The Simple Home

In this episode of The Simple Home Podcast, we'll get the clutter out of your garage!

The garage or any other storage space are usually home to lots of stuff! That's what makes it such a large project to tackle. In the US, 82% of homes have a garage, but only 15% of people park in them. In the UK, 53% of homes have garages, and only 23% of people park in them. (according to an article published by BBC) I'm guessing this is a trend in many other parts of the world as well and might have something to do with all the stuff we house in our garages.

Over the next week or so, I want you to use these tips to declutter and organize your closet and bedroom so you have a relaxing space to start and end each day.

Each week of this series, we'll take on a new space in your home. By the end of this series you'll feel lighter and more peaceful in your home. Plus you'll have the skills you need to work through other spaces as well as maintain the clutter free home you've created. Take a deep breath and take one step at a time. You'll never regret the time it takes to simplify and you'll get the time back tenfold once you're done!

In this episode of The Simple Home Podcast we'll talk about strategies to declutter and organize your kitchen!

• You'll learn how to get started with clearing out the clutter in your garage.
• I'll give you tips for going through the stuff in a way that works for you.
• How to organize the garage so things are easy to find.
• What to think about when decluttering and organizing your garage.
• How to manage the active and storage spaces in your garage.
• We'll declutter our garages and storage spaces together!

Links From This Episode

• At Home With Kids Resources
• The Simple Home Reset

If you’d like to hang out more and stay motivated in between episodes, come join my free Facebook community. It’s full of like minded people who are working hard to simplify their lives too! This work is easier done in community than by yourself so come over and join us!

If this episode inspired you in some way, please take a minute to leave a rating and review on itunes. Use this link, click the 5 starts, and write a short review of the show!

Do you ever feel like all you do is feed your family and then clean up the mess from cooking and eating.

I hear you! Some days I'm not sure I did anything else.

Motherhood and life are full of different seasons.

• Your kids are constantly growing and changing,
• your schedules are growing and changing,
• and you are hopefully growing and changing as well.

Learning how to meal plan in each season and choosing the right meal planning method can make your life feel so much lighter.

2-2-2 Meal Planning Method

Today on The Simple Home Podcast, I talk through Andrea from Adventures in Feeding My Fam all about her simple approach to meal planning, which she calls the 2-2-2 Meal Planning Method.

It took me a long time to embrace meal planning. If you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you know I like to keep things simple and to me, meal planning just sounded like more work. One more thing I had to do each week. I tried so many meal planning methods and failed at most of them. What I learned was I just needed the right one. The one that made my life simpler in the season I was in.

I'm hoping that even if you've written off meal planning, that you'll listen to this episode and learn about Andrea's Meal Planning Method. She's made an entire career of empowering busy moms to get healthy through meal planning and prep while being a great role model for their kids.

Link's from this episode

• Adventures in Feeding My Fam Podcast
• Adventures in Feeding My Fam Website
• Adventures in Feeding My Fam Facebook Group

Other Helpful Links

• Meal Planning Bundle
• How to Feed Your Picky Eater
• Take the Stress out of Getting Meals on the Table for Your Family
• Get Kids In The Kitchen with Megan Dague

If you’d like to hang out more and stay motivated in between episodes, come join my free Facebook community. It’s full of like minded people who are working hard to simplify their lives too! This work is easier done in community than by yourself so come over and join us!

If this episode inspired you in some way, please take a minute to leave a rating and review on itunes. Use this link, click the 5 starts, and write a short review of the show!

The key to organization is to make it easy to put things away.

Have you tried to buy all the pretty tubs, label everything, and still find yourself creating piles around your house, just steps from where the item is supposed to go? The problem is, the resistance that’s been created.

In physics, resistance is defined as a measure of the opposition to current flow in an electrical circuit. If you take off the part about the electrical circuit, and define resistance as the measure of the opposition to current flow, it explains why we often can’t put our stuff back where it goes.

I’m chronically disorganized.

If it’s not super simple, I don’t put stuff away. I’ve wondered why I won’t just open a lid to put something away and instead I lay the item on top of the lid. Do you ever do this? Is there a pile of paper sitting right next to your files that hasn’t made its way into the filing box?

I’m not a scientist or a psychologist, so take this advice for what it’s worth, but, for me, this idea of resistance has changed the way I organize my stuff and my life.

I believe every person has the ability to overcome different levels of resistance. Meaning, that some people see a lid on a tub as resistance to putting something away, while others will open the lid without thinking and just put the item inside. My husband is one of those people. He puts things back where they go without much thought at all, no matter what. Me, on the other hand, see the lid as resistance and make a stack next to the tub.

The key to organization is to minimize the amount of resistance to a level that you no longer feel the resistance.

For example, if it isn’t easy for you to put your clothes away after washing them and you find you always leave your clean clothes in a pile on the couch, there is some kind of resistance that you are dealing with.

