During the past months, I have had the opportunity to help several individuals uncover very deep emotional trauma that was causing a LOT of clutter in their lives. I want to share some of these experiences and what we did to start healing them. Hopefully, it helps you in your journey.

The Miracle Morning. A Powerful Way to Start Your Day

The way you start your day is very important. We have shared in the past some ideas for creating your morning routine. Check this fast and happy morning ritual that we shared back in 2016.

In this article, we would like to share with you The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. A morning routine that includes the best practices to help you skyrocket your day and it can be completed in as little as 6 minutes! (you most likely will take longer once you start feeling the benefits 😊)

The recipe included in The Miracle Morning Book includes 6 steps: “S.A.V.E.R.S.”

Silence

Affirmations

Visualization

Exercise

Reading

Scribing

We love reading books and getting inspired by other’s ideas. Then taking what resonates with us and implementing it in our lives. The Miracle Morning is a great recipe for integrating these great practices in your day.

You can customize this recipe to suit your specific needs. The length, the order, you can even add or remove steps.

The power of this practice resides in taking action and being consistent. Starting small, and slowly creating this new habit. It’s easier to be said than done 🙂 That’s why you can start small, investing only a few minutes, and build up from there once you start experiencing the benefits.

Mental Health and Self Care are very important topics. Having a morning routine that helps you be more intentional, aware, grateful, and efficient can create a huge improvement in your overall mental health and well being. It can also help you achieve greater goals because you are placing your time and energy in the right things.

In a world where distractions, stress, and “busyness” are the norm, we need powerful tools to help us stay on track, and The Miracle Morning could be a great start.

We feel inspired to redesign our morning routine (It has been pretty challenging to do it since we had our little Eva).

This is an example of a 6 minutes miracle morning routine:

Minute 1: Silence. Spend the first minute sitting quietly. You can breathe deeply, slowly. You can think about things you are grateful for. You can meditate. Be in the present.

Minute 2: Affirmations. Read out loud the reminders of how great you are, the goals you want to accomplish, the life you want to have. By doing this consistently, you will gain confidence and clarity on the steps to take. You can write your own affirmations in a piece of paper and have them with you every morning. This post can help you get ideas to write your affirmations.

Minute 3: Visualization. Close your eyes and visualize what you want to see in your life, how you want to feel, what you want to do. You can also look at your vision board, if you have one, and go from image to image, visualizing how it would be if you had accomplished those things.

Minute 4: Scribing. You can write in your journal of choice things you are grateful for. You can write down your thoughts, the things you want to do today. You can write down the intention of the day. Try our top 4 healthy exercises with bullet journaling.

Minute 5: Reading. Invest one minute reading a page or two of a book that will inspire you.

Minute 6: Exercise. It’s time to move your body! Spend 60 seconds doing push-ups, jumping jacks, running in place. You choose your own exercise but make sure that you are getting your heart rate up. This will help you generate energy and increase your focus.

We can all find 6 minutes in our mornings :-). Once we start feeling the benefits of our miracle morning routine,  I am confident that we will invest more than 6 minutes. 

Are you feeling inspired? 

What are you going to include in your morning routine?

Time to Parent By Julie Morgenstern

I would like to share a great resource that I discovered a month ago. It’s Julie Morgenstern’s new book Time to Parent. Samantha saw it on the library shelf and I read it right away.

In this book, Julie helps us organize our lives to bring out the best in our children and in ourselves. Such good timing because we just had our first baby girl 2 weeks ago! 

I LOVED this book so much and I did learn a LOT of new strategies that I will certainly use in my personal life, and will include them in my tool kit to use while helping others.

One of the main challenges that all parents are facing is time management. Having a child is very demanding (I just discovered that 2 weeks ago 🙂 ) and finding time to get it all done could be very overwhelming (but possible…).

On top of this chaos, we all know that we “should” include time for self care to recharge our own batteries. Self… what? Give me a break! I don’t have time for that! (if that’s your brain reacting… keep reading and you will find a few great ideas to make it possible).

Well, that’s what Julie has done in this book. She has created an instruction manual to manage yourself and your kids efficiently. She has created a very clear and practical job description for parenting.

If you are not a reader, Julie has also created a wonderful podcast that you can enjoy on the go. I have included all the episodes below for your convenience 🙂

Julie has created a very practical blueprint where she divides the time into two main categories:

1. Raising a Human Being
2. Being a Human Being

Raising a Human Being

These are the four core responsibilities you need to allocate your time across to be an efficient parent:

• Provide (basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, safety, education, money)
• Arrange (schedules, transportation, paperwork, activities, social life)
• Relate (listening, soothing, reflecting, talking, enjoying, playing)
• Teach (values, life skills, self-control, social skills)

Everything you do as a parent falls into one of these buckets.

Being a Human Being

There are four essentials of self care required to make sure that you are taking care of yourself, so that you can be the best parent for your child.

• Sleep (enough rest to rejuvenate your body, mind, and energy)
• Exercise (physical activity is essential for body and mind)
• Love (romance, friends, adult time, and extended family)
• Fun (hobbies, passions, things you care about)

You may not be able to spend as much time on each of these as you did before kids, but you must find your own recipe that includes the things that you need to feel better and be the best parent you can be. 

We wrote a hardcover book to help you find your own recipe to live an extraordinary life. Combining our method with Julie’s approach, you can find the time and the strategies to make it happen. Learn more about our book “A Recipe for an Extraordinary Life” here.

Julie has done a lot of research and has invited a lot of professionals into the podcast, so that you get their opinions and what the experts say.

Conclusion

If you want to be a better parent and manage your time better, you can benefit from reading the Time to Parent book. Even if you are not a parent, you can still learn a lot of strategies that will help you improve your life.

The free Podcast is a great addition, Julie talks about every part of the book and then she invites people into the show, they share their specific challenge(s), and Julie helps them find a solution (I have included all the episodes below).

It was very inspiring to me, so I am sure that you may find a lot of value in this resource.

Enjoy and please let us know how it goes!

Time to Parent Podcast Episodes

Tidying Up with Marie Kondo – Full Review plus recommendations for better videos of the The Konmari Method

Tidying Up with Marie Kondo Netflix Trailer

You will either love or hate the Netflix production of “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo”, where you get to see the Konmari method in action with 8 different families. This is the official trailer:

In every episode (under 45 min/each) you will get to see Marie Kondo demonstrating her Konmari method explained in her book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up“.

• Episode 1: Tidying with Toddlers
• Episode 2: Empty Nesters
• Episode 3: The Downsizers
• Episode 4: Sparking Joy After a Loss
• Episode 5: From Students to Improvements
• Episode 6: Breaking Free from a Mountain of Stuff
• Episode 7: Making Room for Baby
• Episode 8: When 2 (messes) Become One

After hearing and reading SO MUCH about this, we decided to watch all the episodes and take notes 🙂 We are always excited to explore resources and new ideas.

I (Emilio) did write a very in-depth article about her book, the Konmari method, and how it compares with the method that we follow. Read the full article here.

Anything that creates a reaction is good!

Since Marie Kondo´s book became a best-seller, she has sold over 6 million of books around the world in many different countries. This proves that tidying and getting organized is a worldwide interest.

We totally agree with this. Why? Because since we published our first online course “How to Declutter and Organize Any Space” back in 2016, we have had a consistent amount of students enrolling every week. Right now there are 3346 students enrolled in our courses from 113 countries! Clutter is a worldwide problem. If you have clutter, you are not alone.

Marie Kondo has done a wonderful job of bringing awareness to the industry of Professional Organizing.

