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Reading Time – 10 minutes
A vacation is a time to step away from all the concerns of your job, an office, a home office and tasks in your home. This break from normal routines and responsibilities lets you rejuvenate and have more energy for the future. Shannon Torberg, PsyD, LP says in The Importance of Taking a Vacation, “A number of studies have shown that taking time away from the job can have physical and psychological health benefits. People who take vacations have lower stress, less risk of heart disease, a better outlook on life, and more motivation to achieve goals. The bottom line is, that taking time away from the stresses of work and daily life can improve your health, motivation, relationships, job performance, and perspective and give you the break you need to return to your lives and jobs refreshed and better equipped to handle whatever comes. ”
Now you know why you deserve one here are some styles of vacations to plan.
A vacation from your computer.
Most of your work is on your computer. Close it and put it away. Pretending to be on a vacation by looking at your computer less frequently is a break from work. Put an autoreply message on your email explaining when you will respond to emails.
A vacation from your normal routines
A stay at home vacation might be the perfect solution for you this year. Take time to plan it. “Research shows the biggest boost in happiness comes from planning the vacation. A person can feel the effects up to eight weeks before the trip!” Don’t miss out on the planning. Change your normal routines, bedtime, getting up in the morning, meal times, and activities. Stay up later, get up later, have breakfast in bed, eat out, order in, go for walks, swim, rent a bike, sit in your backyard/balcony, and read. Think of all the things you enjoy doing and make a plan for each day of your vacation. Fill it with things you love doing, things you want to try for the first time and things that are not part of your normal routines. Here is an article that has 100 activities for kids.
A vacation from your town/city
You may not want to stay overnight in hotels. You can still plan a vacation outside of your city limits. There are many communities that surround where you live. Plan day trips to see local sites and visit markets, parks and walking trails. Try googling 5 free things to do in ……. to get ideas of activities and sites to see.
A vacation from loneliness
During Covid19 there were times when you needed to stay home. You may have gotten used to doing your own thing. We are social beings and need to interact with others. Plan on meeting with someone each day of your vacation. Plan a picnic. Each of you brings your own food and meet at a lovely spot to talk. If talking is not your strong suit, meet up with a friend and play a game. It can be a board game, frisbee, throwing a ball or trying kubb.
A vacation to try new activities
There is nothing better about a vacation than doing something new. If you can’t travel somewhere new do something new. Take a week of lessons and learn how to paddleboard, sew, bike, play an instrument, paint etc. Treat yourself to a new spa treatment every day. Eat at restaurants you’ve never visited before. Public golf courses have lovely patios that overlook beautiful green spaces. Try camping. Start in your own backyard and then explore other campsites.
A vacation to support your country
The country you live in has a lot to offer. Too often we don’t appreciate what is right in front of us. Use your vacation to help local businesses and the tourist industry. Whether you want to travel far or close to home, book a hotel or resort and spend your vacation dollars helping to stimulate the economy. Over many years I have visited all the provinces and 2 of the 3 territories in Canada. I am proud to tell people about the lovely places I have seen, the great people I have met, the fun experiences and the delicious food.
A vacation to support your mental wellness.
We all need a break from the stress of work and the uncertainty of the future. Take time to focus on what you need. Plan your vacation so you are only in the present. It may be a stay at home or an away from home location. Enjoy what is around you, interact with people who encourage you, and experience things that refresh you. You may want to try meditation, yoga or exercise. Take time to try new healthy foods and recipes. Experience nature. Plan each day with activities that will renew you so you can handle what comes next.
A vacation to be with family
You may be feeling like you need a vacation away from family. That is ok. Communication and interactions with family members may have be strained with more people working from home. Take a break, laugh together, do new things, go somewhere unexpected. Together, plan a vacation. You may decide that each member of the family plans one day and you all do it. Each member may get to pick one activity they want to do and you combine all the suggestions together. Take the pressure off the person who usually needs to make all the plans. Use the time to reset relationships, build new respect for each other and have fun. I have learned when doing family vacations it is really important to plan into each day a time when everyone does their own thing for a while. Alone time is just as important as together time during a vacation.
Plan a short vacation
Plan a number of shorter vacations. Here are some tips on how to pack light.
