Learn what Minimalism Is & how to Apply It in Your Life.

There are many different ways to interpret Minimalism. We believe that the definition is different for each person and we explain why in this video.

As Professional Organizers we work primarily with people who are on the extreme opposite side of Minimalism. We feel it's important that you get a solid understanding of what that is. 

Common themes and over-lapping words were used by clients to describe their challenges and state.

Many seemed to have the same negative feelings associated with their challenges. 

When asked about the future or describe an ideal state almost all used the same language.

Note:  We have included a pdf version of this resource for you to download.

We want to share with you a resource that we have been building over the past 4 years of working with clients.

This resource is hugely helpful. One of the things that people encounter when they go through a downsize, declutter, a purge is that they have a really hard time letting go of things, especially if they have sentimental attachments. That's why we developed this 12 questions resource sheet. 

This resource offers you some really hard hitting questions:

- Do I need it or just want it? - Does this item match my goals? - Do I want to create a home for it? - Is it easy to find another one? - Can I manage without it? - Do I love it? - Are the time and storage costs worth it? - Am I keeping it because of guilt? - Is there anyone who may need it? - Will a picture of it not meet my need for it? - Am I keeping it to avoid something emotional? - Do I have more than one of it?

It's answering these questions what will make the decision making so much easier and faster. 

If you have a friend working with you, we suggest you give them this list of questions so that when you come across those difficult items you will know, very quickly,  if you are going to keep it or let it go. 

We always recommend knowing the goal in advanced because when the times get tough, seeing that bright future ahead of you, that's what's going to help you go through it. 

You probably didn't know that a lot of what you experience, positive and negative, can lead to stress in your life. Yes, even something great like a promotion can lead to higher stress levels. In this exercise we want you to evaluate your life right now and rate the experiences you've gone through recently. It's an eye opening exercise.

This Stress Test will help you become aware of the big life events that happened to you and the impact that they can have on your overall physical and mental health.
 
We want to share with you a great exercise we learned while doing our mental health first aid course. 

There is a very close relationship between the life events that happen in our lives and our physical and mental state. This exercise is called “Life Change Index Scale (Stress Test)” and will help you measure your current situation.

Most of the clients we work with are going through very difficult life events (divorce, death, retirement, work change, moving homes, having a baby…) and it takes time and a lot of energy to adjust to the new situation. 

During this time, it’s normal to neglect your self-care and your home, too.  Making the situation even worse. 

It’s very important to be aware of the challenges that you are facing, and to ask for help when you can not manage on your own.
Our personal experience with clients is normally dealing with clutter. Clutter appears due to lack of self-care and energy to keep up. It’s NORMAL for this to happen while you are experiencing these life events. 

You won’t believe how many people are suffering from clutter the same way you may be.

Hitting the reset button and having a fresh start could be the answer you are looking for. 

Directions

If an event mentioned above has occurred in the past year or is expected in the near
future, copy the number in the scoring column.
If the event has occurred or is expected to occur more than once, multiply this number by the frequency of the event.

Scoring The Life Change Index

The body is a finely timed instrument that does not like surprises. Any sudden change stimuli which affect the body, or the reordering of important routines that the body become used to, can cause needless stress, throwing your whole physical being into
turmoil.

The following chart will give you some idea of how to informally score yourself on Social Readjustment Scale.

Since being healthy is the optimum state you want to achieve, being sick is the state of being you most want to avoid.

Life Change Units  –   Likelihood Of Illness In Near Future

300+                  –    about 80 percent
150-299            –    about 50 percent
less than 150   –    about 30 percent

The higher your life change score, the harder you have to work to get yourself back into a state of good health.

T.H.Holmes and T.H. Rahe. “The Social Readjustment Rating Scale,” Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 11:213, 1967.

We're sure you know what it's like to have your brain so full of ideas and thoughts it paralyzes you. This exercise of Mind Mapping allows you to do a brain dump, but in a somewhat organized way :)

If you want to have a clear look at what's going on inside your head, this exercise is for you.

Mind mapping will allow you to write down on paper all the ideas, challenges, tasks and activities that are cluttering your head. Many times we have too many ideas, or we are worrying too much about something, or we need to brainstorm about what to do next in a specific area of our lives.

