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You might be using an app to help you plan your meals and make your grocery list or paper and pen. Here are a few tips to help you take that plan and make it happen. The easier it is to get the meal onto the table the less likely it is that you will eat out.
menu planning
1. Plan meals for a month or more and then repeat the plan.
2. Cook double portions so you can use the planned-overs on another day.
3. Have each family member participate in simple meal preparations that are age appropriate.
4. Cook together on weekends and prepare a number of meals for the week.
5. Partially prepare meat – dice it, brown it and then freeze it.
Share your best tip for making meal preparation easy.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She enjoys working with her clients to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. 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
April 24th is Earth Day
The 3 R’s
When going green first became a movement it was called the 3 R’s, reduce, reuse and recycle. Thankfully we have become more aware of taking care of our environment.
We now have
- reduce – buy fewer items that have packaging that needs to be recycled,
- reuse – buy items that have more than 1-time use before they are recycled or disposed of
- repurpose – many items can be used in a new way other than what the items were initially intended to do
- regift – some things you get or buy and don’t work out, can be regifted to a friend or donated to a charity auction
- renew – some items especially furniture can be refinished or restuffed and brought back to life instead of going to the landfill
- rethink – your lifestyle so you use less energy and have a smaller carbon footprint
- recycle – lots of things can be recycled but today I want to highlight textile recycling
Repurpose tin cans into lovely hanging planters
Textile Recycling
Textile recycling is a newer idea. The idea of donating clothes, shoes, purses, belts blankets toys etc to thrift stores is well established in most communities. What if those items have holes, are discoloured, very old and out of fashion you can still keep them out of the landfill through textile recycling. Canadians only divert 25% of waste from landfills.
Textile Waste Diversion, Diabetes Canada in conjunction with Value Village are 3 companies that will gladly accept clean, dry, odourless, clothing, shoes, boots, leather belts, purses, outwear, linens, drapery, and soft toys. sleeping bags, yarn, pillows, hats, etc anything made of textiles to recycle.
North Americans only divert about 20% of waste from landfills, textile recycling can help to keep clothing out of the landfill. Share on XThese 3 programs have bins for easy drop-off. Not only do they divert waste from landfills but they also put money back into the economy through their fundraising programs.
This problem is not limited to Canada. In the USA it’s estimated each person wastes 32kg of clothing annually, with only 15% of this ending up in a recycling center. The rest is landfilled or incinerated, causing lasting damage to the environment.
With an increasing growth rate in Britain, they also have low rates of waste diversion. The article The Introduction to All Things Recycling by Monk and Company explains the environmental benefits of recycling, the importance of recycling and the environmental impact of textile waste.
If you would like a recycling document, listing how and where to donate and recycle items, send me an email julie@mindoverclutter.ca and put in the subject line recycling doc and I’ll send it to you.
In the comments, tell us what you do to protect the environment and go green.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you 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
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Spring is here. As winter slowly leaves so should your winter clothes. As you wear something for the last time this season, a warm sweater, scarf, pants etc.
- decide if you like it,
- does it fit,
- do you get compliments when you wear it?
If the answer is yes then wash it and store it away for next year. Continue with the process until all your warm clothing has been cleaned and put away making space and easy access for your spring wardrobe. Any clothing that doesn’t fit, you don’t like or is too complicated or expensive to launder can be donated. Clothing with stains and holes can be donated to textile recycling
Spring into action and pack away warm clothing after each load of laundry
Make your spring wardrobe accessible, remove your winter clothes
If you need help decluttering your wardrobe book a virtual appointment with me.
Tell us your tips for organizing your clothing
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 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
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Reading time – 3 minutes
Remember to donate items to charity and not to put them in the garbage.
Being organized is not about being perfect.
Anyone can learn to be more organized. It is a set of skills that can be taught. Organization creates efficiency and effectiveness, making your life and surroundings perform optimally for you. When you start organizing remember these tips:
- Accept your limitations on time, space, energy and money
- Be consistent, do a little at a time on an on-going basis
- Acknowledge your successes. Success breeds success motivating you to do more.
- Take it one day at a time
How do I decide where to start?
I tell my clients:
- to start with the space that is bothering them the most.
- sometimes you may need to start in an area of your home that you are going to use for storage. Organizing that space first will give you more places to store items that need to be removed from other rooms.
How do I start?
