June 3rd, 2011
Summer is that lazy, hazy time, when we really like to kick back! But this is a great time to get going with your family fun, something that may have been sidetracked during the school year. Family fun can be simple, 50s style, easy activities. However, it takes making a plan to have this happen!
Gather your family together to brain storm what is most important to each person. Family members need to each have one special activity for the summer. Get out your calendar and write these in. Otherwise, summer will be over before you know it.
Stumped on ideas for fun? Here we go!
- Homemade ice cream
- Ice cream sundae party
- Board games
- Sprinklers galore
- Bike rides
- Popcorn and movie night
- Sleep under the stars
- Bake cookies
- Walk a nature trail
- Pick berries
- Grow a garden
- Volunteer at a thrift shop
- Bubbles
- Side walk chalk art
All of these affordable ways to have fun take just a few minutes of preparation, but you will be thrilled you did!
May 10th, 2011
It’s that anxious feeling you have when you are running late for an appointment and you can’t find your keys. It’s that sinking feeling of depression while looking around your home, knowing you are overwhelmed by the disorder in different rooms. It’s that stomach ache you have when you know you have to do your taxes, but you can’t find your forms or papers to fill in the amounts. It’s even that “discussion” you had with your husband about dinner or laundry and who is responsible for what at your home. We live in a world of high expectations, where guilt and shame underly our lack of organization. When we want to connect, disorganization is a barrier to having company in our home. Being disorganized causes all kinds of stress, whether it is physical, emotional or psychological.
The first step in de-stressing is to take care of yourself. It is usually the last thing we do! Taking care of yourself is assessing whether we had a good night’s sleep, ate a healthy breakfast and gave ourselves enough time to do a task to start with. Take stock of all these aspects, putting your “own oxygen mask on first.” This is the first area to attend to if we are to make a change and de-stress.
Make a plan and work your plan. Take stock of what you do well and what you don’t. Work from your strengths and make a plan of what you can get accomplished. List your goals and priorities and see if you are aligning your daily commitments. If not, it’s time to un-calendar some tasks. If you “should” accomplish a task and find it is not a strength, create a team and delegate tasks. Tasks may not be done the way you do it, but it will be done! Write out your plan so you can see it daily, including weekly routines with set days and times for certain tasks and open, untethered days to rejuvenate.
Use tools that work for you. In our world of technology, using your smart phone for your calendar and task list can make all the difference. Instead of keeping all the details in your head, get them out onto your calendar and task list so you are working high speed on what you need to accomplish.
Disorganization and stress can be remedied with baby steps to change. What ways are you working toward making a change?
March 21st, 2011
Now is the perfect time to be planning your summer holidays. Getting ready for the summer can include choosing camps or other activities for your kids, planning an extended summer vacation or even preparing for local summer fun.
Start by corralling all those important summer dates and ideas. When does school end? What events like family reunions or weddings are already planned? When is Vacation Bible School or Swim Team? When does school gear back up with activities like sports or dance?
Host a family meeting focusing on summer fun. What do your kids enjoy the most? What new adventures or activities would they like to try? Where would you and your kids like to travel? Is there time for you and your spouse to have your own get-away?
Your approach gives you time to investigate some great online resources. Check these out!
http://www.thefamilytravelfiles.com/
http://familytravelnetwork.com/
http://www.travelandleisure.com/vacation-ideas/family
Our most beloved family vacation was at Yellowstone National Park. http://www.us-national-parks.net/
Think about alternating busy weeks with low key weeks. You and your family will feel less pressured in preparing and enjoy the vacation more.
Making early decisions on your summer plans can save you a bundle! Once you have committed and paid, remember to keep a folder in your command center specifically for summer. Move this into your filing cabinet at the end of the summer to keep a record for future trips. As your summer plans get near, check online for coupons for activities and recreation in your vacation area. There are lots of ways to save with internet resources.
February 15th, 2011
You come home after work and start the 2nd shift. There’s always more to do than time to do it. Gather your family around you and think delegate, a.k.a. team building!
There are a few ground rules that apply at home, that don’t apply at the office. The complexity of family relationships makes delegating at home more challenging than at work. But it is not impossible. Truly applying team building makes this happen!
Begin with the family motto of “we’re all in this together!” Start with a family meeting to talk about what this means. Keep it simple but think through all the responsibilities at home and create a list of the options. There are lunches and dinner to make, groceries to buy, laundry to do, lawns to mow, toilets to clean and more. So getting a list together that hits on the most important tasks is a starting point. Here is where we start being creative!
- Works from family members’ strengths. Who is great at what? Give your family jobs they do well rather than struggle with.
- Give the chores different point values by “difficulty” of completion. Bathroom and toilet 3 points, kitchen clean up 2, dusting 1.
- Create partnerships to complete the chores, such as mom/sister make the dinner, dad/other daughter do the dishes. It is always more fun with a partner.
- Set a time everyone does the same task. Set the kitchen timer, turn on the high energy music, or sing the clean up song.
