Here in St. Louis, we’re enjoying some unseasonably warm weather. It’s been in the low 80s for a few days. And tomorrow is Halloween!
It just hit me that it’s almost November and I need to get my holiday cards ordered. But I haven’t even started the process.
As you’re thinking about your Christmas or Hanukkah gift list this year do you think you could approach some of the adults on the list and propose that you not exchange gifts at all?
Tagged with: ease, gift giving, gifts, holidays, worth repeating
I have a personal motto that serves me well. I’ve talked about it here before (many times). Here it is:
I love sending holiday cards and I like to give myself plenty of time to write in each one. I send two cards: One from Peace of Mind Organizing for clients and colleagues and one for family and friends from my husband and me.
I wrote this blog post a couple of years ago and when I read it again today, I was pleased to see that literally nothing has changed. Minted has made holiday cards so easy for me that I did exactly the same thing this year as I did last year and the year before that. Since it’s working so well for me, I thought I’d share again. The picture is the one we used for this year’s personal postcard.
Tagged with: cards, ease, holidays, worth repeating
I’m a big proponent of letting the holidays be easier by planning ahead. This year it’s more important than ever to plan ahead for holiday gift giving.
Tagged with: ease, gift giving, gifts, holidays
My word of the year for 2021 is ease. I don’t think I’ve ever had a more appropriate word. I’ve set the intention of trying to build more ease into my life and also use ease as a parameter around which I make decisions. For this particular time in my life it feels great.
Tagged with: ease, goals, planning, resolutions
It’s 5:30 pm on a Thursday and for the fourth day in a row, I’ve been disappointed by how few items on my task list I was able to accomplish. The problem isn’t my productivity. The problem is my task list. And it’s also my mindset.
Tagged with: ease, task list, task management, trello
I enjoy sending holiday cards. I actually always send out New Year’s cards because I like that they’re secular and they take away a little of the time pressure. I send two sets: business and personal. Over the years I’ve been simplifying and making the process of sending out cards easier and easier.
I don’t celebrate Christmas, so December is a very easy month for me. I give few gifts so I don’t have to worry about shopping. And I don’t decorate at all.
But one I thing I enjoy doing is sending holiday cards. I send two sets: One for Peace of Mind Organizing clients and colleagues and one for personal friends. (The personal set always sports a picture of our very photogenic standard poodle, Bix, on the front.) Over the years I’ve been simplifying and making the process of sending out cards easier and easier.
I wrote this post two years ago. Today I will finish addressing my business’s holiday cards and I used exactly the same method, though I shortened the window by writing in 20 cards per day, rather than 10. I have 70 personal cards to send out—but I have in hand—so I’ll get those done in the next week (or less). I love Minted and particularly appreciate their beautiful (and convenient) envelope addressing! It really helps make the process effortless!
Tagged with: cards, ease, holidays, worth repeating
Today I was contacted by Letterbox, a new app debuting on November 30 designed specifically to help people hang on to the cards they receive, digitally and clutter-free.
I’m a big believer in not giving people clutter as gifts. In my clients’ homes, I often see how hard it is for them to let go of items they received as a gift, even if they don’t like or don’t use the item. As I’ve blogged about before I’m in favor of making the holiday season easier on gift givers by simplifying or limiting the gifts you give and receive.
Tagged with: ease, gift giving, gifts, holidays
I’m thinking about holiday cards for my clients and colleagues and I’m whispering to myself, “Let it be easy.” In the past, I’ve tended to make holiday cards way more complicated than they need to be.
Tagged with: cards, ease, holidays, worth repeating
I finished doing my business’s holiday cards this weekend. I send out about 125 cards to clients and colleagues and this year I managed to do it without stress.
On Friday, I started a one-year term as President of NAPO-St. Louis, our local chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers. I’ve been an active member of the chapter since its inception in 2006. In fact, I was on the first board of directors, serving six years first as Membership Director, then President, then Immediate Past President. I retired from the board in May of 2012, but agreed to return for a term as President when there wasn’t someone else available to step forward.
Tagged with: ease, napo, napo st. louis
I originally wrote this post in 2013. In my life anyway, it’s more true now than ever. Yesterday I hired someone to shovel our walks and alley after about four inches of snow fell. What a relief that was! There is so much help offered out there. We can all benefit by accepting it.