Get some boxes and bags for :
- garbage
- recycling
- things to go to other rooms – put them in a container and take them after you are done working in the space you are organizing. If you leave the room you might never return
- things to be returned to other people – put them in a container and return them to the correct owner after your organizing time is over.
- don’t buy organizing products – wait until you know what you are storing, where you are storing it, and how much you have to store. Then you can the best container to hold the items.
How do I get the room to look nice?
There are 5 steps to follow:
Step 1 Sort
Sort everything in the room into categories. The categories depend on what is in the room. You might have:
- electronics
- books
- tools
- computer items
- dishes
- food categories
- cosmetics
- paper supplies
Figure out the categories of things you have in your room and sort the things you can see and then work in the drawers and cupboards
Step 2 Part with items
Part with items you no longer need and donate them to charity
Step 3 Assign a home
Find the best place to store the item, close to where you use them and so you access them easily. Things you don’t use very often can be stored further away and in less accessible places.
Step 4 Containers
Now is the time to get the right container to store the items. Anything can be a container:
- boxes
- wine boxes cut in half
- magazine holders
- jars
- tins
- plastic bins
- bags
Step 5 Evaluate
Use your system and then see:
- if you have things stored in the best locations
- is it easy to get it out and put it away
- does everything have a “home”Being organized is not about being perfect. Anyone can learn to be more organized. It is a set of skills that can be taught. Share on X
How do I remember all this?
Easy it spells SPACE
S – sort
P– Part with items
A – Assign a home
C – Containerize
E – Evaluate
If you need some help with your organizing book a 50 minute break through organizing session . Click on the link to book your complimentary appointment, and speak with me to get helpful tips to get you unstuck. Organizing Break Through session
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you 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 and office. 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
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Most of us keep more than we will ever need. This costs valuable storage space, makes retrieval of the items we actually need more difficult and adds to the stress of daily living. The famous Japanese organizer Marie Kondo tells you to ask if the object sparks joy for you. If it does keep it, if not donate it. Sometimes that question doesn’t solve the dilemma if you should keep something or donate it. The following questions might be more helpful when you ‘re making those decisions.
For Paper:
- Are there any tax or legal reasons for keeping this?
- Can I easily get a copy elsewhere?
- Does someone else have this information?
. - Can I identify a situation in which I would ever refer to this information?
- Is it still relevant to my life?
- What are the implications if I didn’t have this?
-
Shred papers that contain personal information.
For belongings:
- Is it out of style, the wrong size or colour or mismatched?
- Does it still work? Do I have all the parts?
- When was the last time I used this item and when would I need to use it in the foreseeable future?
- If it is something I use rarely, could I borrow one from someone else?
- Do I use it often enough to make it worth the cost to store it?
- Do I have more than one? Do I need more than one?
- Has the collection outgrown the space or the container originally allocated to storing it? Has the collector outgrown the collection?
- Is it the best of the best?
Swedish Death Cleaning
A third way to decide what to keep and what to donate is conveyed in the Swedish Death Cleaning method. Ask yourself:
- If you died tomorrow, your loved ones would have to deal with everything you left behind. What would they really want to see left?
- Start thinking about the cost of holding onto things, instead of thinking about the cost of needing it one day and not having it. Share on X
Give yourself permission to let go of things. Don’t let the fear of making a mistake cause you to keep things you don’t need, love or use.
Tell us how you decide what to keep and what to let go
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices,coaching you virtually using Zoom. She enjoys working with her clients to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. 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. 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
Harold Taylor is a time management expert. He produces a monthly newsletter. Here is one of his articles. I hope you enjoy it.
Harold Taylor of Taylor in Time
Managing E-mail
Do you respond to a lot more email messages than you originate? Are you deleting emails unanswered or unread? Are you spending so much time reacting to email that you don’t have time for creativity, relaxation and renewal? If so, calculate your “Reactive Ratio.”
Reactive Ratio
Count the total number of email messages you receive during the day. Include spam, egroup messages and newsletters whether you still read them or not. Divide the total number of incoming email messages by the number that you send during the day. The resulting ratio should be as low as possible.
You can easily calculate this ratio if you don’t delete or move anything until the end of the day – even those that you have answered. The next morning, quickly count the total number of emails received the previous day as well as those sent the same day.
