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.
I wrote this post six years ago and I still think it’s sound advice. The more unloved holiday decor we keep, the harder it is to decorate your home. I urge you to build some ease into your holiday season by following this advice!
Tagged with: declutter, decluttering, decor, holidays, worth repeating
If you bought new Halloween decor this year (or even if you didn’t), I encourage you to take a good look at the Halloween decorations you didn’t put up this year. Rather than just leaving it in the bin when you put away this year’s items, perhaps you could take a few minutes and look through this year’s rejects. Is there decor you could let go of so you don’t have to sort through it next year?
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 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
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.
Yesterday, I watched a client part with the holiday decor that was weighing her down. Bags of decor left her storage room to find a new home with folks who will value it. It felt so good. It led me to write down this piece of advice for you. I’m willing to bet that you’ll be very happy if you implement it.
Tagged with: declutter, decluttering, decor, holidays
A year ago, I wrote about what a great bargain (and clutter-free gift) Amazon Prime is. For $99 a year, I get not only free two-day shipping, but access to TV shows, movies, digital books, audio books, music, magazines, games and photo storage. I decided to run the post again this year, because I’m still thrilled by Amazon Prime. The benefits from last year remain. In checking it out again this year, I saw that I could borrow a Kindle book and synced audiobook free of charge. I love it! By the way, while I’m working on this blog post, I’m listening, free of charge, to the Hamilton Mixtape on Prime Music.
Tagged with: amazon, gift giving, holidays, worth repeating
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
I almost never give an item I’ve knitted as a gift. And that’s because I’ve seen among my clients a real difficulty in giving up an item that was a gift. And it’s even harder to give up hand-made gifts, even if they’ve never been used or loved. Sometimes the gift recipient just doesn’t share the taste of the giver.
Tagged with: gift giving, gifts, holidays, martha stewart, 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’ve been a member of Amazon Prime for years—well over a decade, I’m sure. I first joined when pretty much the only benefit was free two-day shipping (and it cost $79 annually). Now the price is up to $99 but to me it’s an amazing bargain. The free shipping is great. But they have added some benefits that make the $99 expenditure well worth it, even you never have a thing shipped.
Tagged with: amazon, gift giving, 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.
And now for my annual plea not to give gifts that will clutter the recipient’s home. A nice bonus of most of these gifts is they don’t require leaving the house to purchase, so they’re great for Christmas procrastinators. I wrote this post two years ago and I stand by it today.
Tagged with: gift giving, great day st. louis, holidays, worth repeating
I’m a little bit crafty. I love beautiful, handmade items. I knit as a hobby and especially appreciate hand knits.
But I almost never give an item I’ve knitted as a gift. And that’s because I’ve seen among my clients a real difficulty in giving up an item that was a gift. And it’s even harder to give up hand-made gifts, even if they’ve never been used or loved. Sometimes the gift recipient just doesn’t share the taste of the giver.
Tagged with: gift giving, gifts, holidays, martha stewart
I love giving gifts that leave no clutter footprint. If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know that every year this time of year I blog about giving gifts that don’t create clutter.
Tagged with: amazon, gift giving, holidays
I’m all about letting the holidays be easy. And I’m also very keen on not giving gifts that might weigh the recipient down. I see in my clients a tendency to hang onto items that were given as gifts, even if the items aren’t used or loved.
Tagged with: gift giving, great day st. louis, holidays
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 shot a segment this morning on Great Day St. Louis about clutter-free gift giving, one of my favorite holiday topics.
Tagged with: gift giving, great day st. louis, holidays
As I’ve mentioned here before, ease is my driving force. I have this question, from Supercoach Michael Neill posted on my bulletin board:
Tagged with: holidays, michael neill, simplicty
If you’re on the east coast, it probably felt more like Christmas than Halloween with the blanket of snow that fell.
The holidays are just around the corner. I urge you to do as much, but no more, than you want to do in terms of holiday prep and decorating. If you do like to decorate, give gifts and entertain at holiday time, now’s the time to start getting ready.
Tagged with: aby garvey, holidays
At a meeting at the headquarters of the Institute for Challenging Disorganization the other day, the ICD executive director, Beth Quick-Andrews, paid me a big compliment. She mentioned a blog post I’d written a year and a half ago and how she thinks about its message often. She even told me when I’d posted it.
