Archive | July, 2010

Camping-I Need Your Help!

Posted on July 9, 2010 by in Travel

We Are Going Camping!

One thing you may or may not have noticed is I do not write anything about Camping.  I am not a camper.  My idea of camping is in a hotel.  I would never survive on Survivor!  I know this about myself and I am not afraid to admit it!  I have lots of questions about camping.  I have in my mind it could be a really good time or a complete disaster!

I have a husband and 2 kids who think it’s going to be the best time ever!

So when our friends asked us to join them on their camping trip to the coast, of course the answer had to be YES!  I am willing to give camping a try!  My sister and her family have done a lot of camping in the past, so we will be borrowing their tent and other camping supplies, which honestly, I am not sure what it all consists of…

This is where I need your help!  I may not write about camping but I do write a lot about Organization… I want to learn how to organize myself and my family for this camping trip… So, I am asking you, if you have any great tips, ideas, suggestions, ANYTHING.. Please share… I want to be prepared for this adventure.  I plan on using the tips from my readers for a future blog post… Then I can honestly write about Camping!

Share your knowledge!

You can either respond on the comments page or send me an email at nikki@takecontrolorganizing.com!  I would love to hear from you!

Thank you!  I so much appreciate the help!

Happy Organizing!

A New Perspective!

Posted on July 7, 2010 by in Home Organizing, Office Organizing, Productivity

When I was a teenager, I remember rearranging my bedroom furniture.  I worked all day long until I found the right arrangement I was happy with.  I got this great idea from my father, every once in while we would come home from school and the living room furniture would be in different places.  What can I say, we liked change! It gave each of the rooms a different perspective.  They were fun to be in, because they were now just a little bit different than before.

The other day, I was working with a client and we were talking about what to do with all of the decorations and little mementos around his office.  The idea was to rotate them from season to season. This is not a new concept, in fact I have talked about this before.  But I think it is always good to remind us of the simple changes we can make in our homes, and the big rewards that are paid off in doing so.

When we don’t make these slight changes, our surroundings can become numb to us.  We become so used to seeing something, that you actually stop seeing it. It can lose it’s value to us because we are not fully paying attention, we may even stop caring about the item without even knowing it.  I have heard Oprah say this before on her show, you are actually living unconsciously.  You are not aware of what’s around you, it becomes blended in the walls.

Think about the last time you ran into something you haven’t seen in a long time and it brought back good memories.  Did it put it a smile on your face, did you walk down memory lane or maybe tell someone what you just found.  Maybe it prompted you call an old friend or a family member.

When we live unconsciously, we are not fully appreciating our surroundings or the choices we have made about our homes.

Pay  particular attention to those areas in your home where you live in the most.  What simple rotation or changes could you make to add just a little new perspective? It could be simply changing your photos on the wall, or taking a few of your collected items into storage and only displaying a handful, or add fresh cut flowers as a centerpiece.  Whatever it looks like in your home, I challenge you to start making those changes and to start living consciously.

Be aware, enjoy, and love what you have!

Happy Organizing!

Dessert Night!

Posted on July 5, 2010 by in Home Organizing

My son or daughter at any given time: “I’m done eating, can I have a treat?”

Me or my husband at any given time: “Really, if you are still hungry, eat more of your lunch or dinner, you do not need to eat a treat after every meal!”

This is a conversation we have over and over again, almost daily in our house!  Both of my kids feel they need to have a small treat after every meal with the exception of breakfast.  For some reason, this is not an issue during that time of day!  Usually they want a fruit snack or a small piece of candy, whatever happens to be in the snack bin that week.  We take full responsibility of this ongoing habit, because up until this week, we have broken down and said, “Yes, go ahead”, as long as they ate what was put in front of them.

We went to a friends house last week, and they had the same issue.  I say, had, because they ended it with this easy change in the house rules… Dessert Night!

They have designated Friday and Saturday nights as dessert nights.  Every Friday and Saturday after they have eaten their dinner, they get dessert.  Every other night, if they are still hungry, they invite them for seconds at the dinner table.  But because it’s not a dessert night, they will not be getting dessert.  This includes the fruit snack!

Brilliant!

So my family decided to implement this rule and we will see how it goes.  So far, when we explained it to them, they just looked at us like we were crazy!  They were lucky because we implemented the rule over the weekend, which happened to be the 4th of July, so of course they did get dessert!  We’ll see how much they really understood this week!

In addition to the designated dessert nights, I did set up a snack schedule.  I realize it’s not fair for the kids to go throughout the day without snacks to refuel.  So I set the time frames for when snacks would occur throughout the day… In the morning they will get a snack around 10am and in the afternoon they will get a snack around 2:30pm – 3:00pm, no snacks after 4:00pm.

And what about those times where they are so hungry, they can hardly stand it… Offer them a banana, if they are really hungry, they will eat it…

I’ll keep you posted on how it goes!  It should be an interesting week to say the least!

Do you have any creative ways to keep the snacks contained at your house?  Please share..I am sure I am not the only one with this issue!!

(Due to the Holiday Weekend, the weekly podcast is not scheduled for Monday, July 5th, we will be back with a new episode next week, July 12th!)

Happy Organizing!

Make the Commitment – Take Action!

Posted on July 2, 2010 by in Getting Started, Productivity

All week we have been talking about our habits and questioning ourselves about the level of commitment we need to have to succeed. Habits, commitment, and motivation, these are very powerful words.

What does it mean to be committed?

I suppose for everyone it looks different because there are different levels of commitment. Depending on what we are committing ourselves too.  We commit to our spouses, our children, our family and friends. But those are different commitments than if we are committed to exercise in order to lose weight.  Right? The magnitude is obviously not as big, but what’s the common ground?

I think one of the biggest factors in being committed, whether it’s to a person, a job, an ideal, a goal, is the action you put towards your commitment. Let me say this again, the action you put towards the commitment!

Have you ever heard that actions speak louder than words? You show you are committed when you act over and over.  Just saying it isn’t enough.  Love is a verb right?  It’s what you do to show the other person you love them.  Commitment is a verb.  It’s more than just saying you have this goal to organize, it’s about doing the work and getting organized!  It’s about setting up the right systems and staying committed in making them work.

If your actions are not speaking louder than your words, than are you fully committed?  As we saw in the last blog post, the number one reason people fail on their diets, is lack of commitment.

You have to think, plan, and then you have to do….

Happy Organizing!