If the ratio is high, take action by cancelling newsletters that you seldom read, getting off groups you don’t participate in, placing spam filters at higher levels, and getting off mailing lists. Consider using a different email address for purchases to avoid spam. Question whether all incoming messages require a reply. For instance, don’t thank people for thanking you. Consider adding “No reply necessary” to many of your outgoing messages. And investigate apps such as “unroll.me.”
Control Outgoing Email
Your outgoing messages also consume time and generate incoming messages. So question whether a quick phone call is better. Don’t copy people who have no need for the information.Decide whether a quick phone call is more productive than sending an email. Share on X
Reduce the Total Time Spent on Emailing
Even more important than your “Reactive Ratio” is the total time you spend on email each day. Keep messages brief. Use text replacement software for longer & repetitive replies such as instructions or directions. Allocate specific times to check and respond to email. This could be one hour late morning and one hour late afternoon. If you can get by with less time, so much the better. But don’t fragment your day by checking email every few minutes or every hour.
Click here to sign up for his newsletter
Share a hack that helps you to control the amount of time you spend on email.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you 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
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
10 Quick Tips to Get Organized
Remember to donate items to charity and not put them in the garbage.
1. Set aside a specific time and stick to your plan. Schedule blocks of time from 15 minutes to two hours until the project is done.
2. Set the mood to keep your spirits up.
3. Take care of your body by eating well and drinking and drinking lots of water.
4. Start small, one area at a time, “inch by inch things are a cinch”
5. Put items in their proper place, like with like.
6. Stay focused, work in one area at a time and don’t leave the room.
7. Open mail daily.
8. File papers weekly.
9. Put new things away the day you receive them.
10. Purchase things only if you know what you will use it for and where you are going to put it.
Schedule blocks of time from 15 minutes to two hours until your organizing project is done. Share on X
Need some more tips download the booklet Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms ( top right corner)and join my newsletter list.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She enjoys working with her clients to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. 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. 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
Why don’t I want to do it now?
Is it boring?
- Do it anyway and consider the consequence if you don’t do it.
Overwhelming?
- Break it into smaller parts and do one or several parts at a time
Do I only have small blocks of time available but want to do everything from start to finish?
- Change your mindset and make it a positive idea. Small blocks of time mean you only need to do a small amount of work
Am I tired?
- Be aware of your circadian rhythms. Each of us peaks at different hours of the day. Before and after lunch is usually a good time to catch up on mundane activities
Do I fear failure or that it won’t turn out perfectly?
- Fear of losing things,
- forgetting things
- not finishing things or
- doing the wrong thing can generate a lack of action.
How to be Successful
1. If you are easily distracted keep only one project on your desk at a time.
2. Give yourself a time span to complete a project and don’t let your mind wander from the task. Set a timer. When it goes off you change what you are doing or take a break and come back to the same task.
3. Try setting small goals and giving yourself rewards, a coffee, a walk, 15 minutes on Facebook, calling a friend etc
4. Think of how you will feel when the task is completed, pride, relief, satisfaction
There are more great ideas in a book titled “Don’t Agonize Organize Your Office” by Diane A Hatcher
Join Organizing Mind and Space to help you become intentional about getting things done.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you 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
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
What are the causes of hoarding disorder?
Pile of misc items stored in an unorganized fashion in a room
Here is a good article on hoarding. Why do people like to live with so much stuff? There is no one easy answer. Some people feel it is part of a mental wellness issue and hoarding has been added to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Others feel it is a learned trait because they see it in families. Since people notice hoarding running in families they think it is a genetic trait. A person with a hoarding disorder once said to me, when the place was decluttered,” It feels like all my friends are gone.” Applying feelings of love and security to inanimate objects may also account for keeping stuff.
What is hoarding disorder?
Hoarding is not about being messy. Hoarding disorder is a persistent difficulty in discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them. A person with hoarding disorder experiences distress at the thought of getting rid of the items regardless of the actual value of the items. Rooms and spaces become so cluttered that they cannot be used for their intended purpose. A person with a hoarding disorder won’t be able to sit at their table to eat, might not be able to sleep in their bed, may not be able to sit on their couch etc because they are filled with stuff. Hoarding disorder is a very complex issue. Seek out information and help to guide you through the process of letting go of things.
Hoarding disorder is not about being messy. Hoarding disorder is a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them Share on XWhere can I find some information?