Tagged with: holidays, icd, self-care, time management
I love the food, of course, and the companionship and camaraderie of a wonderful dinner. And I love taking the day off (which I did, in spades).
Tagged with: gratitude, holidays, thanksgiving
My friend, the fabulous organizer Geralin Thomas, just shared on her Facebook fan page a link to a website that can save you some money on holiday shopping. It’s FreeShipping.org, where you can get coupon codes for free shipping from online vendors. Going there first might help you narrow down where you want to shop!
Tagged with: facebook, geralin thomas, holidays, shopping
It’s a long weekend in the U.S. Memorial Day weekend typically marks the beginning of summer. It’s been feeling like summer here in St. Louis for the past week or two, so it feels like it’s about time.
Tagged with: holidays, self-care, time management
I subscribe to the Weekly Quick Tip that organizer Aby Garvey sends out every week. Yesterday’s was fantastic. She said it came to her from a participant in one of her online workshops.
Tagged with: aby garvey, gift wrap, holidays, recycling
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.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m really lucky because we never host Thanksgiving dinner, so Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday I have to get ready for. My husband even does the cooking for our contribution to dinner. But I know I’m unusual. Many people are looking around their houses this week, thinking of what they have to do to whip it into shape for guests.
Tagged with: declutter happy hour, decluttering, holidays, quick clutter fix, shannon wilkinson
I have the honor of being a guest blogger today at Gimundo, the popular good-news-only website and enewsletter. My post is on staying sane and organized around Thanksgiving guests.
Tagged with: guest post, holidays
I can’t believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I love Thanksgiving. And I’m really lucky because Thanksgiving doesn’t mean work for me. We’ve had turkey on the fourth Thursday of November every year since 1988 at the home of dear friends. My husband cooks our contribution. All I have to do is show up and eat. (And contribute to conversation.)
Tagged with: clutter, company, declutter happy hour, decluttering, holidays, shannon wilkinson
I encourage my clients (and Declutter Happy Hour participants) to be sure and take breaks and build in rewards when they’re working hard (on clutter or anything else).
Tagged with: holidays, knitting, napo st. louis, relaxation, rewards
As I posted a week ago, I love the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Traditionally, it’s the week that I get my ducks in a row, plan for the coming year and basically get my act together.
Tagged with: goals, holidays, jennifer hofmann, motivation, planning, spa day
Nevertheless I love this time of year. In particular, I love the week between Christmas and New Year’s. First, that week is bookended by two days off, which is fabulous. And in between, no one really expects anyone to get anything done. Free of expectations of others, it’s time I can use any way I want. I’ve always used it as a time to get my ducks in a row. It comes right before the new year, a time ripe for goal setting, good intentions, and new beginnings.
As I posted in November, holiday cards are a big project for me. I do two sets: business and personal. Last year I only managed to get the business ones out. (And the sky didn’t fall.) Because of that, I’m bound and determined to do both this year. I’ll send out two hundred or so, in total.
Tagged with: belt-tightening, cards, holidays, stress
If you want to avoid being stressed out by the holidays, now is the time to start planning for them. (Okay, planning for them before now would have been even more helpful, but let’s work with what we have.) As I posted yesterday I encourage you to simplify as much as possible. Streamline the holidays and make it easy on yourself.
Tagged with: aby garvey, holidays, workshops
The election’s behind us and now it’s time to focus on the next big thing: the holidays.
Personally, I’m minimalist when it comes to the December holidays. No decorating. Very little gift buying. Yet I still feel a bit of stress, primarily over my holiday cards. As I’ve posted about before, I send out several hundred cards, each with a personalized note. So it takes awhile. And I’d better get started. There are a number of steps to this project:
There are many things to love about Thanksgiving. It’s a holiday whose whole point is to be grateful for the wonderful things in our life.
Tagged with: gratitude, holidays, thanksgiving
I knit every day, usually while watching TV. It’s how I relax. The bulk of the year my knitting needles have been occupied by Barbara Walker’s Learn-To-Knit Afghan, which has been a wonderful boost to my knitting knowledge, skills and confidence.
Tagged with: deadlines, gifts, holidays, knitpicks, learn to knit afghan, yarn
It’s November, so my mind starts thinking about the holidays and, more specifically, about holiday cards. My husband and I don’t really do Christmas, but I do always send out cards to a long list of people. For some of those folks, it’s the only time of year I communicate with them.
Tagged with: cards, holidays, pets, photographs