We are in the middle of the back to school season, and if you're a parent of a school aged child like me, your home is probably already getting flooded with drawings, paintings, handprints, coloring pages and worksheets.
On our last episode of Life Made Simple I gave you a handful of organizing tips and routines to help the school year go more smoothly for you and your family. And for today's episode, we're going to take a look at how we can celebrate our children's artwork without drowning in it.
Links Mentioned in this Show:
Episode #91: A Unique Strategy To Help You Let Go Of Keepsakes
Episode #10: Can You Have Too Much Of A Good Thing?
Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode102
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Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com
Free Guide: "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"
Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY
Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"
Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE
Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson
Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae
Around this time last year, my son was starting kindergarten. As a home organizer, I naively thought that I was completely prepared for the school year. Boy, was I wrong! After the first week I was so overwhelmed.
No one warned me. There was so much to do! And it was unbelievable how much stuff came home every day in his backpack... letters from the teacher, from the principal, flyers, stuff to fill out, supplies to buy, things to sign, events I needed to put in the calendar, and meetings to arrange. And that was only the half of it.
I was also overwhelmed with how much school work he would bring home to show me. And since I'm so sentimental, in the beginning I kept most of it.
I've had many clients with school aged children and I've helped many of them organize their homework areas, figure out their schedules, and so on. I figured it was going to be easy peasy for me to transition into a new schedule. But until I was actually a parent of a school aged child, I had no idea how much time, energy, and space it was all going to take up in my life.
After I spent the first couple weeks in shock and survival mode, I finally got a grip and developed new routines, rituals and habits that helped our mornings and afternoons go more smoothly.
I also figure out really great systems that helped me to manage the piles of papers and to-dos that flooded our dining room table.
So, this year, for Levi's first week of 1st grade I was totally prepared! I knew exactly what to expect. While it is still a drastic change from our summer routine and kind of a shock to the system in a way, I can confidently say, I've got this!
Unfortunately, I know that there are many other parents out there who are still drowning in the back to school chaos and craziness. I've actually had a handful of listeners reach out to me this month sharing just how stressful the back to school season is for them and asking for some tips and advice.
So, for this episode of Life Made Simple, I share with you some of the organizing tips and routines that we've implemented in our own family that can help get the school year off to a good start for you and your family. While the tips and strategies I give you are mainly geared towards children in elementary school you can still get a lot from this episode even if you have older kids.
Links Mentioned in this Show:
Episode #63: You Need More Margin Time (CarlaRae Confesses)
Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode101
Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com
Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com
Free Guide: "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"
Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY
Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"
Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE
Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson
Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae
Life is messy. It's chaotic. And sometimes it's overwhelming. By clearing out the clutter in all areas of life, we can somehow find peace, happiness, and freedom. But it's a journey that takes time and effort. And to help you on this journey, through this show, I want to offer you all the tips, techniques and action plans that I've successfully taught all my home organizing clients over the years and have also implemented in my own life.
But, like I've mentioned before in previous episodes, a good action plan is not always enough. Many other experts in the field agree that success - in anything in life - is only 20% strategy and 80% psychology.
You not only need good strategies and action plans to simplify your life, but you need good mindsets and discipline to actually implement those strategies.
Which is why on this show, I put a lot of emphasis on not just practical tips and techniques, but also on the psychology behind it all.
Motivation is key. We all must learn how to get motivated and how to stay motivated. You can have a good action plan to change your life, but if you don't have the motivation to do so, the action plan is useless.
But, motivation doesn't always just happen naturally. Back in episode #51, I explained how it's almost impossible to wake up every day feeling motivated to reach all your goals and aspirations in life. You can't wait to feel motivated every day. You can't wait for motivation to find you. You need to find motivation!
And how can you do that? Well, you need to surround yourself with motivational people and things. Daily personal development is one way to do that.
Some people call it self-improvement, some call it self-help, or personal growth, self-actualization, self-transcendence, or even spirituality. Whatever you want to call it, it's about setting time aside for reading books, listening to podcasts like this one, listening to audio books, or reading blogs that help motivate and inspire you to become a better person and live your best life.
We all must make personal development a daily habit. Personal Development, of any kind is one nonnegotiable habit that you need to intentionally engage in every day... even when you don't feel like it. And if you do, I promise you, it will completely change your life.
I know... for some of you the idea of "personal development" seems boring and unnecessary, but it's actually a secret to success for many people out there who are living very abundant lives. And it's so easy to do! And it doesn't have to take up much time. Even just 5-10 minutes is enough.
If you want more info and specific ideas on what to do for personal development, go back and check Episode #9 of Life Made Simple.
So in honor of our 100th episode of Life Made Simple I want to encourage and challenge you, if you haven't already, intentionally make personal development a daily habit.
Links Mentioned in this Show:
Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode100
Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com
Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com
Free Guide: "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"
Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY
Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"
Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE
Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson
Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae
If you listen to the show often you know, my motto, my slogan, my challenge to myself and to all my listeners is to focus on what really matters, and somehow let go of the rest. That's how you simplify your life: focus on what really matters, and let go of anything that doesn't.
But sometimes it's hard to figure out what really matters in our life, know what I mean? The problem - at least for me - is that sometimes EVERYTHING feels like it matters.
Unfortunately, if I look at the big picture of life, all my priorities, my values, my goals, what I really want for my life, I've come to realize that sometimes what I do with my time, and what I hang on to, doesn't always line up with what's really important.
I confess, sometimes what I do and what I hang on to doesn't always match up or synchronize with what I really want in life. And I'm determined to change that. On today's episode I share with you how I came to that realization.
Links Mentioned in this Show:
Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode99
Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com
Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com
Free Guide: "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"
Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY
Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"
Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE
Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson
Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae
