Tag Archives: organization

On the life “scrub”

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Fall is always a season of renewal for me….with school and volleyball starting, I always feel the itch to try new things or switch up some patterns I had acquired during my slow summer season.

This year, it took a little longer for that itch to happen with some grief and other stressors but here we are with two months left in the year and I’m feeling motivated to make a few changes toward my better self and a more organized daily world!!

One of my favorite podcasts is publishing a week-long “scrub” of your device, calendar, home, etc. and I’ve been loving the practical ideas she has shared on staying focused and limiting distractions.

This first episode is about “scrubbing” your decide, turning off notifications, organizing your home screen, etc. and I loved taking 30 minutes during my morning routine to really evaluate how I used my phone. She shared a wonderful quote, saying “when you get back to someone right away, that is not showing leadership. That is showing that you are distracted.” This is how I’ve always viewed messages and notifications on my phone and loved the validation and common sense of what it communicates to the sender.

Are you an “eliminate all the red bubbles’ kind of person? Don’t look at my phone – they are everywhere!!! My husband cringes whenever he peeks over.

Even my new office needed a “scrubbing” after my move to a new location this Fall. The piles of papers and files were overwhelming me, so I turned off my phone, shut my door, laid everything out and finally got organized. It’s amazing how good that feels once it is done!!! I feel like I’ve gotten more work done in a faster period of time since getting my physical space and functioning organized!

Is there anything or process in your life that may need a good, clean “scrub”? Leave your idea below and inspire us all!!!

On getting control…

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of my calendar and our time!! I’ve been joking lately about the need for a personal assistant just to schedule and drive to the crazy amount of appointments our kiddos have. But since thats not a reality, Scott and I have been trying to stay on top of the schedule with weekly discussions around the calendar and recently with a new app we love called Cozi.

Each kiddo and family member (even the cats) get their own color and you can add all sorts of things to the calendar for everyone to see. What I love is that our teenage daughters can add things to their calendars and be in the know about all family events so they’re not surprised by any appointments. Plus they (and we) can add items to the grocery/Costco/Doterra shopping list as soon as they run out for everyone to see.I still love love love my paper planner and we reference both things when chatting about our schedule!!! But when scheduling with multiple people, the ease of the app that everyone can add to is amazing.

Calendar audit:
I got this idea from Rachel Hollis’ podcast (are you sick of me referencing her yet?) but she recommended looking at all of your appointments and activities from the previous year and assigning whether or not they were valuable and an effective use of your time. I did this with my professional calendar and it gave me great clarity on starting this new year with some purpose at work. I haven’t yet done it with our personal calendar but I plan on doing it soon!!! There are so many things we fill our time with and I am always looking for ways to make sure those choices are good ones.Any other suggestions for time and calendar organization???? Bring them on….also, since I’ve been looking at a computer screen WAY more than I ever have in my new role, more headaches have been popping up. I’m trying these LadyBoss blue light filter glasses at work to see if they help. Wish me (and my eyes) luck!!!

on my “kinda capsule” wardrobe….

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Some of you may be familiar with the recent trend of capsule wardrobes. The basic jist is picking out essential clothing items, shoes and accessories and only rotating through those pieces for an entire season. While I love this statement of more with less, I am far too lazy and indecisive to actually label items and put others away never to be seen again (or until the weather changes).

Shopping and determining my own style has grown on me in my adult years, partially due to having professional income that makes those interests way easier to keep up. I tend to stick to trendy clothes from cheaper stores or online shops versus buying expensive items that I will wear often. Due to these tendencies, I really love pieces of clothes but just for short spurts of time usually. After they have “served their purpose” to me for however long (sometimes even 1-2 wears), I don’t feel bad sending them on their way to consignment for someone else to purchase and love.

With this temporary and purpose-filled strategy, I am proud of my limited wardrobe and clean closet. It makes choosing outfits easier in the morning when I know I am going to love and look good in whatever I pull out of my closet for the day.

 Bonus closet organization tips I have picked up along the way:

1. Off season items in bins in top shelf (bathing suits and cover ups in one, scarfs and mittens in another).

2. I adore this shoe organizer from Bed, Bath and Beyond for my shoe and boot collection. Hanging it up makes it so much easier than them lined up on my closet floor.

3.  Shirts and blouses on top and workout tops and sweatshirts on the bottom rack make dressing for work vs. casual days much easier in the morning (decisions are always harder pre-coffee no?).

4. Special occasion shoes/pumps are stored in plastic bins on top shelf. Easy to see yet out of the way during daily decisions (I got that idea from my best and shoe lover Mary – thanks Mare!).

Clearing the clutter

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Warning – NONE of the solutions I am about to talk about are mine. Thank goodness for pinterest and bloggarific Mama’s that have been posting genius ideas that I get to steal. But I do really like our adopted (fitting right?) chore system so perhaps it can help you too. Plus the clutter clearing ideas for all that paperwork has helped our kitchen and dining room tremendously, especially with the need to keep our foster paperwork together and easy to reach when needed.

