It’s been a while since I have put together Seana’s Sampler: a roundup of tips, thoughts, strategies, and resources to enhance daily life. This post feels like a conversation around the dinner table where I get to share some of my latest discoveries. Who doesn’t love a good find, right? I hope you’ll enjoy perusing this content and come away with something you like!
A fun watch…
At the summer social event for NAPO-CT (The National Association for Productivity and Organizing Professionals, CT Chapter), one of the members and I were talking about innovative organizing solutions. He suggested I watch the Netflix series “Hack my Home.” In this show, four professionals come together to implement creative solutions for various families’ organizing and storage challenges.
I rarely binge watch TV shows, but this one was right up my alley. There is only one season so far, but I hope it will be renewed for more. The episode where the child was sleeping in an alcove of the living room was my favorite. The solution they came up with blew me away. This is a light and fun way to get inspired.
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A great perspective…
Fellow Professional Organizer and Author Regina Lark wrote a book a few years back entitled, “Emotional Labor: Why A Woman’s Work is Never Done and What To Do About It.” Recently, she had a chance to record a TEDx Talk on this topic, and it is well worth 13 minutes of your time. If you want your household to be as productive as possible, this perspective will help. Regina examines long-standing – and sometimes unhelpful – beliefs around gender and household tasks, and provides insight for how to better establish systems that leverage individual strengths for the benefit of all involved.
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A helpful tool…
Habits are powerful tools. In a way, they are patterns of behavior that we teach our brain to anticipate and perform with minimal intentional thought. Habits can be good, bad, or even neutral. Once they are formed, they can be challenging to break. When we form desirable habits, their “staying power” can be a true asset. At the same time, forming a good habit can feel daunting.
If you want to form a new habit, you might want to try using a habit tracking app. These apps help hold you accountable and keep a record of your progress. They can even send reminders. As I often say, progress is motivating, and seeing your progress can be very helpful.
One that I’ve recently learned about is Habit Hub (above). You can see that these apps allow you to set goals and frequencies, and provide visual incentives to keep on going. This is just one of many habit tracking apps to consider. If this idea appeals, you may want to look at few and see what feels best. Other habit tracking apps include Streaks (iOs, Apple Watch, macOS), HabitNow (Android), and Habitify.
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A simple approach…
A space that is full of stuff can feel overwhelming. Where do you even begin? I love this approach from KC Davis, licensed professional counselor and author of How to Keep House While Drowning. KC helps you get started by boiling everything down into five categories:
- Trash
- Dishes
- Laundry
- Things that have a place
- Things that don’t have a place
To avoid getting derailed by any given item, KC’s “five things method” begins with getting the “mess” separated into these categories – disentangling disparate belongings and getting them into actionable groupings.
KC says, “Once you have your five messes contained, then you can go back and deal with them. You don’t have to do all of this in one day, though. Start by dealing with things in the same order you picked them up: trash, then dishes, followed by laundry, then things that have a place, and finally things that don’t have a place.”
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Two tips for mornings…
As summer fades, the need to get back into a smooth morning routine returns. Getting everybody ‘up and out’ on time and with everything they need can be stressful. To help ease the tension, I’ve got two quick tips you can implement tomorrow.
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I love sharing good ideas and resources. Do any of these resonate with you? What might you try to help you be more organized and productive in the coming months?
A few months back, I was introduced to KC Davis and her book and podcast. Her simple concepts with rituals rather than routines have been life-changing for some of my clients.
I love learning about a great new resource like KC. I’m following her now and really enjoying her stuff!
I always love your sampler, Seana! These are all great things to know about. Here are my 2 favorites. I’m absolutely going to watch “Hack My House”. I love shows like this and usually come away with an idea or two. The apps to help with habit forming sound interesting. Jonda and I are giving a class on Friday about routines and habits. I’m going to add these apps to our handout. Thank you for that!
