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

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

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