Still Wondering About Your Spring Cleaning Checklist?

GET YOUR SPRING CLEANING CHECKLIST DONE!

Spring is the time of year when busy becomes Busy with a capital B.

With the end of school year activities, gardening and outdoor activities and trying to prepare for summer, it leaves one wondering when we are ever going to get to our spring cleaning checklist.

Oh yeah. that would be tomorrow.

Part of the reason that we put spring cleaning off is that it's not urgent today.

It's not even urgent tomorrow.

In the small picture.

But when we look at big picture it becomes a different ballgame.

Imagine yourself in the heat of summer. The kids are at home. Piling mess upon mess.

Upon old mess...

How much nicer would it be to start the summer fresh?

To pile a new mess upon a clean table. And see it instead of having it disappear into the abyss.

Seeing it means being aware and able to say "hey - get your stuff off the table!"

The possibilities are endless.

Have you ever noticed that mess makes stress?

How much calmer and more enjoyable do you think the summer holidays with the kids is going to be with less mess from the get go?

And let's go bigger.

Your little rug rats and mess makers are grown up and gone from the house.

What kind of memories do you want your kids to have?

Do you want them to remember a peaceful home or a place they remember frustration and embarrassment.

Are they going to want to come back? Or will they prefer to send a house cleaner?

What if there's an easy way to tackle spring cleaning and get that checklist done?

There is.

The secret is in a few words.

• Priorities
• Planning
• Consistency
• Action
  
• Achievement

Put those words into practice.

• Make a plan.
• Do it consistently.
• Over and over.
• Enjoy your achievement and let it motivate you to do it again.

You can apply this to anything and everything in your life.

At the moment - I'm off to get started on my spring cleaning checklist!

If you need a plan, a structured spring cleaning checklist, support and motivation, join me at the Spring Into Spring Cleaning Challenge. We're cleaning up, 20 minutes at a time!

If not, why not drop by the iShine Community and introduce yourself?

New Queen of KAOS at Home Blog

I have revamped the Queen of KAOS at Home Blog.

You can see it here
Time Management and Organization for Mom's (and Dad's) at Home

Some of the latest articles...

• Boys Will Be Boys Damn It!

• Simple Pleasures - My Confession of Dishes Undone

• Home Organization - Self Discipline and Daily Routine

• NEWSFLASH! Bare Butt Husband Does Laundry

• 10 Tips To Control Clutter

• Success Factors - Habits

I will be switching the RSS feed from this blog over to the new one as well, so if you are subscribed, stay tuned!

You can unsubscribe at any time.

Have a Shiney Day!
Jan

Movie Rave - Snow Cake

This movie stays with you. It is a movie about small kindnesses... and large. And about how sometimes we get more than we give.

It's sad and wise and humorous.

I don't want to give much away, but I will tell you that the main story is about a man(Alan Rickman does a bang up job in a completely different role to the sorcerer Severus Snape he plays in Harry Potter) who ends up staying with a highly functioning autistic woman for a few days (Signorie Weaver who is nothing less than incredible in this role) while trying to deal with a trauma. She helps him by showing him (and us) her unaffected view on life and the world - it's often refreshing as well as funny - and he teaches her a few things too.

The grandparents in the movie are truly beautiful people, people who teach you about strength and unconditional love, people who everyone would be better for having in their life - the kind of people you'd love to have in your corner (they remind me of mine, who are gone now).

Vivienne, the girl who is never forgotten throughout the film, teaches us that appearances can be deceiving and not to be so quick to judge. And she teaches us a thing or two about living.

The real kicker for me is that the movie was filmed in Wawa, Ontario, a good drive, but not too far from here. I'm seeing many more really good Canadian films and books the past years, I don't know what has taken so long. Come to think of it, the characters are often kind of strange and quirky, but they are always unique :0)


To see more reviews and get the movie, click here.
Snow Cake

See Snow Cake at amazon.ca, although it is probably cheaper to purchase it US and ship it here if you can, the Canadian price is double.

Satruday is D Day (D-Clutter!)

I've been working on deep decluttering the past few weeks and it is really making a difference in the appearance and time it takes to maintain the housework around here.

Since decluttering is something that needs to be done regularly to be effective, I decided to pick a day - Saturday for me - and do a decluttering session, even if it is only one small thing.

This week it is a large thing so I've been spending more time with it - my office supplies cupboard.

You can see more info on the project - the starting picture and the article that inspired me here

Organize Your Office Supply Cabinet

You can see how it is coming along and more details about joining the D Day Challenge so that you can get results for yourself at this link.