- Set a standard of completion everyone agrees on. What does it mean to have the dishes “done” or the laundry “complete”? Set a time frame for completion. Emptying a dishwasher after the dishes are piled in the sink defeats the purpose.
- Put aside your perfectionism. Encourage your family to do their best job, even if it is not to your standards, the manner in which you would do it or at the speed you would do it.
- Affirm each family member’s contribution each week. Praise goes a long way in getting things done.
- Create a chores chart and post it in a common space. It is the chart that reminds the family, rather than the parents.
- Incentivize your family’s work. Incentives can be whatever works for you, but the simpler the better.
- Use this method for every day responsibilities and upcoming family events, including holidays, birthdays and special occasions.
- Make it fun! Everyone wants to work together when the atmosphere is relaxed and happy.
Great resources are available on www.familymanager.com including lists, charts and more! How does team work happen in your family?
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February 7th, 2011
Our families are blessed with abundance and we have never seen this more than with the blessings of toys, clothes and more for our children. With summer here, it is a great time to enlist your children in decluttering your home and organizing!
Working With Your Children
Children are full of great ideas! Their suggestions on where their toys should be stored and how to sort their clothes can make the difference for their organization. With your child’s input, decide if the clothes need to be stored by color, or type, or by outfit. Your children will be invested in the organizing system that they help determine.
Decluttering With Your Children
All children have favorite toys and clothes they have outgrown. The comfort of these items creates security for them. However, your children can share their blessings by decluttering before a birthday or holiday. Encourage your children to donate to local philanthropies that are important to your family, such as a women’s shelter or relief fund. Go through your children’s clothes regularly to be sure these are the current size. If you store clothes for the next sibling, keep these in uniform, labeled containers with the size, season and gender on the outside of the container. If your children are not ready to part with certain toys, the toys can “go on vacation” on an upper shelf or other storage area to be brought out later.
Simple Systems Please
A simple system with general categories for sorting is best with children. Be sure to have your child generate the name of the category. Use accessible bins for storage relying on items that are the correct height for your child. The most loved and frequently played with toys should be the most accessible. Group together the items that are used together, also separating the specific items. A three drawer plastic container can hold “Barbies” in one drawer, Barbie clothes in another drawer, and accessories in the third drawer. The same applies for art and craft supplies, with small containers for glue, scissors, tape, paper, stickers, and more. Using vertical space is always an excellent option as well, especially for trophies and keepsakes. There is unclaimed storage and visually appealing space right above the furniture line using racks, shelving and displays.
Label, Label, Label
Once your system is in place, it is time to label everything! This makes pick up quick, everyone knows where everything belongs, and your organization stays in place! Inexpensive label makers make labeling fun and keep your system intact. Have your children create the labels and apply them.
Routines for Staying Organized
It is overwhelming to have to place all your toys or clothes back in their homes! Create routines that encourage “organizing as you go”. Have a rule about how many toys can be taken out at one time, perhaps three at a time, and then pick up before taking another toy out to play. Children age 6 and older can be responsible for placing laundry in hampers, sorting laundry before washing it, and placing folded clothes back in its space. Teach your children these responsibilities in small steps, encouraging them as they organize, even if not perfect.
Organizing is an important skill to share with our children. You have powerful input as the organizing role model in your home, and sharing and including your children in organizing their rooms and family spaces adds effectiveness and encourages self esteem. Building with steady small steps, you are making a difference in your family life by organizing with your children.
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January 13th, 2011
How are you?
Busy?
Busier than ever?
Never thought you would be this busy?
How is it we never have enough time?
No matter our age or stage, we all feel and deal with time issues. We lack of control of our schedule with too many demands, too many balls in the air and too many meetings. Having no time means we have disorganized space. There are so many interruptions and distractions. Tasks take longer than we think. If you are organized, you think you can squish in just a little more. Is it time for a change?
How we use our time comes down to creating a new awareness of it and a baby step to make change happen. The first step is the awareness of how you use your time. Ask yourself some questions. What is working well? Are you getting places on time? Are you always on the go, with too much to do? Do you feel like you are productive and get tasks done? Do your planner and task list work well for recording commitments and tasks? Now ask yourself what is not working! That is where your first baby step will start.
Not getting places on time
- Set a timer to alert you 15 minutes before you want to leave. This gives you time to gather up and get going.
- Plan on arriving early. You get the best seat, you stress less about parking and traffic, and you are in prime position for whatever you are doing. Bring your magazines to read now!
Always on the go with too much to do
- Everything can’t be equally important to you. Assess if you need to join both girl scouts and adventure princesses, volunteer for church and PTA, and work second and third jobs. Spend time thinking about what you want to commit to for now. One of my favorite sayings is, “we can do it all, just not all at the same time.” Simplify your time with one big commitment at a time.
Day to day productivity
- Put the big rocks in first, as said by productivity guru Stephen Covey. Be sure you know what the big rocks are for your job and get these done early in the day.
- If you are smothered by small tasks at work, group them together and consolidate to be more effective. Having a call list, an email list, and an errand list for work to group and conquer!
