Notes from Martha-Carol, Stress Solutions Martha Carol Stewart Notes from Martha-Carol, Stress Solutions Martha Carol Stewart

How Clutter Affects Your Mental Health

Is it really that terrible to have a messy home?

Psychology Today reports:

“Clutter bombards our minds with excessive stimuli, distracts us, makes it more difficult to relax, makes us anxious, signals our brains that our work is never done, creates feelings of guilt, inhibits productivity, and frustrates us.”

Is it really that terrible to have a messy home?

Psychology Today reports:

“Clutter bombards our minds with excessive stimuli, distracts us, makes it more difficult to relax, makes us anxious, signals our brains that our work is never done, creates feelings of guilt, inhibits productivity, and frustrates us.”

  1. It distracts us.

    You want to focus on doing one task, but see the clutter from the corner of your eye, calling for your attention… Next thing you know you’re cleaning up instead of doing the task you wanted to do.

    DO THIS: Clean your space after every use so you start a new day, clutter-free!

  2. It makes it difficult to relax.

    Our environment affects our mood. Clutter is not conducive to a relaxing environment. This frustrates us and stresses us out because we have a visual reminder that our home is not the way we want it to be.

    DO THIS: Designate your room of relaxation as a clutter-free zone. Make a house rule that any other room can get messy except for this one.

  3. It makes us anxious.

    Clutter can make you feel like you’ve lost control of your home because you’ve “let things get away from you,” and now there’s this huge pile of things out of place. It would have been easier to sort through a few items here and there over time, but now you have one giant pile haunting you.

    DO THIS: Ask someone for help to categorize the clutter into groups that you can tackle one by one.

  4. It creates feelings of guilt.

    Do you often criticize yourself and think, “I should be more organized?” That’s the guilt talking. Not everyone is born with the gift or taught the skill of organizing so you can’t expect to magically be organized without first developing the skill.

    DO THIS: Allow yourself to improve your organization skills over time, and to create an organized system for one room at a time.

  5. It inhibits productivity.

    Instead of getting through our to-do lists, we add clutter to the list and create more work for ourselves.

    DO THIS: Give your items a home and be sure to put things back in their homes after use so you don’t waste time looking for them or putting them back at a later time.

If you feel like your clutter has been affecting your mental health, let’s have a conversation.


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Stress Solutions, Notes from Martha-Carol Martha Carol Stewart Stress Solutions, Notes from Martha-Carol Martha Carol Stewart

Organize Your Mail and Paperwork

Do you have a pile of mail and paperwork sitting on your counter or a piece of furniture in your home? Did you try to contain it to a bin that is now overflowing with goodness knows what? Here are a few tips to keep all of your papers organized in a few simple steps.

Do you have a pile of mail and paperwork sitting on your counter or a piece of furniture in your home? Did you try to contain it to a bin that is now overflowing with goodness knows what?

We’ve ALL been there at some point. All the papers that come into our homes can get overwhelming, and, honestly, most of the time is the last thing we want to look at or deal with.

Here are a few tips to keep all of your papers organized in a few simple steps:

  1. Categorize.

    Categorization should be the first step when organizing anything in your home. Put all of your papers into categories such as, things to read, things that need action (like bills), and things to toss.

  2. Take Action.

    While you are categorizing take action! If something is in the junk mail category go ahead and toss it.

    Pro tip: Once the paperwork inside your home is organized, start throwing away your junk mail before it even comes into your home.

  3. Organize and Label.

    Use folders or any form of filing system of your choice to contain the items that you need to keep and label each file. You can even have a file for each member of your household if that makes sense for your family.

Here are a couple of organizing products we like to use for filing our paperwork:

Need help sorting through your paperwork and making sense of it all?


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Notes from Martha-Carol Martha Carol Stewart Notes from Martha-Carol Martha Carol Stewart

What is a Professional Organizer?

Ever get a late start to your day because you can’t figure out what to wear, what to eat, or where your keys are? Yep, that’s what we help with! And that looks different for everyone.

“Over the course of our lifetime, we will spend a total of 3,680 hours or 153 days searching for misplaced items. The research found we lose up to nine items every day—or 198,743 in a lifetime. Phones, keys, sunglasses, and paperwork top the list.” [Source]

Almost 10 years ago, as I was helping a friend organize her bathroom, I said, “I love doing this. This is my gift! Wouldn’t it be great if I could do this for a living?” That smart friend researched it and opened my eyes to a Professional Organizing world that I had no idea even existed! But what exactly do they we do?

The term “Professional Organizer” sometimes drums up an image from the reality show “Hoarders.” While that may be true in some circumstances, the typical Chaos Organizing client is usually just a busy person that becomes overwhelmed at the thought of tackling the huge task of organizing their home. They either don’t have the time, don’t know where to start, or don’t have the desire to do the work themselves.

