While I am a professional home organizer, I'm here to talk about gaining control of not just your home, not just your time and to-dos, but also your attitude and outlook on life, your relationships, and so much more. This podcast show is dedicated to help and support you in simplifying ALL areas of your life. And on today's episode, we talk about how to gain control over your health.

During this episode, I give you a 3-Day Jumpstart plan on how to be a healthier you.... which of course, leads to a happier you!

If you're like me, and most other people that I know, you have ambitions to be healthier. Now I know that the word health can have different meanings to different people. Not only does it refer to physical wellness, but it also refers to mental wellness. This jumpstart plan covers both, because the truth is, they overlap. Your physical and mental well-being go hand in hand.

This 3-Day Jumpstart to Good Health is meant to be for everyone, no matter what your health, diet, or exercise goals are. Do you want to lose weight? Then this plan is for you. Do you want get stronger and tone your muscles? This plan is for you. Do you want to simply just have more energy every day and feel better? Then this plan is for you!

The fact is, most of us know exactly what we need to do in order to reach our health goals, whether it be fitness or nutrition. But actually getting there - reaching those goals - can be hard, and can take lots of effort and at times can be uncomfortable. And like we talked about back in Episode #2, when we're faced with something hard or uncomfortable, we usually then default back to the comforts of our bad habits and unhealthy ways, because it's just easier.

This 3-Day Jumpstart is meant to inspire, motivate, and equip you to make lasting changes in your life in regards to your health. It's not just a fitness plan or temporary diet, it's meant to jumpstart a healthier LIFESTYLE.

The strategies and tips that I give you today, might be organized into a 3 day plan, but you can actually apply them to every day of your life. I separate it all out into three days, so that those of you who intend to make a drastic change in your health, don't get overwhelmed or burnt out. After listening to this whole episode, you can actually chose to tackle each step of the plan all in one day if you really want to.

KEY POINTS OF THE 3-DAY JUMPSTART TO GOOD HEALTH

Day 1: Establish a Motivation Plan

• Brainstorm a list of personal development resources to create an "Inspiration Tool Box" full of books, audio books, podcasts, blogs, websites, tv shows, or movies.
• Commit to surrounding yourself with inspiring people and motivational experts
• Beware of mood and energy suckers. Commit to spending less time doing activities that bring you down, spend less time with people who discourage you.

Day 2: Establish a Nutrition Plan

• For ideas, feel free to download my Nutrition Guide for helpful guidelines to healthy eating.
• Each week, brainstorm and plan a list of meals, snacks, and drinks that you and your family can eat during the week.
• Shop for healthy foods and toss all the unhealthy stuff sitting in your cupboards and fridge.
• Fix your boat before the storm and set yourself up for success before temptation strikes.

Day 3: Establish a Movement Plan

• Make rest and sleep a priority.
• Brainstorm a list of active activities that you can schedule into your daily life.
• Be aware of any activities in your life that inhibit movement, and find solutions and alternatives.

Links Mentioned in this Show:

NUTRITION GUIDE: Nutrition Guide  (CarlaRaeArneson.com/7download)

Or send a text to 44222 with the word NUTRITIONGUIDE

The Dirty Dozen: ewg.org/foodnews

Workout Video Program: Focus T25

TV Show Extreme Weight Loss: abc.go.com/shows/extreme-weight-loss

Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com

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Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   (CarlaRaeArneson.com/freeguide)

Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae

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Full Transcript of this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/transcript7

On today's "3 Minute Thursday" episode,  I share with you a HUGE eye-opener that I had after coming home from our last big vacation.

My husband and I LOVE to travel, but I have to admit, I haven't always been the most savvy packer. I used take hours to pack for every trip and I would pack WAY too much stuff... always with the idea of "what if I need that" or "I'll pack this just in case."

Recently, when we were getting ready for a trip to Maui, my husband gave me a challenge: he wanted us to only bring one carry-on per person. No checked baggage at all!

I succeeded in keeping it pretty minimal and we spent 10 days living out of one small bag per person. And you know what? It was amazing! Then, when we got home and I started to unpack, I had a huge epiphany that pushed me to the next level of wanting to simplify my life.

