Improve Your Kitchen in 3 Steps: An Intentional Decluttering Guide

I’ve thought long and hard about what 3 things I can usher you to declutter in your kitchen that will make the MOST immediate impact if you do them. Through rigorous testing lots of methods to streamline kitchen, and through observation of routine patterns/working in many kitchens, I think I’ve nailed it! This 3 part list to declutter in your kitchen below will help you simplify, streamline and improve efficiency quickly throughout your entire space!

Make sure to check out my Ultimate Kitchen + Pantry Guide (inside our All Access Home Bundle) if you want to dig even deeper into this topic of all things kitchen, with strategic steps to follow, without the overwhelm!

KITCHEN DECLUTTER FOCUS #1:

EXPIRED FOOD + FOOD YOU DON’T LIKE HAS TO GO.

You might have expected me to tell you to start by decluttering the ridiculous amount of travel water bottles (and yes, I do want you to do this, but later!!), however I want you to start with one of the easiest things to purge in your kitchen / things that you should have zero emotional investment in - expired goods and foods you’re simply not eating!

DO IT: Set a timer and scan all your food zones for expired items and foods not being eaten.

• check the pantry, the things shoved in the back of the fridge,

• the condiments in the side of the fridge door

• check the freezer for items with freezer burn (or you have no idea how old it is),

• toss plastic bags of things that you know are more than months old, etc.

• toss spices that no longer smell or taste like they normally should.

• while you’re scanning, toss items that are opened that you no longer want to eat or know you won’t eat in the future

• donate unopened, non-expired foods to your local food bank / check locally for needs

• recycle as much packaging as possible (paper based boxes, metal lids, metal cans, glass jars, plastic bottles - check locally)

Bonus Step for Decluttering Rock Stars: Take note of things you might need to restock on or will no longer buy to avoid future waste and save money!

KITCHEN DECLUTTER FOCUS #2:

EDIT YOUR COUNTERTOPS RIGOROUSLY.

Kitchen countertops are notorious for attracting clutter, which makes it even harder to do basic, daily tasks in your kitchen, like prepping food or making a quick breakfast. To stay on top of this, here’s a few tips to help you edit what’s out on your countertops today, and make your kitchen counters more usable with more space moving forward.

DO IT: Take these steps to start your countertops editing process.

• First, put anything away that doesn’t need to be out on the counters - clean dishes, dirty dishes, utensils that can go back in drawers, trash, recycling, toss moldy fruit, etc.

• Second, do an appliance edit. Does that blender really have to be out on your countertop or could it get tucked away close to where you like to use it? How often do you use your toaster? If it’s not daily, I’d consider putting it an cabinet close by where you’ll plug it in and only bring it out when you need it.

• Lastly, challenge yourself to keep out as little as possible. After the first two rounds of edits, take inventory of all the things still out on your countertops. What do you see? Now assess each item and ask if it is absolutely essential to have out - do you actually use it and is it frequently helpful for you in your kitchen? If yes, could it get tucked away and still be helpful?

• Scan for donations as you go. As you’re moving through these steps, you might find items that you simply don’t need anymore, don’t use or don’t like anymore. Have a box or bag handy to put these items in + get them ready to drop off at a donation site locally, or schedule a pick up. Make sure these items are clean, in good working shape and could be immediately helpful in someone else’s home.

Bonus Step for Decluttering Rock Stars: Test having out as little as possible on your kitchen countertops for the next week and see how it goes. If you need to pull something back out because it’s better for your kitchen routines, go for it. But try to see if you can try out something new and see if the extra space benefits you more than things taking up valuable real estate on your countertops.

KITCHEN DECLUTTER FOCUS #3:

DO A KITCHEN ROUTINES EFFICIENCY AUDIT.

The simplest way I can put this is that you’re going to scan your kitchen for inefficiencies that are making you work harder than you need to be. Think about where you use things in your kitchen - do you have things in drawers or cabinets close to where you actually use them?

DO IT: Consider these examples for reference to compare to your own kitchen + let them help you come up with your own inefficiencies to remove! Once you find an efficiency in your kitchen, consider what’s the easiest and simplest way to fix the problem.

• If you always chop / prep veggies in one zone of your kitchen, are you chopping knives close by or are you always walking across the kitchen for them?

• Do you keep your wood stirring spoons for pots near the stove so they’re easy to grab?

• Are your cooking spices within reach of where you cook with them?

• Are the breakfast essentials you always use in the morning easy to grab in your pantry or fridge?

• Are most of the dishes you unload from the dishwasher put away right right next to or above the dishwasher to minimize time spent on unloading?

• Go through and hunt for inefficiencies and see what things you can move around to make routines in your kitchen easier.

Bonus Step for Decluttering Rock Stars: While you hunt for inefficiencies, also consider items being placed in a hierarchy of importance. ‘Always used’ items should be easy to see, easy to grab, eye level and easy to put away. ‘Lesser or sometimes used’ items can be off to the side, up high, down low or towards the back of the drawer, shelf or cabinet. Aim to have as few of these “sometimes” use items. We want our kitchen to mostly hold things we are actively using, all the time, and that make life easier for us in the kitchen!

Now it’s your turn! Try out these 3 steps to help simplify your kitchen and instantly boost how efficiently you can do ALL the food things. Test these out and let me know down in the comments what was most helpful for you!

PS. If you want to dive in even deeper into all things KITCHEN, you’ll want to check out my Ultimate Kitchen + Pantry Guide (inside our All Access Home Bundle) - you’ll find all things decluttering, organizing, space planning, low cost swaps to elevate your kitchen and MORE!

WHAT TO DO NEXT:

+ Check out more KITCHEN TOOLS here!

+ Check out more free resources + all things KITCHEN here on the website for you to benefit from!

+ Dive deeper into all things KITCHEN from decluttering, space planning, organization, design + low cost solutions with refreshes + upgrades inside of our Ultimate Kitchen + Pantry Guide (you can find this inside the All Access Home Bundle).

+ Click the follow button for @fuzzyhipposhop decluttering tips + basics to get you unstuck in your home on instagram!

+ Download my free declutter guide to get you taking quick + easy decluttering action in your own home (linked in profile).

Declutter 100 Items in 30 Minutes Challenge - Part I

A few weeks ago, I was feeling overwhelmed in my home and was noticing random things for days on end that needed to be decluttered. I kept pushing them off saying I would come back to it on the weekend. With soccer, family time and gardening needs ramping back up, I kept forgetting to come back to it. So in the middle of the week, while my kids were at school and I was taking a break from my home and work to do list, I set the timer for 30 minutes to declutter. Today I’m sharing the process and the results.

A bit more background on this - I spent my time in only a few zones in my home; this was not a full house effort. Because the timer being on for only 30 minutes, I had to merely scan for items I could easily declutter, without much thought. They had to be quick, easy decisions. The overall goal of this challenge is to get things out of the house I already knew needed to go, and maybe find a few treasures along the way!

Another tip - I did not spend time reorganizing things in the spots I was decluttering during the 30 minutes. I circled back after to tidy things up and reset / reorganize any spots that needed it. Focus on speed decluttering for those 30 minutes only. Reorganize if need later on.

Alright, well do you want to see the results?

TIP: Decluttering your every day bags are a great place to start to make quick, mindless decluttering decisions in a snap!

Reminder: This is not a full house declutter. This is what I call “hit the highlights in a few zones for 30 minutes” decluttering. Or you can focus on just one zone. It’s totally up to you! I had a few spots in mind that I knew needed my attention and that I could make quick decisions in, so those were priority for this quick decluttering session.

My favorite Time Timer to get set up.

Our ThredUp collection box for decluttered items.

A peek in on our declutter box a few minutes in!

A hallway zone before I decluttered some decor.

What items to look for while you’re decluttering:

✔duplicates not in use ✔broken items ✔things no longer in use or outgrown ✔items and extra packaging/paper that can be recycled ✔items that are just trash ✔things in good shape but you’ve fallen out of love with to donate ✔collect items that need to be put away elsewhere in the house or given away/returned to someone ✔remove expired items like toiletries and food items (that’s as mindless of a decision as it gets!) ✔take note of wasted items that you won’t buy again or will buy less of in the future ✔take note of anything you run across that needs to be restocked

Categories to sort your items into as you declutter:

Donate (clean, in good shape, someone else can use the item)

Recycle (can be recycled in your area, check locally)

Textile Recycle (I do this separately with various companies like For Days or Ridwell might be in your area - check locally for other free options close to you)

Sell (for this round, it’s only books we’ll sell to Half Price Books)

Relocate (items removed from one area that you want to keep but need to go in another area of the house or given to someone/returned)

Trash (well, it’s just trash and it is the last resort if it doesn’t fall into any of the above categories)

You can have bags, boxes or baskets dedicated to each category as you go, or just throw everything in one bin (like in your laundry baskets for example) and sort things when you’re done. Use what you have and keep it simple!

Here’s the breakdown below of what I decluttered. After the 30 minutes, I sorted everything into categories then totaled them up.

✔Donate: 25

• 3 oven mitts

• 1 unscented candle

• 2 over the door hooks

• 1 kids tshirt

• 3 vase/vessels

• 1 glass cleaning

• 1 drawstring bag

• 1 bag Velcro pieces

• 1 bag extra headphone ear covers

• 3 key chains

• 1 birthday necklace

• 1 mini sewing case

• 1 mystery cord

• 15 hair new accessories

✔Sell: 8

• 8 books (will take to half price)

✔Recycle: 32

• 4 tea bag boxes

• 1 Empty vitamin bottle

• 12 paper towel/toilet paper rolls

• 1 plastic yogurt container

• 2 magazines

• 1 cardboard box

• 1 paper item

• 1 plastic tray

• 2 spice jars (clean out first)

• 1 empty spray vitamin bottle

• 6 random pieces of paper

✔Textile Recycle: 1

• 1 old kitchen towel

✔Relocate: 12

• 3 kids bracelets

• 2 packs of seeds

• 1 clip

• 6 large shells

✔Trash: 61

• 3 receipts

• 34 tea bags

• 1 bag sugar sprinkles

• 1 empty super glue bottle

• 19 plastic knives

• 3 pieces random trash

✔Decluttering total: 139

_______________________________________

You can see the full break down of this Declutter Challenge, with short videos, more photos and details in my Challenge Highlight on the gram.

Check out our donation resources and more HERE.

