Latest Blog Posts
Reading Time – 10 minutes
Thanks to the staff at Arizona Moving Professionals for being my first guest blogger of 2022.
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 give 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 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
Every year you set yourself resolutions, some you keep some you might not but if there is one resolution that should be attainable for everyone is the January de-clutter. In fact, there really is no better time to sort through, organize, and de-clutter than the post-Christmas holidays. You and your family have no doubt accumulated an awful lot of new stuff and you need to make room for it. Don’t let your new belongings sit on top of the old ones, use this time to donate the stuff you no longer use or need and make room for your appreciatively received new goodies.
How to start your New Year declutter
To successfully undertake a declutter you need to be organized with a plan and agenda, and you need to stick to it. Here are some ways to help you organize your decluttering.
- List your areas for decluttering; do not just wander aimlessly around your house opening random cupboard doors looking for inspiration. List where you want to declutter and start with the easiest area first or the area that bothers you the most.
- Have a deadline; decide on a time that you want each area decluttered by and give yourself sufficient time to do the work. It could be an hour, 10 minutes a day, or a full afternoon dedicated to one space. Whatever works for you.
- Develop a system; when it comes to going through all of your stuff put in place a system of what you are going to do with your items. A good place to start is by having four stations, donate/recycle, sell, trash, keep. Everything should go into one of these piles but your keep pile should be dramatically reduced. Remember if you haven’t used it in a year – donate it.
- Make sure everything has a place; if you are keeping it make sure it has a place to live and it stays there without causing mess or clutter. If it doesn’t have a place then make a place that is easily accessible and close to where you use it or don’t keep it.
Benefits of decluttering
If you still are not tempted to declutter, consider some of these benefits to help persuade you.
- Reduce stress and anxiety. Mess, clutter, and chaos in your home can have a negative impact on your stress and comfort levels. It can cause a sensory overload, you might feel embarrassed or stressed at the prospect of not knowing where things are.
- Easier to clean and tidy. With so much less stuff in the way, it will be easier to keep your home in order and keep things clean and tidy, which will inevitably make life easier when hosting and entertaining.
- Positive impact on selling your home. Having a clean, tidy, decluttered home will make selling your home easier. If listing your home is something you are considering doing a declutter is essential as all top realtors such as https://jenjewell.ca/ will conclude.
- Help to remove allergens. Dust, pet hair, and pollen can gather in all kinds of places and there is no better place than on tops of items sitting around taking up space and gathering dust. Getting rid of clutter should help to improve the airflow of your home and remove gathering dust and allergens.
If you need help with decluttering and organizing your home, purchase my online course, Create an organized 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 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 – 1 minute
The longest day of darkness or light is December 21
I have passed the longest day of darkness in 2021 and moved into more light coming into my life each day. I visited the Northwest Territories in July one year. There were 22 hours of bright sun and 2 hours of dusk. At this time I think of those people with 22 hours of darkness and 2 hours of dusk. Whether you are moving into a time of more light or a time of increasing darkness:
I hope your holiday season is filled with :
- joy for all the things you have learned and conquered in 2021
- light to see a new way of building relationships and
- happy expectations for 2022.
Wishing you a season where you can feel joy, light and happiness.
Share how you overcome the darkness to fill it with light.
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, office, mind and 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. 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.
Looking for a Gift of Time to give this Holiday Season?
Mind over Clutter.ca has 3-hour packages designed to help with any number of tasks in the home and office. Consider purchasing an:
- Income tax receipt organizing package
- Holiday cleanup package
- Streamlining your office package
- Organizing for the New Year
New this year a virtual organizing package consisting of:
- An initial meeting to discuss the project and make a schedule
- Followed by 3 guided work sessions to coach and mentor you through the work
Value
Packages can be designed to fit the individual needs of the recipient. This gift helps remove stress and clutter without creating more clutter. Working with a professional will help them to meet their goals successfully. Purchase your introductory package in 2021 for $150.00.
Contact julie@mindoverclutter.ca to purchase your clutter-free gift of time.
What is the best holiday gift you received this year?
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, office, mind and 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. 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
Multitasking is a myth. The brain can’t complete 2 high-level tasks at the same time states Chris Adams, in “Can People Really Multitask?” So what are we really doing when we work on 2 things at the same time?
