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Top Ten Tips for Travel

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Travel can be stressful so enjoy our tips that help you simplify and organize all your trips!

I love to travel but used to get so stressed by all the preparation and unknowns. What if I need something different to wear? What if I can’t find my hotel information? How do I decide what to take on with me and what to pack? Over the last 5 years, I have used all the tips & tools below to radically reduce the stress and struggle.  These tips are the SEE IT. MAP IT. & DO IT. steps for travel.  Try them out and let me know what you think!

My invitation, sharing of my “bag lady” story and more…

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Get your copy here Top Ten Tips for Travel

  1. The perfect suitcase is the key.
    • Size, weight, color, material, design
    • Each person needs and deserves their own suitcase
    • Have an ID tag that is current (no address)
  1. Simplify the clothing
    • Choose a capsule wardrobe so you can mix and match easily
    • Choose to roll your clothes or use the pack-it systems
  1. Apps and online resources that help: clearsimple.com/travelapps/
    • Use Wunderlist – have a standard list for your different types of trips and then easily adjust for current trip. Yes a list makes a difference. You can even print the list so you can check the items off.
    • Use Last Pass for all your key & private information
    • Tripit stores all the trip details
    • Get AAA or similar service for travel troubles
    • Uber and Airbnb are some of our favorites
    • Get your TSA Precheck to save time every plan trip
    • Check out Costco Travel – especially for car rentals
  1. Get an extra set of all electrical cords and chargers. Keep these packed and ready to go.
  2. Have your body care items already on hand – refill after each trip. Use smart containers for your body care items.
  3. Find the perfect tote or carry-on bag that can hold all you need and feel easy to carry.
  4. Carry-on Essentials Kit ready to go in the perfect carry-on.
  • Medicines (get the small plastic medicine pouches)
  • Soft light sweater or jacket and socks
  • Toothbrush, wipes, body care & eye mask
  • Book to read or game to play
  • Easy water bottle like the collapsible water bottle
  • Gum and food snacks, including protein
  • Ear buds or head phones that you love
  1. Safe holder for passport, id and credit cards (make a copy that stays home with an assigned person who can help). Use Last Pass to hold all the vital information.
  2. Check out The Container Store for some of our favorite bags and tools.
  3. The Power of One. Try taking one book, one notebook, one technology device, etc. Then decide one purpose (most important) for your trip. clearsimple.com/travelstuff/
Organizing Tips for a Smooth Move!

Organizing Tips for a Smooth Move!

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Moving can be one of the most stressful things we go through. Whether you are a single person, a family or a business, it can be overwhelming and chaotic. As a professional organizer for 19 years, Marla has seen the pain her clients go through.  She also sees how often the boxes are still unpacked months or even years later!

 

TIP 1 – Clear the clutter FIRST! Start a couple months before the move. Schedule a couple hours at a time, or a whole weekend, to go through and clear the layer of stuff you know you no longer need or want. You don’t have to do it all but everything you release saves you money. Get help from a friend, family or a professional organizer. Get help from our eBook The ART of Letting Go. You can download it on www.clearsimple.com/art.

TIP 2 – Create a simple plan for each area of the old home and the new.  Go to google to find wonderful checklists!

TIP 3 – Get the right TOOLS:

  • Use the real moving boxes.  They are extremely affordable. They make the move easier because you have the sizes you need, they can stack easily, they have handles where you need them, you can reuse or recycle them when done.
  • Get moving labels that make it easier to identify what it is the box. I love the ones that are a different color for each area. You can go to Amazon to see a variety of options,
  • Get the packing tape and tape guns to get the job done quickly.

TIP 4 – Hire professionals to pack and to move you. It will save you stress and money in the end.  However, be picky and interview different companies until you find a great fit for you. Often times professional organizers are less by the hour than moving companies and they do a much more organized job.  They can also help you put your home together on the other end.

Text your email address to 801-463-9090 and type “move” or email info@clearsimple.com to get a free digital version of our Organize Your Move Book. I want you to get organized and have fun doing it.

Make this next move the one you celebrate because it is smooth and has much less stress. The Clear & Simple Team.

 

Simple Travel Planning

Simple Travel Planning

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Clear & Simple, Simple Trips & Travel

Yes, you can have less stress with all your travels!