See more Sell, Donate, Recycle + Toss Resources HERE

My donations from this round went to Leukemia of Texas Resale Center.

So what’s next?

Now it’s time for YOU to dive into your own (short burst of time) declutter challenge! Use whatever time you have, 10, 15, 20 minutes or 30 if you’d like, and see what you can do! This is how decluttering in real life actually works, when we can sprinkle it into our everyday, when we can, as time permits. But don’t obsess about the number of items leaving your home, just aim to remove things you know you no longer need, in as little time as possible (with as little mental effort as possible)!

I know I’ll be back with another round of this soon because my garage has been calling my name…see you then!

If you’d like MORE HELP decluttering + lightening the physical + mental load in your home, here’s a few great places to start.

Free Declutter Guide

Learn the basics of Decluttering

Parents + Kids Guide To Decluttering

No B.S. Guide To Decluttering

Declutter Your Home Masterclass

Work with Kristin

Benefits of Decluttering (Part III): Results to Expect in the Coming Months + Years in Your Home

So what happens in the coming months and years after you’ve decluttered? And what benefits can you expect? We’ll dive into all of this today!

If you missed the previous blog posts on this topic, you can find them here and then come on back to us! Benefits of Decluttering (Part I - Immediate Results) / Benefits of Decluttering (Part II - Results the Days + Weeks After)

We’re deep into a 3 part blog series where we discuss all the benefits of decluttering at various stages after you declutter. The value in taking the time to break this down is to help you know what’s ahead and encourage you anytime you start decluttering. So let’s begin with Part III, the benefits you can expect in the months and years after you’ve decluttered in your home.

1. You’ll save $ + reduce waste.

Decluttering has so many benefits that are ongoing LONG after you’ve decluttered that you need to be aware of.

✓ You’ll save money by not overbuying + reducing impulse buying.

✓ The decluttering process helps you take inventory of what exactly is in your home, what you need + what you already have enough of.

✓ You’ll notice BIG $ savings in your kitchen (intentionally buying groceries), bathrooms (toiletries you actually use + can store), closets (only clothing, shoes, accessories you need/love), + with your kids (clothing, toys, books that are age appropriate/fit).

✓ Awareness of what you already own helps you reduce waste by not bringing things into your home that you don’t need/less to manage.

✓ You’ll gain more clarity on what should be allowed into your home + what will just end up being another thing to manage/take away your time.

2. You’ll reduce stress + have more peace in your home.

This is one of the hardest things to help someone (or a client) understand until they’re living it. You often hear “don’t sweat the small stuff (the details)”…and an unpopular opinion here, you need to. Your entire day is made up of the small stuff/details, and if those details are draining, taking too many steps and miserable, well…that sounds down right awful! The small stuff matters. The details of our life matter.

✓ Stress in the home is a byproduct of managing too much and inefficiencies in daily routines sprinkled all over the home.

✓ Reducing clutter in your home brings a lightness into your home by way of less objects to look at and maintain.

✓ Physical and mental energy is freed up, bringing more peace into your home. This lightness and peaces allows daily routines and habits to be less stressful. Couple this with greater organization throughout your home and WOW, life gets really good!

3. You’ll be able to rest better + recharge in your home.

Decluttering your home completely changes your home environment. It creates spaces that support the individuals in the home, not spaces that fight against you and drain you. Long after you declutter, you’ll see the benefits in how you can more deeply and effectively recharge in your home.

✓ Decluttering the home is a key stepping stone to creating spaces that become your refuge from the chaos of the outside world.

✓ The result of more peace in your home (as we just discussed) allows you to rest more in your home + feel recharged by simply being in your home environment.

✓ As months and years go by, we either create spaces that drain us or allow us to thrive (we must choose wisely).

Real talk: We cannot get away from the daily responsibilities of life and unpredictable stressors that pop up, but we can make them easier to deal with by way of less clutter, less in your home to manage and by surrounding yourself only with items you use, love and bring value to your life/home.

4. You won’t have to declutter as much.

Now I have your attention I’m sure!!

There’s ebbs and flows with decluttering. At the beginning, when you first start the process, there’s likely going to be a lot more time, effort and energy exerted to hit the ground running. Many want to quit here before it gets good…please don’t! Later on, as you hone your decluttering skills and build confidence in your decision making, it becomes a way of life and much less time is spent on it.

✓ Decluttering is a way of life.

It’s not about spending countless hours removing things from your home. It’s about donating the shoes your child has grown out of. It’s about doing a seasonal pass through of your outerwear and donating it to a local church or shelter. It’s about removing expired items and taking note of the ones you will no longer buy.

✓ Decluttering is about focusing on the essentials (the things you need to thrive in your home everyday) and making every item in your home earn its place in your home.

✓ Decluttering is most effective in short bursts, in the months and years down the road, to check in on/maintain what you’ve already started.

✓ You become a more intentional consumer and therefore less clutter walks in your door to begin with! Woo hoo!!!

Beyond the energy and sanity you’ll save, the money you’ll save over the coming months and years after decluttering will blow your mind. My clients frequently share with me how they easily they recover the costs of decluttering support/guides and even make money after decluttering from selling items/not overbuying things for their home.

These simple acts of decluttering in your home have massive, long term effects you can feel GOOD about! Keep going, you can do it! All your effort is worth it, promise.

If you’d like MORE HELP decluttering + lightening the physical + mental load in your home, here’s a few great places to start.

No B.S. Guide To Decluttering Parents + Kids Guide To Decluttering

Free Declutter Guide Learn the basics of Decluttering Organizing Basics

Declutter Your Home Masterclass Shop all Declutter + Organize Guides/Products

Work with Kristin

Benefits of Decluttering (Part II): Results to Expect in the Coming Days + Weeks in your Home

So what happens in the coming days and weeks after you’ve decluttered? And what benefits can you expect? We’ll dive into all of this today!

If you missed PART I of the benefits of decluttering blog series, you can find it HERE, then come back to us!

We’re deep into a 3 part blog series where we discuss all the benefits of decluttering at various stages after you declutter. The value in taking the time to break this down is to help you know what’s ahead and encourage you anytime you start decluttering. So let’s begin with Part II, the benefits you can expect in the coming days and weeks after you’ve decluttered in your home.

1. You’ll save time + energy.

While you’ll notice this immediately, this becomes more obvious a week or so after you’ve decluttered in a space. Let me give you some examples of how this can play out.

In the Kitchen:

• Your food prep takes a fraction of the time because you’re not fumbling through drawers digging for the right chopping knife or tools to get it done.

In the Bathroom:

• You’ve removed all the products/toiletries you don’t use or have expired + have only kept the ones you use regularly in an easy to find, easy to reach spot so your morning routine goes so much smoother.

In the Closet:

• You’ve paired down your hanging clothes/drawers to clothing you wear regularly, enjoy wearing + fit well. Getting dressed is no longer a chore + you can easily see and access what you’ve decided to keep.

Small bits of time saving equal large amounts of time gained over time, resulting in less energy spent on daily tasks because they’re easier to complete. Yes, please!

2. You’ll crave more efficiency throughout your home + know how to make it happen.

Buckle up because things are about to get REALLY GOOD! Once you declutter in one area of your home and experience how life feels in a newly streamlined spot in your home, it’s contagious!

You’ll begin to notice other “inefficiencies” throughout your home and that’s OK! An overstuffed drawer, a cluttered counter, a bag with a bunch of random in it so you can’t find anything, spots throughout your home that collect clutter piles, spots where kids struggle to put things away…it will feel like there’s spot light over these spots because you now know how to detect them and how to resolve them! Woohoo!

DO NOT BE AFRAID OF FINDING MORE CLUTTER TO DEAL WITH IN YOUR HOME (I’m not yelling, I’m just really passionate)!!

✓Take things one zone (start small) at a time, as you are able to. ✓Declutter that spot to support what you typically do in that spot/things you’d like to do there in the future. ✓Declutter around those goals + then start living with it!

You will have higher standards for the quality of your home environment now + that’s OK!! Welcome to living your best life!

3. You’ll become more intentional about your days + your life.

While we tend to focus on the “physical stuff” creating clutter in your home, when you declutter throughout your home, you realize the impact ‘things’ can have on you time/schedule.

Our days become filled up with inefficient tasks + managing stuff that we don’t even need or want. So many things become so much harder, take too many steps + take up way more time than they need to simply because of having too much stuff/things in the wrong spots in your home.

✓ You’ll start to become more intentional and protective about how you use your time.

✓ You’'ll clarify what’s most important to you + how that translate to how to spend your hours each day.

✓ Dare I say you might even start “decluttering your schedule” + removing things from it that no longer add value to your life.

Just as we do this with physical objects through decluttering, you’ll learn there’s a directly connection to your time as well.

Your time is so precious + invaluable, protect it fiercely my friend!

REMINDER: Sometimes decluttering in a spot might simply mean rearranging or moving items in a way where they’re easier to see + use. It’s not always about getting rid of stuff!

COMING UP NEXT in Part III of the Benefits of Decluttering…

The results you can expect in the coming months + years after decluttering in your home! See you in the next post!

If you’d like MORE HELP decluttering + lightening the physical + mental load in your home, here’s a few great places to start.

No B.S. Guide To Decluttering Parents + Kids Guide To Decluttering

Free Declutter Guide Learn the basics of Decluttering Organizing Basics

Declutter Your Home Masterclass Shop all Declutter + Organize Guides/Products

Work with Kristin

3 Reasons Why You Need To Declutter During the Holidays

Yes, I said the D word (declutter)! It’s probably the last things you want to be doing right now, as you prepare for the holidays coming full speed ahead for you. By the end of this blog post, I want you to feel fully confident that short bursts of decluttering are absolutely critical to helping you navigate this holiday season, free up your time, save you money and allow you to enjoy the season even more than before.

So let’s dive into the 3 Reasons Why You Need To Declutter During the Holidays.

1. Things have changed this year + so has your home.

Let’s be honest, in the last year while some things have stayed the same, but a lot has changed. I want you to lean into this as you pull out your holiday decor. I’ve found over the years that holiday decor tends to overwhelm and overstimulate both myself and my kids, so I’ve become very picky about what comes out for the holidays. As you pull out each item to decorate for the holidays, decide which items deserve to stay and which ones should move on to another home. Broken, beyond repair items need to head to recycling or trash depending on the material.

