Alternate Motivations

Well, it's that time of the year again! Everyone has resolved to get fit, get organized, etc. Me? I am working on getting organized again, but I have alternate motivations. I have some medical stuff coming up and I won't be able to do much for a few weeks, so I would like to have things mostly in order beforehand, both at home and at work.

It's funny, I've been following different organizing, homemaking, and productivity sites for years, so I've heard so many strategies and tips.... they all seem very repetitive sometimes and I start to see the patterns most of them use.

That being said, all the information in the world is useless if you don't apply it!

So it's January 1st and I'm jumping on the bandwagon with so many others, and there's nothing wrong with that.

The main focus is baby-steps to avoid crash-and-burn. I don't need to be Wonder Woman, I just need to be me. It is also important that I spend some time with my husband, and since I work full-time, I need to take small organizing projects here and there, so I'm not spending all of my home-time ignoring my family.

I'm going to work through 3 main systems and incorporate them into my life with baby-steps and all of the general knowledge I have.

1. Taylor from Home Storage Solutions 101 has a Facebook group called Declutter 365 that I am a part of. I joined sometime in December with the intention of starting today. She has created calendars with daily missions for decluttering and links to more detailed information. And there is a great community on the Facebook group that talk about each mission, ask questions, and share their accomplishments.
2. Flylady, of course. I had definitely fallen off this bandwagon, but I'm working on baby-stepping my way back. Her set up is a great system of routines and encouragement. The only problem I've ever found with it was incorporating her zones into the layout of my house, which is quite different from her 'norm', but all it really took was a few minutes to sit down and figure out how to mesh it together.
3. The Secret. Lol! I'm also part of a 'secret' Facebook group that is a spinoff of a forum I used to be on. I'm making the commitment to join in on more of those conversations for the community, encouragement, and accountability.

Happy New Year!

Thank you for joining me on my journey as a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva

Breaking the Multitasking Myth: Rotate, don't flit!

Multitasking is a very popular buzzword, but it is a lie. Humans actually cannot multitask efficiently. Multitasking means "to work at several different tasks simultaneously" and while, yes, I am thinking, breathing, and typing all at the same time in this moment, I am really only blogging. Breathing doesn't require thinking, so it doesn't count. And I'm thinking about what I'm typing, so that is one task.

Any complex task that requires thought is your current primary task. If my husband came into my office right now and started talking to me, he would distract me from my primary task (blogging) and I would have to wait until he was done in order to continue. I could try and keep typing while he was talking to me, but I would really be doing a bad job at each of the tasks (blogging and conversation).

The basic psychology is this: what we call multitasking is really "switch-tasking" (because you actually can't do two thinking tasks at once). And each time you switch tasks, you actually lose productivity because your brain needs to remember where you were and what you were doing as you go back and forth.

When we try to "get it all done" we end up flitting around between tasks and rarely getting much done on any of them. So here is my solution for you:

When "multitasking" rotate, don't flit.

Be intentional about what you are doing in the moment you are doing it. When I sit down at my computer to "get stuff done" without a plan, I end up flitting around, doing lots of little things, but not actually feeling that I accomplished anything. I can spend hours online, know I was "working on stuff" but not know what I completed (if I completed anything at all). Flitting does not work.

Instead, rotate! Rotating involves more purpose and slightly longer periods of time. Instead of going off on a tangent, ending up wherever your clicks take you, sit tight and complete one task before moving on. Use a time, a checklist, whatever tool that is a help you. Just remember to keep it simple. Decide what your goal is. Then finish one task before moving on the the next.

Here's what this has done for me. In the past, I have found that checking twitter can be a multitasking black hole. People to follow back, links to websites to check out, articles to read, etc. My problem with flitting starts when I don't define what I'm doing. I click someone's profile to follow back and before I know it, I'm joining a facebook page and jumping over to LinkedIn. But when I decide to rotate, I know that I'm not looking at everything right now. I'm just following people back on twitter. If I see an interesting link, I'll open it, but not look at the page yet. I keep going inside twitter until I'm done with twitter and then quickly look at the other links I've opened to see if I want to do anything with them. Sometimes they're short articles and I'll read them then and there and sometimes they're something longer and I grab the link and make a new to-do in Asana to check on later. And the good news is, that when later comes around (and I use due dates, so it does come around), I am more objective and can prioritize better. So instead of reading all of the somewhat interesting articles I find right away, I only end up reading a few of them later.

Rotating is also helpful with offline tasks. Flitting around "cleaning the house" can be disastrous. You know you worked hard all day but you don't have anything to show for it. But when you rotate and decide that you are going to finish the current small task before you start the next one, you end up having large, clear areas. (Putting away everything in the living room vs. putting away one or two things in each room of the house.)


Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

A Welcoming Change - Peace

Well, it's a new year. 2013. It's going to take a while to remember to write all my dates properly... I'm sure I'll be erasing 2012 several times this week :)

A new year is a fresh start, resolutions, commitments, goals - all are floating through our heads. Yet, I'd like to caution you not to go overboard. The stereotypical 'get fit' resolutions that translate into 'go to the gym twice in January' resolutions are basically useless. We put too much pressure on ourselves, push really hard for a short while, then 'crash and burn'.