So what is it that professional organizers do?

That’s where we step in! Well, we do a lot of things but here at Chaos Organizing, but our main goal is to make your house functional for you so you enjoy it and find peace being there. And that looks different for each and every family we serve. We organize your home so you are able to find what you need at a quick glance. Your grocery lists will be items you actually need!

Ever get a late start to your day because you can’t figure out what to wear, what to eat, or where your keys are? Yep, that’s what we help with! We can teach you life skills to implement in your day that save you time and money! (If your clothes are organized, you can see what you have and know what is truly needed, which means less impulse buying.)

We increase your space by eliminating what you don’t use or love so you can function more efficiently and effectively in a home that you find peaceful and happy.

Here are some statistics about clutter that you may find interesting.

1. There are 300,000 items in the average American home (LA Times).

2. The average size of the American home has nearly tripled in size over the past 50 years (NPR).

3. And still, 1 out of every 10 Americans rent offsite storage—the fastest growing segment of the commercial real estate industry over the past four decades. (New York Times Magazine).

[Read the rest]

Does hiring a professional organizer mean your house will never be messy? HECK, NO! We are busy people with busy lives! What it does mean is that everything in your home has a home, so putting things away becomes easier and sometimes even a new habit, freeing up time and energy.

Our homes are becoming places to store things instead of a place of happiness and peace. Professional Organizers can help you refocus your priorities so you are spending more time feeling peaceful and happy.

Do you need more peace in your home?


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Notes from Martha-Carol Martha Carol Stewart Notes from Martha-Carol Martha Carol Stewart

Sunday Prep Checklist with Toni-Ann

As a mom, you have a never-ending to-do list, and staying on top of everything can be tough. From meal planning to keeping up with your kids' schedules, there's always something that needs to be done. That's I want to share with you Toni-Ann's, Sunday Prep Checklist - to help you stay organized and prepared for the week ahead.

As a mom, you have a never-ending to-do list, and staying on top of everything can be tough. From meal planning to keeping up with your kids' schedules, there's always something that needs to be done. That's I want to share with you Toni-Ann's, Sunday Prep Checklist - to help you stay organized and prepared for the week ahead.

With the Sunday Prep Checklist, you'll feel more organized, less stressed, and better prepared to tackle whatever the week throws at you. 

This easy-to-use checklist covers everything you need to do to get ready for the week, including:

  • 12 things to do on Sunday to reduce the stress during the week 

  • Provides critical areas to focus on for the working mom

  • A meal plan worksheet so you know what's for dinner every night.

The Sunday Prep Checklist is perfect for all moms, whether you work outside the home or stay-at-home. It's also great for busy families with multiple kids and hectic schedules.

With the Sunday Prep Checklist, you'll feel more organized, less stressed, and better prepared to tackle whatever the week throws at you. Say goodbye to chaos and hello to a more organized and productive week.

Get the checklist for FREE by clicking here


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Notes from Martha-Carol, Stress Solutions Martha Carol Stewart Notes from Martha-Carol, Stress Solutions Martha Carol Stewart

How to Establish and Maintain Routines

A routine is a sequence of events that are repeated over and over again. Simple as that. Yet they are an incredibly powerful tool that can quite honestly change your life. Routines are necessary if we want to get through life without constantly being in a rush. They keep life simple, manageable, and enjoyable. Here are three ways to establish and maintain routines.

A routine is a sequence of events that are repeated over and over again. Simple as that. Yet they are an incredibly powerful tool that can quite honestly change your life. Routines are necessary if we want to get through life without constantly being in a rush. They keep life simple, manageable, and enjoyable. So, how do we establish and maintain routines?

The first step is to make a list of your routines and put it somewhere easily visible in your home until they are committed to memory.

You should create 3 routines.

  1. Morning Routine

    Keep your morning routine as minimal as possible to get you out the door.

  2. After School/Work Routine

    Do what is necessary to start tomorrow strong. If you have kids, this is a good time for them to do homework, repack their backpack, and pack their lunch for the next day.

  3. Evening Routine

    Reset your home, check for last minute to-dos, and put things in place.

Next, you’ll want to eliminate time wasters. Before you get on social media in the evenings, make sure your evening reset routine is done. You’ll thank yourself in the morning when you’re already set up for a successful day.

Lastly, get organized! When everything in your house has a designated home, it becomes much easier to keep up with chores and routines become much simpler.

Having a routine makes a huge difference in your day-to-day life, but routines and organization go hand-in-hand. If you're unorganized, routines are a lot more challenging to establish and maintain. We can get you organized so you can live more simply and less chaotically!


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