Feeling Chaotic? How Can a Pantry Help You Win Your Day?
Finding simple solutions to help you win your day is just one of the things we do as professional organizers. Here are a few of our favorite Chaos Organizing pantries. Notice the labeled bins, categorized shelves and location of items. All of that is a well thought out plan for each of our clients specifically tailored to their family’s needs.
After a long day of work, all I wanted to do was sit down. Dinner was done. The kitchen was clean. It was finally my time.
“ Mom. I need brownies for school tomorrow.”
“What?”
“Mom!!! I told you I need to bring brownies to school tomorrow.”
In all the chaos of the busy day, I had forgotten the brownies. “Do we have any mix? I can’t seem to find any in all this mess. Who shoved an empty bag of potato chips in here.”
The bag fell out and the crumbs all fell to the floor.
“Great, another mess I need to clean up,” I thought to myself.
“We will have to stop to get some pre-made brownies in the morning. It’ll be fine,” I yelled to my daughter.
Morning:
“Hurry let’s go. Where are your shoes? Don’t you guys remember we need to make a stop on the way to school?!! Get your stuff! Let’s go! I’ve got an early morning meeting. I can’t be late. Where is your soccer bag? We have to go NOW!”
Then I realize that in all the rush, I have forgotten to make lunches and it’s meatloaf day. No one will eat if I don’t whip up some quick sandwiches. I am going to be late. Today is already a bad day and it’s only 7:00am.
This scenario is enough to give anyone heartburn. Yet, so many of us face this level of chaos on a regular basis. How do we navigate past the drama? We get organized! That’s how!
An organized pantry could eliminate the question about the brownie mix which we actually do own but forgot about or couldn’t find.
An organized pantry helps child our children learn independence because they can pack their own lunch with the healthy choices available, allowing us to focus on our own morning agenda.
An organized pantry could be part of the key to keeping peace in our home.
Finding simple solutions to help you win your day is just one of the things we do as professional organizers.
Here are a few of our favorite Chaos Organizing pantries. Notice the labeled bins, categorized shelves and location of items. All of that is a well thought out plan for each of our clients specifically tailored to their family’s needs.
Our goal is to help each of our clients win their day. Please call us at 225-205-6400 so we can help you win yours!
Need help zoning your pantry?
Check out our blog on pantry zoning!
Love this blog?
Sign up to get an email with our latest posts!
Set up your consultation today!
How Clutter Affects Your Mental Health
Your home is your sanctuary or at least it should be. It’s your safe haven from the chaos you face every time you go out into the world. If you return from a chaotic world to just another home version of cluttered chaos, over time this stress will have impact on your health and psyche. Clearing the surfaces of clutter by getting rid of it or containing it will help you find the peace you are longing for at home.
We don’t hide our crazy we put it on the front porch and give it a cocktail.
Although southerners love this expression sometimes hiding your crazy is a necessary thing, keeping your spaces clutter free is emotionally helpful to you and your family.
Psychology Today reports:
Clutter bombards our minds with excessive stimuli, distracts us, makes it more difficult to relax, makes us anxious, signals to our brains that our work is never done, creates feelings of guilt, inhibits productivity, and frustrates us.
Your home is your sanctuary or at least it should be. It’s your safe haven from the chaos you face every time you go out into the world. If you return from a chaotic world to just another home version of cluttered chaos, over time this stress will have impact on your health and psyche. Clearing the surfaces of clutter by getting rid of it or containing it will help you find the peace you are longing for at home.
Having a home for your things so there is not clutter on all the surfaces is the key to winning your day.
However; with Pinterest, Instagram and the plethora of coffee table quality books featuring beautifully organized spaces there is no wonder getting organized puts fear into people’s faces. Behind those closet doors lies the reality that we are busy and far from perfect. It makes our fears become reality. All those pictures of matching containers in the perfectly organized closet paralyzes us.
It’s important to remember, just the act of being organized creates a beautiful, serene space.
Matching containers and beautiful labels are not necessary for a well-organized space. This is something you can work towards, changing out your containers a little at a time yet all the while living an organized life. In fact, all of your items do not necessarily even need to be contained. Containers are great for many things but at times can be an added frustration.
The goal is to finding solutions that work for you and your family. These solutions come from knowing what questions to ask yourself; starting with "Is this item helpful or hurtful to my goal?" Our organizers are experts at getting to the crux of your problems and developing solutions to help you win your day by streamlining your processes. Let us help you clear the clutter and so that you can recharge in your peaceful home. While we can park our crazy on the front porch and give it a cocktail, some days we just need to relax with the cocktail and contain the crazy.
On Thursday January 30th at noon, I will be joining Designer Arianne Bellizaire, on her Facebook live show. We will address the benefits and values of having an organized space and how you can achieve that goal.
Interested in learning more? Join the conversation on www.facebook.com/chaosorganizing or www.instagram.com/chaosorganizing.
Like this? Let us know by liking our blog at the bottom of the page and sharing it with a friend who might like it as well.
Love this blog?
Sign up to get an email with our latest posts!
What's Causing You to be Late?
While brainstorming blog topics and what could help our Chaos Organizing friends “Win the Day”, help with routines came to mind. As a teacher, I HAD to be on time. No excuses. Not only did I have to be on time, but I really needed to arrive early to attend to a few things before students were walking through the door. In addition to getting myself out the door, I also had to get two small children dressed and ready for school.
I conquered this challenge by instilling an evening routine!
What’s causing you to be late?
While brainstorming blog topics and what could help our Chaos Organizing friends “Win the Day”, help with routines came to mind. As a teacher, I HAD to be on time. No excuses. Not only did I have to be on time, but I really needed to arrive early to attend to a few things before students were walking through the door. In addition to getting myself out the door, I also had to get two small children dressed and ready for school.