Declutter Day Project

Hope to see you there!

Meal Time On Time at last!

I've been having a lot of fun getting my family back on track with meal time, using an ebook called Meal Time, On Time - Meal Planning Made Easy.

I'm taking the slow approach, building a little at a time, starting with supper time meals, using what we have in the house and going from there.

I've seen a huge difference in just the first 3 days.

It has really shown me that 90% of success is not only in the planning, but in the focus.

Merely having a plan on the white board calender on my fridge, printed neatly so it is easily read, has been enough to remind me to stay straight in making our meals and remembering to get them started on time.

It all started with an ebook that I stumbled upon a few weeks ago. Just one idea from it, the idea to use a white board on the fridge (and freezer) has made a huge difference. And there is a lot more where that came from.

I am so impressed that I started a personal blog called "What's Cookin' at Jan's" that is available to anyone who purchases purchases Meal Time On Time through the link below.

You can see my family recipes in "real time", how I "make it easy" and the worksheets etc that I use in my own meal planning. And I will be providing it in audio form as well. Like I said, it really can be a lot of fun, and together, it is a lot more fun!

If it sounds like something you could use, you can see more details at
Meal Time, On Time - Meal Planning Made Easy.

Back to School Lunches

Many kids are back in school already, mine are going back soon, so I am starting to think about school lunches (uggh, the bain of my existance since my son started school 11 years ago, and it didn't get any better as my 2 daughters followed).

It's always a challenge to pack healthy lunches that the kids can get enthusiastic about so I've decided to skip the wailing and knashing of teeth (sometimes it's me, sometimes it's the kids, depending on the day!) and enlisted some outside help.

It's a big load off because frankly, I worry that they get enough nutrition for a strong start in life if I don't make a special effort to be sure.

One thing that I am grateful for myself, is that fact that my mother always had 3 square meals a day for us (we helped, but they where there). I have always suspected that my own good health in my adult years where because of it.

PS: I joined Healthy E Meals today because they not only have 31 healthy lunch ideas as a bonus (as well as another 31 healthy snack ideas) but they also have fitness tips and motivation, cook free meals and a list of other items that will make healthy eating easier.

Just what I need!

One thing we don't want to fall behind on as parent is our children's health, but it isn't easy to provide healthy meals on a consistant basis.

After having a good look around, the one thing that strikes me as being incredibly useful is the potential to brainstorm food choices at a glance with my daughter.

I will be printing some of these ideas so that we can pull them out when planning any meal really, lunches included, and decide together what to have. (recipes are also included)

If you are stuck and looking for a resource to help you create a healthier meal and lifestyle plan, you should check it out. The owner also donates 10% company profits to charity.

Eat Well - Live Well. Join the one member's only website that caters to busy people who want to live a healthy lifestyle! Recipes, snacks, fitness and motivation tips and more. All for one low price!

Just Get It Going

With the hussle and bussle of the school year end and the new challenges of the beginning of summer holidays, once again I got off my routine. Hate when I do that! I shows within days and goes downhill from there.

So I had to bite the bullet and get back on track. I've been making an effort to get back on my BOOST Circuit and dedicate at least an hour to it every day.

Since things are unbalanced, the time slots have been as well, I've spent longer in some rooms than I normally would when I have been doing it daily.

But now, at the end of the first week I am seeing big changes. And I realize that the only difference between this week and last is that I made the commitment of one hour per day and did it, no matter what.

It brought to mind the common internet marketing advice, it doesn't have to be perfect, just get it going.

We get overwhelmed and wonder why bother, but the truth is, that if we start, and keep doing it every day, even a little bit, we will see a difference. It may never be perfect, but it will be better, and that counts for a lot!

ACTION TIP

If you've been treading water or worse - drowning, time to move ahead.

Pick a time to do a 10 - 15 minute clean up in a few rooms or areas of your house of your choosing (to total about an hour, if you are inspired to do more, go ahead, just know when to quit, if it becomes a chore, you won't want to do it again tomorrow, or your brain will tell you that you did well today so when tomorrow comes you will have an excuse not to do it. You need to develop the routine and stick to it)

Get your timer and go.

Do it every day for a week. By then you will be so happy you won't want to stop.

You may want to check out Carole Pagan's "Whole Life Overhaul", a weekly email program that will bring gradual improvement to your life. Interesting, down to earth and practical.

Whole Life Overhaul

http://myuam.com/x.cgi?a=r&id=155&aid=7480&p=37&cp=athoblogger