You can download a Clutter Hoarding Scale from the Institute of Challenging Disorganization site (ICD). This association has many resources that the public can access. Go to https://www.challengingdisorganization.org/ Here is another link to the article http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/conditions/hoarding-living-with-the-overwhelming-need-for-stuff/article4395448
If you find yourself in this situation please contact me at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She enjoys working with her clients to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. 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
I support continuing education for everyone in whatever field you are interested in. I know that you agree because you are reading blogs to learn more about organizing and to improve your skills. I continue to do that too.
I have attended some interesting conferences over the years .Conferences help you to expand your horizons, learn new information, meet new people, travel to new places and improve your skill set. Share on X
Association of Professional Declutterers and Organizers Conference
This is the professional organization in Britain. I attended a conference in London England. I had a chance to learn from and share ideas with Professional Organizers from Scotland, Wales, Dubai, the United States and the Netherlands. I enjoyed the sessions on Minimalism, Chronic Disorganization, learning about the brain- executive function system, making videos with your cellphone and becoming a better speaker. Not so enjoyable but very necessary was a session on the new information privacy policies in Europe which also affect us in Canada. At the conference, they were organizing their yearly Spring Clearing Week. I liked the idea of Spring Clearing instead of Spring Cleaning and started using this term in my information. We really don’t do a big spring cleaning anymore because our houses, furnaces, air quality and society are much cleaner. In the past, it was important to clean thoroughly after being shut inside with fireplaces burning, dirt floors, wooden walls, and unpaved streets. Now it is important to take control of the clutter that develops as we move from season to season changing clothing and activities. Clutter affects our well-being so remember to do spring and fall clearing. Lastly, the food was delicious and the networking fantastic.
Association of Russian Professional Organizer Conference
Association of Russian Professional Organizers
I was contacted to be a surprise North American speaker for their conference. We connected over Skype and they interviewed me about how I operate my business and how the industry of Professional Organizing runs in Canada. Russia is a big country. To give you a feel for the size, it has 10 time zones, Canada has 5 time zones. There were 84 participants from many parts of Russia and Japan. It was a fun experience and so rewarding to see their smiles and hear their gasps when I was introduced. The conference organizer would ask a question in Russian, the interpreter asked it to me in English, I answered in English, the interpreter translated to Russian and then the audience laughed. They run their businesses very similarly to the way most organizers in North American setup their businesses. They have the same difficulties as we do marketing effectively and getting clients. I was so excited to learn from their enthusiasm, joy and dedication.
Professional Organizers in Canada Conference
This conference was in Kelowna, British Columbia. The theme was Renew and Recharge. Many of the presentations built on each other. We started with a session about dealing with fears that hold you back from taking the next step. Write down your fears, determine how to overcome them and what steps you will take. This theme continued in a marketing session and a session on Minimalism about taking steps to change your lifestyle. In a session on bullet journaling one of the things that was touched on was about how to reflect on successes and failures. It was an interesting thread that carried through a number of sessions, accidentally. That year I went to conference as a presenter for the first time. It was nerve racking but rewarding and fun. I talked about how to make your office more productive, creative, inspired and healthy by making small changes to the workplace environment. Make conscious decisions about the type of lighting, paint colour, room temperature, drinking water, having plants in your office. Stop multitasking, use music to help you focus on tasks, identify productivity pit-stops, things that draw your attention away from the task you are doing. Apply good ergonomic design concepts in your office, get enough sleep, change your working position every 30 minutes from standing to sitting, change the type of task you are doing to avoid repetitive strain injuries and change the location of where you are working because your posture will change and that causes you to use different muscle groups. The food was fantastic and it was fun to start each morning with a yoga class.
Take a fresh approach to conferences
A common thread in my conference experience is great people, food and information. But going to conferences in your professional field may start to feel unproductive after a number of years. I took a fresh approach this year. Focus on the participants and share ideas and learn from each other. Watch how other people network and improve your networking skills. Look at presentations with a new eye and learn how to improve your presentations and speaking style. Conquer a fear, become one of the presenters at your national conference. It will help you grow in knowledge and expertise. Combine your conference experience with travel. I enjoyed traveling on the tube and exploring London, England and seeing the Harry Potter movie set. Kelowna is a lovely town to walk around, hike up a local mountain or go on a wine tour. Expand your horizons learn new information, meet new people, travel to new places and improve your skill set.
Tell me about your conference experience.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you 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
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