Also consider if your aesthetic taste has changed. This is normal by the way! Focus on quality, timeless pieces that feel valuable and special to you and your family. Selecting less of a higher quality that will last a long time will save you money long term. If you decide to replace or bring in anything new, make sure something else is headed out to donations. Aim for less. Be honest about how much space you have to store decorations and you’ll reduce what you’ll have to store and manage the rest of the year while it’s are not in use.

2. Decluttering right now will save you money.

Hear me out. If you haven’t heard me shout this from the rooftops enough yet, the purpose of decluttering is to make your life easier, and a large part of this is knowing exactly what you have in your home so you don’t overbuy or impulse buy things that you don’t need. Now I have your attention!

Here’s a few examples of how this can play out for you right now:

• Decluttering with your kids and what all they own right now (and fits) will help everyone clarify what they have and what they need during this season - perfect information to gather right before a gift giving/receiving season!

• Decluttering in your kitchen will help you remove items you don’t need to prepare large family meals and streamline your efforts in your kitchen. Your kitchen will function more easily, leaving you less likely to waste food since you can see and access everything you have, saving you money weekly!

• Decluttering your clothing alerts you to items in your closet you love, want to wear and helps you become more creative/resourceful with what you already have. It’s exciting to rediscover old gems in your closet you have forgotten about and move them into a location that reminds you to wear them and gets you excited to enjoy them during this cooler season. Having clarity on what’s in your wardrobe will help you not impulse buy, even when those enticing good deals strike because you’ll know exactly what to avoid and what to look for (if there’s any wardrobe holes you’re wanting to fill).

3. Save time and energy.

Here’s the basics on this one…the less you have in your home, the less you have to manage. Fact. The holidays tend to feel like everything is ‘extra’ and ‘more’. And with all of this ‘extra’ and ‘more’ comes more things that take over your home and your bulldoze your time and peace. To help you achieve LESS during the holidays, consider these tips to help you declutter in small bursts to regain more time and breathing room.

• Every few days (or once a week), put a timer on for 10-15 minutes + pick one area in your home that feels chaotic/cluttered + do a quick declutter burst.

• Relocate items that need to go back in a different room. Remove items you no longer use or love or items that are in poor shape/beyond repair

• Attack one small zone that is in a high traffic area that you utilize daily. Do a fast 10 minute declutter burst on this area, like a high use kitchen drawer, a kitchen counter, the kitchen table, the drop zone you go in + out of before/after school, a part of the pantry, the fridge, a small hall closet. Editing these spots will transform your everyday immediately by removing physical obstacles (extra stuff) that make your daily tasks harder than they need to be.

Taking short bursts of time to simplify the spaces in your home, however small, especially during the holidays, will reward with more time, less energy spent on “stuff management” and more clarity on what you have in your home (and what you might need moving forward). Everyone in the home will benefit from decluttering during the holidays, long after this holiday season has passed and long into the new year.

Wishing you all the most peaceful + healthiest of Holidays!

Thanks for being here + I’ll see you soon in the next post.

Other holiday + seasonal blog posts you might enjoy: 

No Clutter Holiday Gift Ideas for Kids + Adults

Decluttering While You Prepare for the Holidays

5 Ways To Lighten Your Holiday Load

Giving, Gifting  + Navigating Unwanted Gifts

How To Simplify Your Home Routines When Life Feels Busy (back to school edition)

It’s back to school for many and the shift out of Summer mode is in full swing. When I feel things ramp up, I like to take some time to pause and reflect on how we can keep peace in our home to avoid feeling run over by our schedule shifts.

The feeling of being rushed is the worst. It adds unnecessary anxiety to my kids, myself and everything we’re doing. It just sucks the fun out of life and I’m not here for it.

Today we’re going to brainstorm together a slew of ideas to find extra pockets of time in your day and streamline your home routines during the week to add more ease and peace when life feels busy.

And for the record, use whatever tips work for you and your family. Not all ideas will work for you and that’s OK. Tweak and adjust things to fit your life, your family and your home, deal?! OK, let’s get going.

Observe The Chaos

Before I start listing out a bunch of ideas to save you time and energy during the week, I want you to take moment to reflect on where you saw, felt and were involved in the most chaos during your days this week.

For example, in our home, getting out the door for school can be very dicey. I have two kids that go to school at two different times, yet are somewhat close together. There is very little room for error. I am always looking for ways to make this go smoother and be as stress-free as possible.

Another example is our very full Monday afternoons. We have a chunk of time in between gymnastics and soccer practice where we have to squeeze in a light dinner, which can also get dicey because there is so little time.

Maybe the end of the day is harder for you. Maybe a certain day of the week is particularly challenging. Own it. Write it down. List out on paper or in your phone each of the moments that feel stressful, take too many steps or are just down right not fun. Now we’re getting somewhere. Now we can start talking solutions! You’ll now be able to start aligning your most chaotic times of day in your life and home with some of the ideas listed below that make the most sense for you.

Daily Routine Simplifying + Plan Ahead Ideas:

1. Eliminate things in your schedule. If it doesn’t have to be done, don’t do it.

2. Weave in shortcuts throughout your week. Always shopping for the same groceries? Have a standard list and stick to it or automate it with a grocery pick up order.

3. Know what things might be forgotten ahead of time. If a paper has to be signed last minute (it’s going to happen), locate a pen right in your pack up location so you don’t have to go running through the house looking for a pen last minute. If your kids always need extra ponytail holders, have an extra stash right near the door.

4. Pre-wash and chop fruits and veggies for the week that can handle it. I don’t do this with raspberries, for example. Cucumber spears, carrots, celery, grapes and some other berries get used to throw into lunches and pulled out for quick dinners all week long. I’ll also do this for apple slices and toss them in lemon juice and they last for days without going brown. This 10 minute effort on Sundays saves countless minutes all week long.

5. Make most meals extremely predictable and mindless. In fact I want to challenge you to repeat meals week after week. Get creative only when you want to and have the energy for it. For example, our Monday nights now are always grilled cheese with raw veggies and fruit. Wednesdays are salmon, 3 minute jasmine rice and steamed veggies that cook quickly while the salmon cooks. Dinner is done in 10 minutes. Friday nights we elect to grab something out, usually pizza!

6. Take 5-10 minutes at night to reset a clutter/chaos collector space. This can be a kitchen counter, a kitchen table, part of the living room, the bathroom, anywhere will do. We just have some spots in our home that need to be revisited most days. It’s just reality. But a little light maintenance each day will prevent loads of clutter and overwhelm at the end of the week when you’re just ready to relax.

7. Meal Plan. I know you don’t want to but it might be the best thing that’s ever happened to you. I have lots of tools for you like the School Meals Idea Planning Sheet or the Groceries and Meal Planning Bundle.

8. Fill up water bottles the night before (kids, adults, etc.). They’ll be cold for the next day and more time for other things in the morning.

9. Clear out and pack up bags the night before (or as much as possible). If everything can’t be packed at night, lay out anything else that needs to go in close by to it’s easy to pack the next day.

10. Lay out shoes near your exit location. We don’t keep all our shoes in our exit location because we are limited on space, but the shoes my girls wear for the next day go right next to their backpacks. No running through the house last minute to find shoes, yes please!

11. Create outfits that already go together that can be folded or laid out together in a drawer or hung up in the closet. This could work for kids and adults. My kids don’t use this method most days but occasionally plan something out the night before.

12. Create a personal clothing uniform. This can be easier during certain seasons for sure. Right now I am a cropped linen pants or light joggers and t-shirt girl. It is easy. It is comfortable. It is predictable. It is mindless. If I want to off-road one day I do it.

13. Add hooks to hang up items to take or reminder notes for the next day. It’s hooks for days over here in this house. I couldn’t go a day without them! From a jacket, to clipping a dollar or return receipt to a hanging basket, or an encouraging note for your child on their way out for school, hooks near your entry/exit areas can help streamline your efforts to remember all the extras.

14. Cook a meal on the weekend that lots of left overs or is easy to reinvent. One of my favorite weekend meals is chili or pasta with meat sauce. Both of these give us at least 3 dinners during the week. If I want something easy to reinvent, I think about grilled chicken. It can go into pasta, we have it on top of beans with avocado, make tacos or quesadillas, can throw it on a big cobb salad, etc.

15. Add good music to a mundane task. I’m not sure this will save you time (it might if it makes you do the task faster!) but it will certainly add more joy to your day!

16. Do a quick reset of your entry/exit zone each week. Remove any non-essentials and clutter that showed up that week. Check out this past blog post helping you do exactly that HERE.

17. Do a morning routine audit. Frankly, you can do this with any part of your day or your end of day routine (or bedtime routine). Remove any steps that are making the process harder or less enjoyable. More details on how to do this in a past blog post HERE!

18. Get more sleep and go to bed earlier. Not sure how this will save you time during the day? In a nutshell, everything your brain and body tries to do the next day on more sleep will be easier. Oh, and your overall health will be better for it too! Check out these 7 Surprising Reasons To Get More Sleep to motivate you even more!

19. Don’t give up precious minutes/hours of your day over to mindless phone scrolling. Recover extra minutes in your day by intentionally using technology and setting healthy boundaries for yourself. If you’d like help with digital decluttering, check out my guide HERE.

20. Leave out a task list for important items that randomly pop into your head you need to remember. Save yourself brain space and put it in a spot where everyone can see it. Write it down, get it done and most importantly, don’t forget it! See our favorite This Week Printable Planner HERE.

And now I want to here from you!

Drop a comment below of something you love to do during your week to make life easier, save you time, energy and add more peace into your home when life feels busy.

And don’t forget to let me know if any of the tips above were particularly helpful for you in your home!

Organizing Traps: What The Container Store Isn't Telling You

To be clear, I do enjoy shopping in the Container Store (when I need to). The beautiful wall of an incredible array of glass jar options makes my heart go pitter patter. But let’s get real here for a second. What I don’t love are the unnecessary pressures people feel when they go into a store like this (or any store with organizing and storage solutions) and then they end up spending an obscene amount of money on products they don’t actually need. And guess what? Their organizing issues still aren’t solved and they still have clutter making life and daily routines harder than they need to be. Here we’re going to unpack a few organizing traps that are easy to fall into, and what to do instead so you’ll be well on your way to organizing bliss in your home without that hefty price tag. Well…shall we?!

Declutter before you shop.