Links Mentioned in this Show:

Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com

Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   (CarlaRaeArneson.com/freeguide)

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Full Transcript of this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/transcript6

This week's episode focuses on simplifying and organizing your home. If you don't already know, I have been a professional home organizer for over 15 years in Seattle... and I've seen it all! I've worked with so many different kinds of people. I've worked with packrats, hoarders, even minimalists, people from different countries and cultures, different backgrounds and careers, families, the elderly, children, bachelors, even a rocket scientist!

And through it all, I've learned that everyone is sooooo different, with different personalities, different preferences, and different temperaments. I've really had to come up with various action plans and solutions to custom fit each family and individual. But, even though my organizing sessions are different depending on the unique client I have that day, there are still a handful of tips and tricks that are tried and true... strategies that I consistently use with everyone.

It's those top tips and tricks that I talk all about in this show. I also reveal the "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home" that I use with each of my clients to organize just about any space of their homes.

Key Points:

• Organizing takes TIME.
• You have to schedule adequate time to tackle any organizing project.
• Start in one room, preferable an "easy to organize" space for instant gratification.
• The space may look worse before it gets better, which is ok... sorting can be messy!
• FOLLOW THROUGH and finish with one space before moving on to another.
• Organizing is all about CATEGORIES.
• Follow my "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home" to tackle any area of your house.
• Once you completely organize one room, don't let clutter from a disorganized room creep into the clean space!

Links Mentioned on the Show:

Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com

Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com

Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"   (CarlaRaeArneson.com/5download)

Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE

Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   (CarlaRaeArneson.com/freeguide)

Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae

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Full Transcript of this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/transcript5

This is our very first "3 Minute Thursday" episode of the Life Made Simple Podcast!

What do you have on your to-do list right now that you've been avoiding because it just makes you cringe? Any daunting awful chores that you keep putting off, but you KNOW they really need to get done? Maybe it's a pile of dirty laundry, a sink full of dirty dishes, or days worth of mail to sort through.

On today's brief episode, I introduce you to a simple solution that might help: a timer. Just a simple timer... maybe an old kitchen egg timer, a stop watch, or even just a simple app on your phone.

While it does seem really simple - and I'm sure you've heard of this technique before - setting a timer to tackle certain chores can help keep you focused, motivated and targeted on the individual task at hand.

I also mention a book written by Francesco Cirillo called the Pomodoro Technique. The book pretty much offers a method in which you take a series of 25 minute work sessions with 5 minute breaks. He calls those "pomodoros", which means tomato in Italian because the egg timer that he used in college was in the shape of a tomato.  After 4 pomodoros, you then take a longer 15-30 minute break.

Links Mentioned on the Show:

Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com

Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com

Pomodoro Technique on Amazon: Pomodoro Technique

Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   (CarlaRaeArneson.com/freeguide)

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Full Transcript of this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/transcript4

This is Part 2 to last week's episode, "Why Is Change So Hard?" If you haven't already, I encourage you to go back and listen it first. During that show we explore the reasons why it can be so hard to make good changes in our lives, even when we know that the change we want to make will help us to be happier people.  

Reaching goals that we want to accomplish, whether it be de-cluttering, weight loss, maybe a new career path - everything that we know we want or need to do in order to have a life that's fuller, happier, healthier -  they all take work and effort, and discipline... and if we think or know that the effort and work is going to be hard, we tend to default to not make the change, stay the way we are, stuck in the same old bad habits, because sometimes it just feels easier. Because change is sometimes scary and hard.

In that episode (#2), we also talked about questions to ask yourself to figure out if all the hard work to make a change for the good in your life is worth it or not. Yes, de-cluttering your house takes so much time and emotional energy, but living in a simple cleaned out space might be worth it. Eating healthier and making exercise a real priority takes a lot of self discipline and hard work. But being at a healthy weight and having more energy might just be worth it all. Going back to school to finally have a shot at your dream job, might be tedious, but it could be sooo rewarding. But you must first DECIDE to make the changes needed to move in the right direction. You must DECIDED that it's worth it.

Now once you've come to the realization that you WANT to change. That you SHOULD change. Well then, now what?!?

