2012 February

The Desk is GONE(ish)!

February 29, 2012 By Nony 7 Comments

A few minutes ago, I headed over to read the rules for the final link-up in the 29 Day Organizing Challenge at Org Junkie.

I was in a rather bad mood that I had to hurry and write a post about an unfinished project before this (crazy and busy) month ends in a few hours.

I stopped reading after I saw #7. “Your deadline for adding your entry will be March 1st at 3:00 pm PST.”

Ummmm, whew.

Because with selling over 1400 e-books this month and all . . . I’m rather worn out.

And although I spent an hour today doing at least SOMEthing again in there, I was feeling rather irritated to have it be my final post to link up in the Gameroom Saga.

Not that tomorrow’s post will be about a finished room, but I’m hoping I can get a few things done in the morning to make it a little better than it is now.

(Yes, I said 1400 e-books!! In the first month!! Wahoo!!)

So what is it that I have to show for today?

The desk is gone(ish).

I decided that at the very least, I’d move the furniture that I have determined must be moved. Hubby used his big strong muscles to move the TV for me last night, so I had no excuse other than my bad mood. (My all-veggies-all-the-time related bad mood.)

Here’s the new set-up:

Organized? No.

Decluttered (now that all the Stuffed-Somewhere-Stuff has been unearthed in the moving)? Not at all

But I seriously love the difference.

And the desk? I told you. It’s gone(ish).

Which really means moved out of the line of vision for me to get an idea
of how the space will look.

Smack-dab in front of the door to the garage that we use thirty times a day.

Here’s hoping that this location will remind me to get it all the way out of the house.

A girl can hope, right?

Filed Under: organization | 7 Comments

Parting at the Half-Way Point

February 28, 2012 By Nony 21 Comments

Those are Barbie Valentines. The extra four or five that we didn’t need.

I’m overly proud of myself for throwing them in the trash on February 15^th.

A few weeks ago, I had lunch at a restaurant with my best friend. (Yes, I realize this SEEMS to be a totally unrelated story.) There was a mix-up with the check, and they had to re-do it and brought us another one. Since we split it and she used a gift card for a portion of hers, there were about five different receipts that were now officially trash.

I watched in awe as she tore them into tiny pieces right then and there and placed them neatly on a plate for the busboy to throw away.

She didn’t unconsciously shove them in her purse.

Y’know, like I would have done. To deal with them later.

MUCH later. At a point when I would be sifting through sixty similar receipts . . . perhaps on my bed . . . while desperately wishing I could just get to sleep already . . . but unable to . . . because I dumped out my purse there earlier in the day . . . while frantically looking for something.

I’m pretty sure her way is better. Y’know, since she’s normal and all.

I’m trying to eliminate the half-way point for papers whenever possible.

I’ve been doing things like . . . not sticking the worksheets from our Sunday morning Bible Study class in my Bible, never to be looked at again. (Until I’m cleaning out the Suburban and find the ones that fell out.)

I’ve been consciously throwing them in the trash as I leave the classroom. I know that the teacher worked hard to prepare them (since I happen to sleep with him every night), but I also know he’ll get over it.

No half-way point.

I’ve also been going through my kids’ school papers over the trash can. Instead of making a decision about which ones to throw away, I’m making a decision about which ones to keep.

Somehow, that’s much easier.

No half-way point.

As a still-recovering must-keep-everything-that-might-be-worth-looking-at-later kind of person, it’s a weird feeling.

But I can feel my brain changing every time I do it.

Not bringing clutter in? That would be the most efficient form of decluttering, right?

Oh, and don’t forget that today (Wed. the 29th) is the last day of my Sale-Within-a-Sale for my e-book. It’s only 2$ when you use the code HOPE. Click here to purchase your copy of 28 Days to Hope for Your Home.

Filed Under: decluttering | 21 Comments

The Basics are How It’s Done

February 27, 2012 By Nony 9 Comments

I’m not perfect.

That’s pretty obvious, right?

Last week, with one day spent at the zoo, two days devoted to prepping for my first speaking engagement, one day out of the house for Bible Study, and the final day of the five-day week spent frantically working on blog stuff . . . . the house got a little crazy. (See how I make it sound like it’s the house’s fault?)

Then, Saturday morning . . . I woke up at 5:30, showered and tried to look pretty, woke up the kids, got them into their basketball/cheer uniforms and dropped them off at 7:00 a.m. with Hubby at work. (He doesn’t usually work on Saturdays . . . but it was that kind of weekend.)

Yes, I’m kind of whining, but mostly I’m making a point.

No matter how busy life gets, no matter which phase of life I’m in, or which tunnel-vision-project is currently causing me to obsess . . . there are certain basics that have to be done.

Not that I get them all done all the time. But even half-doing them is better than not doing them.

My Daily Checklist, even the one in my memory (which is significantly shorter than the one on paper), is a lifesaver.

And over the past two months of e-book writing and promoting craziness, I’ve experience both the relief of having things under control because I made sure the basics got done, and the stress of not having done the basics for a few days.

My point? The basics are the basics. Whether or not they’re fun.

And . . . it doesn’t get more basic than my e-book, 28 Days to Hope for Your Home.

AND . . . I’m running a Sale-within-a-Sale through the end of February! That’s just two more days. With the code HOPE, all you procrastinators can grab the book for only 2.00!!!

Which is probably a bad thing for me to do because it rewards the procrastinators . . . but I really want to get those “I sold ____ copies in the first month!” numbers up as high as possible!

So really, now you have no excuse to not get a copy. It really is a fun read (if I do say so myself) and will guide you through 28 Days of developing the basic housekeeping habits that you truly can’t live without.

Here’s a short video (less than one minute!) about the book! (If you’re an email subscriber, click through to see the video.)