Diane N Quintana recently posted…3 Fun Ways To Make Organizing Enjoyable
Have a wonderful class on habits – I know you and Jonda will offer super helpful information. All who are planning to attend are in for a treat!
“Hack my Home” is just so fun. Plus, the cast is quite entertaining. Enjoy!!
Such a fun series! I love what you shared. Like you, I enjoyed the Netflix series, “Hack My Home.” There’s nothing like a good transformation to intrigue my brain. The team is so creative, and they have creative, inventive solutions to space and organizational challenges. Thank you for including Regina’s TedX talk. She is awesome- her concepts and delivery. What great ‘morning’ tips you shared. Dealing with time and belongings are pivotal issues for leaving the house on time and with less or no stress.
You inspired this roundup with your “Interesting Finds.” I love being able to share tidbits that come across my life. Sometimes it is the little gems that end up making the biggest difference, right?
I love your samplers! Definitely bookmarking that TED talk because it’s a huge deal in our house. And mornings are INSANE, even when we try to combat it. The morning playlist is an amazing idea. Des needs the staging area. He’s the one who forgets!!
Tamara recently posted…Choosing the Right Therapist: A Comprehensive Guide for Finding Your Perfect Match
The morning playlist can be “magic” for some people. It’s worth a try, just give it a couple of weeks to really work!
I love this idea of Seana’s Sampler – We loved that show Hack Your Home. Ideas were not very practical but it was so fun and creative. If only we had a team we could call on like that. I loved the two videos – the first was the Ted Talk – that was so good and so true. I also loved your two tips. Great ideas!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the videos, Kim! I agree about the TV Show. Not something I could replicate, but fun to see their energy and creativity!
These are all such excellent resources. I read, and was very impressed with, KC’s book, and though I’ve read Regina’s book with Judith Kolberg, I hadn’t yet made time to watch the TEDTalk…but now I have! And I hadn’t even heard about Hack My Home, so now I have a new show to check out! Finally, I’ve been working on a post about digital habit trackers (as a companion to a piece I wrote about analog habit tracking), and this is the third time in a week I’ve come across Habit Hub, but yours is the judgment I trust, so this is exciting.
Thanks for such a fun, informative post! You always create such delightful samplers!
Julie Bestry recently posted…How to Create Your Apple & Google Legacy Contacts
It’s so fun to share resources with each other, right Julie? I learn so much from my fellow “peeps” in the profession.
The show is just fun. Their creativity is motivating, even if their ideas are not something I could necessarily replicate. I love the way they work with the space they have. 🙂
I have often talked about having staging areas for my adult clients. I love the idea of each member of the family having their own staging area where they can drop things for the next day as they think about it.
Jonda Beattie recently posted…Four Tips To Help You Focus
I think it can be a game changer, getting everyone to feel responsible for their own things. It also helps keep others aware of where they are putting their things. Nobody else gets to put stuff in my staging area, where it might cover up something important!
So many great tips! Love the habit tracker!
Sometimes a little thing like a pop-up reminder on the phone can really help when we are trying to start something new!
So much goodness in this post! I love Regina Lark, and am going to listen to that Ted Talk as soon as I’m done writing this comment. Emotional Labor and how it intersects with ADHD symptoms have been on my mind a lot lately, and I’ve been wanting to revisit her perspective.
I really think you are going to love her talk!
What a fun post, with a lot of great resources!
Janet Schiesl recently posted…Journaling
Sometimes the little “tidbits” are the best, right?
I, too, recently watched (and enjoyed) “Hack my Home”; have read Regina’s wonderful book (and seen her TED talk); and have been a KC Davis fan (on TikTok) since before she and Alison Lush (NAPO, ICD, POC) started collaborating (I wrote a blog post about them earlier this year). Great choices, Seana!
Hazel Thornton recently posted…High Five Friday
I’m so impressed by others in this field, their creative and thoughtful approach to problem solving, and their generosity is sharing with others. YOU are one of these people, for whom I am thankful!