I conquered this challenge by instilling an evening routine!
What is an evening routine? The definition of routine is a sequence of actions that you do repeatedly. That’s it. You repeat this sequence of actions every night to establish your routine. It will take discipline, but you can do it!
Here are actions that should be included in your evening routine.
Lay out your clothes for the next day. So much time is wasted in the morning with this decision.
Put your purse, keys, wallet, mail, and everything else that goes out the door with you in the morning in one location. This location should be the designated spot every single evening. (No more searching for things in the morning!) Having a phone charger in this space would be smart so everything is there together.
Check the weather. Do you need to leave a little early due to fog, rain, snow? (Well, not so much snow in south Louisiana).
Check the calendar. Do you need anything besides the usual items? School projects? Valentine’s Card? Mardi Gras beads? LSU shirt?
Now take 15 minutes to reboot your house. For me, this involves making sure the dirty dishes are in the dishwasher, sofa cushions and sofa pillows are straight, extra blankets are folded and placed in a basket, toys (now just dog toys for me) are put in their home. I usually throw the dirty kitchen towels into the dirty clothes basket as well. This step will likely take you more than 15 minutes in the beginning but in an incredibly short time you will master this step and it will literally take only a few minutes.
Make a list of your routine and post it until it’s memory. Have kids? They can benefit from an evening routine too! Young children’s routines need to be simple and pictures can be used if they cannot read. Use their age as a gauge of what they can accomplish. 3 things for a 3-year old, 4 things for a 4-year-old, etc.
Not sure where to start when making routines? Give us a call and let’s set up a consultation to get you on the right path. A path where you are no longer running late. A path that helps you “WIN the day”!
Love this blog?
Sign up to get an email with our latest posts!
Win the Day, Win a Moment, Win Some Peace
I am sitting here with a book to read (one of three) about business ...not the fun side of things for me but something I am learning. I flipped to the middle (hoping something would catch my attention) and the sentence I read was “How are you helping me win the day?” I had an Oprah Aha moment. That’s it! That sentence expresses EXACTLY what I’m trying to help people do. Win the day! Win a moment! Win some peace!
“How are you helping me win the day?”
Many times I am asked to tell the Chaos Organizing Story. Truthfully, it’s not that exciting. The short version: I was a teacher and while I loved being a teacher, I knew I should be doing something more. I couldn’t explain the feeling; it was just something I knew. It took me three years of praying to discover that my passion for organizing could have a purpose. I had a gift that I could share. Fast forward almost seven years later…Chaos has a team of organizers helping clients find peace in their homes, one closet at a time! Or something like that. LOL
I am sitting here with a book to read (one of three) about business ...not the fun side of things for me but something I am learning. I flipped to the middle (hoping something would catch my attention) and the sentence I read was “How are you helping me win the day?” I had an Oprah Aha moment. That’s it! That sentence expresses EXACTLY what I’m trying to help people do. Win the day! Win a moment! Win some peace!
I get it. The lack of peace that comes with having a busy career, kids, husband, pets and a home to maintain can be maddening. As I brought my 2nd child home from the hospital (2 under 2…crazy!) I felt overwhelmed at the thought of managing it all. But I had a secret weapon in my back pocket that many do not, I had the help of an organized mother and sister who had been down this path. By adopting systems they already had in place, the shift from a family of 3 to 4 went relatively smoothly. Don’t get me wrong, my house was not perfect. There were crazy amounts of toys all over the place. But my keys, purse and sunglasses had a home enabling me to get out the door for work right on time! (Win!) My laundry was not sitting in the dryer, but hung in my closet categorized by color so I could get dressed at a moments notice for any occasion. (Win!) My shoes were put away each night so I could find them in the morning. (Win!) Certain toys were put away in labeled bins allowing me to rotate the chaos of toys floating around my house. (Win!) The best part, we had routines. As a teacher, you have no idea how much peace that brought me. Our morning routine, after school routine and evening routines were posted on our refrigerator and followed most of the time. (Huge win) These routines changed each year as the kids got older but the basics were there and the kids knew them by heart.(Big win!)
So as you sit there feeling overwhelmed in the midst of your after Christmas chaos, happy that school is back in because the lack of structure was getting to you, just know that I understand and want to help you win the day, win the moment, win some peace with a little help from someone with the gift of organization just like my Mama helped me. Now go find a home for your keys.
Reference: Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller
Love this blog?
Sign up to get an email with our latest posts!
5 Quick Tips to Ease the Pain of Holiday Clean Up
Hoping your holiday was fantastic. Unfortunately, it’s clean up time! Here are 5 quick tips to help ease the pain of the clean up process.
Happy New Year my organizing friends! Hoping your holiday was fantastic. Unfortunately, it’s clean up time! Here are 5 quick tips to help ease the pain of the clean up process.
5 quick tips to help organize your holiday clean up.
Use clear bins if you can. Being able to see what’s in the bin is very helpful when taking items out next year.
2. Label, label, label! Label each bin with every item inside the bin. This seems tedious but you will be thankful next year. You can use a label maker or use the original label tape….masking tape and a sharpie! If you zone decorate like I do, don’t forget to add the zone label.
3. Using an extension cord reel or any type of cord organizer will help keep your lights from being a tangled mess. Label the lights so you know right where they go next year.
4. Label wreaths and garland with the location where they will be used. I use garland in 3 different spots and each garland is a different length. Knowing where the garland belongs saves us time and frustration.
5. Make sure to take the batteries out of anything being stored.
Once again, have a Happy New Year and happy organizing!
Love this blog?
Sign up to get an email with our latest posts!