Organizing Made Fun

The Importance of Having a Morning Routine

2013-05-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked by Folgers to talk with you about morning routines -
and boy, have I got one!

And you need on too!

About four years ago, I had about 50 pounds to lose! It wasn't a pretty site, but having had two babies where I gained 70 and 80 pounds each - then losing, gaining, losing, gaining - I had enough of it and wanted to get that weight off for good! My excuse, to myself, was that I didn't have time to really exercise. I thought that I would have to wait until both my kids were in school before I could actually lose weight, so I could work out once they went to school -- procrastinator!

Something in my brain finally clicked. I sat down with my husband one night and told him that I needed to find a way to have a morning routine where I exercised. He agreed that he would wait four to five mornings a week, to leave for work at an agreed upon time, so that I could go work out but it would still be early. And ever since then, I have kept my morning routine! What is it?

I set out my work out clothes and my other things the night before to give me few excuses not to work out! And yes, most mornings I'm up at 5:20 AM - because that's the only time I can work out. I read my Bible, and get ready. Then, I head out the door - meeting with my walking partner - and we head up the "hill of death".

I must admit that the ONLY way I get up that hill is with my music in my Iphone moving me - I'm not kidding. I literally use the beat to the music to help me keep pace and walk fast.

I have a whole section in my Iphone called "Workout" and it's all fast paced music that I know will help keep me motivated to get up the hill - it's nearly two miles STRAIGHT up and it kicks my tail every day!

When I get back from walking, I get my kids' breakfast started - sometimes having some great music playing while we chat and eat! My hubby might need his morning coffee - and I'm happy to make that for him before he heads to work, too! Once I walk my daughter to school and the dog with us, I come home and shower up and get "ready" listening to more music while I put on my make up and do my hair - I LOVE having music going, pretty much all day long - including while I work!

So, what's the real reason that YOU need a morning routine - which may or may not be like mine? Well, when you have a routine, it helps you start your day right. When you have a ritual, like walking or drinking coffee or whatever you do, it just makes you feel like your home and you can now attack your day! Am I right?

By the way, I'm also a piano teacher and love to see my students express themselves through music - both what they read and what they make up! Don't you? Folgers is also supporting musical creativity and would like to let you know about their Jingle Contest:

Vote for the best Top 10 Finalist in Folgers' Jingle Contest! Meet the Top 10! Take a look at Folgers® Jingle Contest Finalists, and listen to the tracks that earned them a spot in The Top 10. Cast your vote once every day through June 19th. You could win exciting prizes, like free Folgers Coffee, iTunes® gift cards, signed CDs from Gavin DeGraw, and even a $10,000 Grand Prize just for voting! Before you vote, follow the Road to the Jingle on Facebook to see how they traveled the U.S. to track down the Top 10 contestants! Remember, you can vote once a day through June 19th!

Click here for official rules.

Like what you see here? Consider becoming a follower or subscribe via email! Are you an Organized Reader? I'd love to see your organized space. Email me HERE and show me your space to possibly be featured as one of my Organized Readers.

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Fun Announcement

2013-05-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

I have a fun announcement! It's going to inspire you and maybe even motivate some others of you! Beginning at the end of this month {May 26th}, the TOP ORGANIZING BLOGGERS are going to host a monthly organizing party beginning NEXT Sunday and running the last Sunday of every month!

You can link up your organizing post OR you can link up your project via Pinterest! Don't miss it, it's coming soon!

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Keeping you charged!

2013-05-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

Once again, I'm teaming up with Office Depot, who is challenging me each month to come up with creative ways to use their office products! Secretly, I LOVE this challenge -- and I've got some really GREAT ideas brewing in my mind all the time, but this month I decided to do something pretty practical, simple, cheap, and easy! Isn't that what you want? Of course it is!

So, I organized my nightstand! What? Doesn't seem that exciting? Well, what makes it super fun and exciting is that I also added a charging station IN the top drawer of my nightstand.

Here is what my nightstand looked like before. It's not terrible. I have it pretty organized but recently got a mini Ipad that I now keep next to me and use as my alarm clock in my bedroom. So, the problem is that I want to charge it overnight but don't want to keep it on top of the nighstand {or night table you may call it} all the time. I'm sure many of you use your smart phones by your bed, also, to charge and use as an alarm clock, am I right?

So, how did I do it? How much did it cost? And was it hard? I got a 6 foot extension cord in brown, to match the inside and outside of my nightstand, and some Scotch reclosable fasteners. I only wound up using half of one pack, not two, but I have extras to do this to my husband's nightstand and other drawers if I want to later.

I used my drill - yep, I have my own drill - and used this drill bit to make a round hole the size that the plug could fit through.

It was super easy. I took the drawer out before I drilled this - so make sure you do that! It wasn't even that messy!

I took the extension cord - which is a three plug outlet - and I put the Scotch fasteners on the back. Easy, right?

And what do you get when you use some binder clips and pretty tape? You get organized cords inside your drawer.

I took them and clipped the specific cords for each device and color coded them. But, be careful not to actually pinch the cord. Just go around it like I have above using a large enough binder clip.

In the drawer it's great to have them to keep the cords from going all over, plus using the binder clips is quick and easy to unwrap them when you need to.

The rest of the drawers needed some organizing as well. I took this pretty box from Office Depot that has a beautiful pattern in it. Plus, what I really loved about it was that it had a divider that you could take out and divide however you need to.

Now my bottom drawer of my nightstand has become quite a mess. I use it to store any very special cards and things from my hubby and kids. Nice, huh? Even I have areas in my home that need improvement - there is just only so much time I can devote to this stuff and when I don't, it winds up like this.

So, here was my solution! I used these project cases to sort the cards.

I sorted the kids special cards to me and my Hubby's to me - using Post-It Notes. Now it's neat and organized and isn't making a big mess of things in that bottom drawer.

So, to answer my questions above. Was it easy? YES. The extension cord charging station took me 20 minutes to put together. Was it hard? No -- everything just took a little time to do. How much did it cost? The top drawer charging station was under $20. The other pieces - the box I used to divide and keep my things in the top drawer was also a steal! The bottom drawer project cases were really inexpensive, as well. Not bad, right? Do you have a drawer that would be perfect for a charging station?

{*I have been compensated by Office Depot, to come up with fabulous ways to organize things*}

Like what you see here? Consider becoming a follower or subscribe via email! Are you an Organized Reader? I'd love to see your organized space. Email me HERE and show me your space to possibly be featured as one of my Organized Readers.

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