Ever Feel Overwhelmed?! Here's a Great Solution!

Do you ever feel overwhelmed before you even get your day started? Like you're behind the 8-ball before your feet hit the floor? Ever wish you had more time in your day to finish your never-ending to-do list? Do you struggle to find time for yourself with so many responsibilities pulling you in every direction?

Have you ever had one of those days? You know the kind I’m talking about.  Where you’re literally scrambling from the minute one of your kids wakes you up in the morning -- until the time you fall in bed that night. You know you’ve worked hard and taken care of needs nonstop throughout the entire day, but it seems like there is very little to show for it.

I've often felt this way, especially lately with a busy family schedule (gotta love when end-of-the-year activities overlap with the start of summer sports!) and a very full client load for my organizing business, not to mention trying to keep up with this blog and the 365 Items in 365 Days Facebook group!

2015 Planner Giveaway!

Can you believe it's only 1 month until the start of 2015?!  I know we're all probably busy with holiday preparations, but it's important to start thinking and planning ahead for the new year.

My friend Ginny from Organizing Homelife created a beautiful planner and she gave me two versions to try out. 

Day 1: Planning for Christmas {12 Days of Being Organized for the Holidays}

Do you get overwhelmed during November and December?  Do you get to the end of Christmas Day and you're exhausted and wonder if it was all worth it?  There's shopping, baking, wrapping, card-writing, cooking, and decorating.  All in the midst of parties, gatherings, and celebrations with everyone and anyone you've had contact with all year!  It's a lot to juggle.  And it can easily become overwhelming.

But it doesn't have to be that way.  With some advance planning and organizing, you can simplify the holidays and get things done earlier, so you can breathe and actually enjoy this festive season.  Doesn't that sound good?

To help you do that, I'm going to be writing a series called 12 Days of Being Organized for the Holidays.  Each of the 12 posts will focus on one aspect of being organized for this special time of year.  I'll spread the posts out over the next 6 weeks, with an average of 2 posts per week.

Each post will have practical tasks you can to get organized.  If you've already completed those tasks {good for you!!}, feel free to do something else that's overwhelming you.  If you haven't checked these items off your to-do list yet, then spend some time working on them so you won't have to do everything all at once at the end.

OK, so now that I've told you about the series, let's get to today's post!  I'm going to kick this series off with some tips to help you plan out the next few weeks.

Creating Fall Routines So You Don't Get Overwhelmed

Well, it's happened.  Summer holidays are over and school has started.  Notice I didn't say "summer" is over.  It's not.  Even though it feels like fall here today, summer doesn't officially end until next week and I for one plan to enjoy every little bit of it I can still :)  It's going to be warm, sunny, and even humid this weekend so I'm not putting away our summer clothes and sandals yet!

But, despite what the calendar tells me, it is definitely fall because school has started.  And with fall comes new activities, goals and routines.  September is kind of like January in that it's a new year.  Whether you have kids or not, the school year is a sort of reset.  A fresh start.  A good time to establish new habits.

It's also a very busy time as various activities, clubs, lessons, and sports start up again.  It can be overwhelming if you're not organized.

Routines help keep you organized and reduce that overwhelming feeling when you get really busy.

Today I want to share some of the ways we're getting organized for fall in our home and give you tips to help you set up a fall routine as well.

How Being Organized Helped Us Get the Most Out of Summer

Sometimes organizing and summer don't go together.  Everyone likes the lazy days of summer right?  Why organize your lives and have routines or schedules?  Why make plans? 

I know it's already back-to-school time, and I've got a post coming next week outlining some tips for getting organized this fall.  But before I do that, I wanted to look back on our summer and share how being organized helped us to get the most of the season, even though it wasn't what we expected at the beginning.

Creating A Summer Cleaning Routine for Kids

Do your kids help you clean the house in the summer?  Or during the school year?  Or both?  There are lots of different philosophies on kids and chores, especially for summertime.

I know many parents get overwhelmed keeping up with cleaning, while also taking care of their kids all day, and trying to spend time making memories together.

So it can be helpful to have your kids chip in and help clean the house.  It's also a great life learning experience and it teaches them to be more responsible.  Summertime can be a great opportunity to help your kids learn some new tasks too because they have time to practice them and gain mastery and independence.

How to Return From Vacation and Still Feel Refreshed!

Do you ever come back from a vacation and then within a day or two you feel like you were never away?  It's hard to come back to mountains of laundry, piles of mail, an overflowing email inbox, and then have to hit the ground running at school and work.

Is there a way to avoid this?  To keep those refreshed feelings last more than a couple of hours?

I'm not always the best at this, but over the years I've tried several things to help make the transition from vacation to daily life easier.  I hope they help you too!

Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule

For the last 2 weeks I've been telling you about the All Organized ebook Bundle and sharing reviews of some of the books included in this awesome bundle. 

Well, the sale ends TODAY!  So if you haven't bought yours yet, you need to do it before 11:59 p.m. EST or you'll miss out!

[Update: Sorry this bundle sale is over, but you can still get the book from today's review individually.  Read below for details!]

Today I want to tell you about one more ebook from this bundle that I've read, and share some of the ways I think it will help me organize my life!

Coming on Monday: All Organized eBook Bundle Sale

Happy 1st day of Spring!  There's still snow on the ground here and the temps are a wee bit chilly.  But I just noticed a teeny tiny little green thing poking out of the ground where the snow has melted... which means my bulbs know it's spring at least!

We just finished a huge clean-up of our home last week in preparation for my son's 10th birthday party.  I like having a clean house, but I just don't like actually cleaning.  So when we have the entire house clean at the same time it's a pretty amazing feeling.

But I know I still need to do some spring cleaning for those deep down tasks that only need to be done once in awhile.  And you know I'm always decluttering, but there's something about spring that makes me want to declutter and organize even more!  Fun times ahead :)

If you're planning to do any spring cleaning and organizing in the next few weeks, I know you'll be just as excited as I am about what's coming up on Monday!

Command Centre: Weekly Notes and Calendar

First, I'm excited to say that this is my 100th post!  In some ways it feels like I've been blogging forever and in other ways it seems like I just started.  It's fun to celebrate milestones and the first 100 posts is a big one for me.  And here's to the next 100 :)

OK, on with today's post!  Last week I showed you our Monthly Family Goals page.  Part of what helps us achieve our monthly goals is breaking them down further into weekly goals.

Today I want to show you our weekly notes memo board.

Organizing Resource: Pulling Yourself Together

Is "Get Organized" on your new year's resolution list?  Are you looking for resources to help you get organized in 2013?  

There are tons of great e-books out there that give you strategies and tips to help you out.  Many of them even include printable lists and charts to guide you.  

From time to time I will let you know about them here on the blog.  Today I'm excited to introduce you to Clean Mama's new ebook...