Our head is cluttered and we feel overwhelmed. 

By doing this exercise, you will be able to let all these ideas out of your head, bringing clarity and calmness to your life. Also, you will be able to identify your priorities and take immediate action. Are you ready to get started with mind mapping?

You will need a piece of paper or notebook, pens, markers, and highlighters. Try to have a few different colors. 

Watch the video and try to follow the same steps:

1) Write down your main ideas/challenges.
2) Under every main idea/challenge, write down everything that you need to do relating to it.
3) Now it’s time to set priorities.
4) Try to create specific tasks that are easy to schedule in your calendar.
5) Estimate how much time every task may take.
6) If there is a monetary cost or budget involved, write it down.

After you have done all these steps, it’s time to reflect. Very often, you will see that you are trying to do too many things. If this is the case, you can try to delegate some tasks, ask for help or prioritize what’s really important.

Repeat this exercise as many times as you need. If you have a LOT of ideas to write down, you can try to get started by doing this exercise only for a specific area. Be creative and have fun!

We hope this is helpful. Please let us know how it goes. If you have any questions feel free to share them with us. We will do our best to answer them.

Laura's story is a real example of how coaching, mentoring, and support can help you overcome your challenges and create the life that you want to live.

Laura was struggling with physical clutter, mental clutter, too many activities and her mental health was a reflection of all this chaos.

This is how she described how she was feeling: "I feel in such darkness, trapped in the lifestyle that can't move"

This is how she felt after the process: " I feel alive, lighter, freer, happier, fresher. Every piece of my life has reason now"

She enrolled in our coaching program and since then she has been able to make DRAMATIC improvements in her life.

She wants to share her story to inspire others to take action. 

You have the power to change your life.  Yes, YOU!

If you are not feeling well, and you are unable to find a solution on your own, please don't stop searching for the right help.  Sometimes is a family member, sometimes is a good friend, sometimes is a therapist, sometimes is a coach, a mentor, a professional organizer...  If you think we may be the right fit for you, take advantage of our free initial call to find out. No pressure from us!

If you don't like your current situation and are ready for a change, make sure you keep your eyes open for opportunity.

Any questions for us? Let us know what your struggles are related to organization and we will create content just for you!

In video 2 I mentioned I would share my system to organize my to-do list. Here you have it :)

After feeling frustrated with "organizing my to-do lists", I decided to try a new system. This is the video I created after using the new system for 30 days.

Kitchen and Garage Organization. 

Setting Specific Goals Will Help You Get Your Space Decluttered and Organized.
 
In this video, we show you the steps we followed to transform a kitchen and a garage.

These are real projects we worked on. We followed our tested system to successfully create the space that our clients always wanted.

Before getting started with any project, we recommend understanding very well what your goals are. We always make sure to understand very clearly what our clients want, and we also question them about why they want that. 

By doing this, you are forcing yourself to be specific and you are also understanding better why you need that change to happen.

The goal is to determine what your frustrations are and try to make the right changes to eliminate them.
 
Can you imagine your life with no more frustrations?
 
This video is included in our online video course “How to Declutter and Organize Any Space“. 

https://kwprofessionalorganizers.com/course/declutter-and-organize-space/

Art Gallery, Bedroom, and Home Office Organization. 

Setting Specific Goals Will Help You Get Your Space Decluttered and Organized.   In this video, we show you the steps we followed to transform an art gallery, a bedroom and a home office.

These are real projects we worked on. We followed our tested system to successfully create the space that our clients always wanted.

Before getting started with any project, we recommend understanding very well what your goals are. We always make sure to understand very clearly what our clients want, and we also question them about why they want that. 

By doing this, you are forcing yourself to be specific and you are also understanding better why you need that change to happen.

The goal is to determine what your frustrations are and try to make the right changes to eliminate them.   Can you imagine your life with no more frustrations?   This video is included in our online video course “How to Declutter and Organize Any Space“. 

https://kwprofessionalorganizers.com/course/declutter-and-organize-space/

Maybe you like the idea of Minimalism, but currently find yourself having difficulties with stuff. Try this calming exercise where you explore your ability to visualize your ideal space, exactly the way you want it to be.