by CS Team
Travel can be stressful so enjoy our tips that simplify & help you organize all your trips!
We have used all the tips & tools below to radically reduce the stress and struggle that travel can bring. These tips are the SEE IT. MAP IT. & DO IT. steps for travel. Try them out and let us know what you think!
Marla sharing her personal “bag lady” story and more…
- 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)
- 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
- 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
- Get an extra set of all electrical cords and chargers. Keep these packed and ready to go.
- Have your body care items already on hand – refill after each trip. Use smart containers for your body care items.
- Find the perfect tote or carry-on bag that can hold all you need and feel easy to carry.
- 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
- 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.
- Check out The Container Store for some of our favorite bags and tools.
- 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/
by CS Team
Digging in the dirt takes us right back to being a kid. There is nothing else like it.
When Spring comes, our hands start itching to go digging in the dirt. For thousands of years spring’s arrival meant it was time to till and plant. This primal instinct is wired into us. We need this time with the earth. It is healing unlike anything else. So we feel ourselves called outside, driving to the plant store and co-creating with mother earth.
But like everything else in life, the project of planting can feel overwhelming, especially for someone like me. I am not a born gardner like my daddy was. He started each day outside, wandering through his yard and garden, picking weeds, talking to the plants and digging in the dirt. He could get things to grow that no one else could. He had a way with the earth. Growing up I wanted to work alongside him and learn but it felt overwhelming. Sadly I never did.
As an adult, when spring arrived, I would have the urge to go plant but didn’t know where to start. So one year I thought why not start small. I started with one pot on my front porch holding one plant. I let myself enjoy this sweet & simple ritual. Then everyday I was greeted by the bright flowers when I came home. Overtime this has grown to a flower garden in front of the house and more in the back.
Just getting ready to write this blog, I had to go get new plants for our new office. This spring let yourself go dig in the dirt and take in how fabulous it feels to your body and spirits.
Let yourself play! Marla Dee
by CS Team
Donating your stuff, your time and resources to a cause you care about is FREEING.
Why would we fill up our cars with our client’s donations? Because letting go of our stuff and deciding where to donate our resources are loaded decisions. We want to make it easier. We have seen over and over again that when our clients choose an agency or cause they really care about the letting go is easier.
We define clutter as delayed decisions and holding onto the past.
We are asking you to help your family and loved ones find a place to donate and a cause to contribute to. Please see the list below for ideas on places you can support.
We are sharing our chosen cause below and would appreciate your help.
The Utah Professional Organizers are donating 200+ hours of our time and skill.
The Utah Professional Organizers are excited to help The Road Home organize supplies, donations, and storage closets at Palmer court. This wonderful organization helps find permanent housing for homeless individuals and families in our community. We need donations to make this project a success! Everything helps.
We have found through the years that donating stuff, time and money to a cause you care about makes a big difference. We would greatly appreciate your help in this transformation.
Please go here to make a monetary donation. Or if you want more information about the Utah Professional Organizers go here.
Here are some additional links for national agencies that will make it easy for you to let go of the stuff that is keeping you stuck!
Please share your own stories with us! Marla, Kate & Team
by CS Team
A little package with powerful purpose.
The holiday season is in full swing and as much as we wish that everyone could move through this time joyfully and easily, we know it can also be challenging. We are here to help simplify this time with practical & meaningful tips. See below for our GIFT to you – all our top tips for home & holidays!!
Tip for your home: Simplify.
Start SMALL. Choose an easier project like your purse, junk drawer or top of the dresser to begin.
Pick ONE. Choose one tip, one home area or one project for each season of the year and let this be enough. Then enjoy your life and loved ones the rest of the time rather than stressing about the stuff.
Tip for your holidays: Make your own traditions.
It’s your life and your choice. Create your own meaningful traditions based on your family’s current values and desires, not just what has “always been done.” Why not set aside an evening in front of the christmas tree – go around and ask each person in the family what would mean the most to them? Then consciously choose and deepen your traditions.
Here are a few ideas from our lives –
- Special one-on-one time
- a sledding or skating outing
- reading a chosen story before bed
- giving to a family in need
- a game night each week
- choosing a theme for the year
- making ornaments, cookies or candy
- caroling with loved ones
Wishing you a magical and soulful holiday season – Marla, Kate & Team
Get all of our TOP TEN TIPS for Home & Holidays in this eBook.
This is our GIFT to you during the holidays! Feel free to share this with others in your life.
Visit Our Shop where all of our downloadable are 50% off for the month of December!
by CS Team
Want to take the STRESS out of packing? Wouldn’t it feel great to be all ready the day it is time to leave?
Get Ruth Hadlock’s 4 simple, yet powerful Tips for Travel. We are here to tell you they work!! Ruth is the owner of Streamlined Space and has a gift for making everything SIMPLER! Use these travel tips and ENJOY!
Watch the VIDEO below along with reading the TIPS!
My clients tell me they spend the day before their vacation running around in circle, frantically trying to pack for their trip! How can you make this process stress-free? Here are 4 suggestions.
- Create a packing list. This sounds so remedial, but do you actually do it? It’s easy nowadays to keep a checklist in an app on your phone. It’s not that I’m trying to convince you to pack lighter; I’m simply encouraging people to pack the appropriate items for the trip you will be experiencing!
- Staging. As with so many organizing projects, you need a place to lay out all your clothes and items. Do this at least 48 hours in advance. I’ve found that my clients pack too little or too much or not the right items because they do it last minute without thinking clearly.
- Pack Correctly. Pack shoes against the edges of the suitcase. Roll your clothes rightly, placing larger, bulkier items at the bottom and ending with smaller, lighter ones. Put your toiletry kit and accessories on top. This way, you won’t have to sit on your suitcase anymore to be able to zip it! if you have dress clothes you don’t want wrinkled, lay them a the bottom of the suitcase, with the ends hanging out over the suitcase edge. Then fill the space with your rolled items and carefully fold the dress clothes ends on top. You can even use dry-cleaning bags to decrease wrinkles. Because the bag is slippery, creases won’t set in as much.
- Get the right luggage and accessories. Here are some of my favorite items, in no particular order:
Compression Bag | Bag Bungee | Toiletry Kit
VIEWER HOMEWORK: On your next upcoming trip, commit to using a packing list and staging your items ahead of time. You can view my favorite items on the Resource Page of my website streamlinedspace.com.
Ruth is a Clear & SIMPLE Certified Organizer™ (CSCO). Read about our 3-tiered training program.
We are all having adventures this summer and embracing tips that make traveling simpler. Let us know if these helped and what you are up to.
Marla, Kate & Team