And that's what today's episode is all about. If you've decided to make a change in your life, if you decide to take the first step that you know you need to make to get to where you want to be, how do you stay motivated to continue making step after step after step to push through the hard times and enormous effort it might take? How do you stay motivated?

Key Points:

• You have the choice to change.
• You are in more control of your future than you realize.
• You are capable.
• Make a game plan and honor it.
• Be realistic with the process.
• Take baby steps.
• Don't look back once you start to move forward.
• Embrace the discomfort that comes with change.
• Develop good discipline.
• Strengthen your willpower muscle.
• Focus on the end result.
• Remind yourself that it will be worth it.
• Be kind to yourself.
• Reach out for help and support from loved ones, experts, and coaches.

Links Mentioned on the Show:

Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com

Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com

Free Worksheet: CarlaRaeArneson.com/2download

Or send a text to 44222 with the word CHANGEWORKSHEET

Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   (CarlaRaeArneson.com/freeguide)

Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae

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Full Transcript of this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/transcript3

As a Professional Home Organizer and lifestyle coach, it is not only my job, but it is my passion to help people make changes in their lives and homes to become happier and healthier. I've always considered myself to be an advocate for change. But, unfortunately, change isn't easy - for any of us - even if it's for the good.

In this episode of Life Made Simple - Episode#2 I plan on taking a look at exactly WHY it is so hard to make good changes in our lives.

All of us in our lives have something that we wish would be different... something that we wish would be better.  We all have bad habits that we wish we could change. It could be something regarding family, like maybe you want to be more patient as a parent or be a better spouse. Or maybe you want to make a change in your home, like get it more organized, keep a  cleared off kitchen counter, or keep up with your laundry. Maybe the change you want has something to do with your career. Or even your finances. Maybe you want to stop wasting money and start saving for a down payment. Or maybe the change you want has to do with your health; you want to eat better, exercise more, maybe lose a few pounds.  

Whatever it is, we all have something in our life that isn't as good as we had hoped for or expected, something that we want to change for the good.

If you had the opportunity to make something better in your life, why wouldn't you take it? If you had the control to improve your life in any way, why wouldn't you take the necessary steps to do so?

Why? Well, because CHANGE IS HARD. But why is it so hard to make changes in our lives if it helps us to be happier or healthier or more successful?

It's because of this simple truth: in order for a person to change, the pain and discomfort of their current situation needs to surpass the perceived discomfort of making the change.

Tune in to the full episode to hear exactly what this means and how it applies to you.

We also go over the 7 questions you need to ask yourself that can guide you to the path of making a lasting change in your life.

Links Mentioned on the Show:

Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com

Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com

Free Worksheet: CarlaRaeArneson.com/2download

Or send a text to 44222 with the word CHANGEWORKSHEET

Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   (CarlaRaeArneson.com/freeguide)

Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae

Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode2

Full Transcript of this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/transcript2

Since episode #0 was an introduction to who I am and what I do, this quick and brief episode is meant to give you an introduction to the Life Made Simple Podcast, what it's all about, and what to expect in future episodes.

While simplicity is the Life Made Simple Podcast's theme, the categories that we're going to talk about are going to be all areas of life:

• Home (de-cluttering all rooms of your house, including paper piles)
• Time (managing all your to-dos and how to schedule them)
• Health (diet, exercise, and even weight-loss goals)
• Relationships (marriage, parenting, friendships)
• Mind (your mood, attitudes, outlooks, values, negative vs. positive thinking and so on).

The goal of this podcast is to explore the idea of finding simplicity in all areas of our life.  During future episodes, we'll be talking about and learning together how to let go of what's holding us back from being who we want to be and focus on only the things that bring us true happiness.

You can expect to hear a brand new episode every Monday morning. Those episodes will cover certain topics such as how to un-clutter your house, how to build better will power, what to do about people in your life that bring you stress, the best way to manage your to-do list, how to schedule exercise into your life.  These are just a few examples of topics that we'll be covering.

Every once in awhile, the Monday morning episode will be called "CarlaRae Confesses". During those episodes I'll be confessing and talking about certain areas of my own life that I need extra help in... areas of my life that I need to simplify.