I'd encourage you to make smaller, incremental, resolutions.

I got a great form emailed to me from Marcia Francois called '2013 Intentions'. She asked us to choose a word for the year. I chose 'peace'. I want to make a calm home where we can relax and enjoy life. By focusing on my 'word for the year' I can more clearly choose my goals to fit inside 'peace'.

Naturally, clutter and chaos in a home takes away from 'peace'. So decluttering is on my list - my house definitely would NOT qualify for Hoarders but it can use some work. The main areas are decent but can be tweaked and the 'extra' rooms, especially 'my' rooms need overhauls.

BUT, I don't want to crash and burn, so I'm baby-stepping it. Easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. Knock out something small - Instead of writing down everything I can possibly think of to do, I'm spending some extra time flitting around taking care of the small tasks that don't take very long.
2. Just 15 minutes - This one's ingrained in my from Flylady, you don't have to do everything, just work on it for 15 minutes and make some progress. You'll be amazed at what you can do in 15 minutes!
3. Add to routines in babysteps - Don't add 25 things to your daily to do list today, add one thing and work at making it part of your routine, when you feel comfortable with that, add one more thing.

Will you 1-2-3 with me? What is your 'word for the year'?


Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Countdown to the Holidays! Chow Down

Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming!

We all have extra shopping to do in December, let's help ease the burden and chow down! I challenge you to do less (regular) grocery shopping in December. Eat what you have, go 'freezer diving', get creative, and save some money!

I have the habit of putting  leftover sauce into the freezer. Plus I usually stock up on the meat that's on sale for half price at my store. I know I have another half a bag of black beans, plus a few 'cans' in the freezer. And I REALLY need to finish that box of rice I bought... too long ago.

Is your food storage in a similar state? Will you accept the Challenge?

Chow Down Challenge:

1. Wait as long as possible to go grocery shopping this month and buy as little as possible. (I'm talking about regular grocery shopping, not Christmas Dinner.)
2. Use up what you already have. Get creative. Dig to the bottom of the freezer and the back of the pantry.
3. Save some money.

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Countdown to the Holidays! - How's it Coming?

Less than a month before Christmas. Really?!?! How's it coming?

I have my Advent calendar ready to go. It's a fabric one with pockets that you re-fill each year. I added candies and little notes in each pocket and it is waiting patiently on my crafting table for December first.

Baking is done. Well, part of it anyways. I probably will end up doing some more baking on my own, but all the baking I 'have to' do for my traditional Christmas is ready and waiting. I hauled baking stuff over to my sister's on three of the last 6 Thursdays and we baked... well two of those days I mostly just entertained my nephew (who was being clingy but oh-so-cute) which allowed her to bake. We have gotten together for the past few years to do our Christmas baking to have the 'goodies' we grew up with.

Shopping is started. My friend, her mother, and her niece had a craft show at the beginning of the month. I brought my husband along and we made a good start to our Christmas shopping. Stockings are done except for one more thing, his parents and two friends are done except for some baking I'll add later. That just leaves the 'kidlets' (our nieces and nephews) who get Veggie Tales movies, his brother and sister-in-law who needs more brainstorming, and each other.

Crafting is not really started yet... I know, I know! But I still have time. I have the fabric for the stockings, one is washed but the other isn't. And DH still doesn't know what he wants on his, but I can do mine first, that's OK. I need to just 'suck it up' and wash the fabric in the evening instead of waiting for the weekend (our electricity rates are hiked up the rest of the time). Adding that to my list now :)

Thankfully the only thing I put on my crafting list are the stockings, advent calendar (done! - I made the little notes cute with scrapbooking punches), and these mirror ornaments I saw on Pinterest. I figure I can do them for $2-$3. (Scroll down about halfway on the link.) Mini mirrors from the dollar store glued to Christmas tree ornament hooks and placed on the INSIDE of your tree. It's supposed to make it more sparkly. I already have glue, so this should be an easy mini-project once I pick up the stuff.

How's your Christmas progress coming? Is there something you need to take of your list to be realistic?

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Homemaking Diva Habits

How do you become a 'Homemaking Diva', and more importantly, how do you succeed at being a Homemaking Diva? It's easier than you think!

Step one: CARE. Being a Homemaking Diva means literally that: Making a Home. A Home is not where you live. That's your house or apartment (or wherever you are) a home is more personal. It's the happy feeling associated with being in your house, not because of what is there, but because of WHO is there. I love my husband. And one of my major goals is to make our house a calm home for us to live in together.

Step two: ROUTINES. I don't know about you, but I find it very difficult to relax when there's a lot of things that need doing. I'll be sitting beside my husband watching a DVD and my mind will be racing through various tasks that I 'should' have done that day or that need to be done soon. When I'm on a routine and I know I did a decent amount of 'Diva-ing' today and I will get around to everything in it's turn, I feel better about it and I can relax. We'll talk more about routines next time :)

Step three: RECHARGE. It's the old airplane analogy. The flight attendant will always tell you to put your own oxygen mask on first before trying to help anyone else. If you are burnt out, you're of no use to anyone. Take care of yourself so you can take care of others. If you care about making a home for your family and if you have good routines in place, you can take a break and recharge without guilt, and know that your routines will keep things from falling through the cracks.


Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

The Snowball is Melting!

Yep! That's right. The snowball is melting! Not so much because I've been accomplishing it (I HAVE done a bunch, and DH actually went through half a closet.) but because I'm lowering my expectations... I set the bar way too high on that one.

The original idea was to completely declutter/ rearrange half the house with the final step being setting up my craft room. The problem is, most of the stuff isn't mine. So I need to wait for days when he's off and I think of it and we feel like it. Few and far between, but we are making progress. But since I am NOT just going to throw out all DH's stuff - that's not nice, I need a new plan. (You can read more about the snowball here.)

So the new plan is 'Do what I can'. What a concept! I can't declutter DH's stuff for him while he's at work, but I can move some of it  over now that he has partially moved into his office. That will make enough space for me to move the luggage and a few other things out of my dressing room so that I can declutter my stuff and then set up my crafting area.

No worries, we will still be doing the DH decluttering, but now there's no pressure and I don't feel like I won't be able to work on learning to sew for months and months.

Wish me luck, I'm diving in!

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Do You Post-it?

Are you one of those people with stickies all over your desk and computer screen?

I used to be. Now I'm trying a system I'm making up that uses the stickies. Full disclosure! Not my original idea. I'm actually combining two ideas I saw on Pinterest. (Are you following me? It's in the sidebar.)

I have regular ones that are 2" square or so and small ones that are supposed to be book markers or something they're about 3-4" x 1". BTW, stickies is one place where you want to go brand name. Dollar store ones don't stick for more than 5 seconds.

I use the little ones on my calendar and the big ones in my book. I bought a 'sketchbook' that you're supposed to draw in and I put the stickies inside. Each page (or pair of pages) is for a specific purpose. I have (off the top of my head): Daily, Today, Tomorrow, this week, Monday, Tuesday..., Next Week, this month, monthly, and upcoming.

It's a little intensive as I'm shuffling stickies all the time, but not really. The Monday, Tuesday... pages stay 98% the same, each sticky on those pages is something that needs to be done on that day every week. Something that needs to be done THIS Friday would go on the this week page (or the tomorrow page now), not the Friday page.

About once a week, I flip around and move stuff up from the 'long term' pages, but day-to-day I'm looking at the today page and the 'Thursday' page (or whatever day it is).

I also have pages with themes that I use to corral ideas. For example, when I have an idea for a lesson, I write it on a sticky and put it on that page. Last week, when I needed to brainstorm, I just opened to that page, looked through my stickies and was able to put together another year's content!

This is a new system and I'm still figuring out the kinks, but I really like it so far

What do you think?

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

It's HERE!

Our new sectional was delivered this morning. It's our first major investment piece, built to last but expensive. It's our splurge from DH's bonus, but still... spending that much makes me want to amp up my frugal-ness, at least for a while. :)

Here are some frugal ideas:

• Don't buy new until you've used the old. We have several pieces that we've bought but not put together yet. A couple bookshelves, my bistro set that I got for $5 (Thank God for Canadian Tire Money), mini-blinds that need to be installed, painting that needs to be done (just some touch-ups here and there). So the house doesn't get anything else, at least until we've put together and used these things. And yes, we're working on it - I put together  my new desk chair on the weekend.
• Eat out of the freezer. I'm all stocked up, I buy a club pack or two of the meat that's half price most weeks, so I have lots in the freezer. Last night I made Frittata, because I already had everything I needed for it.
• Do a project, for 'something to do'. There's not much in the way of entertainment where I live, at least not that I'm interested in. Movies, restaurants, and shopping is 95% of it. Next time we're 'bored' and looking for something to do, time to work on a project! Build that bookshelf, clean the fish tank, work on setting up the guest room (currently storage room).
• Watch the movies you have. We're into movies, and we like to buy new ones a fair bit, but there's a medium-sized pile of movies we haven't watched since we bought them. We need to watch them before we buy more.

What are your frugal ideas?

So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Have great day!

Valerie :D

Finding Balance

It's January, and many people are making resolutions. I'm not making a resolution per se, but I'd like to  take this time to reflect and set some goals.

My main goal for 2012 is Finding Balance. And that's a huge undertaking, but I have a whole year (actually the rest of my life) to work on it. Balance isn't a destination. It's a journey. You can never really be done. It's something to consider everyday. If I have a wonderfully balanced day today, that does not guarantee me a balanced day tomorrow.

I need to seek this balance so I can love the life I have and live the life I love.

So my overall goal for the year is to find balance - between work, home, DH, and play. For January I'm working on clearing my desk (by Friday) and keeping it clear. I spend a LOT of time here at my desk, so having clear space really will make a clear mind :)

Today I have worked on clearing my desk, started a goals binder/control journal/thingy-whats-it and I do see progress, and that's always a good thing.

So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Have great day!

Valerie :D