Many people love the Konmari method, and many others don’t like some of her ways of doing things. We believe that anything that creates a reaction is worth exploring 🙂

If you are curious about the topic of this show, we strongly recommend that you watch the 8 episodes (available on Netflix). You will learn a LOT for sure. Most likely there will be things that you don’t agree with, but if you keep an open mind and only take the stuff and ideas that can help you, most people can benefit from it.

If you have no problem with clutter, you feel great in your home, and you don’t need someone else to tell you how you can tidy your stuff, maybe this show is not for you. But… if you are reading this far, I bet you that you are at least curious about this… am I right? 🙂

A professional organizers’ opinion 

I (Emilio) want to share with you what we (as professional organizers) think about these episodes, the main takeaways, and the things that we thought were missing.

This is just our opinion, and we recommend you to watch the show with an open mind.

The first episode was our least favorite. To be honest, we almost gave up on watching the rest of the episodes. We were disappointed with the episode because it didn’t show the main steps of the process (as defined in her book) and it skipped important parts like paperwork (one of the most time-consuming parts of the decluttering process).

We decided to watch all the episodes doesn’t matter how we felt, and it was a good idea. The show got better after every episode and after watching the 8 episodes, we were able to see how the Konmari method was implemented in different environments, with different family situations, and different life events that we can all face during our lives.

These are some notes we took while watching the episodes:

Episode 1: Tidying with Toddlers

• Introducing herself to the house. This is something that you will see in every episode. Marie has a ceremony where she takes a few minutes to introduce herself to the house by kneeling on the floor. Sometimes she does it alone and sometimes she invites others to join her. Some people may think that this is weird. I like to see it as a ceremony that helps her get ready for the session, set her intention, and get into the right mindset.

• Spark Joy. This is the most known from Marie’s method. When she asks this question, she just wants to make sure that the items you keep will be relevant for your life moving forward. She doesn’t want to force you to let go, she just wants to make sure that you question everything in your home. 

• Saying thank you to items before letting them go. This practice could be also seen as weird. From my perspective, she is just practicing gratitude. There are so many studies out there that prove how powerful practicing gratitude can be. So when doing this process of deciding, I think that being grateful can help you to feel better and more confident. I also think that it’s an opportunity for closure. Because many items trigger emotions, saying thank you is a way for you to give yourself the permission that you need to let that item go. It can also be an opportunity for you to understand why you are having difficulties, and become aware.

• Giving unwanted items a new life. Most of the episodes don’t really talk about how to deal with unwanted items. And a lot of times people say “throw that away”, or “garbage” when referring to things that are still in good condition. In a video that I have included below, you will see that she mentions the importance of selling and donating your unwanted items, and not disposing of things that are still usable.

Episode 2: Empty Nesters

• One of the things that we loved most from this episode was to see the husband’s transformation. At the beginning of the process, you could tell from his body language and attitude that he wasn’t interested in this process, that he was doing it only for his wife. Happy wife, happy life. But after a few sessions, it was pretty amazing to see how he changed, and how much he valued the process at the end. 

• I loved when Marie Kondo introduced herself to the house and the entire family knelt on the ground together.  Having the entire family closing their eyes and setting the intention together is very powerful!

• When facing the clothes pile, she had a LOT of work to do! From our experience, many people cannot find the time, strength, and focus to do such a big task on their own. We felt that Marie Kondo gave them a quick lesson, but then she left all the mess behind for her to tackle on her own. If it’s an emotional process, having help is very helpful.

Episode 3: The Downsizers

• We really liked this episode. It’s such a nice family of 4. Parents are very young and all the members are involved in the process of making the most of their new small apartment.

• Great to see how family dynamics can influence how everybody participates. In this case, all the organizing and household chores fell on the mom, because she was the only one who knew where everything was. It’s very liberating for her to be able to create systems that everybody understands and can participate in.

• This episode also shows how important it is to respect each other’s treasures.

Episode 4: Sparking Joy After a Loss 

• This episode starts with a clear definition of the “why” (why she is doing this process) and the lifestyle that she wants to live. This is such an important step that needs to happen before getting started with the tidying process. 

• It’s all about keeping what you love, not being forced to let go.

• She defined this process as therapeutic. When you are dealing with your belongings, you are also facing your life, your emotions, the decisions you made… physical items can trigger a lot of emotions, and you need the time, space, and support to cope with them.

• There were a couple of things that we did notice from this episode. She was having a hard time dealing with her husband’s clothes, and we sensed that she didn’t get enough emotional help. We also sensed her being ready to tackle her husband’s clothes, but she was “forced” to follow the order and do books instead of emotional items. In this case, we would have changed the order for sure.

Episode 5: From Students to Improvements

• We loved this couple so much! They were very sweet, loving, and supportive of each other.

• This episode also does a really good job of finding “why” they are doing this, and having them both on the same page.

• In this episode, you can see how much one person relates to clothes, and how much the other relates to books. Deciding what stays and what goes is more difficult with the things that you value most. This is why Marie insists on doing sentimental items last.

Episode 6: Breaking Free from a Mountain of Stuff 

• This episode shows how much tension can be created due to clutter and disorganization. Once family dynamics have formed and stayed for a long time, being able to find a way to change them can be very difficult. Having an external person acting as a mediator is essential to be able to move forward. That’s one of the biggest reasons why people hire professional organizers.

• It’s not magic! She was asking Marie to do her magic, and her response was that there is no magic, you need to be ready for change and you have to do the hard work.

• She is having a very hard time with her clothes. She doesn’t want to let go of clothes that don’t fit her. She is concerned that she will need to spend money in the future to replace them. That she may need them. This wasn’t addressed in the episode, but we sensed that she was “hoping” to fit in those clothes again. Most likely she was feeling a lot of pressure when going through her clothes because they were reminding her of her current size. If she can get back in shape, she may be able to fit again in them! In this case, we always recommend not to let them go, but not to keep them in the space that you use every day. Maybe storing them somewhere else, using labels, and dating them can be a good step. You can go back and revisit those clothes in the future and you will be aware of how much time has passed. This way, they are not taking important space in your closet.

• As we were watching the episode, especially when doing the garage, it was very clear to us that more communication between the couple was needed. There was too much tension, and there wasn’t a clear common vision. She was referring to “This place is going to get in shape”, but “in shape” can mean something very different to each of them.

• It’s so important to involve children in the process, especially when going through toys.

• This process is not about letting go of things. It’s about keeping only what sparks joy. It also mentions the importance of the balance between space and stuff. The end goal is to keep what you like and need and to make sure that you can have easy access to these things.

• This process has brought them closer together.  She says: “there is some mental space that has been cleared out during this process”. This shows the strong connection that exists between physical and mental clutter.

Episode 7: Making Room for Baby

• This episode shows great communication between the couple. They both define a very clear vision. Very inspiring!

• You are facing your past and all the emotions that you experienced while going through your belongings. That’s why this process can be so draining emotionally and mentally speaking.

• In this episode, we both felt that he wasn’t relating to the “spark joy” question. This moment is when he finds the old mailbox of the house. They have a new one, but he was keeping this one, and he was having a hard time deciding. When Marie asked him “does this spark joy” you could see that he wasn’t relating to the question. He then explained why this mailbox meant so much to him, then Marie asked him “Does this item belong in your life moving forward?”, and that was a way better question that he could understand, and finally permit himself to let it go because he has a new one that serves the purpose. This is a great example of how items can trigger past emotions, and how important, and therapeutic, it is allowing for some time and closure.

• Another great moment was when he faced all his shoes (over 160 pairs). We all knew that sneakers would be a very difficult and sentimental category to face. He admitted that he had over $10.000 in credit card debt. He admitted that most of those shoes were still brand new. He always admired Athletes so much. By buying sneakers he felt better. There is always a deep reason why we do what we do. When facing difficult items (like sneakers for him), we are facing a LOT of emotions that we need to deal with. You may need time and space. He wasn’t ready at the beginning to deal with them, but after doing the process in other areas of his house, he then felt more confident and strong to face his sneakers and all the emotions that came with them. Great job!

• By the end of the episode, they were both saying how this process made them stronger and how much more free time they now have! Bravo!

Episode 8: When 2 (messes) Become One

• This lovely couple is on the same page. They moved together into the same home and they want to start a new chapter of their lives together and organized.

• It’s very important to understand how you use your space now, what you like, and what you don’t like. This will help you understand what to improve and how.

• This episode shows the importance of creating your own space, especially when sharing a space with a person that organizes differently than you. They say: “Everything got a lot better when we designated our own spaces. It promoted our individuality.” “We gained a deeper respect for each other’s belongings”.

• Clothes are a very emotional category to one of them. When diving deeper into the feelings, we discover that she was very close to her grandmother, she loved clothes, and clothes remind her of her grandma. That’s why she is so attached to clothes.

• They defined this process as therapeutic. “It was therapeutic and allowed us to know each other better. It’s a lifestyle change!”

Something better than the Netflix Show

I have done a little research online and I found these 2 episodes that Marie Kondo did in New York City.

Honestly, I think that they did a way better job of showing the actual process. I find these videos more natural and real. They also do a way better job of explaining the different steps of the process.

Tidy Up with KonMari – Episode 1 in New York City with Gina Kruger (28 min)

Tidy Up with KonMari – Episode 2 in New York City with Emily Newhouse (28 min)

We all have different motivations in life, but we all need to have a home, a home that facilitates the lifestyle that we want to live. When our home is not serving us due to clutter, disorganization, chaos… this will impact our lives profoundly. 

Shows like this one are great tools to help you question what you have, why you have it, and how you can make your home better.

It’s great to see so many people motivated to watch these episodes, read her books, and comment about her method. Like any other resource, you will find good stuff and stuff that you don’t like. Take what you can use and let go of the rest 🙂

From our professional perspective, this is a great tool to use with any individual or family who may feel inspired to get started with the tidying process. It doesn’t matter how you get there, or what tools you use. What matters is that you reach your desired destination.

Please let us know what you think about this blog and let us know how your tidying process go.

And remember that we are here if you need help. 

P.S. Did you know that we created an 8 part mini-series called Judie’s Story? You will see us helping Judie declutter and organize her entire apartment. Then, we have included 4 bonus episodes where we dive into time management, personal finances, and the maintenance piece that comes after this process. You can watch the trailer below.

Judie’s Story

Watch for Free!  On our Academy  /   Watch on Youtube

Turning a Passion for Minimalism into an Impact Business (interview)

He wanted to know how we are building an impact business around organization and minimalism. 

This is a snippet of his original post: 

“Samantha and Emilio are full of energy and have a certain zest for life that is contagious.

After their interview, I got a copy of their new book, A Recipe For an Extraordinary Life.” It’s an easy read that offers a lot of great insights and inspiration.  They don’t just help you declutter your space but also your mind.

In this interview, we talk about how they turned that passion into a business.

Decluttering is their genius. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. They want to help you remove the things you don’t need to be doing and focus on what really matters to you.”

Click here to read the original interview

We hope you enjoy it. Let us know your thoughts about this interview. 

The KonMari Method – The life-changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo

When it comes to decluttering and organizing, any ideas, tools, and resources to get you inspired to take action are most welcome!

In this article, we want to share a very popular book from Marie Kondo:

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

We have heard both great and really bad comments about the KonMari method by the Japanese organizing consultant Marie Kondo. Her book and method sparked a lot of conversations. And we think that conversing and having an opinion is better than being indifferent :).

I took the time to read the book and analyze everything that Marie Kondo shares.

After reading it, I reflected on our own experiences helping hundreds of clients declutter and organize their spaces and have a fresh start in life. I am happy to share my opinion about the KonMari method, the pros, and cons, and how it compares with our method.

I will write all my opinions in orange color for you to know.

It’s going to be interesting… 😉

So let’s dive into the KonMari method:

Success Is 90% Mindset

A dramatic reorganization of your home will cause dramatic changes in lifestyle and perspective. It is life transforming. This is so true! We find that physical clutter can prevent you from enjoying your lifestyle to its fullest. Your time and energy may be wasted on unnecessary things. You may also feel distracted and overwhelmed. 

Marie Kondo believes that the lack of organization is not lack of skills but rather lack of awareness and the inability to make tidying a regular habit. She says that the root of the problem lies in the mind. Success is 90 percent dependent on your mindset. Mindset is the most important step! If you are not aware and don’t want to try something different, you won’t be able to move forward. You need to recognise that what you are doing now is not getting the results you want. You need to become aware of why this is happening and then try something different. 

The conclusion is that when you put your house in order, you put your affairs and your past in order, too.

The secret of success according to Marie Kondo is to start by discarding, then organize your space, thoroughly, completely, in one go. I have heard many people complaining about this. They say that some people can’t get it done all at once. The process needs to happen in one go. The length of that will depend on the project and every specific situation. It could last one week, one month, even years. The secret is to make it a special event, not a routine that happens over and over.

You will get a new start on life. Oh yeah! you totally WILL! We have seen amazing transformations. Check out these client stories if you want to see some before/afters.

You can’t tidy if you never learned how

Marie Kondo believes that the ability to tidy requires training, and it’s not something that we acquire through experience. Many times people have tried their best, and they couldn’t get the job done. This is a skill that you need to learn and practice. It’s ok to ask for help when you feel stuck and can’t move forward.

Food, clothing, and shelter are the most basic human needs. So having a home where we feel comfortable is as important as what we eat and what we wear. Many times we are not aware of the huge impact that our physical surroundings have on our mental health and overall mood.

Before You Start, Visualize Your Destination

What’s the GOAL? What was it that motivated you to tidy in the first place? What do you hope to gain through tidying?

Before you start getting rid of things, take the time to think this through carefully. This means visualizing the ideal lifestyle you dream of. Be specific. Think in concrete terms so that you can vividly picture what it would be like to live in a clutter-free space.

Your next step is to identify “why” you want to live like that. The whole point of both discarding and keeping things is to be happy. Before you start tidying, look at the lifestyle you aspire to and ask yourself, “why do I want to tidy?” When you find the answer, you are ready to move on to the next step: examining what you own.

Having a very compelling reason that motivates you is key to keep you on track during the decluttering process.

This is always the first question we ask our clients: If you could click your fingers and see the space finished, what do you see? What do you love about the space? what do you hate? What activities will you do? How will you feel?

I can’t stress how important this part is! Starting organizing and decluttering without having a clear understanding of your goal and why you are doing it it’s a recipe for disaster. 

Do it in one shot

Marie Kondo encourages you to tidy in one shot rather than doing it little by little. You can dramatically change your mindset, your emotions, your way of thinking and your lifestyle habits.

She believes that by using the right method and concentrate your efforts on eliminating clutter thoroughly and completely within a short span of time, you’ll see instant results that will empower you to keep your space in order ever after.

Tidying is a special event, don’t do it every day. The work of tidying should be completed once and for all within a single period of time. 

From Marie’s experience with private individual lessons, “quickly” means about half a year.

