DrDeClutterBlog.com

Mental Health care increases 30-35% during January and early February.

Over the past few decades, typically 80% of psychiatric and psychological problems are related to marriage and family, and the rest to professional and job conflicts. Now, we can add major financial debocals and recession and, and, and . . .

Here are some simple TO DO TIPS to manage post-holiday blues. 

. . . eat right.

. . . get plenty of rest.

. . . exercise regularly.

Do set realistic goals:

. . . organize your time.

. . . organize your space, stuff and things.

. . . make lists (use a notebook, not little pieces of paper!)

. . . prioritize.

. . . make a budget and follow it.

. . . set New Years Resolutions and Goals on which you can really follow-through and succeed.

. . . find ways to simplify your life on a daily basis (the “blues” can be directly related to feeling overwhelmed and getting little done on TO DO lists that are unrealistic to begin with.)

Let go of the past, embrace the new present and future.

Allow yourself to feel sad, lonely or melancholy when these feelings arise, these are normal feelings, particularly during and after the holidays – and before Valentine’s Day.

• Do something for someone else.
• Enjoy activities that are free.
• Spend time with family and friends, people who care about you.
• Spend time with new people or a different set of friends or family.
• Contact someone with whom you have lost touch.
• Give yourself a break: plan to prepare (or buy) one special meal, purchase one special gift, and take in one special event.
• Complete small jobs and projects, or let them go.
• Start a Gratitude Journal. Daily write 3-5 things you are grateful for.

Week two into January, and counting!

Are you back to yourself yet? Are you undecorated and into this new year?

Each persons experience during the holidays is relative of course… but many relatives can be exhausting and frustrating to be around for too long!

It usually takes me until the middle of January to defog my head from my encounters-of-the-family-kind and my family-hangover!… I love them dearly, and, whew!

So, one pile at a time . . . and, back to focus, to

• reorganize your home after your joyfilled present wrapping extravaganza,
• get back to eating better and lose those extra pounds (again),
• get thank you’s written and sent,
• photos processed, up or downloaded, attached and sent  and distributed to family and friends,
• photo albums scrapbooked,
• reoganize the decorations and wrapping supplies storage area,
• back to your own routine again. Whew!
• Oh, and start to use up those Gift Cards one by one!! (Thanks Suzi, I used your annual gift to me today –  Panera Bread GCard!)

FOCUS TIP: Don’t take too long to get all these kinds of things done as they will keep you from being focused and back to your necessary life and flow.

Don’t let your newspapers pile up outside your front door when you’re gone. Make sure to set up a VACATION HOLD asap.

And, save time! Instead of making a phone call, or forgetting to make it and put your newspaper deliver on VACATION HOLD or other request, go online and do it quickly. It also lets you check if you want them when you return, or you can donate them to local schools, etc.  

Our local Longmont Times-Call can be accessed at https://www.timescallcustomercare.com/

Check you paper and see if they offer this quick click system too!

Happy vacation/holidays!

• Is holiday shopping just too much for you?
• Is overconsumption and consumerism just too much?
• Do you feel overwhelmed and wonder how to stop it all?

America is the mecca for “Retail Therapy” and Christmas brings out the big guns!

Listen into my interview on ”It’s the Economy” Talk Show

from Thursday night, December 15th on

KGNU Radio, Boulder, CO.  

Mp3 –  http://www.kgnu.org/economy/12/15/2011

“And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more!”

- Dr. Suess

Tired of holiday hype?

No matter what event or holiday you are celebrating that includes gift giving, you might just want to sit quietly and pick out something from a shopping trip in the “department stores of your mind!”

Even if it’s a week before Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, a birthday, wedding or anniversary, think about making your gift instead of buying it at a store, keeping it simple and personal.

Consider the following:
- Bake muffins, a pie, a cake or cookies
- Cook a special meal
- Put together a picnic basket and invite others out for a hike in nature
- Create a scrapbook page of photos from something you did with them, or of their childhood or a special event.
- Put together a music CD or digital recording – download or sing songs that you know they like
- Make an ornament significant to them
- Write a song, poem or story for them

There a lots of small and fun ways to give from the heart this year and always.

TIP: Ask the what they really want and like that you could make for them, and do it!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Kim

Being organized doesn’t mean you have to be perfect all the time,
but that you can find what you need when you need it!

The kitchen can be especially messy and never feel like it’s decluttered and clean, or for very long, whether you live alone or with others.  

If your sink and counter look like this once in a while, it might be that you’re just busy. Or, that you don’t have time. Or, _____ (fill in the blank!)

Don’t beat yourself up. Take one day a week and really clean it all up and feel “in control” again.

“Do you know what you call those who use towels
and never wash them, eat meals and never do the dishes,
sit in rooms they never clean, and are entertained till they drop?
If you have just answered, “A house guest,” you’re wrong
because I have just described my kids.”
~ Erma Bombeck

Okay, here it is!! Holiday shopping madness season!

If you didn’t do it all on Black Friday, you have weeks to go yet, right?

I want to offer you a very cool tip on finding stuff for free!! Yes FREE!! Whether you’re shopping for the holidays or any event… save money, time and nerves the next time you need to shop for clothing, especially when you have children.

How?

1.  Declutter.
Yes, you heard me! When you declutter piles and heaps and boxes of stuff and things in closets, garage floors and attics you’ll be amazed at what you’ll find that you forgot to give in the past or bought two of along the way, someone gave you and you’ll never use, or… whatever!

2.  Plan on REGIFTING!
Create a “Gift Box” and put these items in it for “regifting”. Yes, REGIFTING! Why spend more money and mental anquish over things you already have!

3.  Box and Label for Future FREE Stuff!
When you get and stay organized by boxing and labeling you seasonal clothing – and children’s clothing that can be worn the next year by the same or another younger child– you will save yourself plenty of time, energy and money by going into your storage boxes and bins and finding most of what you may need “before” you go store shopping.

Yes, we already own most of what we need; we just don’t remember where we put it! So, the more organized you are and the better categorizing and labeling you do when organizing, you will find much of what you need right in your own square-foot-heaven.

This includes all kinds of items, like tape, pens, batteries, flashlights, supplies of all kinds, gloves, etc. When you keep items in “categories” and “contained” in boxes, tubs, bins and baskets, and “label” them so that everyone in the house can find them and put them back when done using the items (teach everyone!) you’ll waste less money, time and mental energy trying to locate and use what you already own.

Happy (in-home) Shopping!

Decorating... for the holidays or any day.

Sometimes a big makeover or the big holiday decorations isn't the answer, but a quick and easy small one might be to freshen up your room and make it holiday fresh too! 

In "Speed Decorating", the new book by Jill Vegas the author gives some quick and easy ways to liven up your kitchen:

• Remove the clutter. Put away items that don’t belong on the countertop.
• Do a quick food inventory. Use up quickly and/or throw out anything that’s starting to spoil or is open and you’re never going to eat.
• Hang fresh dish towels.
• Put a fresh bowl of fruit on the countertop (make sure to eat it while it’s fresh!)
• Add some fragrance. Simmer mulling spices or pop some cookies in the oven just before guests arrive.

One of the key organizing tips I can give you is this, “Don’t Put It Down, Put It AWAY!”

When you’re coming in from the car or going from room to room, don’t set things down, they tend to stay where you put them and grow!

Everything should have a “home.”

Everything should “live” somewhere.

Wherever that home is, take it there immediately, or at least by the end of the hour or day so that piles don’t start growing and get out of hand into heaps and mounds.