The trick to packing for a short trip is to take items that can be used in more than one way. Take a large bag or backpack with you for items you want handy while you are in transit. You can use that bag for shopping, hiking or at the beach. Pack a small handbag in your carry-on suitcase to use after you arrive, in the evening and sightseeing. Take one neutral coloured skirt or pants to wear each evening and pack tops that can be worn in the evening and then more casually with shorts the next day. This eliminates separate evening and daytime apparel for a short trip. Sports clothing can take up a lot of space. For running, hiking, biking take clothes that can be hand washed reducing the amount you need to bring. Although having a wide variety of swimwear may be fun pack 2 outfits you can mix and match to make 4. Reduce the number of jackets you take by wearing layers, pack a long-sleeved shirt that you can wear alone or over a t-shirt in case it is cool or you need to cover up from the sun. You will need a sweater/lightweight jacket for the evening and a windbreaker for the day. Combine the 3 layers to help you stay, cool, warm or dry. Having a colour scheme so all of your clothes go together well gives you lots of outfits to mix and match. While you are in transit wear the shoes that take up the most space and pack the ones that need less space in your carry-on suitcase. The last thing to do is make a list of what you packed so the next time you go on a short trip the packing is even easier.
Take time for a vacation and let me know what you did to refresh so you will be better able to handle what comes next.
If you want to talk over your vacation plans, book a 30 minute complimentary virtual organizing appointment. It allows me to support you by providing planning and coaching while both remaining at home. https://mindoverclutter.as.me/virtualorganizingassessment
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, in person and virtually. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of physical activity to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you to manage your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Click here to learn more about working with a Professional Organizer
Reading Time – 10 minutes
Thanks to the staff at Arizona Moving Professionals for being my guest blogger.
With children out of school, there is more time to establish new routines. If how your children take care of their rooms has been bothering you take the time to help them learn how to quickly clean and organize their rooms.
All children love making a mess and hate cleaning up. The ones tidying up are the parents. However, tidying up after your child can be problematic when they can do the chores themselves. Firstly, you are creating more work for yourself. Secondly, you are sending the message to your children that you (or somebody else) will always be there to clean up their messes. A group of scientists and psychologists researched this topic – and the results were quite astonishing. Namely, the results showed that children who had to do their chores from an early age grew up to have better relationships (not only romantic but also with friends and family) and more academic success. So, is there a better reason for you to start teaching your children to keep their rooms clean and organized?
Cleaning Should Not Be Punishment
How often have your children misbehaved and, as a punishment, you gave them a chore to do? If you are like most families, the answer is probably – many times. However, when you do this, the child instantly associates cleaning with something bad, dull, tiring, etc., and they start to hate it. Thus, banish the concept of cleaning as a punishment from your home! Instead, teach your children that cleaning and organizing their stuff is something good and worth doing. Show them that doing those chores can be a ‘ticket to other things.’ For instance, offer rewards. And, always offer them on a positive note – remember, if you are negative and keep telling your children what they have to do in a ‘grumpy’ manner, children will be grumpy back about it.
Teach your children that cleaning and organizing can be fun from an early age.
When Teaching Your Children to Keep Their Rooms Clean and Organized, Give Them Options
Speaking of punishments, a large part of what makes chores seem like punishment is that you always tell your children what they have to do and when they have to do it. This will always result in a boycott! Instead, give your children some options. For instance, whether you want them to help with your spring cleaning or have them clean and organize their rooms daily, you should start by offering a list of things that must be done and giving your children the freedom to choose what chore they want to do. This will give them a sense of control – and all children love that. Your children will clean with joy feeling they are in control and rather than forced to do something. And, what is more, by learning that cleaning can be joyful, they will learn to do it with pleasure throughout their life.
Keep the Chores Small and Realistic
If you tell your little one that they have to pick up all the toys, make the bed, organize their closet, put the books away, etc., they will become overwhelmed! For them, doing all these chores is just too much. So, instead of forcing them to do all of these chores in just one day, make it a task a day. For instance, they can organize their toys on Mondays; on Tuesdays, they can organize their books, etc. Moreover, do not expect your children to do those big tasks like vacuuming the house or moping the floors – always stick to small and realistic age appropriate tasks.
This rule is also applicable to adults. Just think about it – if you start with the thought everything is a mess and everything needs to be cleaned up today, you will probably find yourself overwhelmed. Your thoughts should be small and realistic – see what needs to be cleaned and organized and split everything into smaller tasks that can be done over the next week.
The same applies to other life events. For example, if you have to move, do not overwhelm yourself with everything that needs to be done, and do not force yourself to do everything in just a day. Moving specialists at professionalmover.ca advise that it’s always best to organize your time and chores. Create a moving checklist and list all the duties that await. Then create a timetable that will guide you through all the steps. That, and the help of a moving crew, will help you go through the process stress-free.