• It may be that your drawers and closet are so full it’s difficult to put things away.
• It may be that you are doing your laundry late at night and the resistance is that you feel too tired to fold and put it away.
• You may have some mental resistance you’re dealing with. In your head, folding and putting away the laundry feels like a huge task, when in reality it only takes about 5 minutes.

On this week’s episode of The Simple Home Podcast, I talk about this idea of resistance and how important it is to make it easy to put things away. This has been the key for me to simplify and organize and I hope it’s helpful for you as well. Figuring out what our resistance is and then learning how to remove that resistance can make all the difference!

Links From This Episode

• Jump Start Guide to Simple Living
• Meal Planning Bundle
• Keep or Toss Checklist- Toy Edition
• Paper Clutter and Kids- How to handle Kids Artwork, School work, and other paper clutter.

If you’d like to hang out more and stay motivated in between episodes, come join my free Facebook community. It’s full of like minded people who are working hard to simplify their lives too! This work is easier done in community than by yourself so come over and join us!

If this episode inspired you in some way, please take a minute to leave a rating and review on itunes. Use this link, click the 5 starts, and write a short review of the show!

I think we would all agree that the reason we want to simplify our lives is to enjoy more quality time with the people we love, doing the things we want to do. But we look at Pinterest and Facebook and see all the activities we’re supposed to be doing, that even family time feels overwhelming. It’s impossible to keep up and do it all.

With that said, you probably do want to enjoy a few crafts or other activities with your children from time to time.

• You just don’t know how to fit it in.
• You don’t know how to come up with a meaningful craft,
• get it all set up,
• collect the materials,
• and still enjoy the process with your child.

I get it. I’ve had that experience where I find the perfect craft online, I spend hours getting it all ready, I think I’m going to have a blast with my kids, but instead we’re all frustrated by the end and the whole experience is a mess.

This week on The Simple Home Podcast, my guest Theresa Haddow, the founder of The Create Kit, talks about her monthly subscription box that makes crafting with kids easy and fun. She had these same struggles, but knew she wanted to craft with her kids as they grew. She knows the value in arts and crafts from an early age and wanted to simplify the whole process for herself and other parents struggling with the same thing.

One of my favorite parts of her subscription is what an amazing non-toy gift this would make for any child or mother in your life.

I love finding gifts that are meaningful and that don’t add one more toy to our house, and this one is perfect. It comes in the mail, is incredibly reasonably priced, and there are many different packages available to suit your needs. If you also love to give (or get) non-toy gifts for your kids, you’ve got to check these out.

If you’ve ever wished you could include arts and crafts in your child’s life, more regularly, but can’t seem to find the time, this episode is a must.

Key Takeaways

• Theresa shares the developmental benefits of her craft boxes for your children
• She tells how you can easily use them to fill gaps of open time rather than spending hours getting things set up.
• She talks about why she started this business and how she was able to pursue this passion while raising a young child.
• She gives you all the details about what comes in each box and what you can expect.
• As a thank you, she gives a special bonus for those who sign up for a membership

Links

• More information about The Create Kit
• Ready to get the create kit for someone you love? Click here!
• Other Gift Ideas I Love
• Educational Gifts Your Kids Will Love
• Clutter Free With Kids- Interview With Joshua Becker
• The Secret To Getting Your Time Back (As A Busy Mom)

Find this episode

If you're anything like me, you struggle to get everything done in a day and often feel like you can't fit in the important things.

You need a way to find more time in your week!

This week on the Simple Home Podcast I interviewed Jamie Dadant. She's an expert when it comes to finding extra time in your day and setting your priorities so you can feel good about what you've accomplished by the end of each week. She breaks down 5 simple steps you can take each week to find 5 or more extra hours of time.

I learned so much from this episode and was easily able to take her tips and apply them to my life right away. These are my favorite kinds of episodes. (Practical and easy to implement!)

The best part is, Jamie gives you a free PDF worksheet to walk you through the process she outlines in the episode. Make sure to download the worksheet before you listen.

Key Takeaways

• Why ‘busy’ can feel like a badge of honor.
• The mom guilt that comes along with doing less.
• How to get clear about your priorities.
• 5 simple steps you can follow to find 5 or more hours in your week.
• The mindset shift that's essential to living a more intentional life.

Learning how to find more time and use your time with intention will change your life. No longer will you constantly say, "I'm busy", or feel drained at the end of every day.

Learn how to use this 5 step process to plan your week.

Links For This Episode

• Another Episode About Time Management (For you overachievers!)- How To Get More Time In Your Week
• Jamiedadant.com
• Weekly Planning Worksheet
• From Burnout To Balanced Course
• #1000 things challenge
• Time tracking workbook

Find this episode of The Simple Home Podcast and others you’ll love on your favorite podcast player, iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and TuneIn! Remember to subscribe on your favorite podcast player so you don’t miss an episode.