Task layering
People believe they can multi-task because the body can do a physical activity and a cognitive activity at the same time. So people are able to walk and talk, run and listen to a book etc. The new term I have heard for this is task layering. We certainly can do task layering, don’t get it confused with multitasking. Task “layering” is defined as strategically deciding to do tasks that require different “channels” of mental functioning such as visual, auditory, manual or language. Read more about task laying that actually works in this article
Multitasking
The brain does not do two cognitive tasks at the same time. The brain switches between tasks, very quickly. Every time the brain switches tasks it must determine how much of the task has been completed and what the next step would be and then continue with the task. This time contributes to the slowing down of completing the two tasks. If the brain works on one task at a time it completes it without delay. Try it, put an article in front of you and something to write. Do them both at the same time and record how long it takes you to get the two tasks done. You will notice that you will keep going over the material to see where you left off as your concentration shifts between the tasks. Next, do each task separately and time how long it takes to complete both tasks.
More errors are made when people multitask
How to stop multitasking
In order to stop multitasking, plan your work schedule and remove the distraction of other work, e-mails, tweeting, phone calls, televisions, music etc. Your work schedule may have lots of shifts in tasks. Some people like to schedule a 60 -90 minute work session and then change tasks. Other people may schedule 30-minute sessions and change tasks. What works for you? Some people need to have music or white noise on to help them concentrate and block out distractions. Other people find music distracting. What helps you to keep your focus on one task at a time?
What do you think? Is multitasking productive?
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 – 3 minutes
Work-life balance is a big catchphrase right now. At times, it seems impossible when you are working from home. Work is always there and home is now a workplace, a relaxing space, and an entertaining center.
Schedule everything
1. The best way to gain/have/maintain work-life balance is to schedule everything. It will seem daunting at first because you need to schedule exercise, work, your children’s activities, beauty appointments, laundry, grocery, shopping, time off, cleaning, yard work, sports, entertainment etc. Once you have completed this activity you have a better understanding of what your day is like, how your week will function and what is going on in the month.
Follow the plan
2. In order to be successful you must be ridge with yourself and stick to your schedule. If you allow yourself to give up “life ” time for work you will probably never get it back. Some people say they can’t be creative if they are scheduled. Think closely about that argument. Perhaps you don’t know how to schedule your time or maybe you don’t want to have enough time to get everything done. Remember scheduling allows you to be creative within each block of time and activity. Scheduling helps you to set up routines for getting tasks completed. This helps you to spend less mental energy worrying. Use that time and energy on more important things.
Create happiness in your life
3. Work-life balance is important because it allows you to be functioning at your best. Your stress is reduced if you can accomplish the things that are important to you, have the relationships you want, and are accountable to those that are depending on you. Happiness and contentment can be yours for the taking.
What would be your 4th tip to create a better work-life balance? Post it in the comments.
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 – 3 minutes
In Harold Taylor’s newsletter www.taylorintime.com , May 2014, he talked about Organizing your Mind to create the life you want. His advice is still true today. Getting your mind in the right place so you can concentrate on the things that bring you joy, fulfillment and contentment will help you create that life that brings out the best part of you.
By Harold Taylor
Organize your mind than your desk or house
It’s more important to organize your mind than your desk or house. You can always walk away from your desk or house, but you can never walk away from your mind. We must first accept the fact that time is not life, as many of us in the past may have suggested; it is merely the medium through which life passes. And life, as you experience it, is not something that happens to you, but something that happens because of you. You create the life you will experience – good, bad or indifferent – by what you believe, how you think, and what you do.
Mind-clearing session
To create the life that you want, you must first organize your mind. And you do this by clearing it of all the worldly clutter that keeps it preoccupied and constantly distracted. One way of doing this is to engage in a 15 or 20-minute mind-clearing session each morning after you get up and are fully dressed. Don’t do it while you are still in bed and half asleep. This is too important. It will determine how the rest of the day goes. And life takes place in a series of days.
Complete your morning ritual of breakfast, getting the kids off to school, putting out the garbage or whatever your morning routine entails. Then sit comfortably in your favourite chair, and without trying to rid your mind of the random thoughts that will invariably invade it, do the following six things in succession.
6 Steps
- Relax, close your eyes, breathe deeply, and just be aware of the miracle that is you.
- Give thanks for all that you have and have had in the past. Don’t rack your brain trying to think of everything – just those that come to mind quickly.
- Forgive anyone who has hurt or offended you.
- Offer up ten-second prayers, blessings or good wishes for at least three other people each day.
- Think positive thoughts about all your future plans, opportunities and endeavours,
- Decide and confirm how you will spend the next hour of your life. This may already be scheduled in your planner or you may choose something different.
The reason for doing these six things will be explained in the next article in this series on holistic time management. But the reason will probably become clear to you as you progress through each day.
Whether you call this session meditation, mindfulness, or “being in the now” is immaterial. What is important is that you continue to do it each day, modifying it as you go along, until it becomes your unique morning routine. And how you spend the next hour of each day will eventually create the life that you will lead.