Give your child small and realistic cleaning tasks, and they will be happy to do
Make it a Family Affair
Another great way to teach your children how to keep their rooms clean and organized is by making this chore a family affair. Trust us; no child likes being sent off to their room and forced to clean and organize. That sounds boring and, to be honest, lonely. So, instead of having your child clean alone and you and your partner cleaning by yourselves, make this cleaning event a family affair. Clean together. And, while doing so, make sure to keep things fun – chat, listen to music, have a race who is going to clean something faster, etc. This will make cleaning and organizing with children less tedious for the entire family. Moreover, it will make it seem like a game – and once it seems like a game, your child will start doing it alone and on a daily basis.
Whatever you do – do it together with your family.
Explain to Your Child Why Cleaning is Important
In most cases, children do not want to clean because they do not see its purpose. Why would they make their bed today when they will mess it up tonight? This and similar thoughts are present in young children’s minds. Thus, if you never take the time to sit down with your child and explain the importance of cleaning and organizing their rooms, they will never truly know why they do it. As a result, they will hate cleaning and organizing. So, we suggest teaching your children about hygiene and avoiding those tiresome cleaning and organizing myths. Talk about germs and bacteria. Make them connect the dots by talking about what happens to our bodies when they get in touch with dirty things such as the previously mentioned germs and bacteria.
Teaching your children to keep their rooms clean and organized is neither easy nor complicated. It’s somewhere in between. It will take some of your time and dedication, but you will reap the benefits if you do it right.
Share how you made organizing with your children fun.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, virtually. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She guides and supports you in managing your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Reading Time – 5 minutes
Putting some planning into the time when your children are out of school will make life at home easier. Don’t over plan activities for the children. Give them time to appreciate being at home and then going back to school. Share the planning and the fun. Make it a special time together full of joy, learning and excitement, not stress, tension and arguments.
10. Make a list of things that need to be done around the house. For example, sweep out the garage/shed, break down boxes and put them in recycling, etc. When the children start fighting or complain about being bored, tell them to pick a task from the list. You get small jobs done and they are separated and not fighting. I used this one summer. It worked so well that they only fought once. They found things to do so they were not bored. Three things were completed from the list.
9. Pack the backpack with the necessary items for the next day the night before and place it near the door. Make your morning going off to day camps, activities or childcare easy to get out the door quickly.
8. Have a routine for wet swimming towels and bathing suits. They might hang them up, give them to you or place them in a specific spot. It is an easy way to help them learn about responsibility. No one wants to get into a wet bathing suit or reuse a damp towel.
7. Have an agreement about snacks and dirty dishes. Make a list and post it with snack choices. Set a timer for snack time if you have young children. Are dirty dishes put in a dishwasher, placed in the sink, washed or left on a table? If the agreement is not kept then have them decide on a consequence. Children are very good at deciding on consequences you might never have considered.
6. Determine a schedule for their activities, whether they are in programs or at home. Include screen time, outdoor time, reading time, and creative time. Also included in that schedule, is a time when you will be “unavailable to them” when you are all at home. Use this “unavailable time” to get necessary tasks done around the house so things don’t get disorganized. It is easy to always put off household tasks to help, to play, or be constantly interrupted by your children so things don’t get completed.
5. Have a routine for getting meals on the table and food and dishes put away. There are a number of tasks involved at mealtime: setting the table, food preparation, cleaning up leftovers, clearing dishes from the table and washing dishes. Give everyone a task to do. Record the tasks on a calendar and assign a person to each task. The task assigned each day will depend on who is home before supper and who may have an activity after supper and have to quickly get ready to leave.
Teach your children that cleaning and organizing can be fun from an early age.
4. Have a morning routine. Getting things done in the morning before the day gets busy is the best way to keep things organized. Set a time for the latest children can sleep in. Waiting for people to get up can be very frustrating if people are on very different schedules. This agreed upon time may be different for each day of the week. Tasks may include making their beds, making, eating and cleaning up their breakfast, tidying up things that were left out from the previous day, and completing a household chore. Pick tasks that will help to make the day easier and keep the living space neat and tidy.
3. Declutter as you go. If children aren’t interested in some toys (inside or outdoors) collect them and donate them. If their clothing is too small or they won’t wear it, start a bag or box so they know where to put things they no longer need. They may have books or craft supplies that they have outgrown, collect them too. You may decide to give them a challenge, find 5 things each day that you no longer need, use or love.
2. Try new ways of getting things done at home that are fun, simple and easy. Summer is the perfect time to change the way things are done. There is a little more time to teach children new skills and routines because there isn’t the pressure of getting homework done and getting to bed.
