The word clutter often evokes a powerful image: stacks of newspapers, magazines, old mail, brochures, and leaflets piled high and littered about every surface; items shoved haphazardly into any available nook, crany, or crevice; closets overflowing with shirts and sweaters you haven’t worn in years; chaos, disorder, and mess as far as the eye can see. But what about the invisible clutter, the intangible clutter? Time clutter.
Whether you were organized or not before you had kids, arranging logistics for family life is different and more complex than organizing for a single person. Engaging every member of the household in arranging tasks, including kids from an early age, is a good thing. It promotes a sense of responsibility and belonging; imparts the value of caring for others in relationships; and teaches critical life skills that will benefit your children into adulthood. A simple conversation with your family may be just the thing you need to hit reset on your household’s division of labor.
January is National Get Organized Month, and this year it is the beginning of a brand new decade — a wonderful chance for reflection and a fresh start. For me, the theme of 2020 is Clarity (just think 20/20 vision). It’s about being clear on who you are, what you want, and what makes you happy. And creating the space and time to make it happen by getting organized.
As an organizer, I have long been fascinated by museums: the way they’re curated, how the exhibits are arranged, and why they’ve chosen to acquire and display the pieces in their possession. So it may come as no surprise that one of the highlights from my recent trip to St. Petersburg — aside from seeing the beauty of the city itself, a long time dream of mine — was visiting The State Hermitage Museum and discovering the beautiful history of organizing.
The Holidays present a time challenge to everyone, especially parents; not only must we continue to provide and arrange, but we have the added responsibility to create holiday magic for our kids. With an increased workload, it can be all too easy to lose sight of ourselves and our own needs. The catch-22, of course, is that it’s when we have the least amount of time for self care that we require it most. To keep yourself operating at peak capacity this holiday season, check out these quick S.E.L.F. care tips to maintain adequate levels of sleep, exercise, love, and fun.
There is a weird contradiction between the image of the holidays as an all-relaxing, warm, and fuzzy time and the reality that, as we try to fit in all this yuletide joy, we still have our jobs, and all the standard routines of running our personal and family lives. This year, try these 5 holiday tips to do a little bit more with a little bit less!
Work-life balance — we all crave it, yet it seems so incredibly difficult to achieve. It’s easy for us to say “it’s impossible… my job is just too demanding.” And that might be true. In today’s work-place climate, it’s all too easy for work to become a 24/7, all-consuming aspect of our lives. Yet, with very few exceptions, it likely doesn’t need to be this way.
How do you take the time to rest as a parent? Better yet, where will you find it? Research shows there are 4 types of active rest — that is, rest that requires you to carve out mere minutes or even seconds during the day — that any parent can master to feel more alert, focused, and present, no matter how sleep deprived.
While raising my daughter, I was baffled at how difficult is was for myself and other parents to know our roles when it came to our kid’s schoolwork. Were we meant to supervise and help them? If so, to what extent? Where was the line between helping them and doing it for them? And was it our job to ensure that it got done or theirs?
A friend once said that what she loves about travel, is that every time you go on a trip, you are changed forever. She is so right. We see and experience things when we go to places we’ve never been that simply cannot happen by armchair travel through a Google search. This summer, I had an extraordinary opportunity to go to Africa--and it was one of those trips that changed me in ways I am still synthesizing.