By the time you step foot into an organizing hot spot like the Container Store, Target or one of my personal favorites, Daiso, you need to declutter the space you’re wanting to add more order to. That’s always step one. This will help you gain clarity on your next steps and what exactly needs more organizing. By the way, none of the stores are going to coach you on how to do this! Here’s a quick checklist of things to make sure you do before you layer in any organization solutions from your favorite stores.

• Declutter the zone you’re focusing on thoroughly and ruthlessly.

• Remove things that don’t belong in that spot. Toss, recycle, donate, giveaway items as you see fit.

• Assess the space you have and identify any organizing challenges you’re having.

• Is it a deep shelf? You might need a pull out bin so nothing gets lots in the back.

• Do you have a drawer that you need to store a wide variety of items in? You might need to subdivide the drawer with smaller, shallow trays or containers so everything isn’t lumped together and you can see everything you have at a quick glance.

• Measure the space you have and sketch a plan for the items you might need to improve that zone with a little as possible organizing product.

Shop your home first.

Shop your home first before you buy a single organizing item. Trust me. Often the best solutions to your organizing dilemmas are already hanging out right there in your home, without you ever leaving the house or spending a dime. Of course the stores won’t tell you this tip!

• Look in other rooms, drawers, desks, closets, etc. for organizing items that could solve your current organizing challenges without you leaving the house or spending a dime.

• Consider swapping things between rooms that could better fit the zone you’re working on.

• Be resourceful with your organizing solutions. Consider boxes, packaging, trays, jars and containers from products/foods already hanging around in your home. Boxes can be cut down and sized to fit drawers.

• Plastic fruit containers from the produce area in your grocery store can be cut into two pieces (the lid and the containers base) and great uses as drawer dividers for small items.

• They’re also great to corral small office essentials and kids crafting supplies of all kinds.

Price check before you shop.

The reality is that there’s a lot of stores offering similar products to solve the same organizing challenges. Some stores carry different sizes of the same things, some are exactly the same, and others carry a very specific line of product that you can only get there. Before you commit to buying anything, take a few minutes to see what each store has in stock, check the dimensions against what you’re needed, and verify the material(s) used to make the product.

• While you’re price checking the items you want to buy, make sure you’re cross checking that with the measurements/quantities you need. A slightly different size might not fit as well in your kitchen drawer, even if you save a few bucks.

• Don’t forget overstock stores like Tuesday Morning, Marshalls, TJMaxx and Homegoods (those are just a few of my favorites) for organizing solutions at discounted prices. These stores are best shopped at in person.

• Container Store is an excellent stop for highly specific organizing solutions because they’ve thought of every nook and cranny in your home! Depending on what you’re buying, if the cost seems higher, make sure you check the material quality. I’ve never had an issue with quality on items I’ve purchased at Container Store.

• Also consider the cost of shipping to your home versus hopping in the car to pick up what you need.

• Don’t forget your local thrift stores for organizing solutions. Once you know what you’re looking for, the world is your oyster! Go with a list and measuring tape and see what you can find!

Shop for solutions, not by store labels.

The websites and stores will direct you to the kitchen section for kitchen storage, bathroom area for bathroom storage, etc. This is all fine and well, but, it’s only part of the story! There are so many solutions in every store that could solve your organizing challenges that can be found ALL throughout the store. Here’s a few examples of how I’ve shopped for organizing solutions/products in various shop categories.

• I’ve used vertical paper organizers found in the office section for pantry organizing

• I love looking in the bathroom section for bins and storage ideas that can go all over the home, like toy storage and pantry containers, especially these Brightroom options from Target with hand cut outs so they’re easy to grab and move around.

• The sushi trays, plates and tools from Daiso (shop in store for their full selection) have been my go-tos for organizing shallow drawers in our home because they work just like a tray and are so versatile and wipeable!.

I hope you’ll find these tips handy and inspiring the next time you find yourself needing to add more order and organization to a space in your home. After all, the answers might already be sitting in your home!

If you’d like MORE HELP decluttering, organizing and resetting your home, here’s a few great places to start.

Free Declutter Guide Donate for Good Links + Resources Learn the basics of Decluttering Organizing Basics Shop all Declutter + Organize Guides/Products

Reset Your Home For Summer Checklist

It’s officially Summer according to the calendar (even though it’s been hot here in North Texas for a while now). The focus has shifted to popsicles and hydration now more than ever! With the arrival of Summer comes necessary shifts in our life and home so we can cruise into this next season enjoying what it has to offer. Seasonal transitions are an inherently great time to slow down, reset your home, part ways with anything you don’t want to move forward with in your spaces, and gain clarity on what you’d like in greater focus moving forward.

Do a clothing check in.

1. Take a quick look in your drawers and clothing and remove anything that you KNOW you don’t plan to wear during this warm season. This would include things you avoided last Summer season, items that don’t fit, are uncomfortable, or items you no longer enjoy wearing. If you find anything that you still enjoy wearing that needs to be repaired or altered, put those items aside to repair on your own or take to a local tailor. Here’s our list of donation resources for clothing throughout the US and are often local to your area.

2. Move things around so it’s easier to get dressed during this warmer season. I’m a notorious’ organizing by color only person’ in my closet, but this season I was noticing that I was struggling to dressed easily once the heat started to crank outside, so I decided to move everything around. I grouped all my short sleeves, shorts, skirts, etc. together, organized them by color, then moved these ‘warm weather staples’ so they are the easiest to see in my closet. You can do something similar in your drawers with your warmer weather items. These visual cues focused on the current season for your clothing will help you get dressed with great easier.

3. Pay attention this seasons to items you’re avoiding OR wanting to wear more of. If you notice you’re avoid a particular pair of shorts, start asking questions. Are they uncomfortable? Do they need to be altered? Do they fit right? Are you not sure what to wear them with? Do you need to try them out with other tops or accessories to have more fun with it? Move things you want to wear in a spot that is easy to see. If you have a dress that you’re unsure you want to keep, wear it around the house for the day or on a day you’re running car errands (or quick errand into a store). See how you feel while you take it for a quick “test drive”. Try to mix things up and try out garments you’re not sure about with other things you’ve haven’t worn them. Intentionally shaking things up a bit will likely breathe new life into these pieces you’re unsure about. And if it’s not a match, you can be confident parting ways with these garments after you’d tested them out this season.

Do a food check in.

1. First take a breeze through your fridge and freezer. Look for anything you’re not going to eat, is expired or you simply don’t want anymore. Clean out and recycle and much as possible (please check locally for plastics they accept).

2. Next assess your pantry area. Whether you have an official pantry space or you like to store your room temperature snacks/dry goods/spices/baking ingredients in cabinets, out on a shelf or on top of the fridge, focus on removing anything that is expired, no one is eating or you no longer want to eat. If anything is unopened and not expired, check to see if your local food bank will accept it.

3. Organize and plan for the season. In any area holding food (fridge, freezer, pantry, cabinets, etc.) spend a few minutes group liking items so you’re not digging around all over for the same things. In any kitchen zones that you’re struggling to keep in order, give them a boundary (clear container, basket, tape line on the shelf) to give them a clear home. Label any area necessary so finding things and putting things is easy and intuitive for anyone in the home. Take note of anything you need to restock from your food decluttering session you just completed. Make your life easier with meal planning by creating a list of go-to Summer meals you can put on autopilot for the season. Try our weekly dinner planner notepad here or our Meal Planning Printable Bundle here that will help you plan out your meals with ease for months at a time!

Do a general home check in.

1. Walk the main areas of your home to look for anything out of season, and items that need to be removed or relocated. For example, the winter coats still on the hook in the entryway can be put away for the season. If you’d like to lighten the look in your living a bit, swap out blankets from other rooms to lighter ones during the Summer months. Swap out your kids artwork in frames to ones that feels lighter and brighter. Remove any unnecessary decor, pillows, nick nacks, etc. that make your space feel crowded and cluttered for donations. Recycle old magazines from past seasons. Recycle, file, shred, toss old mail/paper pile that’s been staring at you.

2. Look through your medicine cabinets and toiletries for expired products and items you need to restock. Come Summer, I always get caught off guard with all the products that are essential for our Summer, from bug sprays, aloe, skin care, sunscreens, lotions, etc. Check for expiration dates on all items each year. It’s also important to check in on your first aid kit status and restock on any essentials, including medicines. Check out our TOSS section for proper disposal of products, medicines and common expiration dates for many household items here.

3. Create spaces that encourage you to enjoy your Summer season and support any goals you have. How do we do this? Here’s a few ideas. If you want to read more this Summer, create a reading spot with your favorite books, great reading light, cozy blankets and a spot to put your feet up (you can do the same thing for your kids). If you want to focus on less screen time and more activities in the home, create a puzzle table or game area with card decks/board games so things highly visible and not tucked away. If you’d like to cook more with seasonal ingredients while they’re the freshest, display fresh products in a beautiful way in your kitchen and plan out some meals that highlight your seasonal food favorites (see our everyday meals planner and our meal ideas list maker here).

I hope these tips will help you take a quick look at your home with fresh eyes, lighten your load in your home, and help you focus on more of the things that you enjoy about this Summer season.

If you’d like MORE HELP decluttering, organizing and resetting your home this Summer, here’s a few great places to start.

Free Declutter Guide, Learn the basics of Decluttering, Schedule Decluttering Support, Donate Your Decluttered Items For Good Links SHOP all Declutter + Organize Guides/Courses

How To Know When To Declutter In Your Home: 5 Red Flags To Look For

Knowing when to declutter in your home can be confusing. Sometimes you’re just not sure if it’s time or if it’s worth your effort to do it right now. The benefits of decluttering are well known, yet it can still feel hard to carve out time to do it. Today we’re going to talk through 5 “red flags” (obvious indicators) that your space needs decluttering. If you notice one or more of any of these red flags going on in your home, you’ll know it’s time to take a moment and declutter that area. Keep this list handy so you can reference back to it often!

This is our front entry coat closet turned “play closet”. If I look in there + there’s stuff everywhere, it can definitely stress me out. But before I spiral, I do a quick reality check in. 1) Are my kids deep in play? If yes, leave it. 2) Can we add this to a reset time later or get their help with it? Yes. Carve out a few minutes later on to pick up that spot. 3) If I notice a consistent pattern of the kids not being able to pick up things, a light declutter might be needed because they’re trying to manage too much in that zone.