1. Sit down and have a family conversation about the expectations for the summer. Include when bedtime will be, responsibilities, consequences, special trips, activities and events everyone would like to do. Let the children help with the summer plan and take ownership in developing it. When everyone is happy, things go a lot smoother. Enjoy the time together.
Add tip number 11 in the comments. What do you do to stay organized with the kids around the home?
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, in person and virtually. She enjoys working with her clients to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situation. She reduces clutter, streamlines processes and manages time to help her clients be more effective in reaching their goals. Julie can coach you to break-free of the physical or emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Click here to learn more about working with a Professional Organizer?
Previous challenges
Over 8 weeks the quick declutter challenge has encouraged you to declutter your cosmetics, bedrooms, dining room, livingroom, office, clothing and holiday decorations. You can complete the challenges in any order and at any time. Schedule 15 minutes a day and start decluttering your home. The challenge is finishing with the most important declutter – your mind.
What’s on your mind?
One of the ways to realize how much is on your mind is to do a brain dump. Take a piece of paper/open a document and write down everything you need to do, everything you are responsible for and upcoming events. The list might contain:
Household chores – groceries, meal planning, making lunches, cleaning, laundry, lawn care, car care, house maintenance.
Your schedule – working hours, exercise time, picking up and dropping off children, meetings, social events, medical appointments, dental appointments
Yearly events – birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, vacations, visiting/hosting family events, graduations
Work schedule – travel, meetings, presentations, office hours, networking
Family’s schedule – homework help, music lessons/practice, chores to complete, picking up/dropping off children, bedtime routines, fun times, taking care of parents
Make your list and then sort it by what happens daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. Once you transfer all these thoughts to a document it will help to declutter your brain. You can plan for each week, month and year and not get overwhelmed by forgetting things, trying to remember everything or planning too many activities at one time. With all the regular tasks organized you have room in your mind for dreams, goals and aspirations. You can soar.
Expectations
There are 2 types of expectations. The ones you put on yourself and the ones you think others are setting for you. No one is perfect. Set realistic expectations that you can achieve. You have a limited amount of time and energy. Decide how you want to use it. Hire help for tasks you can’t do, delegate tasks to others, and decide what tasks are best for you.
Enjoy decluttering your mind
If you need help with time management book a virtual appointment with me. julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Reading time – 5 minutes
Why this challenge now?
You might be thinking this is a strange time of year to write about holiday decorations. Isn’t it too early? Is it too late? There have been many special days celebrated this year, Valentine’s Day, St Patrick’s Day, Easter, Passover, Family Day birthdays and anniversaries. There are many upcoming long weekends to celebrate in the summer and graduations. The fall and winter bring the holidays with the most decorations, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, celebration of light, Hannukah and many other special days.
Build good habits
This declutter challenge will help you build a habit of examining what decorations you need. Every time you get some out for any occasion evaluate if you like them, if they are in good repair or if it is time to reduce.
If you have time look at the paper plates, napkins and glasses you are storing. It is easy to have a few things left over after each celebration that add up to clutter. Use them up at a picnic. It will be a good conversation starter, remember when we had this party…….
Are you sentimental?
Letting go of decorations can be difficult for sentimental people. The items may have been made by your child, created by a friend or bring back special memories. Keep a few of those decorations. You don’t need to keep all of them. You will still have the memory of the event and the love and friendship of others when you pass on items you no longer need and find a good home for them.
Is it time to change?
Over time your focus on celebrating will change and so will your need for decorations. Take the time to donate your unneeded things so others can enjoy them.
Tell me about your interesting holiday decorations
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Reading Time – 3 minutes
Moving back for the summer?
It is that time of year when college and university students are moving back home for 4 months. If their things are packed in an organized way it will take some of the work out of moving back to school in September.
1. Buy bins that stack inside each other when they are not in use.
Stacking bins are easy to store. Most of us like to cut costs and use boxes to move students. Since moving is an ongoing process for the next number of years buy some bins. They will stack nicely in a truck/van and in a closet or storage area at home. They will only need to be purchased once whereas boxes are usually recycled and you need to find more every time. Bins are waterproof.
2. Before the student begins packing, make a list of items they need at home.
Make sure the items that are needed at home are packed together in a bin. Label those bins, bedroom. Other items that they need only for school can be left in the bins to be moved back to school in September. Label them basement, closet where ever they will be kept. They may need a bin or two labelled laundry. Some items may need to be washed before they are stored away for the summer, bedding, blankets, winter coats etc. This makes unloading quick and easy. If your student is moving across the country, arrange to have their school stuff stored with a friend or a storage unit. Save the shipping fees. Keep the list they made to move home to use in September. When it is time to go back to school look at the list and repack the items that were used during the summer.When you're packing up at college or university, pack the things you need at home separately in one bin and everything else you'll bring back to school in other bins. Share on X
3. At home, designate an area where the bins will be stored over the summer.
Clean out the designated area before your student arrives home. If everything is kept close together or in a limited number of areas when September arrives, it is easy to know where everything is.