So many people are intimidated by this. Others may think that this will be very overwhelming. From our experience, we can tell you that if you are ready, if you have the right mindset and have a clear understanding of why you are doing this, the rest it’s just a matter of time. And the faster you can get it done the better. 

The majority of our projects that you can see in our videos have been completed in hours! Our average session to transform a space is 5 hours. This is working with two organizers and using our tested system. So this proves that change can happen very quickly if you are ready 🙂 Are you ready?

Aiming for Perfection

Marie recommends aiming for perfection just once. 

The work involved can be broadly divided into two kinds:

• Deciding whether or not to dispose of something.
• Deciding where to put it. 

If you can do these two things, you can achieve perfection. Objects can be counted. All you need to do is look at each item, one at a time, and decide whether or not to keep it and decide where to put it. It’s not hard to tidy perfectly and completely in one fell swoop. In fact, anyone can do it. And if you want to avoid rebound, this is the only way to do it.

Resetting Your Life

Marie says that when your home is uncluttered, you have no choice but to examine your inner state. You are forced to deal with issues because you can see them. There are no more physical distractions (clutter). 

When you start tidying, you will be compelled to reset your life and as a result, your life will start to change.

Tidying is just a tool, not the final destination. The true goal should be to create the lifestyle that you want most once your house has been put in order.

We find this to be so true! Change is scary. The unknown is scary. When you remove all the clutter and the distractions that you used to have, you are opening a whole lot of time and energy that will be available for something else. The scary question for many is: What is that something else? 

It’s ok if you don’t have all the answers yet. This is a process and allowing yourself time to try new things and see how you feel could be the answer for now. There is one thing we know for sure, if you are trying to do this it’s because what you used to do wasn’t giving you the results you wanted. So let’s try something different 🙂

Storage experts are hoarders

Marie says that putting things away creates the illusion that the clutter problem has been solved.

It doesn’t make sense to organize things you don’t need.

Tidying must start with discarding anything we don’t want and need.

We like to say, there are no such things as hoarders, there are people with hoarding tendencies.

Once we go through the process of understanding why we are doing this and having a crystal clear picture of our desired goal, we will have the answers about what to keep and what to let go. This will look different for every individual.

The ultimate goal is not to get rid of things, but to make sure that you feel well about what you keep, and make sure that every item has a home and you can access them easily.

Sort by Category, Not by Location

Marie says that tidying up by location is a fatal mistake. When we tidy each place separately, we fail to see that we’re repeating the same work in many locations and become locked into a vicious circle of tidying. To avoid this, she recommends tidying by category. 

One reason so many of us never succeed at tidying is that we have too much stuff. This excess is caused by our ignorance of how much we actually own. When we disperse storage of a particular item throughout the house and tidy one place at a time, we can never grasp the overall volume and therefore can never finish. To escape this negative spiral, tidy by category, not by place”

If you forgot about what you have, or where it’s located, that means that the system you are using is too complicated. Having different locations for the same category can complicate things.

We always bring up the kindergarten example: How is it possible that when the bell rings, small children are able to put everything away fast, and even have fun doing it? Because it’s simple. They understand where everything goes. There are very clear and defined stations. The drawing station, the puzzle station, the book station, the craft station… so putting things away becomes very easy and convenient. 

There is no such thing as right or wrong system. The system either works or it doesn’t. If you are having issues with clutter and you feel frustration, you need to change the system. Our goal as professional organizers is to help you find the right system for you, not to impose one.

Start by Discarding, All at Once, Intensely and Completely

The secret of success, according to Marie Kondo, is to tidy in one shot, as quickly and completely as possible, and to start by discarding. (Remember that from Marie’s experience with private individual lessons, “quickly” means about half a year)

Tidy in the right order.

Do not even think of putting your things away until you have finished the process of discarding.

Never start organizing without decluttering first. It doesn’t make sense to organize things that you don’t need.

These are the steps of our system:

Step 1: Define your Goals.

Step 2: Declutter.

Step 3: Organize.

Step 4: Beautify.

Step 5: Tweak and Maintain.

Does It Spark Joy?

We should be choosing what we want to keep, not what we want to get rid of.

Take each item in one’s hand and ask: “Does this spark joy?” If it does, keep it. If not, dispose of it.

Keep only those things that speak to your heart. Then take the plunge and discard all the rest. By doing this, you can reset your life and embark on a new lifestyle.

This is the most popular question from Marie Kondo. Many people like this approach and if it works for them, great! 

We believe that once you have a clear understanding of your goals, why you are doing this, how you want to feel,  and the activities that you want to do, you will then know what belongings will support your desired lifestyle and which ones won’t. The decision-making process will become way easier.

Click here to read 12 questions to help you let go of difficult items. 

How to help others tidy? Start with yourself first!

According to Marie Kondo, the best way to help others tidy is to start quietly working away at disposing of your own excess.

You can leave the communal spaces to the end. The first step is to confront your own stuff.

It may sound incredible, but when someone starts tidying, it sets off a chain reaction.

You cannot help someone else declutter and organize if they don’t want to be helped.

But you can influence them by showing them the benefits of being organized and feeling great. When they see you so happy and energized, they may get curious and ask: What’s going on? This is your opportunity to share with them what you did and why.

Please make sure you don’t judge someone else’s situation. Judging is not helpful at all and will make the other person go to the defensive side. There is always a reason of why the situation got to this point. They may be not aware, they may not know what to do, they may feel embarrassed, they may feel guilty, they may feel that they should know how to do this… It’s really hard to be in a situation like this and it takes a LOT of courage to ask for help. Please don’t waste the opportunity to be helpful.

One Category at a Time

Always think in terms of category, not place.

Dealing with just one category within a single time frame speeds up the tidying process.

Gathering every item in one place is essential to this process because it gives you an accurate grasp of how much you have. You can also compare items that are similar, making it easier to decide whether you want to keep them.

The process of deciding what to keep and what to discard will go much more smoothly if you begin with items that are easier to make decisions about.

The best sequence according to the KonMari Method is:

1. Clothes 
2. Books
3. Papers
4. Miscellany
5. Mementos

You will find very detailed ways on how to deal with each category and the right order in her book. I can write a follow-up blog post about that if you want to learn more. (Leave me a comment below).

We follow a very similar approach. The order may change depending on our client’s emotional attachments. We normally leave paper until the end because it takes a very long time to deal with it and you won’t see a huge visual change.

It’s a great idea to have a “maybe pile” for all those items that are challenging. You can go back to that pile after and make more confident decisions.

About Gifts

They are an expression of love and consideration. Presents are not “things” but a means for conveying someone’s feelings.

Most of these gifts remain unopened or have been used only once. Admit it. They simply don’t suit your taste.

The true purpose of a gift is to be received. 

You don’t need to feel guilty for parting with a gift. Just thank it for the joy it gave you when you first received it.

The person who gave it to you doesn’t want you to use it out of a sense of obligation, or to put it away without using it, only to feel guilty every time you see it.

When you discard or donate it, you do so for the sake of the giver, too.

If you are going through the process of decluttering, it’s very important to share what you are doing with your loved ones. Make sure they understand how hard you are working on solving this problem and ask them to please don’t bring physical gifts.

If they really need to bring you gifts, they can always be in the form of time, presence, food and experiences.

Click here to learn 11 ideas for giving gifts that aren’t things.

Reaching the Just-right Click Point

As you reduce your belongings through the process of tidying, you will come to a point where you suddenly know how much is just right for you.

You will feel it as clearly as if something has clicked inside your head and said, “Ah! This is just the amount I need to live comfortably. This is all I need to be happy. I don’t need anything more.”