You look around + you can see/feel the clutter chaos.

Your space feels triggering for you and you can feel that it’s not working. It is creating unnecessary stress when you’re in the space or when you catch it in your sight lines. Even when we can’t quite put our finger on WHY a space is giving us anxiety, we know it needs our attention. I would say 9.5 times out of 10 reducing what is in the space to essentials is the key to resolving this.

You’re struggling to find things.

There’s a lot of looking and digging. You open up a drawer and you can’t find the kitchen utensils you need for a simple kitchen task. You can’t find the pen you always use to take notes with. Your kids are always losing shoes or their favorite toys. You can’t remember where you put that important note that came in the door last week. You can’t find what you thought you had in the pantry to get dinner started. You’ve given up several times looking for something you needed but just couldn’t find it and didn’t have the time to continue searching. This is a big one. It wastes so much of your time.

You see stuff collecting on your horizontal surfaces.

When you look around at counter tops, tops of tables, desks and furniture, you see a lot of stuff. I’m not talking about when the surface is actively in use (cooking a meal, kids creating artwork or doing homework at the table, etc.). I’m also not talking about simple gesture of joy in your home (fresh flowers, a bowl of a your favorite fruit out, etc.). These horizontal surfaces, if we aren’t diligent in carefully selecting what gets to stay out on them, things will inevitable collect on them. Think about each item out on a horizontal surface in your home, then look at each item carefully. Do you need it? If so, does it need to be out to be helpful/useful? Could it be tucked away? It is worth the space it is taking up this surface or would having more space be MORE helpful? Each item out on these horizontal surfaces, whether it is a counter top or the top of a piece of furniture, all grab for your attention. Too much attention grabbing and we become overstimulated and the attention fatigue easily creeps in without us realizing it. Do a quick horizontal surface “audit” anywhere in your home and feel free to thank me later!

You don’t have a plan for when things get put away.

Real reality, we life in our homes and we use things so stuff gets left out, causing lots of visual clutter. No problems there. The problem surfaces when we don’t have a plan for when we need a sweep through of spaces to put things away to clear this visual clutter. Some clutter is simply things that need to put away (like coats put back in a closer or toys back in their bin). Other clutter is excess because we are keeping things that we don’t actually use or need. When these two combine, it’s dangerous. We clutter up the things we actually need/use/love with things we don’t. That’s where things get messy, literally and figuratively. A plan to remedy this (aside from decluttering) is to put things away in small bits throughout the day, pick one time a day to do a quick round up to reset your home (yes, recruit help if you have it), or pick a few days a week to reset the spaces in your home.

This is a highly active landing spot in our home that can go from mass chaos to orderly in a snap, which is why I love it so much. We need to aim to create lots of these spaces in our home that can ebb + flow with our daily life. Some items get temporarily hung up or set on the bench + then put away later on when we can.

You put off addressing a cluttered zone because you think it will take a lot of time.

Truth, it will take some amount of effort to improve any area of your home, small or large. It will take some time to put things away and reset any space. But on the flip side of this, your brain is VERY GOOD at making things seem WAY WORSE than they actually are. The longer we delay things the more challenging and overwhelming we perceive them, when they likely haven’t changed much. If you’ve identified an area or a few in your home like this, not to worry. Pick any spot of your choice and use my timer method (5 to 20 minutes) and declutter this zone. The goal will be simply remove anything that doesn’t need to be there. Either relocate things that shouldn’t be there and are more useful in another location OR remove items that need to be donated/recycled/tossed. Keep only with is useful, helpful and valuable to you in that area and eliminate the rest. See what you can done in a short amount time. Put on some good music while you work. I can guarantee you’ll be blown away at what you can do in a small amount of time focusing on one small area.

If you find yourself identifying with one or more of these “red flags” in your home, just know that relief from the clutter chaos can happen by focusing on small areas in less time that you’d think. Your efforts will continue to give back to you daily but way of saved time, energy and mental bandwidth. Yes please!

Want to get this decluttering party started but aren’t sure where to go next? Here’s a few options for you to get you moving + motivated.

Free Declutter Guide, Learn the basics of Decluttering, Schedule Decluttering Support, Donate Your Decluttered Items For Good Links

Decluttering For Good: How To Start + Make An Impact On The World Around You

I’ve done a lot of coaching and supportive counseling to clients, friends and family over the years about decluttering in their home. Within all those conversations, there’s two common trains of thought I’ve observed that keep you stuck. One, that you have no time to declutter. Two, that you’re not sure where to start, causing lots of overwhelm, guilt and stress. Today we’re going to walk through a few simple ways to start decluttering and align your items you’re parting with to do good in the community around you.

Start Small.

This is my number one recommendation when you are decluttering in your home, whether you’re a newbie or you’re feeling seasoned with the concept. It’s the skill I teach in all of my masterclasses, guides and courses, the act of breaking things down into small, actionable steps (or mini tasks).

Here’s a few ways you can complete small decluttering tasks in your home in small chunks of time.

• Grab a box or bag and walk your home or focus on one small area to declutter. Fill the box or complete that area and be done!

• Focus on one category of items to declutter - books, shorts, writing utensils, spatulas, shoes. Put your blinders on with everything else and just focus on that one category and complete it.

• Declutter one micro zone - one drawer, one shelf, one counter top, one seating area, one wall, one piece of furniture. Edit and eliminate items you no longer use, find value it or enjoy and keep the rest.

Schedule Your Donations.

I absolutely LOVE scheduling a donation pick up. I’d say this is one of the best tools I share with my clients, family and friends for getting decluttering done in my own home that will work for you too. It gets a hard date on the calendar to focus on, it lights a fire under you and gets you motivated to take action, it has a deadline (or an ending so to speak), and people are relying on you to keep your word. I love it and it works every time! Also note, do the best you can within the time frame you have. You may not get to everything and that is OK. You can schedule another pick up at another time when it makes sense for you. I love to schedule a pick up a week or two out so I have time to go through things and get everything organized for the pick up.

In recent months I’ve schedule donation pick ups with Salvation Army and Leukemia Texas. Also check out this article on charities that offer pick up services. See more donation resources below at the end of this post and always check locally in your area for what’s available around you.

A few tips to make your life easier and easier on the wonderful people who will pick up your items and do good with them:

• Donate your items in something reusable or recyclable to reduce waste and trash during the process (paper bags, cardboard boxes or reusable or sellable containers/baskets/bags).

• Organize your items by how your donation pick up service requests/categories your items, like clothing bags, household goods, kids toys, etc. I like to further sort items like clothing into adult and kid categories when relevant. This often reduces how many containers/boxes/bags you need for the donations because everything is grouped with like items that are often like shapes.

• Make sure you follow the instructions of the donation service for pick up. Have your items out, organized and out/protected from the elements so it’s easy for the truck to pick up and move on to their next location.

Align your donated items to do good for others.

Often times the one thing missing to motivate us to complete decluttering tasks in our home is a greater purpose. For example, if you know that decluttering in your closet is going to help women who can’t afford a new wardrobe for job interviews that are trying to get back on their feet with Dress For Success, aren’t you going to be more willing to see it through? Or that taking the time to declutter toys and books with your kids you’ll be able to offer items to donate to a cause like My Stuff Bags Foundation who offer support, comfort and goods to children displaced from their home.

There are so many ways to align your decluttering efforts and items with good all around your community and beyond. Check out our newly revamped donation resources here for more ideas.

Now’s your turn. What is a favorite donation spot you love to share your decluttered home goods too? I’m so excited to continue building our donations resources to serve our community!

How can I help? Want more support decluttering in your home?

Free Declutter Guide

Learn the basics of Decluttering

Declutter Your Home Masterclass

Schedule Decluttering Support

3 Ways To Declutter In Short Bursts

Full permission here to be done with the old way of thinking that decluttering has to be done in large chunks of time AND that you have to clear your schedule to get anything done. Nope! Not here! The reality is that most of us only have short bursts of time to declutter. Not to mention the limited mental bandwidth to declutter, am I right? Decluttering in small bursts keeps you focused and fresh while you’re making decisions and more motivated to complete small tasks because it’s a practical, doable time commitment.

Here’s 3 ideas for how you can declutter in short bursts of time, regardless of your schedule and season of life.

1. Grab a bag or a box.

To get started on this one, all you need to do is grab a bag, a cardboard box or large container that you can donate. Bonus points of the bag, box or container is reusable or recyclable! Next you’re going to fill it up with items you no longer need in your home. You can approach this in a few different ways. One option is to put your box in a central location in the house, walk your home and bring things back to the box when you find something you’d like to donate (yes, grab those items you need to recycle or toss as well). Another idea is to declutter for a short chunks of time or over the course of a day or week.

Another approach is to bring the bag or box into a certain room and focus all your efforts in that one area. When it is full, you’re done OR when you’re done in that space, you can move to another area to keep filling it up. Remember to remove your donation items from your home ASAP and send them on to their next life with love and care. See more donation resources here.

To provide proof that this idea works you can check out how I used this same idea with my kids and a cardboard box.

2. Set a timer.

Seems obvious but a timer can be your best friend when it comes to decluttering in your home. Here’s one of my favorite time timers I love to use in our home for all sorts of tasks, or simply set your timer on your phone. When you don’t feel like you have much time to devote to decluttering, this will help light a quick fire under you. I’m talking 10, 20 or 30 minutes on your timer to declutter. That’s it!

Where should you declutter during these short bursts? So glad you asked! Here’s a few ideas. You can pick a certain zone to focus on that’s been a chaos/clutter magnet in your home. You can focus on one room. You can also choose one category of items to declutter throughout your home (like books, toys, hanging clothing, etc.). Keep blinders on to everything else and just focus on that one category, room or zone you’ve committed to and see what you can do in whatever short burst of time you can give.

If you’re just getting your feet wet with decluttering, you might want to check out these past blog posts for more (and see more declutter resources at the end of this post). Decluttering In Your Home: How To Get It Done 3 Thing That Sabbotage Your Declutter Efforts

3. Declutter at random.

Sounds like a loose concept but hear me out. I want you to get into the mindset that decluttering can happen at any time, on any day. It does not have to be scheduled to be impactful. When you encounter something that needs to go, immediately remove it and take it to your donations holding area. Set up a donation box, bag or zone anywhere in your home that makes the most sense for you. We have a spot in our garage that once it fills up, we make a donation drop off or schedule a pick with one of our favorite charities in our area. It can also be as simple as a bag on a hook on the back of a closet door or a box on the floor in the garage or a utility closet. Get creative. Anything goes.