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Carmona’s task center/chore system she shares in her blog include this totally free chore chart template (you can edit it on your own computer). We love these daily reminders of which Wonder is completing which task around our house and they love getting to check off their own list. Also included is a cute to-do list and “personal goals” that we sit down and draft together on Sunday nights at dinner.

Since our littles don’t get a regular allowance, we do include bonus “money chores” each week. This includes a bigger job (cleaning baseboards, organizing tupperware, cleaning laundry room, etc.) that each child can do whenever they want to earn the extra money. If they don’t do it, it becomes a regular chore for the following week and they lose the dollar. However, it the chore doesn’t get done, it’s not a huge deal and we move the chore to a different week. This is a great way for WG and WB to feel involved in our housekeeping and we make it fun by putting on music, dancing around, and filling Scott’s bucket. He loves coming home to the surprise of not having to do all the cleaning by himself on his days off from work.

IMG_3038Oh man, this blog post about paper organization is a MUST READ/CLICK NOW. It totally changed my life when paperwork, schoolwork, and mail were literally taking over our counters, coffee tables, and dining spaces. I loved this blogger’s ideas of putting all incoming mail into one basket to be sorted later. The two boxes are labeled “need action” and “to file” so when you put things away, you know which ones you need to go back and pay attention to in a timely manner when you remember that you actually put something in there and oops, it was kind of important.

This amazing lateral file from Pottery Barn just like the one in the blog post is on my super dreamland wishlist so that I can file all of the paperwork into more organized categories (right now they are housed in chaotic binders in my craft room).

On the bottom shelf are two CLOSED boxes of the children’s artwork and schoolwork. Every once in a while, we go through the boxes to add more or take out important pieces of work that we want to look back on or save to be proud of. I have found that setting a limit of what we keep really is a win-win. They feel important and know that we value their hard work but the sheer amount of work/art doesn’t overwhelm our kitchen or living spaces.

 

IMG_3039Perhaps you are drowning in a sea of paperwork, artwork, glorious finger paintings that you don’t know what to do with too??? I hope this helps with some ideas on how to wrangle that mess (now the actual people that make that mess? You’re on your own). If YOU have any genius tips to share, please do so in my comments, I’d love to hear them!!! Happy decluttering!

Patti’s Ode to Planners

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014(Left: Elise Joy’s Get to Work Book, Right: Erin Condren’s LifePlanner)

I have tried all sorts of planner systems and have always come back to pretty planners that I can write/doodle/sticker in to my heart’s delight. My only problem was that I would quickly become bored with each planner (mostly the cover) so after a few missed meetings due to me NOT paying attention to my iphone calendar or a cheap/boring paper planner, it was time to upgrade. Last school year, I loved the Erin Condren lifeplanner but quickly learned that I needed something else to balance my crazy work schedule. This school year, I am keeping TWO planners so that I can keep my life/family schedule separate from my daily “to-do’s” at work. Here is a bit about what I love about each of my planners (and links so you can pick one up yourself!):

Erin Condren’s LifePlanner
I love this planner for so many reasons. The vertical alignment and breakdown into 3 distinct parts of the day are perfect for my family’s MANY appointments throughout each week. You can customize your own stickers ($5 for an entire sheet) so that your own reoccurring events are always represented (see “Scott work” and “volleyball game” below). There is a ton of space in the back of each planner to take notes or write down gift ideas, etc. MY FAVORITE part of this planner is that the covers are interchangeable and thus, I can change it whenever my little brain/heart gets tired of the cover. Last year, I ordered three different covers and felt a little re-surge of falling in love with this planner when it showed up in the mail each time!
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The only downside to this planner is a pretty high price point ($60-$80 per planner) but I say it is soooo worth it. If you would like $10 off your first purchase, you can use my referral link: https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/pattihoelzle1019.

Elise Joy’s Get to Work Book
I have finally found the planner that my “to-do” list loving heart has always longed for. A neutral color, crisp design, amazing extra pages to reflect on the previous month, PLUS well-designed tear-outs to pin up for each month make this planner an all-around GEM.
Although I am a sucker for almost anything that Elise designs and sells (I seriously wish there was a frequent buyer/punch card or something), but this is by far her best creation yet and I am hooked. Her instagram hashtag #gettoworkbook is one of my favorites to scroll though if you’re interested in some planner addict action.

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Now you may be saying, that’s all great and fine Patti, but how does the rest of your family know what is going on???? And my very thoughtful reply is….I’m the boss, why do they need to know? we use a huge wall calendar (from Paper Source) located front and center in our dining room. Each month, I decorate and write out all of our events so that everyone knows when appointments are happening, family members are busy, Scott is working, etc. As you can see, when a family member is gone for an extended amount of time (Mama or kids in the summer usually), I use Washi tape to visually see that difference in our daily routines. Both the children and Scott appreciate being able to reference the calendar for future events on their own instead of needing to ask me each time.

016Do you have a favorite planner? Leave me a link in the comments below! Happy planning everyone!