Simply Enough

I help professional organizers build businesses that actually pay them.

Family

I Almost Closed My Business. Here’s What Stopped Me.

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There's a version of this story where I walk away. Where the weight of everything - a father's cancer diagnosis, failing health of a father and mother-in-law, a son's near-fatal accident, a business that had spread itself too thin - becomes too much, even for me. Where I decide that the most responsible thing I can do is quit and focus on my family. I almost told that version of the story. I'm glad I didn't. There's a version of this story where I walk away. I'm glad I didn't. The Before I spent more than 20 years in corporate advocating for myself and for the women on my team. Fighting for my place after my maternity leave, when I was one of the few women at the table. Fighting to prove that I was capable of more than what someone else had decided my ceiling was. I did the work. And then I walked away from it. An intentional decision so that I could build something of my own. Simply Enough started as a professional organizing business in 2016. Over the next …

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Why I Stopped Organizing Legos

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When my son was young, a fellow mom asked how I organized his Legos? I paused and said, "I don't." Being clutter-free does not mean perfection. Toys were not neatly stowed every night, certainly not Legos. I learned pretty quickly that organizing Legos was unnecessary. In our house, we love Legos. The benefits far outweighed the clutter and our loose organization system worked well. The LEGO Group   The LEGO Group makes a high quality, fair trade product. My son would request a special set for Christmas or his birthday from his grandparents.  Legos are what I call a "work-horse" toy because they stand the test of time. They also encourage friends and siblings to play together. But I learned that the more toys my son had to clean up, the less he played. And the fewer toys he had, the more he would play. With Legos, he was creative and content. He played with mini-figures from Marvel and Harry Potter at the same time. Sometimes all in one body. We did not stress …

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7 Easy Ways to Get Organized for Back-to-School

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Summer is coming to an end and many kids are already back to school. Articles fill your feed with items to buy for back-to-school." But what if you handled it differently this year and saved money? Families want to start the year off right. Organizing your school supplies can be a great way to signal the transition from summer to school. Just keep a few things in mind before you shop. Advertising Works Advertising works because billions of marketing dollars make it happen! Ads lure you into buying 64 brand new crayons and all those cute IKEA desks you had to have during the pandemic. Let's be real for a minute.  June-scissors work in August, right?  Crayons and pencils might be scattered but still create art, correct?  Kids are productive in different spaces, so do NOT force them into a desk. (I learned this from a homework expert years ago.) Before the ads convince you to buy, take an inventory of your supplies and consider what you really …

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After a Year of Bullying, Here’s What Matters Most

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I can't sugar coat this. Several years ago, my son was bullied in school. To his credit, he tried to handle it himself. After all, he has two type-A parents who model self-sufficient behavior and rarely ask for help. Neither did he. Thankfully, he has picked up some of our good habits as well. Feeling Alone at School Eventually, he told me how there were times he sat alone at lunch. And that he had no close friends in class. Years of building close friendships met with an influx of new students, sent his good friends scattered to other homerooms. He felt lost. By early spring, he couldn't take it anymore. I think it bubbled up inside and exploded. We got a call about an incident at school. He finally defended himself against the bully. His emotions poured out as he cried over the phone. I was out of town. His tears filled with regret and remorse for his actions. I think the months of bullying coupled with my travel were the straw that broke the camel's back. He internalized the …

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3 Habits To Combat My Struggle with Screen Time

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1 house, 3 people and 17 devices I have three devices. Eight more screen-like devices, belonging to my husband and son, are available for my use. And let’s not forget three TVs, two gaming systems and an Apple TV. Seriously? Thankfully, our desire to simplify encourages conversations about what we really need. (I use that term loosely). Because each device has a cost long after their initial purchase including subscription services, protective cases, chargers, accessories, data plans, replacement, and maintenance...just to name a few. 5 years ago, we cut the cable cord. Initially, it encouraged us to be intentional about TV watching. And with so many streaming services and advertisements for new shows, our streaming costs could exceed the former cable bill if we didn't follow a budget. When was the last time, you checked in on your subscriptions? Thankfully, I'm not much of a TV person. My best guys, on the other hand, can binge-watch like it's their job. But I have my …

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Photo Organizing with Scan My Photos

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Perhaps you have a pile that looks like this? Fear not, you can turn this into organized digital photo albums to share with friends and family using a service called Scan My Photos. Several years ago, I owned 12+ photo boxes. After I sorted and purged lots of bad photos, only the very best went to a few archival quality albums. Thousands of pictures were thrown away....yes, in the trash. Even baby pictures and wedding photos! Once upon a time, I did traditional paper scrapbooking. I said goodbye to that hobby and hello to family travel where I learned to take fewer photos. You only need a few tell the story. Digitize and Share Digitizing my paper photos allows me to share them with friends and family. Recently, I scanned 200+ family photos. Afterward, I posted them to Facebook and the entire family commented on our favorite memories and which cousins resembled the aunts and uncles.  Something that can't be done with photo albums or …

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