The click point differs from one person to another. For a shoe lover, it might be one hundred pairs of shoes, while a book lover might not need anything but books.

As you put your house in order and decrease your possessions, you’ll see what your true values are, what is really important in your life. But don’t focus on reducing, or on efficient storage methods, for that matter. Focus instead on choosing the things that inspire joy and on enjoying life according to your own standards. This is the true pleasure of tidying.

The amount of storage space you have in your room is actually just right.

The real problem is that we have far more than we need or want.

Once you learn to choose your belongings properly, you will be left only with the amount that fits perfectly in the space you currently own.

This is so true! We can’t really explain it logically. Most times, we get started with our session without knowing 100% where it will take us. But magically, things start to flow and the end result is always stunning! for us and for the clients.

A very common comment after our sessions is “I can’t believe everything worked out so perfectly”

We find it’s really important to let things flow. Be present and aware of what’s happening, ask many questions to find out the right answers, and be confident that we will find the “happy balance” between stuff, storage space, and the ideal location for every item.

Following Your Intuition

Following criteria proposed by others and based on their “know-how” will have no lasting effect – unless their criteria happen to match your own standards of what feels right.

Only you can know what kind of environment makes you feel happy. The act of picking up and choosing objects is extremely personal.

We do believe that you are the only one who can find your own recipe to live an extraordinary life. We even wrote a book on the topic. Click here to check it out.

Our job is to ask smart questions to get smart answers that will help you move forward. We will find the way to help you get the results that you want.

Finding a Home for Every Item

The reason every item must have a designated place is that the existence of an item without a home multiplies the changes that your space will become cluttered again.

Without a designated spot, where are you going to put things when you finish using them?

The secret to maintaining an uncluttered room is to pursue ultimate simplicity in storage so that you can tell at a glance how much you have.

Store all items of the same type in the same place and don’t scatter storage space.

There are only two ways of categorizing belongings: by type of item and by person.

If you live with your family, first clearly define separate storage spaces for each family member.

If storage places are spread around, the entire house will become cluttered in no time. To concentrate the belongings of each person in one spot is the most effective way for keeping storage tidy.

Having your own space makes you happy. Once you feel that it belongs to you personally, you want to keep it tidy.

There is no need to buy dividers or any other gadget. You can solve your storage problems with things you already have in the house.

Rather than buying something to make do, for now, wait until you have completed the entire process and then take your time looking for storage items that you really like.

We always recommend not to buy anything before finishing the decluttering process. 95% of the times, you will have everything that you need to organize the space. And if there is something missing, we can then know exactly what we need to store, how, get specific measurements, and then go out and buy the perfect solution for your specific needs.

The Magic of Tidying Transforms Your Life

Put your house in order and discover what you really want to do.

At their core, the things we really like do not change over time. Putting your house in order is a great way to discover what they are.

The magic effect of tidying: letting go is even more important than adding. The lives of those who tidy thoroughly and completely, in a single shot, are without exception dramatically altered.

One of the magical effects of tidying is confidence in your decision-making capacity.

Tidying Is Not Necessary

You won’t die if your house isn’t tidy, and there are many people in the world who really don’t care if they can’t put their house in order. Such people, however, would never pick up this book. You, on the other hand, have been led by fate to read it, and that means you probably have a strong desire to change your current situation, to reset your life, to improve your lifestyle, to gain happiness, to shine. For this very reason, I can guarantee that you will be able to put your house in order. The moment you picked up this book with the intention of tidying, you took the first step. If you have read this far, you know what you need to do next.

I hope this post is helpful and brings value to your life and to your decluttering/organizing journey. If you need more information and resources, make sure to check our blog section, our youtube channel, our courses, and our book.

If you live in our area, you may be able to attend one of our live seminars or even work with us 1 on 1. If you would like to bring us to your city, we would love to explore the idea 🙂 we love travelling. Please contact us here.

What do you think about the Kon Mari Method?

Nice after effects of having a decluttered and organized space

One of the main recommendations to improve your mental health is setting up a decluttered and organized space so you feel comfortable in it.

It looks different for every single person and there is no one size fits all solution.

When you have your space organized, everything has a home, and you feel comfortable and in control, you will experience a huge improvement in your mental health.
This feeling will have a positive ripple effect in all other areas of your life. 

The ultimate goal is to set up a space that is welcoming and safe.

In this video, Samantha also describes the method that we follow to help our clients declutter and organize any space.

We have been helping hundreds of individuals since 2012 to gain control back of their spaces and improve their mental health and overall wellness in all areas of their lives.

Click here to learn about our course “How to Declutter and Organize Any Space” which dives deeper into our tested method.

Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins

The question is…. how do we get there??

Tony Robbins has answers for us and he shares a LOT in his book Unlimited Power.

It’s not a new book but it’s still very relevant and we use a very similar approach with our clients and the method works every time!

1. Know your outcome. Define precisely what you want. Make sure is something that inspires you!
2. Take action! Otherwise, your desires will always be dreams. You must try your best to take the types of actions you believe will create the greatest probability of producing the result you desire.
3. Be aware of the results you are getting from your actions. Reflect and check if they are taking you closer to your goals or farther away.
4. Flexibility to change your behavior.  You need to be flexible and change your behavior and your actions until you get what you want.

On top of these 4 main steps, Tony mentions seven basic triggering mechanisms that can help you succeed:

• Passion! We need to have a reason, a consuming, energizing, an almost obsessive purpose that drives you to do, to grow, and to be more! Passion will give you the fuel that powers your success train and causes you to tap your true potential.

• Belief! Our beliefs about what we are and what we can precisely determine what we will be.

• Strategy! You need a way of organizing resources and use them in the most effective way.

• Clarity of Values! The fundamental, ethical, moral, and practical judgments we make about what’s important, what really matters. Values are specific belief systems we have about what is right and wrong for our lives.

• Energy! We need to have physical, intellectual, and spiritual energy that allows us to make the most of what we have.

• Bonding Power! You need to have an extraordinary ability to connect with and develop rapport with people from a variety of backgrounds and beliefs.

• Mastery of Communication! The way we communicate with others and the way we communicate with ourselves ultimately determine the quality of our lives.

It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it what matters. Every individual can have a very different reaction to the same event. You can choose how you react to what happens to you, and that will dictate how your life will be and what experiences you will have.

This is so true and I have experienced it myself so many times! 

This is why is so important to have a good mindset and focus your energy on the positives rather than on the negatives.

These are 7 beliefs that can empower you to use more, do more, take greater action, and produce greater results. Why not give them a try?

1. Everything happens for a reason and a purpose, and it serves you.
2. There is no such thing as failure.
3. Whatever happens, take responsibility.
4. It’s not necessary to understand everything to be able to use everything.
5. People are your greatest resource.
6. Work is play.
7. There is no abiding success without commitment.

Tony goes on and on with many practical exercises and hundreds of real-life examples.

If you have ever dreamed of a better life, Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins will show you how to achieve it.

I personally have watched many videos and listen to many podcasts and I feel very inspired by him. I hope this info inspires you to take action!

Check out the lifestyle method we’ve used for the past 5 years.

What are your thoughts about all this info? Do you feel inspired?

WHEN: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

We all know that timing is everything. In his new book (WHEN: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing), Daniel Pink makes really clear that timing is really a science.  

Pink reveals in this book how to best live, work and succeed.

One of the cool practical exercises that Daniel Pink suggests in his book is helping you how to figure out your daily WHEN.  He recommends tracking your behaviour systematically for a week. Set your alarm every 90 minutes, every time it beeps answer these 3 questions:

1. What are you doing?
2. On a scale of 1 to 10, how mentally alert do you feel right now?
3. On a scale of 1 to 10, how physically energetic do you feel right now?

