by kathilipp | Jul 8, 2012 | Home, The Get Organized Project |
I know it seems like a weird question, but hear me out.
There are a lot of stories I’ve told myself about being organized:
- Other women come by it so easily.
- My family actively works against me when it comes to getting organized.
- I could get so much more done if I could just get organized.
And to some extent, those are all true.
So let’s break them down. Today I want to tackle the first one.
Other women come by it so easily. Yes- I would say that most women are naturally more organized than I am. Their natural response is when they pull something out, they put it away. Not me. My natural response is to leave it out in case I need it later.
But just because something comes more easily for someone else doesn’t mean that I should give up on it – that it’s any less important for me to achieve it. When I use the excuse “It just comes easily for her.” what I’m saying is that the things in my life are not as important to accomplish as the stuff in her life.
You do a lot of things that don’t come naturally: I get being a mom didn’t come naturally at first. Or cooking dinner. Or figuring out Facebook. But you stuck with it – and now you can.
It was the same for me. Putting things away. Not natural – but now I do it. Keeping my living room picked up. Not natural, but I’ve set myself up that I do it for 15 minutes a day, and it stays mostly picked up.
Is there someone in your life that you compare yourself to when it comes to organization? What do you tell yourself about why you are not as organized as you want to be? I want to deal with the issues that keep us from being all that God wants us to be.
by kathilipp | Jul 1, 2012 | Home |
Quick Clean Your Living Room 15 Minutes
I said that I was going to help you get organized every Monday, and my intentions were good. But then this happened:
Looks harmless enough, doesn’t she.
This is Ash. And Ash is 9 oz. of cute high maintenance.
I will be doing a full blog post on Ash in the near future, but let’s just say she did not come to us looking like that. She was a hot mess and we’ve spent the last week nursing her back to health. And last Saturday, when I was supposed to write the blog post, was a day of having her on me for about 20 out of 24 hours.
But now I’m back. And we are going to get your Living Room organized.
Get Ready
Get Your 3 Boxes and 2 Bags together (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, go read this post all about it.)
Get Set
Figure out what area of your living room you’re going to quick clean. Now is not the time start alphabetizing your DVDs. I just want you to put 15 minutes on the clock and pull out only what you can put back in that amount of time. Maybe you need 15 minutes to clean off/out your coffee table. Maybe 15 minutes to attack underneath the stairs. Awesome. Pick an area and work on it for 15 minutes.
Go
Spend 15 minutes a day for the rest of the week cleaning and putting stuff away in your living room. You will make a huge improvement in the next six days (yes, you get Sunday off!)
Win
Every day this week that you clean your living room for 15 minutes, lave a comment on this post and I will enter you to win my book THE 
WHAT’S FOR DINNER SOLUTION. (I will do anything to help you have more sanity in your life – including bribery…)
by kathilipp | Jun 17, 2012 | Home |
With the response of my book The Get Yourself Organized Project being so amazing (BTW – thank you!!!) I have heard from a load of you that you are just overwhelmed when it comes to getting things put away. It’s much easier to go lay down and watch an episode of Hoarders. (“At least I’m not as bad as her…”) So for the foreseeable future, I will be spending Mondays helping you get your stuff put away, one room at a time. And below, are the basics of the system: 3 Boxes and 2 Bags.
Gather up these materials and then go to a room that is causing you stress and pick one tiny area: maybe it’s a drawer, a shelf, or some small contained area that you can make a dent in.Or, if you want to just quick clean a room, this is a great system for a quick pick-it-up. This week, it’s pick your own room. Next week, we will all be working on our living rooms.
Do this at least once this week, but I warn you – it’s addictive. Once you see how clean one area will be, you’ll want to do it all over your house. RESIST THE URGE. Just do 15 minutes at least once a week – or up to once a day. You’ll love the feeling you’ll get!!!
This is a system you will be using in almost every room in your house as we work week to week, so I want you to gather up everything that you’ll need right now:
1.Set up three boxes, a garbage bag and a recycle bag, your iPod, and a timer. (You can use the one on your cell phone or your oven.)
2.Mark one box as “Other Rooms” one as “Give Away” and one as “Put Back”.
3.Give yourself 15 minutes on your timer and pick a spot to clean out. (No more than you can pull out and put back in 15 minutes.)
4.Go through the area and use the three boxes to sort the contents.
Other Rooms Anything that doesn’t belong in the area you’re cleaning gets put in the “Other Rooms” box. This would include toys in the kitchen, dog brushes in the living room, report cards in the bathroom or dishes in the bedroom.
Give Away Outgrown kids clothes? Check. Videos your family will never watch again. Check. There is huge freedom in giving stuff away.
Here is a great set of criteria for keeping or giving away an item:
•Is it something you are currently using or wearing?
•Is it something that makes me happy when they see it?
•Is it something I will definitely use in the next six months?
If you can answer “Yes” to one or more, find a home for the item. If not, away it goes.
And a friendly reminder: don’t donate garbage. It costs charities time and money to get rid of stuff that you don’t want. Only donate those things that are in decent condition and are worthy of reselling. Don’t be that person.
Put Back This is the box that you put things that go in that area, but need to be put back into the right place. Clean clothes on the floor of your bedroom that you’re organizing. Shoes under your bed. Scarves hanging over a bedroom chair. These all go in the PUT BACK box so once you’ve got your bedroom in order, you just put those items back where they belong.
Garbage Bag Anything that you don’t want, isn’t worthy of being donated, and can’t be recycled goes in here.
Recycle Bag Recycling regulations vary from city to city, so check with your local municipality if you have any question as to what should be recycled and what shouldn’t.
