Over winter break I double dog dare you to accomplish the following three things all at the same time with your children.

1. Spend one-on-one time with each child.

2. Go through their room with them and find out what they still love and what they're ready to part with.

3. Help them see the value of organization by donating their unwanted items to charity, or selling them on Craigslist and eBay and earning some money.

Check out the complete post and links here: http://organize365.com/winter-break-triple-threat/

In my professional organization experience I have noticed 3 distinct phases of life a woman goes through in relation to her home and clutter. 

Today I'm answering a reader question, how can you organize two households and one? 

I am answering a reader question today about how I organize projects. 

On the podcast today I'm sharing another heavy topic. There is a reason why the homes of parents of children with special needs are disorganized. 

I have been feeling the tug to share my personal experience with depression for quite a while.

It may surprise you to hear that I have struggled with depression. I'm a pretty upbeat gal! Well, it surprised me too.

In today's podcast, I share my personal story with depression and how it affects every area of your life.

Here are 5 tips I gave myself and share with clients about how depression affects organization.

1. Give yourself grace.

I cannot even put into words how depression zapped me of every shred of energy to do ANYTHING. And the thought of tackling an organization project was SO overwhelming. My "will power" got up and went - AWAY!

2. Get a friend to help you.

Another friend's perspective, energy and motivation are contagious and can help you push through when you just want to watch TV. Used strategically, friends can help you get organized and stay functioning when your own initiative is low.

Over 50% of the Organize 365 clients call us in to help because they just can't do the organizing themselves in their depressed state.

3. Pick ONE area and COMPLETE it before moving on no matter how long it takes.

Slow and steady wins the race! Your home did not become a "mess" overnight, and it won't get organized overnight either. One step at a time.

Pick an area where you can get a quick win and start there:

• Your night stand
• Your dresser
• The car
• The Master Closet

The key is to MAINTAIN that area when you tackle area #2. The Productive Home Solution™ is ordered in a way so the areas you organize will stay organized as you move on to the next area of your home.

4. Acknowledge your limitations.

I know how frustrated you are! Knowing what I USED to be able to do made me even MORE depressed when I couldn't seem to tackle even the basics when I was depressed.

If it's a bad day... it's OK! You have time to get organized and take care of yourself.

And when your desire is beyond your physical ability - hire help.

5. Surround yourself with positive people.

I know it's easier to say than do, but I always felt better when I made myself go OUT and BE with people, even though I didn't want to.

I can't even tell you how many times we will be laughing with clients and then they say,

• "I can't believe how fun you make organizing!"
• "I haven't been able to laugh like that in a long time."
• "If I knew how quickly you could get this organized I wouldn't have waited so long to call."
• and our favorite. "I can't believe there are people who actually LIKE to organize!"

These thoughts come from my personal experience. What about you? Do you have any tips to share?

Do you have more to do than time to do it? Here are 10 ways to outsource your household tasks. I am a wife, mother, and business owner. Over the last 20 years I have juggled those three commitments in various ways. And what I've come to understand is that no one person can do everything. I have tried all of the ideas where you have your kids and your husband help you with the household tasks in order to free up some of your time. And I do many of those, but what do you do when there's not enough of you and your children and your husband to get everything done?

In order to grow my business over the last 20 years I have always hired help. Sometimes that is in the form of help to actually help my business as in a personal assistant, or an editor. But more and more I find it that the tasks I need to outsource are household related.

And really at the end of the day, the majority of the clients that the Organize 365 team organizes are really busy career oriented women who have let the household tasks go in order to focus on what is more important, their spouse, their children, in their career.

Click here to read all 10 items I have or am about to outsource.

Planning my week on Sunday saves me hours of time each week. These FREE printables will help you save time too! Click here to download your printables: https://organize365.com/sunday-basket-planning-printables/

My list of "to do's" to get my kids ready for school grows longer every year. You can download my Back to School and Home Office Supply lists at www.organize365.com/school-checklists

This podcast was originally aired in 2014. 

The content of the podcast and show notes have become a part of the Kids School Memory Binder. If you would like to learn more and/or purchase a binder, click here. 

You can read the original blog post here.

My cellphones won't charge, and won't turn on, yet I still have them. WHY?

How to decide what batteries to keep and where to keep them. Hear Lisa's funny, or not so funny story about the smoke detectors and the fire chief.

Come listen to the game I play with children to help them donate their furry friends.

Lets talk about books. There are 5 different kids of books: memory books, reference books, pleasure books, books you are finished with and electronic books. How many do you need?

Where do you store your Magazines? How many magazine collections do you have? Storage solutions and ideas for carving out reading time are on today's podcast.

Where do you store your catalogs? How many do you use? Are you still shopping from Catalogs, or are you an online shopper?

Before we dig too deep in the IDLE process let's talk about stages of organization and stages of life. Determine if you are in an acquiring or downsizing stage of life.

Clutter is delayed decision making. Every Friday in 2015 we will work on changing your mindset about ONE item that maybe cluttering up your home.