Organize your mind than your office or home. Harold Taylor Click To TweetI think there are some great suggestions to help you focus on the life you want to create. Is anything missing? Let me know in the comments.
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
Start wearing outfits for the last time this season
Which clothing should I keep?
Find a decluttering style
- category, one category at a time eg. look at all your pants, then shirts etc
- as they wear them – you put it on, don’t like it, donate it
- spending a little time every day and remove a few pieces of clothing
- having a box in their closet and when they find something they don’t like put it in the donation box
- spending an afternoon or evening and going through all their clothes at one time
- one room at a time – you may have clothes in a number of places
Consolidate: only clothing in your closet.
Organize based on your activities
Organize a colour palette.
Decide what percentage of clothing to declutter.
Capsule Wardrobe
What do I do with the things I don’t need?
Did I miss anything? Now I’d like to hear from you.
Need help?
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: 3 minutes
No more arguments, plan the best time to do homework.
Helping your child to be successful with their homework is about planning. Plan a time when your child can concentrate and an adult is available to lend support to the task. Some children will be able to do homework right after they finish school other children will need time to do some physical activity before they can concentrate and yet other children will need to eat first.
Have a quiet area near an adult . Children may need support from an adult at times to be successful
Plan the best space for doing homework
You will need a spot that has limited distractions, minimize stimulation from video screens and phones and reduce loud conversations with other family members in the homework area.
Plan a schedule for completing large projects
Large projects take more than one night to complete. Help your child learn how to plan ahead. Look at the week and weekend and see what time is available to work on the project. Divide the project into smaller sections that can be completed a little at a time during the week and on the weekend. At first it takes a lot of discipline from the parent and the child but as the family gets used to planning ahead your child will tell you that they need your help with some homework and the only night you are both home is Wednesday. It will be great when they take over the time management of homework.
Teach your child management so they will have enough time to complete large projects.
Have a portable homework station that can move with you.
Many families have shared custody of children between parents and some families are always on the move taking children to after school events where children need to do homework while they are waiting for siblings to finish an activity.
Help your child be able to complete their homework quickly
Have a portable homework station that can be taken anywhere
Taking into consideration all the variables, homework areas need to be portable. Children need have a container with all the pens, pencils, markers, erasers, rulers, a stapler, tape, glue, paper, calculator etc. they need. This container can be used in any room in the house allowing for flexibility. Let your child organize the container since they know what they need. This container can be put in the car and taken along to activities, babysitters, parent’s homes. It is important that children have the supplies they need and learn to take care of them so they can get their work done. If you choose to have one room or area for homework make sure to consult your child about what it should look like so they want to work in that area.
Share your tip for making homework an enjoyable experience.
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: 2 minutes
Success in doing laundry starts with packing the right clothes. When packing for college or university stay away from white clothes, they will turn grey and red clothes that will turn everything pink. Leave them at home. Pick clothes that can survive a washer and dryer. There won’t be much hand washing of clothes.Discuss who is responsible for doing laundry before your student leaves for university. Click To Tweet
1. Practice
If your student has not done laundry at home use the last week or two before they leave to teach them how to use a washer, sort laundry, empty pockets and use a stain remover. If they bring their laundry home from school it is a good time to team them how to do it
2. Money
Find out if the washers and dryers need coins or if money is put on a plastic swipe card. Put some money on the card or send coins to get them started and into the habit of doing laundry. It is a good investment for both parents and students.
3. Laundry ” Basket”
Provide a central collection area for their laundry in their room. It might be on the back of a door or chair, a bin or bag in the closet. It needs to be portable so they can move it easily to the Laundromat which may be on another floor.
Mesh laundry baskets let damp things dry until they are washed
Put a laundry bag on the back of a door.
Backpack laundry bags make it easy to get everything to the laundromat.
A basket can be put in any convenient location and is sitting open easily to throw clothes in.
4. Supplies
Buy liquid laundry detergent because it dissolves quickly and comes in small bottles. It is better to have a supply of small bottles than a large one which is heavy and hard to take to the Laundromat. Buy fabric sheets for the dryer as the student will probably never be there for the rinse cycle.
5. A place to hang damp clothes
Have a place to hang up clothes – a line, door hooks or a free-standing wire rack in their room for things that are damp or that they don’t want to put in the dryer.
Use a rack to dry clothes and save money
Folding wooden or wire racks can be hidden away when they are not in use under the bed or in the closet.
Over the door hooks come in many styles to fit the door and space.
over the door hooks are great for hanging up damp clothes
6. Who does the laundry, parent, student, home or at school?
Decide if you will do their laundry when they come home on weekends. Set the policy early so there are no surprises.
Share your experience about laundry successes and failures.
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 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
