Linking me up

I decided to start giving you gals (or guys, if any of my readers are of the male persuasion) links to the other places I am once a week- don’t want all my writing to go to waste LOL

Organizing the Fridge My weekly post on onlineorganizing.com

Organizing the Bathroom My weekly column at Pink Lemonade Magazine

Dealing with Paper This is part 3 of a 3 part series I did for Home Ever After. You can get to the other two articles from the link above. I write weekly for this site as well.

And of course, I write all the time here and on my social network. Let me know what you think and what else you would like to see me write about (or tell me if I should just shut up LOL)

Want some great advice?

Then tune in and listen to me be a guest on The Consumer Queen’s blog talk radio show. You can listen live tonight at 9pmEST/8pmCST or visit the link later to listen to the entire interview. We will be discussing how to organize your family’s medical information and cut down on medical expenses/costs.

In today’s economy saving anywhere and everywhere you can is important. As a professional organizer and a woman living with chronic illness, I have tips and strategies to save you money and keep your family’s medical information organized and accessible!

Spread the word!

Where is the darn phone?

I don’t know about you but I do not enjoy hunting around in the bottom of my purse for the ringing cell phone. I do however loooover purses. You can ask anyone that sleeps in my guest room (because they have to stare at them on the back of the door. I have a really cool purse hangy organizer thing on the back of the guestroom door) Anyway, as usual I digress. The real story here is that I discovered a way to not have to grope around in the bottom of my purse like a kid looking for the lost cheerio in their diaper. And it is the Purseket!

If you are interested in looking at one, click on the picture above.

Time Saving Tips

To join in the fun, visit Jolly Mom’s blog.

It’s time for the second question of the blog party and we want to hear from YOU again: What are some of your time saving tips?

We could all use a little extra mom time, so share with us please! The tips can be anything from simple recipes for busy moms or advice on how to get out the door quicker every morning. Anything that you feel will help another mom out!

As a professional organizer, I love tips that can save time and make life easier for busy moms. And, I have accumulated some great tips through the 12 1/2 years I have been a mama.

*When you are in a hurry, make breakfast for dinner. My kids love it when I get out the frozen waffles, scramble up some eggs and fry up some sausage patties. They consider it a treat and it saves me a lot of time on those nights we are in a hurry.

*While we are talking about meals, the Crock-Pot is your friend! I love being able to put something in the crockpot in the morning and dinner is ready come evening.

*DVR is a fabulous invention. It saves so much time to be able to watch your favorite shows when you want and save time by fast forwarding through the commercials. This is a time saving invention for sure!

*To make our life easier in the morning, we set the breakfast table the night before and lay out the kids clothes the night before. Papers that need signed for school, etc- take care of it the night before to save time during the morning rush.

*I keep a check list on the door so that we can make sure we have everything we need- nothing worse than forgetting your umbrella on a rainy day, change for the meter, etc.

Do you have any time saving tips? Feel free to share!

Multitasking Mamas Unite

As women, we are constantly striving to achieve this foreign concept known as “balance”. Professionally, I am dedicated to helping women find ways to simplify their lives and make time for the really important things. The moments with our kids and families that slip away if we let them: the field trip chaperoning, the Mom Taxi “driving”, the first steps, first words, first dates. Wherever you are on your journey through motherhood you are multi-tasking. Thankfully, God designed our female brains to be able to handle this task far easier than our male counterparts.
But it is still difficult. There are only so many hours in a day and so much patience, mercy and “give” in each of us. Professional organizers exist to help you find ways to make this journey easier. That is why I love my job.
But it is also important to remember that a lot of our stress and chaos comes from unrealistic expectations we place on ourselves and each other. We try to be super-mom’s and wonder why we constantly seem exhausted rather than fulfilled. Then there is the constant debates between those moms that work “outside” of the home and those of us that work at or from home. I have been on every side of that debate- SAHM, WAHM, work my butt off for corporate America mom and you know what? I had the same misgivings and feelings of inadequacy no matter where I worked or didn’t work. Because my expectations of myself never changed.
That is the root of our problem ladies! Let’s get organized enough to make routines easier and things flow smoother. But, let’s not forget that if we say “yes” to every volunteer activity, try to make every costume handmade and get a promotion all at the same time, no amount of organization will make us feel any less overwhelmed.
Choose your multi-tasking carefully. Become more organized and most importantly- let’s cut ourselves some slack!!

National Get Organized Week

Sometimes, even as an organizing professional, I can get off track. Life happens and you feel overwhelmed, depressed and zapped of energy and motivation (wait, that’s a whole other post . Anyway, if you find yourself slipping back into old habits and encountering clutter and chaos whereever you go- it is time to re-focus!
This simply means to remember where you were headed. What is your passion? What are your dreams? What do you enjoy?
Then figure out what happened to get you off track- this is something you probably already know and fix it. You may not be able to change your circumstances but you can change your outlook. If your organizing plan is falling apart than make a new plan for getting back on track. Identify what’s holding you back and tell that circumstance to get out of your way! Proverbs 15:22 says- “It takes careful planning for things to go right”.
Give yourself time to wish, dream and visualize and then stop day dreaming and actively step up to change your situation. Just because you may have started to slide into old habits of laziness or apathy does not mean you need to stay there. And I am telling myself this today just as much as sharing my wisdom with you.
Blessings!!