A little planning can make the move quick and easy. The second part of moving home is talking to your student about the living arrangements at home. Set up a quick concise contract and life will be easy and enjoyable.
Don’t forget anything
What have you done to make moving your student back home easier? Share a comment below.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, in person and virtually. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situation. She uses her love of physical activity to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you to manage your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Reading time – 5 minutes
The quick declutter challenge is on week 6. The other challenges were to declutter cosmetics, bedrooms, livingroom dining room and office quickly.
It is said that we use 20% of things we own 80% of the time. This leaves 80% of our stuff that we seldom use. For example, do you have a certain style of pens you like and don’t use the rest of the ones in your drawer? You receive lots of newsletters and only read 2 or 3 of them. Do eat the same thing for breakfast most days leaving cereals to go stale or fruit to rot?
Look at your closet, are there clothes you wear a lot? Outfits you love? Items that never seem to get selected? This time of year is good for decluttering your clothes. The types of clothing you wear will be changing with temperature changes. As you reorganize your closet look at the 80% of your clothing you seldom wear and donate them.
Start with a quick declutter of your clothing.
Most times when you are decluttering clothes you find a lot of items in your closet that are not related to your wardrobe. If you have time and energy you can continue with your project organizing your closet so you can quickly find what you need.
If you need help with the quick declutter challenges book a virtual organizing session with me.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Click here to learn more about working with a Professional Organizer.
Decluttering is an important process to help free up space and gain a feeling of control in your life reducing stress, anxiety and overwhelm. Having only what you use, need and enjoy in your life gives you more time, energy and finances to create a life full of meaning, joy and new relationships. Let’s get started.
As you move through your office looking for the 9 things on the list to declutter remember to make decisions quickly and move quickly around the room. You might get distracted by clutter that is not on the list. Make a note of other things you would like to organize. Making a list to do later will help you refocus your mind on the task at hand. Offices usually have a lot of paperwork to sort, file, shred or recycle. Complete that another day.
If you don’t have a designated office space look around your home for the items on the list. Consider collecting them all together and creating a portable office. Have a bin, basket, caddy, or rolling cart where you can store all your office supplies and then move it to where you are working and then store it away.
Here is the list of challenges 1-4. Join in at any time and do them in any order.
Quick challenge 3 – Dining room
Quick challenge 4 – Livingroom
Tell me what unexpected items you found in your office.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
The challenge started with cosmetics, continued with bedrooms, and then the dining room. You can join the challenge anytime and do it in any order. Remember to work quickly for 10 – 30 minutes going around the space and collecting items you no longer need, use or love. Use music to motivate you and a timer to help you stay on task.
Donating and recycling
Many items can be recycled, batteries, pens and markers, and printer cartridges at Staples. Habitat for Humanity takes building supplies and old electronics for recycling. Check with thrift stores in your area. They take household goods, clothing, toys and furniture. Books can be donated at Value Village.
Selling
You may want to sell some items, look at Facebook Marketplace, consignment stores, Kijiji and Craigslist. When selling items to strangers, meet them in a public place and have someone with you. It is the time of year when you can do yard sales.
The Challenge
This challenge can be applied to your family room, living room and recreation room. Get everyone involved and make the quick declutter challenge go faster.
In the comments let me know what interesting things you discovered.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
I hope you found the tips for decluttering quickly in Quick Declutter Challenge 2 helpful.
Don’t skip this challenge because you don’t have a dining room. Many dining spaces have been turned into offices. You probably have a table that collects clutter or a cupboard that collects too many candles, napkins and unused dishes. It might be in the kitchen, a hallway or a dining room. When clutter is continually visible in a common space area people can start to feel anxious.
In a book I am reading Limitless by Jim Kwik he says, “A Princeton study found that physical clutter competes for your attention ( frontal cortex of your brain) and decreases performance and increases anxiety and stress. Divest yourself of things that attract your attention and distract you.” In the common areas of your home, you want to reduce anxiety, stress and overwhelm. Join the quick declutter challenge 3 and bring happiness to your home.
If you have missed Quick Declutter Challenge 1 – cosmetics or Quick Declutter Challenge 2 – bedrooms you can join the challenge now. Complete the challenges in any order.
In the comment let me know what you found when you decluttered this area.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