Every once in awhile we'll be having a special "Ask CarlaRae" episode. During those episodes I'll be answering questions that you, my listeners have for me. If you ever have a topic that you want me to cover, or a problem that you want my help solving, or if you just need some ideas to help simplify certain areas of your life, feel free to submit your questions and comments on my website.

Just go to CarlaRaeArneson.com/askcarlarae. Or you can email me directly to AskCarlaRae@CarlaRaeArneson.com

Down the line, we're also planning to have a few guest speakers and interviews for our Monday morning episodes. Which I'm really excited about! So stay tuned for those.

In addition to the Monday morning episode that we release, the Life Made Simple Podcast will also be featuring a "3-Minute Thursday" episode. Every Thursday morning I will give you a quick and brief dose of inspiration and motivation to keep you going through the end of your week.

Links Mentioned on the Show:

Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com

Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com

Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   (CarlaRaeArneson.com/freeguide)

Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae

Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode1

Full Transcript of this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/transcript1

Welcome to the very first podcast episode of Life Made Simple!

My name is CarlaRae Arneson, and I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has been encouraging me and pushing me to get this podcast up and going and off the ground! It's definitely been a work in progress and I'm so excited that it's finally happening.

This particular episode is where you get to hear all about me, what I do, and why I'm now the host of this podcast show, Life Made Simple.

I'm originally from Alameda, California down in the San Francisco Bay Area. I now live in beautiful Seattle, Washington with my amazing husband Eric, our little son, Levi, and our new rescued puppy, Bode. You'll definitely hear a lot more about my family and the crazy - but fun - life that we lead in future episodes.

I've been a professional home organizer and time management coach for almost 15 years with my Home Management Consulting business in Seattle, called Loose Ends.

Throughout the years of helping families cut back on chaos and clear the clutter from their homes, I can definitely say that I have seen it all... nothing surprises me anymore! I've seen some pretty crazy things and I've worked with some very interesting and amazing people. I've seen all extremes and everything in between...

• Packrats and hoarders who feel like they're drowning and don't know where to begin to make a change.
• Couples who want to downsize and somehow let go of half their stuff to move into a smaller home.
• Families who actually have LESS stuff than I do and just need a few organizing ideas to simplify their home.
• Individuals who have way too many to-dos and need help with time management.

While helping so many different people, I learned that everyone has a different story, everyone has a different situation with different struggles, and everyone needs help in different ways.

But no matter what the story, I have learned working with all my clients over the years this one definitive truth: If you want to get organized, you have to simplify your life.

Do you want to feel less overwhelmed? Well, then you have to simplify your life.

Do you want to feel more happy and at peace? You have to simplify your life.

Do you want to actually enjoy being in your home? Do you want to feel like you have more time to do what you love and with the people that you love? Then you have to simplify your life.

But what does that mean? And where do you start? How do you do that?

And that's why I wanted to start this podcast. After 15 years of helping people one on one, face to face, simplify the craziness in their lives, I decided it's finally time to help even more people on a much bigger scale. So, for all my clients, colleagues, and friends, and family members who have been encouraging me to do this, thank you... it's finally happening!  

Keep in mind, this podcast show is going to go way beyond just organizing your house... we're going to tackle every aspect of your life... not just your home (although, we will talk a lot about that), but also your relationships, your health, your time, your to-do list, and even your emotional well-being.

And ultimately, we will talk about how to let go of everything that might be holding you back in life and how to focus on what your real priorities are.

I want this podcast show to help motivate and inspire you to push forward, to develop new habits and disciplines that will help you maintain a simplified life. Because I'm not going to lie to you... it's not always easy. But it's worth it.

I'm here to say, you're not alone. I don't just empathize with you, I can relate to you. Together, we can figure out how to simplify our lives, get rid of what doesn't matter, and focus on what does. Together, we can push forward, we can get motivated, and stay inspired. Together, we can find the freedom of simplicity and pursue the life that we're we were meant to live.

Links Mentioned on the Show:

Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com

Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com

Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   (CarlaRaeArneson.com/freeguide)

Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae

Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode0

Full Transcript of this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/transcript0