Daniel has created a pdf template that you can use.  Click here to download it.

I think this exercise is a very powerful reflection tool to help you understand your energy levels during the day.

It took me a little bit to get myself to do it, but I have to say that after doing this only for a couple of days I became aware of a LOT of time wasters, things I could change and my day became way more effective and intentional.

The Importance of Breaks

Breaks are not a sign of sloth but a sign of strength.

The researchers say that lunch breaks offer an important recovery setting to promote occupational health and well-being.  Firefighters say that eating together enhances team performance.

Making a break list 

Daniel encourages us to make a list of the breaks we are going to take during our day.

It’s important to define when you are taking them, how long they will be and what you will do during those breaks.

The Benefits of Napping

I am from Spain and I know how important napping is! 😉

Daniel says that naps are zambonies for our brains. They smooth out the nicks, scuffs, and scratches a typical day has left on our mental ice.

Many research has shown that alertness and performance increase after a nap. Napping also strengthens our immune system!

The ideal nap, the one that combines effectiveness with efficiency, is usually between ten and twenty minutes. 

Once the nap lasts beyond that, we can start experiencing “sleep inertia”, the confused and boggy feeling you experience upon waking.

It looks like napping is an art, and you need to find your happy balance. Enough to feel rested, but not too much to get into the sleep inertia.

Some majors companies (Uber, Zappos, Nike…) have created napping spaces for employees in their offices.

I do benefit from practicing this habit and every day I can and remember to do it, I enjoy a little time out in my favorite chair.

Coffee + Nap = Nappuccino

I have to say that I loved this coffee-then-nap formula that Daniel Pink introduces in his book!

It takes about 25 minutes for caffeine to enter the bloodstream. So… if you dring a cup of coffee, and then take a 25-minute nap, this is the ideal technique for staving off sleepiness and increasing performance.

The Perfect Nap

These are the 5 steps you can follow to enjoy the perfect nap:

1. Find your perfect time. Normally about 7 hours after waking.
2. Create a peaceful environment.
3. Down a cup of coffee.
4. Set a timer for twenty-five minutes.
5. Repeat consistently.

The Importance of Self-care

We are big believers of the importance of self-care, and this book proves how performance can be increased with healthy options like taking breaks.

Click here to learn more about why self-care is important and how self-care can help YOU find your own recipe for happiness.

A lack of understanding about your own personal self-care can lead you to feel depressed, anxious, and hopeless in how to feel well. 

Our Lifestyle Design Method

Our passion is to find fun and inspiring ways to make life better and more enjoyable. And Daniel’s book has great points. It fits really well with our personal lifestyle method that we share in our hardcover book.

What if you had the ability to live the life you’ve always wanted and there was a simple way to discover how to do it?

We’ve condensed our knowledge and experience about Minimalism, Self Care, and Organization into one book. And it’s locally made. 

Learn more about our book and watch how it’s made here.

Are you planning on testing any of these ideas? Please share the results!

Lifestyle Choices That Can Reverse & Prevent Cancer

When we hear the word “cancer” I (and for sure many others) feel scared because we don’t have a cure for it, and we don’t know too much about it. Having cancer equals going through a horrible process that will have a huge impact on your body and overall health.  And it’s not guaranteed that you will survive, or that the tumor won’t come back in the future.

Also, when there is a diagnosis, it’s like you lose control and  “believe” that that’s the truth, that’s your “label” and you can’t do anything else other than the standard cut/burn/poison procedures.

But there is HOPE, and we all have heard of miracles. People who were diagnosed with cancer and all the sudden they are cured! doctors said, “it’s a miracle!”.  People who didn’t accept the “label”. Who decided to give their best, to try anything, to believe, to keep fighting to stay alive and heal. 

If you search, you will find a LOT of these miracles. If they did it… why couldn’t anybody with cancer at least try?

Every few months we bring a documentary to our local cinema here in Waterloo (The Princess Cinemas). The last one we screened was HEAL.  

About HEAL:

Director Kelly Noonan Gores’ documentary takes us on a scientific and spiritual journey where we discover that our thoughts, beliefs, and emotions have a huge impact on our health and ability to heal. The latest science reveals that we are not victims of unchangeable genes, nor should we buy into a scary prognosis. The fact is we have more control over our health and life than we have been taught to believe. This film will empower you with a new understanding of the miraculous nature of the human body and the extraordinary healer within us all. This documentary sold out several times.

In this movie, you learn how much power we have over our body and mind. We are able to heal in the right circumstances.

What are the right circumstances? This was the first question I asked myself after watching the movie. And it’s a combination of external and internal factors including lifestyle choices.

Here is the list of the nine common healing factors in radical remission cases in cancer patients. Only TWO of these are physical. Keep this list in mind on your healing journey! Thank you, Dr. Kelly Turner and The Radical Remission Project!

On another note, I was recently on vacation and one of my activities while I travel is listening to podcasts. I was excited to start a new one that came highly recommended “The Model Health Show“.  After listening to the first episode I was hooked! It’s really good information and Shawn knows what he is talking about.

Episode 3 was about cancer. And I really want to share the information included in this episode because it’s so powerful!

The main take away from this episode was that Cancer can be created/caused by your lifestyle and can be reversed/prevented by your lifestyle. Your body will heal you, in the right circumstances.

Don’t only attack the symptoms!  Cut, burn, poison shouldn’t be the only options.

Things that can be done to prevent and reverse cancer. 

1. Simple basic whole natural unprocessed food.

2. Drink enough unmedicated natural water. Use a filter that removes chlorine.

3. Fresh air, sunlight, clean environment.

4. Stress prevention and release. Breathing and meditation

5. Loving supporting community and positive relationships. Your relationships are the greatest determinant of your health and happiness.

6. Anti-cancer supplements where appropriate. Natural stuff like turmeric. B17 in Apple seeds. Mushrooms increase white blood levels. Walnuts…

7. Research, learn and study. Pay attention to yourself. Ask questions. Be curious. Look for others who got rid of cancer and learn who they did it.

Change of lifestyle is key. Treating only the symptoms is not enough. Doctors need to look at you holistically. Diet, relationships, and environment.

These seem to me like very basic and simple steps. But the truth is that so many times things are easy, but we just don’t do them. Why wouldn’t we at least try?

We are all about sharing great resources, ideas, tips on Organization, Minimalism, and Self-care to help you create the right circumstances for you to live healthy and happy. 

Check out our Recipe for An Extraordinary Life post to get started.

There is an interesting documentary you can watch called Cut, Poison, Burn.

Cut Poison Burn is a searing film that illuminates the grim truth about America’s so-called War on Cancer.

I like to think that there are options. And I choose to believe that we have power over our body and mind. If so many people were able to fight cancer and win, why wouldn’t we at least be curious and explore other ways? 

What do you think?

Digital Organizing Tips with CTV Quick Fix at Five

This happens to me very often! I get my phone to check my calendar and there they are, new emails, a missed call, messages…  I do have most of my notifications turned off, but it’s still not enough…

That’s why in a world with 24/7 access to information and entertainment, it’s becoming more and more difficult to focus and get stuff done. 

Setting up the intention before using your electronics could save you a LOT of time. Distractions are a part of our day and they can really slow our productivity, and affect your mental health!

Using a timer can help you control how much time you spend on a specific task.

Watch our latest segment with CTV Quick Fix at Five where we share some Digital Organizing Tips.

What is your biggest challenge when it comes to digital organizing?