So those clothes your kids have outgrown, those extra 3 spatulas you never touch and make you dig for the things you actually use in the kitchen drawer, the unopened toiletries you bought on impulse and haven’t touch in over a year, the items in your closet you avoid daily, the toys your kids no longer play…send them on to your donation zone the same day you make the realization, or better yet, the moment you know it needs to go. No timer needed, no plan on the calendar necessary!

Commit to making decluttering a part of your daily mindset to chip away at reclaiming your spaces in small bursts. I promise you’ll be surprised at how quickly you can create more space and breathing room in your home.

Now tell us below, which of these 3 short burst decluttering ideas are you going to try first? And please circle back and let us know how it goes!

How can I help? Want more support decluttering in your home?

Free Declutter Guide

Learn the basics of Decluttering

Declutter Your Home Masterclass

Schedule Decluttering Support

Zero Dollar Spring Wardrobe Refresh Tips

Whenever I hear zero dollar tips, my ears perk up…you too? Today we’re going to focus on your Spring wardrobe and how you can refresh what you already have in your closet and drawers. These Spring wardrobe tips will help you more creatively and resourcefully get dressed with more ease, more options, and without spending money. Shall we?!

You decide what feels Spring for you. Truth be told, most of my wardrobe crosses over most seasonal boundaries. Over the years I’ve found that I do like having a few pieces that pull me out of the dark, cold winter months to perk up my mood and my mindset. I suggest you have a few of those pieces to boost your spirits too.

Assess what you have.

First I want you to take a thorough look at your clothing and accessories currently in your home. Getting reacquainted with what you have in your closet (or things you haven’t worn in a while) will give you clarity on what you own in your closet/drawers/etc. If you haven’t decluttered/edited your clothing and accessories in a while, head to my last post on simple tips to Declutter Your Wardrobe for Spring. After a light edit and survey of what you have you’ll be ready to rock!

Move things around.

One of my top tips for breathing new life into any space, including your closet/drawers, is to move things around. But not just move things around randomly, move things strategically around a specific goal (in this case, showcasing your Spring or warmer weather favorites). For example, as we shift into this next month, you’ll want to intentionally move Spring-focused garments/pieces in a spot that is front, center and easy to see. Now take a moment to look at your current closet space. Let’s say you organize your closet by garment type (pants, shorts, blouses, short sleeve, long sleeves, sweaters, scarves, etc.). To shift it for Spring, you’re going to reorganize what’s in each section from Spring back to Winter. For many of us, this looks like lighter/brighter colors on the left and then moving gradually to darker pieces over to the right. This alone will help you get visual cues for Spring all throughout your closet and give you a fresh perspective on your clothing. You can use this same idea for your drawers with folded up tshirts, pants, shorts, etc. And don’t forget to keep those essential basics (favorite pants, joggers, jeans, tops, layering pieces, etc.) in a spot that is easy to get to, as they create the foundation for any season you move into.

Scarves, bandanas and hair accessories are my secret weapon when shifting between seasons. Scarves/bandanas can be worn around your neck in a variety of ways, almost like a necklace, or in your hair like a headband or wrap. They are a limitless resource to take an outfit that feels heavy/wintery into a lighter Spring style.

Leverage accessories.

Regardless of the type of accessories you have or collect, these are essential pieces that can help shift your wardrobe into Spring (or any season). Some of my personal favorites are light weight scarves/bandanas (in my hair, around my neck a few different ways), jewelry (I like to pull out some of my bigger/lighter earrings for example), and changing up my lip color (yes I do consider that an accessory). My scarves/bandanas are my secret weapon helping me feel endlessly creative when updating my wardrobe. I have some vintage ones I’ve collected over the year from estate sales/thrifting, a few favorites from Madewell, and of course the hippo bandana I designed for the shop. Other items to consider are belts (love adding more color with thinner belts or lighter woven ones), shoes, jewelry, nail polish color, bags, hair accessories and hats. I’m sure I’m missing something but you’re catching my drift. There’s so many items you likely already have in your wardrobe that can help shift your style into a lighter Spring vibe.

Get creative.

Do “Spring” however you want. You can google spring style trends like I did here. You can also ignore all of them (common for me). You can scope out some ideas on Pinterest and throw together a Spring style board to give you ideas for outfit combos you’d like to try out from things already in your own wardrobe (I love to do this for all seasons when I get bored getting dressed). As I discussed in my last blog post about decluttering your wardrobe for Spring you can walk through your favorite stores or visually shop online for outfit/clothing Spring ideas without ever buying a thing. If you can do this for decor in your home, you absolutely can do this to inject some inspiration into your Spring wardrobe! Take pictures, save images of your favorites and challenge yourself to try out some new combinations and have more fun getting dressed.

Pay attention.

As you move through this Spring seasons, I want you to pay particular attention to a few things. One, what are your favorite go-tos that you feel like you can wear endlessly over and over again? These are your Spring essentials that help make everyday life easy! Two, what pieces are you avoiding? Are they still around after a light edit but you’re still not wearing them? To bring them into more focus, move them to a highly visible spot in the front of your closet or out on a hook so you give more attention to them. Wear them in your home for half a day and see how you feel in them. Give them a test run out for a few errands. Living life in these pieces that you’re on the fence about will give you an answer if they should stay or go. Sometime trying on a garment with pieces you’ve never worn them with before breathes new life into them and you fall back in love with it. Mix it up. Test things out. Edit as you go if needed.

Just remember as we move into this Spring season and warmer weather, make sure to check back in with your closet, drawers and accessories to gain clarity on what you already have. Just like you need to shop your pantry before you create a grocery list, you need to do the same thing with your wardrobe. Often breathing new life into your ‘getting dressed routine’ is as simple is putting fresh eyes on things you already have.

Want more support decluttering your clothing closet/wardrobe for Spring + beyond?

Clothing Closet Declutter Guide

Learn the basics of Decluttering

Let me know how I can support you in your home.

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Declutter Your Wardrobe + Accessories For Spring

Attention!!! I am NOT going to tell you to toss or donate the bulk of your wardrobe and start fresh for Spring! Nope! Instead we’re going to declutter your wardrobe and accessories for Spring from a lighter, more resourceful approach. Together we’ll walk through how to quickly edit your wardrobe and dress so it’s more effortless, some easy steps to make better sense of the closet space/drawers you have to store everything more efficiently, and become more resourceful with the clothing you already have. Are you in?! Good. Let’s get started.

I’ve discovered over the years that getting dressed is the easiest for me + my brain when my closet + drawers are organized by color. Take some time to figure out what organizational style works best for you so getting dressed feels as effortless as possible.

1. Clarify how you like to get dressed.

Probably not the first question you thought I was going to ask you! For example, I love getting dressed by color. 95% of the days throughout the year, color drives my initial choices of how I get dressed, followed by what the weather/activities for the day are steering. This might look a little different for you. Take some time to think through how you like to get dressed and what feels most intuitive for you. Is it pure function? Is it based on patterns you like to wear? Do you prefer to have a uniform of sorts (you love wide-legged trousers and a fun blouse for work most days)? It’s OK to have a combo of these on different days of the week or 2-3 primary ways you enjoy getting dressed. Get in tune with this so you can better organize your closet space to support what works best for you (see future steps).

Bonus Tips:

If you’re not quite sure about how to do this, I suggest you observe how you get dressed for the next week. What make getting dressed feel easy? What makes it feel challenging or frustrating? What order do you like to get dressed in with each garment? What color or colors do you gravitate towards? Did you always pull out extra layers to pair with basics? How do you dress differently on certain days or times of day? These are just a few different ways you can document how you naturally get dressed to help steer how you’ll edit and organize your closet/drawers in the next steps.

2. Do a light, strategic edit.

In this Spring wardrobe and accessories decluttering round, I only want you to focus on these 3 things:

• Remove Spring/Summer items you haven’t worn in the last few years - including items you’ve fallen out of love with or have been avoiding for a while, don’t fit well or are uncomfortable

• Remove items that don’t align with how you want to dress in your real day to day life (ie. the observations you uncovered in the step 1)

• Remove accessories, outerwear, shoes, etc. that haven’t seen the light of day in years - if you do uncover something you forgot about that you love, let’s move it somewhere prominent so it can be enjoyed (see step 3)

Bonus Tips:

After you do this light edit, make sure to prepare items that can be resold or worn again for donations. Wash, clean, fold and organize items by type to help whoever receives your items get them in the right hands quickly. Donate items in recyclable paper bags, boxes or reusable bags to reduce waste during the process. Items beyond repair or can’t be resold can be sent for textile recycling. Check out more resources here.

3. Move things around to dress for the new season.

One of the bonus benefits of doing a wardrobe decluttering is a greater awareness of exactly what you own. Having this mental clarity is incredibly powerful! It helps you become more creative with what you already own and keeps you from running out to buy new pieces. Keep these next tips in mind while reorganizing your closet/drawers for this new season.

• Group hanging items by how you like to get dressed (example by color, by garment type, by pattern, by occasion/activity, or a combo of any of these - use your insights from step 1)

• Move things in a spot that you want to wear in a prominent place, like on a highly visible wall hook, in the front of the group of blouses, on the top or in the front of a folded stack - think about how a store would merchandise their goods for maximum beauty and visibility when highlighting these items

• Clothing you’re keeping that’s for a different season/weather can move out of the prime real estate spots of your drawers and closet space (think back of drawers, up high, tucked away, in a container under the bed, in the back of the closet)

• When folding shirts/pants/shorts/etc. group by colors that you enjoy most in that season and move other seasonal favorite colors (like for fall for example) towards the back if you don’t plan to wear them anytime soon

Bonus Tips:

Pay attention to items in your wardrobe you can wear through several seasons. These pieces should be easy to see and access at all times. They deserve prime real estate in your closet and drawers since they create the foundation of a versatile, flexible wardrobe.

Dressing for Spring is all about transitioning between cooler + warmer temperatures, often within the same day. I love pairing a classic black pair of joggers with a blouse or top that feels like Spring. I’ll layer it with a sweater, a scarf or hat to stay warm as needed. Above: One of my favorite lavender thifted tops I purchased from Third Sister Thrift.