Some of you have heard about our very humbling and eye-opening experience of traveling to London in 2014 with too much stuff and the sad comments we received regarding all of that stuff. We were so embarrassed to be representing organizers and Americans as a whole. Needless to say, our packing and travels were NOT Clear & SIMPLE…

Through conscious practice each time we travel, we now travel much more simply and LOVE to share about all that we have learned. We still experience the initial freak out when it is time to start getting ready., but then we remind ourselves to do the See It and Map It steps first. This helps us stay present with one thing at a time.

See it – Take a look at what the trip is about. Then you can gather all the details in one place (see the apps below for help).

  • What will you be doing?
  • Where are you going?
  • What is the purpose of the trip?
  • Who are you traveling with?

Map it – Make a plan for what you want. This relieves the stress in your body and brain.

  • Why not make a Mind Map for your trip?  This makes it fun.
  • Create your spending plan ahead of time.
  • Make the lists for packing as soon as you can.

We have shared about our favorite travel planning apps, including Wunderlist (now Microsoft ToDo) and TripIt for making the planning stages so much easier. We pull our general trip list in Wunderlist and then customize it for each new trip. TripIt keeps all the important details together and on the phone.

A Podcast… Be More Organized & Present

A Podcast… Be More Organized & Present

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Create Organizing Habits to Reduce Stress

In this episode of Wellness Wisdom Camille Kennard interviews Marla Dee, Professional Organizer at Clear & Simple Organizing. In today’s world we are bombarded with information & stuff! So there is clutter everywhere – on our phones & computers, desktops & countertops, bedrooms & basements, closets & cupboards… We crave being free of the clutter and fantasize about being organized, but it feels impossible. Marla Dee is here to change that. As a professional organizer for 18 years, Marla has seen the pain!

Living in chaos has an impact on our physical, mental, and emotional health, and our outside environment is often a reflection of what’s going on inside our minds and our lives.

Marla believes that as we clear the clutter in our lives we will be happier, alive, and connected. When we let go of the clutter, we FREE ourselves to possibilities and open space for something new to come in.

Marla will share with us Clear and Simple principles that are the foundation of her work including how to see it, map it, and do it. You can create a vision of how you want things to look, feel, and function. She will help us learn how to simplify and set up habits to be more organized and present. The habits piece includes the “keep it up” step in STACKS (sort, toss, assign, contain, keep it up and simplify). Tune into this episode to learn systems that can help you make shifts in how you care for yourself and your environment.

Marla believes that living organized and clutter free is a skill anyone can learn. What is your clutter costing you? Free yourself of clutter and be present in your life to what matters most! Listen to the podcast

Camille is passionate about supporting people in their health and wellness. Check out her other blogs for inspiration and support.

Listen to the Podcast
Clear & Simple, Marla Dee, Camille Kennard, Flourish Wellness

Organizing Tips to Transform Your Clothes Closets

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When spring energy hits we feel compelled to clean out & organize!

One of the most needed and popular areas to organize is the clothes closet. Today I will share my top tips for making this area fun & functional.

TIP 1– Hanger Hell or Hanger Heaven

The easiest and cheapest closest transformation is getting the same color and type of hanger. Our brains and bodies go to color first. If you have hangers in all the colors of the rainbow, your brain can’t focus on the clothes. Then, along with the same color, choose the same type – all plastic or all wood. The best place to get the hanger you love is The Container Store. They have the largest selection.

TIP 2– Sort by colors and types

To make it easy to find the piece of clothing you want, sort them first by color (refer to the tip above) and then by type.

TIP 3 – Clear the floor

The floor is not the place to store your shoes or homeless items. Get them all contained. Put the shoes on shoe shelves. Put the dirty laundry into a hamper. Do not store other stuff in the clothes closet.

TIP 4– Use cool containers for the small stuff

Containers make the difference between a cluttered closet and a gorgeous closet. Put accessories such as scarves, bags, jewelry and such into their own containers. Remember to label the containers and the shelves so it is easy to find what you need.

Invitation:Have fun clearing out your clothes closet and share before and after pictures with me at www.facebook.com/clearsimple/

I want you to get organized and have fun doing it!
Marla Dee


Clear & Simple, Marla Dee, Organizing Tips to Transform Your Clothes Closets