Sometimes I wonder why it is so hard for most of us to accept help. By the time I’m called into a client’s home, she (or, sometimes, he) typically has contemplated hiring me for weeks, months, or years. And typically that time is filled with guilt, self-recrimination and stress.
Tagged with: ease, friendship, help, worth repeating
I wrote the blog post below on May 9, 2012. That’s when we started making jerky treats for our dog, Kirby, after I learned that dogs were getting sick from eating jerky treats imported from China. Eighteen months later, the problem persists. According to an article in yesterday’s New York Times as of last month there have been 3,600 reports of illnesses related to the treats, and 580 deaths, almost all of them dogs.
Tagged with: diy, dogs, ease, empowerment, kirby, worth repeating
Sometimes I wonder why it is so hard for most of us to accept help. By the time I’m called into a client’s home, she (or, sometimes, he) typically has contemplated hiring me for weeks, months, or years. And typically that time is filled with guilt, self-recrimination and stress.
Tagged with: ease, friendship, help
On Wednesdays this summer, I’m dipping into my archives to highlight articles written in the past with messages that bear repeating. Here’s the latest, originally posted on October 14, 2010.
The other day I cleaned out my t-shirt drawer. One of the benefits of having a friend who runs a t-shirt company and creates fabulous new t-shirts designs on a regular basis is that I’m frequently given new t-shirts. I don’t want to say no to them, because they’re wonderful. But I wasn’t employing any kind of “one in/one out” policy.
Tagged with: decluttering, ease, knitting, perfectionism, sally brown, worth repeating
I have a little mantra I’ve mentioned here before.
I think it speaks for itself.
Tagged with: ease, wisdom, worth repeating
As I posted on Halloween, I’m working really hard to make the sending of holiday cards easy this year. I’m happy to report that I’m succeeding!!
I’m thinking about holiday cards for my clients and colleagues and I’m whispering to myself, “Let it be easy.” In the past, I’ve tended to make holiday cards way more complicated than they need to be.
I’m writing this from the Denver airport, on my way from St. Louis to Portland. When I booked this trip, I had a choice of a Denver-to-Portland flight that would mean a 2.75-hour layover or with a one-hour layover. I purposely chose the longer layover so I wouldn’t stress about missing my flight if my outbound flight was delayed.
I’m leaving town tomorrow for more than a week and I’m trying not to let myself get caught up in pre-trip hysteria. Today was back-to-back appointments and I still have a number of things I have to do, like pack (and, before that, figure out what I’m going to pack).
I have a little mantra I’ve mentioned here before.
I think it speaks for itself.
My dog, Kirby, loves chicken jerky treats. I’d been feeding him Beefeaters Chicken Jerky Treats each day as an after-dinner treat. But then the reports came out about potentially tainted chicken jerky treats imported from China. While Beefeaters wasn’t one of the brands that, according to news reports, the FDA has issued warnings about, they are made in China, so we stopped feeding them.
Tagged with: diy, dogs, ease, empowerment, kirby
Everyone seems to hold up balance as an ideal. Like having a balanced life is something we should all want. Heck, even the cork in a bottle of Red Rock Winery wine I drank a couple of weeks ago espoused balance.
I often write about my mantra, Let it be easy. When I get all wound up about something, I’ll take a deep breath and repeat my mantra and things usually get better. Like many people, I have a tendency to make things more complex than necessary and my “Let it be easy” focus has been really helpful.
It snowed much of the day this past Sunday, one top of the half-foot or so we already had, and then on Sunday night there was freezing drizzle. So Monday, I awoke to slippery sidewalks and roads.
The other day I cleaned out my t-shirt drawer. One of the benefits of having a friend who runs a t-shirt company and creates fabulous new t-shirts designs on a regular basis is that I’m frequently given new t-shirts. I don’t want to say no to them, because they’re wonderful. But I wasn’t employing any kind of “one in/one out” policy.
Tagged with: decluttering, ease, knitting, perfectionism, sally brown
Yesterday I typed one of my favorite phrases, one that I learned from Supercoach Michael Neill. That phrase is “Why is it so hard to let it be easy?” I printed it out in a pretty font and posted it to my bulletin board. I want letting things be easy to be my theme for this month.