4. Get creative + resourceful with what you have.

Instead of running out to buy new pieces this Spring, I want to challenge you to utilize the clothing and accessories you already have. Here’s my top tips for extending your wardrobe and reinventing what you have so it feels fresh and new (for free)!

• Dress in layers - while the weather is likely still shifting from cooler temps to warmer, you can take a typical Fall/Winter top and add a “Spring friendly” cardigan, blazer or scarf to change the entire look while still staying warm (I love dresses or skirts layered with sweaters/sweatshirts to stay warm while there’s still a chill outside)

• Utilize accessories - scarves, jewelry, hats, headbands, shoes, nail/lip color can all take a Winter look and completely transform it to feeling lighter and fresher for warmer weather

• Shop your favorite stores for ideas - without buy anything, peruse the aisles or online collections for what’s new for spring and see what aligns with what you already have in your closet; I also like to check out the seasonal thrifted ideas from thredUP that are usually at the top of their homepage

Bonus Tips:

Friendly reminder that you NEVER have to follow trends you see in the fashion world. Choose what you love and what you feel good in. Pay attention to what colors, prints and patterns you always gravitate towards and weave those in all year long with slight tweaks for the season as it makes sense for you/seasonal temperatures.

5. Plan + play with what you have.

One evening when you have a little time, pull out a few favorite staples in your wardrobe (for Spring or those classic anytime pieces you love - think a favorite t-shirt and favorite pair of joggers). Lay these pieces out on your bed and then pull out a few different layers /accessories to change up this look for different temperatures/styles depending on where you live/your daily life. Also consider how you can dress this combination up or dress it down. Challenge yourself to come up with at least 5 ways to make it feel like 5 different outfits. I did something similar to this last Fall with 10ish different combinations with the same few pieces. You can try out this same concept for Spring. Check it out here on Instagram.

Bonus Tips:

Consider taking pictures/document your ideas while you brainstorm different outfit combinations. You can organize your closet around these ideas or simply keep a “Spring Outfits” photo folder on your phone. You can do something similar with looks you find on Pinterest and keep a photo/idea log there. Have a friend over to help or hop on facetime to share ideas while you brainstorm new clothing combinations for the next season. Your friend might even have a piece or two they no longer wear that you do a swap for to refresh both of your Spring wardrobes!

Once you’ve moved through this process in the small bits of time you have, you’ll better clarify how you want to dress, be more in touch with the pieces you already have in your wardrobe, and you’ll better utilize the closet and drawer space you have. By taking a short time to brainstorm clothing combinations you’ll take the guesswork out of it later on, saving you time/mental bandwidth. Wins all around!

Want more support decluttering your clothing closet/wardrobe for Spring + beyond?

Clothing Closet Declutter Guide

See all Declutter Tools + Guides

Let me know how I can support you in your home.

Drop your comments below. Thanks for being here!

3 Things You're Doing That Sabotage Your Decluttering Efforts (+ what to do instead)

I have a lot of repeat conversations with family, friends and new clients about how they put effort into decluttering in their home, only to see clutter come back with vengeance. I’m here to help you take back control of the decluttering in your home so your effort isn’t wasted.

Kitchen counters can harbor a lot of stress when they’re covered in “stuff”, from drying dishes, to appliances, to randomness that needs to get put away. Aim to have out as little as on those kitchen counters as much as possible.

1. Inconsistent home reset routines.

I'm talking about a nightly clean up + reset in the main spaces of the home, hanging up clothing in your room at the end of the bed, clearing off kitchen counters, etc. Doing these daily, quick tidying moments make decluttering so much easier when you go to do it because everything isn't screaming for your attention that simply needs to be put away.

Bonus Take-Action Tip:

Write down one thing you can do to create more order in your home tonight before you go to bed. Just pick one. Start consistently doing it this week and pay close attention to how it positively sets you up for the next day. Example: Put all the dishes away on the counters before bed so you wake up to an uncluttered kitchen and not an immediate to do list.

2. Not having a decluttering mindset everyday.

Tap the brakes, I am not asking you to declutter everyday, not at all. I am asking you to see your home through a lens of decluttering as much as possible. When you see something in your kitchen you never use + it's jamming up your drawer, remove it. When your kiddo comes to you with clothing that doesn't fit anymore, remove it. Better yet, set up a small zone somewhere in your home for donation to go the second you notice they need to go. Decluttering (most of the time) is not this big massive effort. It can + should be chipped away at in little bits!

Bonus Take-Action Tip:

Do a quick check in at the end of the week…did you observe anything this week that you no longer need, was grown out of or is beyond repair? Go ahead and remove those items (toss, recycle, donate). To help you remember, set a reoccurring appointment on your phone once a week that says ‘declutter?’ as a reminder and take action as needed.

If kids are in your home, anytime is a good time to declutter. From books they no longer read or have outgrown, to clothing that no longer fits. Things are constantly changing, growing and evolving with them and it’s the perfect reminder to maintain a declutter mindset with everything in our home.

3. Waiting until you have the perfect time to declutter. 

NEWS FLASH MY LOVE, IT AIN'T COMING!! The perfect time will never show up so please stop waiting! So to recap…start anywhere, at anytime! Small, consistent bits of progress will serve you well + win every time over obsessing about the right time to spend hours decluttering, burning yourself out + making you miserable! Be proud of where you're at + keep going!

Bonus Take-Action Tip:
One way to easily integrate decluttering in your full schedule is to get it down on paper. In whatever time amount you’re comfortable with, jot down your plan. Example: I plan to declutter for 15 minute bursts at least 3 times this week. The more specific, the more likely it is to happen. Pick one zone or move to different areas. Progress is progress, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

“Success doesn't come from what you do occasionally, it comes from what you do consistently.” – Marie Forleo

Want more decluttering tools and tips? Here’s more you can find in the shop.

Clothing Closet Declutter Guide Entire Home Declutter Kit

Declutter Guide for Kids All Access Declutter Bundle

Let me know how I can support you in your home.

Drop your comments below. Thanks for being here!

How To Start Your New Year: 3 Easy Tips To Simplify Your Life + Home

Truth time. I hate the pressure of starting the New Year off “right” and I’m a natural born goal setter and go-getter. There’s pressure to have goals, set intentions, do more, be more, do better. I’d like to take a counterintuitive approach in sharing 3 tips with you that will reduce your overwhelm day to day and simplify your life and home. We are setting no goals here, just offering ways to simplify your life. Deal? Ok, let’s get started.

Creating peace in my office niche has both to do with how the physical space looks/feels + with what’s lurking in my email inbox. Both need + deserve attention to be maintained.

1. Unsubscribe to Emails

Now I want you to be ruthless in this email unsubscribe purge effort for 10-15 minutes. The plan is to start unsubscribing from emails you don’t read or doesn’t add value to your life.

Make it happen: Look for marketing emails to stores you don’t shop at, emails you never signed up for (it happens), blog or email subscriptions to content that no longer interest you. Also consider changing the frequency setting to once a month to stores/shops you love but don’t want to hear from them as often.

Benefits: You’ll scroll less and have less emails to manage. By creating more boundaries in your email inbox, the more time you’ll save and the less overwhelmed you’ll be by your inbox.

Bonus tip: Do this a few times a year to keep your inbox wrangled (I like to do it at the change of a season since it’s easy to remember) . Deleting unwanted emails is a separate effort. If you struggle with this, schedule a reoccurring appointment on your calendar once a week for a short burst of concentrated effort to simplify your inbox.

Having the beds made in the kids’ room is crucial so the room doesn’t feel incredibly small as a shared space. When the beds are made, they tend to put their clothes away quicker and keep the room cleaner overall to maintain the fresh feeling they walked into. Since my kids are still young, this is often a joint effort and modeling this skill is the first step.

2. Make Your Bed Everyday

Don’t come at me like I’m a crazy person, OK? The benefits far outweigh the 2 minutes of bed-making, trust me.

Make it happen: Carve out 2 minutes in the morning, before you leave the house or dig into your workday, and make your bed. If you find that it is taking more than 2 minutes to make your bed, you need to do a bed audit. Remove all the unnecessary extras (excessive throw pillows or blankets) and keep only on the bed what is useful, beautiful and cozy.

Benefits: You set an invisible intention for the day that you value your space, your time and your home. Your room will instantly look more streamlined, spacious and cleaner. This clean visual cue (a made a bed) is a mood booster cue anytime you walk past or in your bedroom.

Bonus tip: One of my favorite ways to streamline and modernize the look of your bed (minus a big price tag) is to place a long lumbar pillow on top of your sleep pillows. It adds a moment of design, elevates the look of the bed, and is useful for your back if you like to sit up in bed and read at night.

3. Clear Off Your Kitchen Counters

I don’t care if you love to cook, don’t love to cook, have a large kitchen, have a tiny kitchen. I want you to take 5ish minutes before you turning in for the night to wrangle as much chaos in your kitchen so the next morning you don’t walk into an immediate to do list. Deal?

Make it happen: set a timer for 5ish minutes and hit the kitchen highlights. Put dishes away. Load the dishwasher. Clean things out of the sink. Put anything away sitting out on the counters that doesn’t need to be out. Wipe the counters down. Put things back where they belong.

Benefits: When you walk into your kitchen the next morning, it’s such a relief to walk into a fresh, clean space versus an immediate to-do list. Remember the saying “clear counters = a clear mind”? It’s a real thing. When there’s less visual clutter there’s less stress and overwhelm. Not to mention it will simplify your food prep throughout the day, saving you time and sanity.

Bonus tip: Create a predictable system/routine for washing dishes, whether it is handwashing or running the dishwasher. Know when it’s easier to run it and carve out a few minutes to put clean dishes away. I also want to encourage you to ditch your dish drying racks for good. They take up a ton of countertop space and encourage poor habits (like letting dishes just sit there without every being put away for days on end). Opt for a dish towel instead and hang it up after you put the clean dishes away. You’ll thank me later for all the extra counter space you’ll have back in your kitchen! You’re welcome!

When we take a few moments to simplify small bits in our day to day, the benefits continue long after. They also encourage us to value the spaces we have, what we own, and take better care of ourselves with just a few small shifts in our day.

I can’t wait to hear how these tips impact your entire day (please share below)!

If you have more in your home you’d like to simplify, check these handy tools in the shop:

Business + Life Simplifying Guide Clothing Closet Declutter Guide

Declutter Guide for Kids The Ultimate Kitchen + Pantry Guide

Let me know how I can support you in your home.

