The Organizing STEM that Helps you Stay Strong

The Organizing STEM that Helps you Stay Strong

Stay StrongWhy do you want to be organized?

As we embark on this quest for simplicity and the purging for The 2014 Things Challenge, it helps to remind ourselves of what our purpose is in each act of organization we have.

The true gift of organization is getting to live the life that you are designed to live. My favorite flower is the orange gerbera daisy. On the gerbera daisy, all the good stuff is at the top—that ridiculously not-of-this-world orange color and the intricate layering of petals that you don’t notice until you get right up close.  In order for that daisy to bloom and bring me all that joy, it has to have a strong stem.

It’s the same with my life. I am created to do a lot of beautiful things—worship my God, love my husband, raise my kids, create a home, work at my job, love on friends, etc. But in order to do beautiful things, I have to have a strong base to support everything I want to do. {click to Tweet}

Each of us has a limited amount of Space, Time, Energy, and Money (STEM) that we need to balance in our life. So for this 2014 Challenge, as well as other areas of our lives, we’re going to make sure that our STEM is strong so that we can stay strong.

Space. Have you created space in your life that allows you to do all that you are supposed to be doing?

Time. Are you wasting time every day in a million little ways? Do you have buffer in your schedule or are you constantly having to compromise because of your lack of time?

Energy. Do you often repeat steps because you aren’t organized?

Money. How much money have you wasted because you’ve bought duplicates of something you can’t find?

By answering these vital questions, we can be on our way to creating a strong stem that will support the challenges and changes for this new year!

We are in this together and it is a struggle for me in different areas at different times. Which area do you feel you struggle with the most, in space, time, energy or money? Also this is your space as well, so tell me what you would like to see in future blog posts about these areas – Saving Money by Organizing? Reclaiming Space in your House. How to Organize when You Have No Energy? I would love to hear!

3 Simple Steps to Organize Your Jewlery

3 Simple Steps to Organize Your Jewlery

I am a bit obsessed by necklaces – the chunkier the better. Not only do I buy them, I am often given great jewelry by my mom, my kids and believe it or not, Roger hits it on the chunky jewelry nose almost 100%. So keeping it organized is mostly about only keeping the things that I love, and moving the rest on. Here is how I keep my collection under control.

Jewelry-Organization

  1. Get All Your Jewelry Together-  This is where you go through your bathroom, your closet, your jewelry box, your purse – everywhere that jewelry hangs out and hides. Get it all in one place so you and deal with it.
  2. Use the 3 Boxes, 2 Bags System Start to sort through your jewelry using the 3 Boxes 2 Bags System. As you go through your jewelry put every piece in one of the three boxes or two bags: Perfectly good jewelry that you don’t love anymore can go into the “Give Away” box. Everything you love and wear can go into the “Put Back” box. Buttons, prescriptions, receipts, lip glosses and other things that are hanging out with your jewelry go into the “Other Rooms” box. Broken jewelry that you won’t repair goes into the garbage (unless you have a crafty friend who can turn all those crafty beads into something amazing – and is willing to pick them up so they are not around your house for the next month, then put them in the recycle bag.) Put all the Put Back jewelry, back.
  3. What to do with the Leftovers? OK be honest – there were a couple of necklaces you love but never wear. Or that broken owl necklace that you love, but needs a clasp? You don’t want to throw it away, but you don’t quite know what to do with it. Here are some ideas:

 

 

 

 


Here are a couple of other things that have helped me: This is the best thing you can do for your jewelry – Only keep what you actually use, make the pieces that aren’t working for you, work.

  • Have a necklace that feels a little “Lightweight” for your outfit? Stack it with another necklace. I do this a lot with a chunky gold chain with a couple smaller gold chains, or chunky long turquoise with chunky short turquoise.
  • Turn your long necklace into two short ones by looping, or into a bracelet by looping four or five times.
  • Have a single earring that you love, but can find it’s friend? Can you turn it into a pin?

Do you have any great ideas for organizing you jewelry that have worked for you? Please share in the comments below (and if you have pictures, send them to info@kathilipp.com – we may do a future blog post sharing your great idea!