Say no more often.

It has been awhile since I have blogged, I was away for part of September and well I was busy with other things and getting ready for my trip. I have been blessed to work on a writing project as a co-author for a book called "Dear Stress, I'm breaking up with you." by Ky-Lee Hanson and many other contributors. When I was writing my chapter I had so many ideas rush through my mind it was hard to narrow it down so I touched on a few topics about how to organize your life.
One area I touch on is saying no more often. I believe when we say no more often to things that are not aligned with our core values and ultimate goals we create time for other adventures to enter our lives.

A mentor of mine taught me an amazing couple of sentences to learn how to say no with never having to use the word no. When someone asks you to do something it usually never has to be answered right then and there, so the brilliant first sentence is: "I need to check my schedule, when do you need to hear back by?"
This gives me time to truly think over the situation and see if it hits some key points in my life; will it generate money for work?
Will it help my family in anyway?
Will it contribute to my community?
Does this match up with my values and goals? If you can say yes to most of these questions it is a good idea to go further and ask yourself; Do I have enough time to dedicate to this?
Will it interfere with other commitments I have?
Is there anything else I need to know about this before I make a final decision?

Once you have come to a decision you can always let the person know by or before the date they needed to hear back by and say, the second brilliant sentence; "I am sorry but at this time it is not a good fit for me." Once again a clear message but never using the word no.

If you fear saying no there are some things we need to look at: why? is it fear of commitment? fear of letting someone down? being seen as a rude person? Fear of confrontation? all these fears will keep us saying yes when every fibre of our being is screaming NO. Let's look at this in reality, when we are in fear we make poor choices. Let's look at fear of confrontation or letting someone down: If someone were to say no to you how would you react? Maybe be a bit disappointed but move on to the next person who you feel would be a good fit, feel a bit sad but you move through the feeling. So I ask you why would others react any different than you would? We create unrealistic scenarios in our heads of how others will react and it keeps us saying yes and we will continue to waste time on things that do not match with our goals and values. If we say yes to everyone we will be too booked to be open to new adventures that we actually want to do.

My challenge to you is to no more often, you deserve to be spending time on things that inspire you and will help you toward where you want to be.

Let me know how it went for you!

Let's get organized for school.

It is a couple weeks away for the kids to go back to school, it is important to have the household organized to make life easier for the whole family. I will list a few ideas that any household can incorporate to make school life more functional for when your kids are coming and going.

1.  Have a clear and designated area for the kids backpacks, shoes and coats. This will allow them to know where to put their stuff for when they get home and know where everything is in the morning to go to school. Each should have a hook for coat and snow pants, a basket for gloves, hats and scarves and a place to hang/put their backpacks.

2.  Have a family message centre, usually in the kitchen. This is the place that has a calendar for everyone's activities and appointments, A place to leave messages for one another. A place to hold all papers coming into the house: mail, permission slips, homework/agenda's to be signed etc. Each person should have their own folder/mail box/cubby-hole, how ever you set it up.

3.  Create an area that is designated for homework time, usually right after school. Most use the kitchen or dining room table. In this area have stock of most needed items: pens, paper, pencils, markers, scissors, coloured paper, glue stick and so forth. Kids usually have projects to work on and need these supplies. Keep them in a basket in a cupboard or in the dining hutch cupboard,

4. Have routines; a morning, after school and night one. In the morning make it routine for the kids to check that all their papers from the command centre are in their backpacks for school and all homework is checked. Give kids their lunches right before you are heading out to school or to the bus. Kids will go to their designated area to put on outer ware and be ready to head out. When the kids come home empty their backpacks, set the kids up in the homework area, get them a healthy snack and start on homework. As they are doing homework empty their thermal cases and clean out containers. Go through the kids agendas and sign any papers that are needed to be signed. Put any future papers with information on them into that child's spot in the command centre. At night be sure all backpacks are put in the designated area with outwear and make the kids lunches for the next day.

What fun tips can you share so families are ready for this school year?
Thanks for stopping by :)

10 ways to organize your life using a shoe box.

We may think that we need pretty and expensive solutions to get organized, this is not the case. I will share 10 ways to use a show box to get organized. You can always decorate your shoe box if you want it to look pretty.

1.  Use it in your underwear drawer, fold your underwear and file them in the shoe box. Easy to see and keeps your drawer organized. Use one for socks and bras as well.

2.  Keep old photos in it. File photos neatly and use index cards to sort photos into sections. Easy to find and easy to store.

3.  Store in ziploc bags, buttons, thread, needles (like with like) etc. and keep bags in shoe box as a sewing/repair kit.

4.  You can store the smaller bits of your children's toy collection; each lego set, doll accessories, and so forth.

5.  Use shoe boxes to create an art centre. Each box can hold craft supplies; paints, markers, glue, sparkles, scrap paper etc.

6.  You can make holes along the long side of a shoe box and keep ribbon on the inside and feed each ribbon through a hole; easy to access and see.

7.  You can use the top of a shoe box and decoupage it to your liking and hang as wall art. Then use the bottom part as a small art shelf. Paint or decoupage the interior and exterior and hang on wall.

8.  A shoe box is perfect for housing all your nail polish, cotton swabs and remover. A mani/pedi box at your finger tips. Or use the lid upside down and house your supplies so you can see them and access easily.

9.  Shoe boxes are a great size to use to store toiletries in. Use to store your overflow in the linen closet or use them under the sink to store like with like. Makes things easy to find and easy to take out and access.

10.  Make a recharge centre. Store a multi-outlet extension cord inside the box. Make holes along the long side of the box for charging cords to fit through. You can charge phones, ipods, tablets etc without the sight of those messy cords.

I hope this has inspired you to get organized and to not spend a fortune on solutions to do it. We all wear shoes so it is a no brainer to repurpose our boxes.

Thanks for stopping by.

How to create TIME...

We all wish there were more hours in the day to get everything done. The truth is we need to use our time wisely and efficiently. Here is a 4 step guide to creating TIME;

T - To do list
I - Itemize list into priority
M - Map out how long each task will take and schedule it into your calendar
E - Execute on a daily basis

We all love to make to do lists, I know I love checking off what I have done. It gives a sense of accomplishment and control over life. To do lists are only effective if they are actually scheduled into your calendar. If they are just on a list only a few get done, the easy and fun ones usually. I use to have list after list, moving items from one list to the next and some things just never got done. I forgot to actual carve out time for them in my daily schedule.

If you use the above 4 step process: TIME, you will see your to do lists get done. Life happens and not everything on our schedule can get done but if something occurs and we do not get something done make sure you reschedule it as soon as possible. If not it will not get done.

Hope this inspires you to transfer your to do list to your schedules!!!

FILES...

Most of us have a filing cabinet, drawer or other solution to hold files. In today's society we need to keep a paper trail for taxes, the household and for business. I suggest you have one central area to hold all your files, both personal and business related. I have a 5 step system to help keep files up to date: FILES.

F = Filter through your old files to toss what you no longer need and to take stock of the files you have.
I = Introduce new papers to files.
L = Label new files when needed and be as specific as possible. This will make it easier to find and to know where papers belong when filing.
E = Establish a system that makes sense to you. It can be alphabetical, by subjects and grouping, colour coded etc. This system is for you and only you so make sure it is the easiest one for you to find what you are looking for.
S = Six months do the above 4 steps: FILE

A couple other tips when filing; Put your labels/tabs all in one row. This makes it easier to find a file as your eye is only looking in one straight line not diagonally to find the file you want. Use different coloured hanging files for business and personal. This will keep them separated and easier to distinguish which is which.

I hope you found this helpful, if so feel free to comment below. Thanks for stopping by.