What is Minimalism? 

Minimalism is not about extremes, it’s about identifying what’s important for you, and what’s not. And making sure that the unimportant things don’t take your time and energy away from you.

We have been using minimalism principles since 2008. We both traveled the world only carrying a backpack. Let me tell you that you learn very quickly what’s important when you have to carry it on your back :).

Minimalism is not about extremes, you don’t need to let go of everything you love, you don’t need to live in a tiny home, and you don’t have to travel either.  It’s about reflecting, understanding what you want and why you want it, removing the excess and setting your intention in the important things. And you are the one defining the “important things” for you.

Minimalism is a tool that you can use to declutter your life of all the excess that is preventing you from experiencing happiness, fulfillment, and freedom. It will help you to reassess your priorities and cut through the noise of distractions and busyness to get to where you want to go.

There are many benefits for learning how to embrace minimalism into your life.  You become a more focused and relaxed person to be around, people will notice positive changes in your attitude. You will develop productive habits that reinforce this new way of living, so it’s a life-long investment of your time spent learning.

If you want to learn more about how to embrace minimalism in your life, you can check out our course here. 

What does minimalism mean for you?

Learn how to make mealtime easier and fun Quick fix at five – CTV Kitchener

Rosie Del Campo (CTV Kitchener) and Emilio Jose Garcia (KW Professional Organizers) share with you tips to make mealtime easier. 

Secrets to making mealtime easier

One of the first and most important things to make mealtime easier is to eliminate frustrations. Take a moment right now and reflect on your own habits around cooking. Can you quickly identify any frustrations? 

For example, you regularly put a pot of soup on stove to heat up and leave the room, returning to find a mess all over the stove. Or maybe it’s making the decision on what to have to eat everyday and getting overwhelmed by choices.

Getting everyone in the house on board with mealtime habits and routines is also a great way to ease frustrations around mealtime. Although it takes time to ‘train’ new habits into other members of the house, it is well-worth the investment as they become solidified into the new norm.

Ways to make mealtime fun:

• pick a theme (example: specialty dishes from different cultures, finger foods, breakfast for dinner, bbq)
• each person has a responsibility (example: Samantha cooks, Eva sets the table, Emilio clears the table)
• pick a topic to talk about over dinner (example: what’s your favourite animal and why? the best covid-19 friendly places to visit, what is your favourite dinner?)
• create a great atmosphere ( example: set the table, light a candle, select music that moves you, put away all devices and distractions)

Tools to use:

• shelf dividers
• lazy susans
• a timer
• meal planning app
• glide out shelfs
• small electronic appliances: hand emulsion blender, toaster oven, food processor, crockpot, rice cooker or instapot 
• physical calendar or meal plan

Enroll in Meal Planning for Any Diet course from our KWPO Academy for in-depth explanations, how-to’s, and recipes.

This Stress Test will help you become aware of the big life events that happened to you and the impact that they can have on your overall physical and mental health.

There is a very close relationship between the life events that happen in our lives and our physical and mental state. This exercise is called “Life Change Index Scale (Stress Test)” and will help you measure your current situation.

Most of the clients we work with are going through very difficult life events (divorce, death, retirement, work change, moving homes, having a baby…) and it takes time and a lot of energy to adjust to the new situation. 

During this time, it’s normal to neglect your self-care and your home, too.  Making the situation even worse. 

It’s very important to be aware of the challenges that you are facing, and to ask for help when you can not manage on your own.

Our personal experience with clients is normally dealing with clutter. Clutter appears due to lack of self-care and energy to keep up. It’s NORMAL for this to happen while you are experiencing these life events. You won’t believe how many people are suffering from clutter the same way you may be.

Hitting the reset button and having a fresh start could be the answer you are looking for. 

If an event mentioned above has occurred in the past year or is expected in the near
future, copy the number in the scoring column.

If the event has occurred or is expected to occur more than once, multiply this number by the frequency of the event.

Scoring The Life Change Index

The body is a finely timed instrument that does not like surprises. Any sudden change
stimuli which affect the body, or the reordering of important routines that the body
become used to, can cause needless stress, throwing your whole physical being into
turmoil.

The following chart will give you some idea of how to informally score yourself on Social
Readjustment Scale.

Since being healthy is the optimum state you want to achieve, being sick is the state of being you most want to avoid.

Life Change Units  –   Likelihood Of Illness In Near Future

300+                  –    about 80 percent
150-299            –    about 50 percent
less than 150   –    about 30 percent

The higher your life change score, the harder you have to work to get yourself back into a
state of good health.

T.H.Holmes and T.H. Rahe. “The Social Readjustment Rating Scale,” Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 11:213, 1967.

You can download the stress test here.

What did you think of this stress test?

If you are experiencing a high level of stress and would like help, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We will try our best to assist you.

The garage is one of the places where clutter appears fast. It’s accessible, convenient, roomy, and out of sight. Once the garage is piled up with stuff, it becomes a big job to organize it.

In this client story, we show you how we transformed this space in just one session. These are the steps we followed:

• Define the desired outcome – We have the client “visualize” the ideal space once is organized.
• Declutter – Touching every single item in the space and deciding if it belongs in the garage or not. “It doesn’t make sense to organize things that don’t belong in the space.”
• Organize – Once we are left only with the items that belong in the garage, is time to organize them.
• Creating Homes – Every item needs a “permanent home”. We reused existing storage space as much as possible. We also installed extra solutions to create homes for the bicycles, garbage station, and ladder.
• Unwanted items – At the end of the session, we took with us all the unwanted items. Depending on the items, we can facilitate an auction and get $$ back. The rest will go for donation to our local thrift store. Nothing ends up in the landfill unless is recycling or broken items.

The secret is to maximize the vertical usage of the space by hanging items on the walls. 

The end result is a functional garage with space to park the car inside!

These are some before and after photos:

Would you like to learn how to declutter and organize any space? Learn the tested system we have used successfully with hundred of clients. Sign up for our online course here. 

What did you think about this client story?

Can you park your car in the garage? 

Leave a comment below.

We would like to share with you a powerful exercise, called Mind Mapping,  that will help you declutter your mind.

Mind mapping will allow you to write down on paper all the ideas, challenges, tasks and activities that are cluttering your head. Many times we have too many ideas, or we are worrying too much about something, or we need to brainstorm about what to do next in a specific area of our lives.

Our head is cluttered and we feel overwhelmed. By doing this exercise, you will be able to let all these ideas out of your head, bringing clarity and calmness to your life. Also, you will be able to identify your priorities and take immediate action.  Are you ready to get started with mind mapping?

You will need a piece of paper or notebook, pens, markers, and highlighters.  Try to have a few different colors. 

Watch the video and try to follow the same steps:

1. Write down your main ideas/challenges.
2. Under every main idea/challenge, write down everything that you need to do relating to it.
3. Now it’s time to set priorities.
4. Try to create specific tasks that are easy to schedule in your calendar.
5. Estimate how much time every task may take.
6. If there is a monetary cost or budget involved, write it down.

After you have done all these steps, it’s time to reflect. Very often, you will see that you are trying to do too many things. If this is the case, you can try to delegate some tasks, ask for help or prioritize what’s really important.

Repeat this exercise as many times as you need. If you have a LOT of ideas to write down, you can try to get started by doing this exercise only for a specific area. Be creative and have fun!

We hope this is helpful. Please let us know how it goes. If you have any questions feel free to share them with us. We will do our best to answer them.

4 Steps to Improving Your Communication

In the distant past, we were reading the local newspaper, The Community Edition, and we loved a column by John Roche.

