how to grow in 2016

WOW!!!! Can anyone tell me were 2015 has gone. With the kids in school full time I have jumped both feet into growing my company. I am having the time of my life. I remember as a kid, maybe 10-11 years old organizing my room and cleaning it for hours, I loved it. My family thought I was nuts, I think sometimes they still do. Over the last year I have done some soul searching and personal growth. I have come so far in learning to be a better organizer for my clients and a better mother and wife. I am so excited to see what the path of 2016 has for us.

On that note I have a million excuses for not doing it but no more. I am going to schedule more blog posts for all you fans. I have a busy January planned but I feel I still need to write more. So I am open to your ideas on content you want me to share. I have too many ideas sometimes and it all gets lost in my mind.

In 2016 I want to get my home a bit more organized. With me helping others, my home has gotten a bit out of order. I will make time to put it back or change areas that don't work for us anymore. There are season in life just like there are season in Canada. Most of my clients struggle with this season. It’s the season of busy. Life is busy!! Not like when you had 3 kids under the age of 4 seasons but you are running 100 different directions busy. Between work, school and sports I feel some days I don't know where I end and begin. In the past I was home with on average 5 kids when I had my day home. It was busy but not as busy as this. Now that I am in this season I can see were my clients struggling to balance it all.

I have some tricks that might work for you. If you feel you are in the "busy" season of life.

1. LEARN TO SAY NO!!!! This is a hard one for all us moms. It’s hard because we want to make everyone around us happy. You don't want to disappoint people. Well I am sorry but if you say yes to that thing you may be also saying no to someone you love. For example, I said yes to a job that was not my "job" it was something else that was not my thing, I didn't want to do it but I didn't want to disappoint the person. Well taking on that job left me drained to be with my family. I have learned to say no to stuff that is not on my path. It’s on someone else's path but they don't know how to follow it or are too scared to do it alone. I have gone down a path with a person to show them were they need to go and do, but at some point I leave them and continue on mine.
2. OWN YOUR TIME!!! Lots of moms wake up and don't know what they are doing that day. They wait till someone plans there day for them. I am so guilty of this too. When my second was born I started to plan my days down to what time we would have snack and reading time. I would schedule playdates and own our days. I LOVED IT. Just because I was a stay at home mom didn't mean I had to be at the whims of the universe to plan my day. I loved having our days planned out, the kids did much better, and there was also a lot less stress in the home. Yes some days did not go as planned, kids get sick and plans change, but planning the day meant that I felt in control of my time.
3. BE PRESENCE- there is a movement out in the world about being presence. With all our technology now a days, it’s crazy how people are connected and disconnected, literally at the same time. We are connected to people around the world in a split second but then we are also disconnected to realty. When was the last time you saw the color of your kid’s eyes. Like really looked them in the eye and talked to them. I watch people a lot and I see parents looking at their phone more than watching their kids play on the playground. Recently we went on a trip to see my in laws 4 hours away. The kids were in the back with their tablets and stuff, doing their thing. A few hours in to the trip red says mom "where are we". I tell her and she was like wow that went so fast. That's how I see the world right now. At some point you will look up and see a full grown person in front of you demanding your attention good or bad, and you will wonder were the time has gone. So at least give your family and friends your full presence, which all people really want.
4. BEWARE OF BLEED TIME- Like a cut that will not stop bleeding, your time can run away without your directed pressure and attention. Bleed time to me is Pinterest, Facebook, heck any kind of social media. A few years ago I was redoing my laundry room and looking on Pinterest for the best system that would work for our family. Then my clever, sarcastic husband said "you know you don't need to organize your laundry if you just do it". He was totally right (shhhh don't tell him that) I was looking at systems to store dirty laundry. Hum sounds insane really. So I now have a laundry system that is just doing it. I also set a timer if I want to be on Pinterest. I really can loose and hour on that thing. I can do a lot in an hour to relieve the things that cause me anxiety and stress. Walking the dog, doing a quick home blessing (aka clean) or reading my book. The average person has 4 hours a day in bleed time that adds up to almost 13 years in a life time. 
5. DONT BE A STRESSCASE- I love this one. The top points all lead into this one. Are you running around doing things for others that they can do for themselves? Are you saying yes to things and then regretting it? Are you not planning your day with YOU in mind? You want to get healthy but you don't have time to get to the gym, don't have time to make healthy meals. You are setting yourself up for failure before you even start. If you are planning your week then you have to keep in mind that on hockey night you can’t make a 5 course meal. I like to schedule meal prep days. I love it, the kids help me and we listen to music or they just talk. We do it on a Sunday. It charges us up for the coming week and it makes the week run smoother. You can read about that here. I find a lot if not all my clients go shopping and are not percent or they are sooo stressed to get groceries. They put stuff in the cart and then get home and forget they got it and why they bought it. I think being organized before you go to the store is vital to your budget and your sanity. You are on path that is to remove clutter from your home you can’t be buying stuff just because it was a good deal. You need to be awake and present with a plan.

I hope these points help you to grown in 2016.