Level

What is a Home Command Center?  This is the hub of a home, the place where adults and kids can find the answer to the everyday questions.  “What time is practice?  What’s for dinner?  What time are we leaving on Friday? Where’s your homework? Did you do your chores?”)

How do you start one for your family? 

First, choose the right space – look carefully at the most-used family entrance or possibly an area in the kitchen (since it’s usually the busiest room in the house). Your Home Command Center should be the first place everyone sees when they leave in the morning and the first place they see when they walk back in the door.

Second – Start simple with an open wall area and hang a corkboard, chalkboard and or a whiteboard.  Include the family calendar, school lunch menu, emergency numbers and important contacts for quick reference.  This is also a great place to have a household chores checklist and leave space for family members to leave notes and reminders.

Start small and let this area grow with your family, you may expand it later to include folders, key hooks, an area for book bags, backpacks or eventually a home computer and have your house go digital.

If you can, include the whole family.

Make a game of taking young children to the calendar and talking about what’s coming up.  Put stickers, play dates and fun events on the calendar so they get in the habit of wanting to look at it.  As they get bigger you can include chores and make a checklist with stickers so that they can mark them off and feel a sense of accomplishment when they’re all done! 

Make a habit of talking about these things each night and what you need to add or take away from the board or calendar.  (This should reduce the times you at 9 pm that Johnny needs 3 dozen cookies for home room in the morning.)

Home Command Ctr - Simple

Older Children

This is the family center, not just a one-way communique from parent to child.  Encourage kids to leave messages for you and have them write on the calendar if there are changes in practice times, school events, or parties.

This is a place for communication to begin and expectations (chores, homework) to be defined.  Make it a positive and surprise them with a “get out of chores free” card or a treat; they’ll look forward to checking the board even when you aren’t there. 

A simple calendar and a single place for communication can save time, energy and avoid a lot of frustration.

The Home Command Center is where information is kept in one location for the benefit of ALL.

 Need help building your own Home Command Center?  Feel free to email or phone me.

P.S. – Later I’ll share tips and templates for gathering and keeping critical information you may want to include in your Home Command Center.

Living in the moment…

01 Sunday Sep 2013

Posted by in Personal, Time

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Life gives you plenty of time to do whatever you want to do if you stay in the present moment.

How can we live fully in the September moment when we’re surrounded by Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations?  Walking into the stores, you get the feeling you’re behind on something that’s not happening for 4 more months!

I spoke to a friend today who was looking for shorts for a picnic this weekend.  She found the stores are filled with autumn clothes and the only shorts available were picked over on a clearance table.  Her comment to me was “Do I have to know and purchase in February for events in August?”.  I laughed out loud and realized that’s just what the retail stores want us to do – spend our money now for what we’ll need in 4 months.

And that may be why we’ve come to live much of our lives in the future instead of in the present.

Of course it isn’t just the retailers.  Add school and work deadlines, extra curricular activities, family events, etc.  and we now have lives that are over-booked.  Half the time we don’t know if we’re coming, going, or passing ourselves!

I can’t stand the “passing myself” any more.  Contentment is living and enjoying the present moment without thinking and worrying about the next..  The good news is that we have the ability to create more moments of contentment if we would block out periods of time to “live in the future”. 

For this purpose consider the ‘living in the future’ as synonymous with looking at the upcoming days and preparing for them.  If we take a few short minutes to prepare for our tomorrows, it will free us up to enjoy the present!

If you invest a few minutes today to look at tomorrow’s horizon, you will have the additional benefit of an uncluttered mind.  A little preparation and planning today can save a lot of time and worry tomorrow.

 C’est la vie! (“That’s life!”)

Just remember, life doesn’t go ‘as planned’.  Sometimes things happen and plans need to be changed, but the unexpected can be handled with much less anxiety if your map (plan) is beside you.

Adjust your route, accept the detour and maybe you’ll even enjoy the new scenery!

Plans are made to help and guide us, not imprison us!  A plan is just a simple overview of what is coming and what is needed; it should be fluid.  You can change priorities or activities daily with no worries of “missing something”.   Don’t imprison yourself to your plan – maintain Gumby’s philosophy and “Be flexible!”

In the meantime, let’s ignore the retailers and let each month and season arrive on their own terms. You can’t really enjoy the warm September sun and crisp air if you’re mind is in November.

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