Your Calendar and Task list
- First decide if you are a paper or technology person. See what works best for you and all the jobs you have, including parenting. You can cover a lot of ground with the google calendar to match up to your partner. If you love paper, think about www.plannerpads.com. It consolidates your tasks and your calendar.
- Find a work flow that works with your style. With your family, host a family meeting weekly to update your calendar. At work meet with your assistant or colleagues to be sure you are on top of dates. Having partners makes the process more effective and fun!
This is a long list! Please pick just one of these baby steps to own this year. You will be glad you did! Please share with us your choice and how it is working for you! We want to help you get this done.
Certified Professional Organizer and Family Manager Coach Ellen Delap is the owner of Professional-Organizer.com. Since 2000, she has worked one on one with her clients in their home and offices streamlining their environment, creating effective strategies for an organized lifestyle and help prioritize organization in their daily routine. She holds ADD and Chronic Disorganization certificates and specializes in working with ADD and ADHD adults and students. Ellen has been featured at The Woodlands (Texas) Home and Garden Show, on ABC13 Houston, in the Houston Chronicle and is an Expert on The Clutter Diet, an online organizing resource. To learn more about her and her work, visit www.professional-organizer.com, tweet her @TexasOrganizer or become a fan on her Facebook Fan Page Professional-Organizer.com.
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January 9th, 2011
January has become National Get Organized Month, as declared by the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO).
What are some little ways you can celebrate this month?
- Declutter one or several junk drawers in your kitchen.
- Spend 15 minutes a day organizing your closet, for 5 days in a row.
- Walk around your home and pick up 5 things to declutter every week. Bring them immediately to Goodwill
- Place a bag in your closet for your donations to Goodwill. As soon as you decide not to where something to work, into the bag it goes.
- Have a family pick up time for 5 minutes every night. Beat the clock by setting the kitchen timer for 5 minutes.
- Declutter your purse every week with tossing the crud and putting receipts in a ziploc in there.
- Go through your books and donate 10 to the public library.
- Have your kids decide on 3 toys they can donate so that other kids can have toys.
- Do the gas and go. Empty the trash from your car into the can when you get gas each time.
Share with me how you celebrated this month!
Certified Professional Organizer and Family Manager Coach Ellen Delap is the owner of Professional-Organizer.com. Since 2000, she has worked one on one with her clients in their home and offices streamlining their environment, creating effective strategies for an organized lifestyle and help prioritize organization in their daily routine. She holds ADD and Chronic Disorganization certificates and specializes in working with ADD and ADHD adults and students. Ellen has been featured at The Woodlands (Texas) Home and Garden Show, on ABC13 Houston, in the Houston Chronicle and is an Expert on The Clutter Diet, an online organizing resource. To learn more about her and her work, visit www.professional-organizer.com, tweet her @TexasOrganizer or become a fan on her Facebook Fan Page Professional-Organizer.com.
January 9th, 2011
Winter in Texas is a great time to organize your garage! We have great warm days to pull out your stuff, decide on what to keep, and get it out the door!
Garages are a time consuming project, best done with a team and in segments. Plan on a two day project, Saturday and Sunday afternoon, for about 4 hours each day. Check the heavy trash pick up days for your area so you can get rid of the big stuff easily. Call the local Salvation Army for a Monday pick up right after your organizing weekend. Get your family on board with incentives, like a movie that evening, money for helping, and or whatever works for you all.
Now for the hard part! What to keep? Don’t get overwhelmed! Create some “rules”! Many things in garages are there because of postponed decisions, so now is the time to decide! Be brutal about what to keep. When was the last time you used that breadmaker? If it is typically kitchen item, the garage storage means it is hardly ever, if ever used. Your kids are in high school, but you still have their middle school size bikes. Create an ad and sell the bikes. Too many boxes? Recycle these at a local school. Too much wood? Call Habitat for Humanity Restore. Go item by item and get it all out.
While you are sorting, make big signs to move the items you are keeping to the categories typical for garages. These are athletics, car, gardening, repair and tools, and holiday storage. Post the signs so everyone can carry items to the spots.
Finally, add some vertical storage and containers for categories. Vertical storage means you can park you car in there! Inexpensive, durable shelving hold the containers regardless of weight. Place bikes and other riding toys near the garage door. Place items near the house door that are used inside your home. Creating access is what is most important.
Now step back and view your work! Have a big reward for your hard work!
Certified Professional Organizer and Family Manager Coach Ellen Delap is the owner of Professional-Organizer.com. Since 2000, she has worked one on one with her clients in their home and offices streamlining their environment, creating effective strategies for an organized lifestyle and help prioritize organization in their daily routine. She holds ADD and Chronic Disorganization certificates and specializes in working with ADD and ADHD adults and students. Ellen has been featured at The Woodlands (Texas) Home and Garden Show, on ABC13 Houston, in the Houston Chronicle and is an Expert on The Clutter Diet, an online organizing resource. To learn more about her and her work, visit www.professional-organizer.com, tweet her @TexasOrganizer or become a fan on her Facebook Fan Page Professional-Organizer.com.
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