Drop your comments below. Thanks for being here!

5 Ways To Lighten Your Holiday Load

The holidays often come with unwanted pressure, stress, obligations eating up your time and that awful busy feeling we all hate. In an effort to go against the grain (as we like to do here), I’ve come up with some tried and true ways that will help lighten your load this holiday season, fill up your bucket and help you focus on what’s most important to you (minus the overwhelm and stress).

1. Unsubscribe From Unwanted Emails

Not where you thought I was going to start, am I right?!

Your inbox is about to be inundated with marketing emails and this is the perfect time to reduce what’s landing in your inbox. Within a few days and into the first week you’ll start noticing far less emails in your inbox to review, and less emails taking up your time.

WHAT TO DO:

• put the timer on for 10 minutes

• start unsubscribing from emails you no longer want to receive

• delete emails you’ve already read + gathered what you needed from it

• unsubscribe from stores/blogs/websites you never engaged with this year

  
  

2. Do A Quick Seasonal Declutter

I’m not talking about a huge entire home purge here, but editing things in a few key areas will feel like a full home declutter.

This is a great time to assess items that weren’t used, worn, not longer your taste or have expired. The change of seasons almost beckons for this, so let’s lean in! These three categories alone will have a far reaching effect on your day to day routines and how much you’re having to store/manage seasonally.

WHAT TO DO:

• declutter seasonal decor as you pull it out to decorate your home (remove anything broken, you’ve fallen out of love it, have recently replaced, etc.).

• declutter your cooler weather clothing/outerwear/accessories (if you never wear it, it doesn’t fit or beyond repair, send it on to donate or textile recycling)

• declutter your fridge, freezer, pantry + spices (look for items you’re not eating or have expired) - donate anything unopened/not expired to your local food bank - have a list handy for writing down any items that need to be restocked

3. Look For Timer Savers

Many of you expressed to me that part of your biggest frustrations with the holiday season is feeling like you don’t have enough time for everything, therefore looking for ways to streamline your have-to tasks is a must.

Doing a quick time audit (where’s your time going each day) plus looking for ways to save time will help you get back in control of your days so you can enjoy what’s most important to you. Below are just a few examples that can be applied in many different ways.

WHAT TO DO:

• write down things that are upcoming that are important to you that you want to make time this for this holiday season to put those into focus

• identify things that can be done in advance or in bundled bursts to create more time for those important holiday activities/gatherings - this could be bundling cleaning or laundry tasks, scheduling a grocery order to save time or recruiting others to help with any of these basic but essential tasks

• take care of shopping/errands during a low-traffic times on a weekday if you can, handle it all online or place an order for pick up for a convenient time

• time saving example: I stock up on a few of my favorite appetizers that I can find in the frozen section for a few holiday occasions that save me lots of time (+ I like to pair with fresh fruits + veggies = is easy + fast)

• time saving example: I love making fresh pie crusts but I often don’t have the steam for it so I spent time finding my favorite pre-made frozen brand as a back up that is delicious + preserves my energy for other things - I’ll stock up on several for pies, quiches + more!

4. Look For Things You Can Eliminate

Instead of saying yes to all the things, which we often feel compelled to do, try to looking for things that aren’t “have-tos” to let go of this season.

Saying no to things can be just as or more powerful than saying yes. And ironically, saying no to more things allows you to say yes to things that actually matter. Here’s a few ideas to help you recapture more time, energy + peace this holiday season.

WHAT TO DO:

• eliminate any social gatherings that you don’t want to be a part of - no reasons are needed, promise!

• eliminate the need to make all the food for an event - ask others to bring things, order food in advance or try a combo of making some + buying some already made to lighten your load

• eliminate the pressure to buy new decor, a new outfit, or big gifts - repurpose what you have + gift with heart/intention - the size + cost doesn’t matter

• eliminate the need/pressure to buy “things” to give to others - offer up your time, cook a meal, gift an experience, offer to fix something or do housework for someone or make something with your own two hands

• eliminate the pressure for family photos, holiday cards, etc. if you’re heart is not in it this year, don’t do it - save your money + energy - take intentional time to connect with those you care about most when you can + call it a day (or year!)

5. Fill Up Your Bucket + Others

Lightening your load is very much intertwined with how you care for yourself + others.

In a season where the feeling of “busy” seems inevitable, let’s slow down + look for ways to do just the opposite. Here’s a few ideas to get you going.

WHAT TO DO:

• donate to a favorite charity or new one in your area for a cause you’re wanting to support/impact this season

• take some quiet walks to move your body, get some fresh air + clear your mind - or meet up with a friend to walk together

• surprise a neighbor with a meal or homemade treats they might not be able to make for themselves

• schedule in downtime and quiet alone time to rest your body + mind

• take some leisurely power naps + read more

• focus on local shops and small businesses for gifting and home good needs

• incorporate a free family activity or fun with friends like driving around to see Christmas + holiday lights in your area on Friday nights until New Years

• schedule a low key game night with family or friends + maybe throw in some hot chocolate, popcorn or store bought treat/keep it easy!

• call, text or write a quick note of encouragement to friend/family member

• purchase high priority items from an Amazon wish list for a local non-profit or charity - check their website or send them an email to inquire more

Get creative, start looking more intentionally and I promise you’ll find lots of ways to take your time + energy back while doing some good for yourself + others.

Wishing you all the happiest + healthiest of Holidays!

Thanks for being here + I’ll see you in the next post.

5 Things I'm Intentionally Taking Slow Right Now

Summer seems to slow us down from the heat and a shift in routines for most of us. I can’t say I needed the heat to crank up like it has recently here in NTX but the shift in routine has proven to be critical to my body, my mind and my soul as I’ve moved through the first few weeks of it.

During this shift, here’s 5 things I’ve decided to take intentionally slow right now, and invite you to come up with your own list as well.

#1. The pace of my business

Ya’ll, this last spring was fast and furious. It seemed to wildly fly by. I was wrapping up the creation of my new Organized Home Masterclass that rolled out literally the day my oldest daughter finished school. I couldn’t believe I had made it to the finish line. But all along last spring, my intention was to roll out that program in order to down shift for the summer with my girls. And somehow I did it!

Last summer was quite different, as I rolled out my Ultimate Kitchen + Pantry Guide smack in the middle of the summer to celebrate my 10th year in business as Fuzzy Hippo Shop in July of 2021. For me celebrating this milestone meant I wanted to create something new for you, and that’s exactly what I did! I knew, however, this summer needed to be different, as I didn’t have the mental or physical energy to repeat this. It was critical I shifted my timeline to make space for a slower paced summer.

This summer, while I am still very much running my business on reduced and adjusted hours around being with my kids, the focus is a lot more about letting my mind wander and hold space for new ideas to develop, while my business mind is allowed to be less busy and more quiet. I can’t wait to share with you more about the new shifts in my business that will happen in the future! So excited!

#2. The speed in which I do things all day

Up until summer, I found myself rushing through almost everything I was doing all day, even when there was no reason to do so. Rush to wash my face and put on make up, rush getting dressed, rush making the bed, rush making breakfast, etc. You see where I am going. This had all been conditioned to get my babies to their school on time, which is all fine and well, but I was struggling to control when to go fast and when to go slow. It’s like I always tell my kids, there are times to move quickly (like move across the road quickly because a car is coming) or slow, when chopping veggies for dinner so we don’t get hurt.

Those are two basic examples, and I’m finding we need both rhythms everyday in some capacity. Some days need to be intentionally slow to rest and refill out bucket. Some parts of our day might be more action packed, but then maybe we downshift later on to reduce that feeling of rush that we all dislike so much. Either way, we can control these rhythms and we can decide when they happen or need to shift. And this lady is currently in slow down mode.

#3. How I exist with my children

Kids move fast, run fast, play fast. I’m intentionally trying to join in with them during the day when I can in slow ways. Reading or snuggling together on the couch. Sitting on the floor with them to have a tea party or play a game. Sit on the floor and watch them build something while I stretch after we walk the dog. Often I find the change in position/change in the level I am on helps a lot. Getting" out of the “standing over and observing mode” and sit down on the floor, lay down or pull up a stool to engage always helps things slow down. And my kids love when I am on their level by the way. We all win!

Also worth noting, anytime outside with my kids (or even if I am alone) feels slower, whether it is picking tomatoes in the garden, listening to the birds, watering, looking at butterflies bouncing around on the zinnias, or looking underneath the big vining leaves for cucumbers. Being outside seems to freeze time, especially if you have an ice pop or popcicle in hand!

#4. Taking slow walks with my dog

I am walking in the neighborhood with my girls most mornings now that we are all home and at first I was feeling a little annoyed that my morning walks were no longer a fast-paced exercise for me to get my rear moving. Now we’re walking at a much slower pace with little legs. Once I got out of my head about this I was just simply grateful to be with my kids outside during the coolest part of the day, getting fresh air, listening to the birds, practicing our car/street crossing safety, looking for cool leaves, rocks and feathers to bring home, etc.

My walks during the summer have a different purpose and I have learned to be ok with this. It’s also given us a chance to connect more with some of our elderly neighbors we don’t get to see as much during the rest of the year, bring them tomatoes from our garden or flowers, and just so many other things that in the rush of the pace before would not have happened before.

#5. My meal planning structure

You know I’m an avid meal planner during most of the year because it saves me so much brain power, time and money. But during the summer I ease up a bit on the planning and loosen the reigns with how I meal plan. If I feel like doing it one week, I do it. If I decide that we’re going to eat meals to “clear out the fridge this week” then so be it, and I write nothing down. A lot of our meals right now are swirling around how I am going to use all these beautiful garden tomatoes, and what a wonderful problem to have! I don’t know about you but my appetite shifts a lot during the summer as well, in that a lot of foods don’t sound as good because of the heat. So often what I will do is jot down a few dinners that do sound good and just put those bad boys on repeat and not look back. I highly recommend it!

And when you’re ready to dive back into meal planning or want to test it it out to see just how much mental bandwidth it saves you, check out all the notepad/list helpers I have in the paper shop to make all of this so much easier to do! Your brain space and energy during those more chaos filled days will thank you!

Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

What’s something your doing this summer to intentionally slow down? I can’t wait to hear what great ideas you have to share with us!

Thanks for being here.