Once you have cleaned out your area, take the OTHER ROOMS box around the house and put away all the stuff in the box. Take the GIVE AWAY box to where you gather stuff to take to donate, (or, directly to your car to be donated the next time you run errands.) And now, since your area is clean and organized, put back anything in the PUT BACK box into the spot it’s supposed to go.
Doesn’t that feel better? For accountability sake, tell me what area your going to quick clean. If you tell me in the comments, I promise you that you are at least three times more likely to actually do it. (Peer pressure rocks!)
Just a warning: Make sure you take care of your boxes quickly and then put them away. Otherwise, a husband, disgruntled over some fresh claw marks in his new chair, might get some bright ideas about what needs to be donated.
To Get Yourself Organized in any area of your life, check out my book in my store.
by kathilipp | Jun 7, 2012 | Home, The "What's for dinner?" Project, Uncategorized |
You know I love you, right?
So, can I just say, with all the love in the world, that I’m just the teensiest bit frustrated with you?
Let me explain.
When I go to speak, and I start talking about dinner, EVERY SINGLE WOMAN rolls her eyes and groans. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, is perplexed by dinner.
- “I feel like 5 o’clock sneaks up on me everyday.”
- “I buy hundreds of dollars of groceries and there’s never anything in my house.”
- “My whole family is BORED with what I cook, so why bother?”
I love you all. But I’m just sick of it. Because you all assume that it’s easier for the woman next door. You honestly believe that everyone else is out there, whipping up tasty food for their families, while you are the only one who is THRILLED that you at least have a box of Mac and Cheese that could pass for dinner. (It has two of the four food groups, right?)
Yes, there are some women who don’t panic at 4:00 in the afternoon when it comes to dinner. What do they have that your don’t?
A plan.
That’s it. They’ve taken the time to write down what they are going to have for a week, (or a month,) so when they go to the grocery store, they have a plan. And when they wake up in the morning and wonder what to defrost, they have a plan. And when their kids have swim practice, they have a plan.
And I KNOW you know this. But when I ask women if they have a plan, they know they should have it all written down, but for some reason or another, (their child needs them, The Real Housewives of the OC is on…) they don’t. And the Panic continues.
I want you to have a plan, and I plan on providing a public service to those of you who do. Here is what I’ll do:
- Here is the link to my 50 Dinner Ideas Worksheet
- Everyone who tells me by Friday at midnight PST what they are having for dinner next week will be entered into a drawing to win one of my books. (This week it’ll be The What’s for Dinner Solution!)
- I’ll share my menu so you have some ideas
This Week’s Menu
Monday Chicken Sausages, Potatoes and Veggies on the Grill
Tuesday Chicken Stir Fry with Brown Rice and Veggies
Wednesday Lemon Pork Roast and Sauteed Spinach
Thursday Going out!
Friday Pulled Chicken Salad
Saturday BBQ – Everyone’s Coming Over
Sunday Leftovers
Now tell me. What is your plan for next week? I promise you, if you tell me what you are eating, your week will be so much better. Plus, if you put it in the comments, you will be entered to win my book The What’s for Dinner Project.
by kathilipp | Jun 4, 2012 | Home, The "What's for dinner?" Project |
Fast food has a bad reputation.
It’s bad for you, it has too many calories, too much fat and it is a terrible rut to fall into. That is, fast food that you order through a drive through intercom.
Fast food at home is a whole different story. Fast food at home is a staple in most homes and a much better alternative (cheaper, healthier, and better tasting) than resorting to figuring out what number order at McJack-n-Bell.
So to help you out on your busy nights running kids to activities and getting to PTA meetings I’ll be sharing some of my favorite Kitchen Fast Food recipes. This first one is a real kid pleaser. To keep the calories at a minimum, have kids share an add some veggies to round it out.
Instant Pepperoni Calzones
-
1
can
Pre-made Pizza Crust.
You can use low-fat crust
-
20
slices
Turkey Pepperoni
-
1/3
cup
Marinara Sauce
-
1
cup
Colby Cheddar Shredded Cheese Mix
-
Preheat oven to 400.
Roll out pizza dough on a flowered cutting board. Cut the dough into quarters and shape each quarter into a square.
Put five pepperoni slices on one half corner of each square pizza dough.
Mix together the cheese and marinara sauce. Place a spoonful on top of the pepperoni. Repeat on each of the dough squares.
Fold each rectangle in half, corner to corner; seal edges with fork. Put on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown.
Now you tell me – what is one of your family’s favorite go-to meals for Fast Food at Home?
by kathilipp | May 14, 2012 | Home |
- Menu Planning – Before I write anything in ink on the actual menu, I put the meals I want on small Post-its so that I can move them around to accomodate my family’s schedule. No sense putting stir-fry on Wednesday night when everyone is going to be in and out of the house. Better to have a pot of Chili so people can grab-and-go.
- Love Notes – Especially on the bathroom mirror.
- Midnight Madness – When I remember something in the middle of the night, I have a stack of Post-its and a pen by the side of my bed so when the brainstorm comes along (“Don’t forget to bring silly string to the event tomorrow!”) I can just paste it on my phone where I’m sure to see it.
- Quick Filing – I have four diffenent colors of small Post-its that I use for quick filing.
- Blue – Things to delegate
- Orange – To Put on My Calendar and then in my Tickler File
- Green – To put on my to-do list
- Pink – To put in my filing system
- Prayer Prompts – I put the names of people I’m praying for on Post-its above my desk where I’ll see them every morning
Now tell me: What is your favorite way to use Post-its? Next Monday, I will randomly choose one winner to recieve a copy of my new book THE GET YOURSELF ORGANIZED PROJECT!
It was the same for me. Putting things away. Not natural – but now I do it. Keeping my living room picked up. Not natural, but I’ve set myself up that I do it for 15 minutes a day, and it stays mostly picked up.