Here is the article for you to read:

“Use your words.” As a kid, that’s the extent of what I was taught about communication. As the years went by, I learned about times tables, the French Revolution, and condom use. But somehow my education on how to communicate effectively with other human beings never evolved beyond, “when you have a problem with someone, you should talk about it.” To be sure, that’s great advice. But it begs the question: how?

It wasn’t until I discovered the work of Marshall Rosenberg that I found the answer. Here are his four steps to dramatically improving communication.

Step One: OBSERVE, DON’T EVALUATE 

The first step to effective communication is to learn to make observations instead of evaluations. Evaluation involves sweeping statements about a person’s character, assumptions about someone’s intentions, or the use of judgmental words. Observation means simply noting the facts of a specific situation.

Notice the difference, for example, between saying, “You’re a flake,” and “You called me to cancel half an hour before we were supposed to hang out.”

Step Two: EXPRESS FEELINGS

The next step is expressing feelings. A very human tendency is to mix up thoughts and feelings. “I feel that you’re a flake” is a thought, not a feeling. Feelings in such a situation may include sadness, frustration, anger, insecurity, disappointment, or even relief.

Notice the difference between saying “I feel like you don’t care about me” and “I feel sad.”

Step Three: CONNECT FEELINGS TO NEEDS

This step is critical. Our tendency is to blame other people for our feelings and say something like “I feel this way because you did that.” In reality, our feelings are the consequence of our needs, not another person’s behavior.

Imagine our scenario. If our need is for connection, intimacy, or reassurance, then a friend bailing on us will probably leave us feeling hurt, sad, or disappointed. But if our need is for solitude, then we’re likely to feel relieved or even happy when our friend bails. Therefore, it is our unique needs that determine our feelings, not the situation. (Note: some needs, like safety, are not unique but universal and constant.)

In our example, notice the difference between “I feel like you don’t care about me because you bailed on me” and “I felt sad because I was really hoping to connect with you.”

Step Four: MAKE REQUESTS 

We tend to expect people to know what we want and resent them for not guessing. Or we avoid asking for what we want so we don’t seem “selfish.” Or we tell people what to do. None of these are inherently wrong, but they’re also not very effective or sustainable ways of getting our needs met. Making requests, by contrast, gives us the best chance that people will respond positively to our needs.

That being said, sometimes people say no. And that’s allowed. If someone consistently says no to our requests, we may want to re-evaluate whether or not we want them to be a central part of our lives.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Effective communication would look something like this:

“When you canceled half an hour before we were supposed to hang out (observation), I felt sad (feeling), because I was really hoping to connect with you (need). In the future, do you think you could give me at least a few hours of notice (request)?”

Now that’s some badass communication.

John works as a therapist in Waterloo. You can read his monthly column at The Community Edition.

You can find more information about John on his website.

Are you using any of these steps in your communications?

Let’s improve our communication skills! Share with others.

Am I a Clutterer?

Many people ask themselves this question and there is no a right answer.

“Clutter can mean something different for everybody.”

A great place to visit is the clutterers anonymous website. They offer support for those who desire to stop cluttering.

They have great resources and today I would like to share one of them. It’s a list of 25 questions that will help you find out if you are a clutterer or not.

Am I a Clutterer?  Let’s find out!

1) Do you have more possessions than you can comfortably handle?

2) Are you embarrassed to invite family, friends, health care providers, or maintenance workers into your home because it is not presentable?

3) Do you find it easier to drop something instead of putting it away or to wedge it into an overcrowded drawer or closet rather than finding space for it?

4) Is your home, or any part of it, unusable for its intended purpose, with a bed you can’t sleep in, a garage you can’t park in, a kitchen you can’t cook in, or a table you can’t use for dining?

5) Is clutter causing problems at home, at work, or in your relationships?

6) Do you hesitate sharing about this problem because you feel embarrassment, guilt, or shame about it?

7) Do you have a weakness for discarded objects, bargain items, freebies, reading materials, or yard sales?

8) Do you use avoidance, distraction, or procrastination to escape dealing with your clutter?

9) Does your clutter create a risk of falling, fire, infestation, or eviction?

10) Do you avoid starting assignments, miss deadlines, or abandon projects because you can’t find the paperwork or material you need?

11) Do you have difficulty making decisions about what to do with your possessions, daily living, or life in general?

12) Do you rent storage space to house possessions that you rarely use?

13) Do cleaning, organizing, follow through, upkeep, and maintenance all become daunting tasks, making the simplest of chores insurmountable?

14) Do you bring an item into your home without designating a place for it and releasing an equivalent one?

15) Do you believe that there is all the time in the world to clean your house, finish those projects, and read all those piles of old magazines or newspapers?

16) Are you easily sidetracked, moving from one project to another, without finishing any of them?

17) Are you constantly doing things for others while your own home is out of order?

18) Do you often replace possessions rather than find or clean those you already have?

19) Does perfectionism keep you from doing anything at all?

20) Does clutter cause you to have late charges added to your monthly financial obligations?

21) Do you feel a strong sense of emotional attachment toward your possessions, which makes it difficult to release them?

22) Do you consider all your possessions to be of equal worth, whether or not the objects have financial, functional, or sentimental value?

23) Do you waste your valuable time and talents by constantly rescuing yourself from clutter?

24) Does clutter keep you from enjoying quality leisure time?

25) Is the clutter problem growing?

The actual number of positive responses is not as important as how you feel inside about your clutter.

Moreover, these questions may have shown you that your life is unmanageable or out of control. Rest assured that you are not alone! Millions of people around the world have trouble with cluttering.

Clutter may manifest in both blatant and subtle ways. The symptoms and patterns are as numerous as there are clutterers. The amount of clutter in our lives is not as important as the desire to stop cluttering.  (Clutterer Anonymous)

Don’t use these results to blame yourself, use them to bring clarity and understanding. You taking the time to answer these questions in the first place shows that you are seeking for change. Being honest with yourself and accepting the current situation are the first steps for success.

Now is time to take ACTION! Not tomorrow, not next month.. but NOW.  Get the momentum going!

Relocation is more than moving.

In this client’s story, we share the steps we followed to make the process painless.

In this Relocation project, we helped our client transition from her 2 bedroom apartment, in Kitchener (Ontario), into a new apartment in British Columbia.

Challenges

She lived most of her life in this apartment. In the past years, she has faced challenges like:

• Reduced mobility due to hip problems.
• Loss of close friends.
• Family members moving out of the province.
• Inability to drive her own car anymore.  

Life on her own became very difficult and a relocation to British Columbia, closer to family members, made sense to her. 

She didn’t have anyone here to help her and she was looking for assistance. She needed peace of mind knowing that someone will take care of all the details for her.   

Goals

The Process

These are the steps we followed:

• A session with the client to decide what to take and what to leave.
• Assistance finding a pet-friendly airline company. 
• Get a few quotes from moving companies and choose the best fit.
• A packing session a couple of days before she left.
• After she left, come with a truck and empty the apartment.
• Take “sellable” items to Auction Company. (We used KW Auctions)
• Take “donatable” items to Thrift Store. (We used Worth a Second Look and Thrift on Kent) 
• Return Rogers TV/Internet rental gear.
• Meet with the Landlord for the final OK.
• Sent Before/After photos and videos and all the auction details to our client by email.
• Sent final cheque from auctioned items and detailed list.

Conclusion

Our client was able to live in her apartment until the last day, and then have the peace of mind that we were taking care of the rest for her.

She was free to enjoy this new chapter of her life.

What did you think about this relocation story?

Please don’t forget to comment below and share it!