Life Made Simple With Carlarae Motivation Inspiration Home Organizing Time Management Lifestyle & Wellnes

Have you ever wondered why some people never seem to arrive to places on time? Now I know that everyone is late now and then, but I'm talking about people who tend to run late MOST of the time. Maybe it's only 5, 10, or 15 minutes late on occasion, so it's not always so noticeable. In those cases, they are late enough that it isn’t detrimental to their event, but still a little annoying to those around them.  But then there are those who run anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour late. Know anyone like that? Today, I have a confession for you. My confession is that I used to struggle with being on time. Kinda ironic, isn't it, considering I'm technically a Time Management Specialist. I guess it's just a classic case of "the cobbler's children go barefoot and have no shoes." I can say that I've gotten MUCH better over the years, because I used to be really bad. I was rarely ever more than 20 minutes late, but I was chronically 5-15 minutes late most of the time.  Like I said, I've gotten much better, but I s

Today, I address one question I receive quite often from clients and listeners. How do you organize loose coupons, store credits, and gift cards?   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode156 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com   Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com   Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY   Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"  Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE   Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson   Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae

Today's special Encore Episode is a replay of one of my all time favorite episodes on Life Made Simple. And why is it one of my favorites? We'll it's because on that I show I explain to you in detail one of the biggest setbacks many of my clients face when trying to organize their homes. It's very common and it usually results in some major frustration for them. It's when they unknowingly try to organize backwards.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode155 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com   Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com   Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life" Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY   Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home" Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE   Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson   Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae

Motivation is a funny thing. It's not something that just magically appears when you want it to. Motivation doesn't always find you. You don't just wake up every single morning feeling motivated. Maybe some people do, but I know I sure don't! Motivation won't find you. And with that in mind, on today's episode, we take a look at how you can find motivation.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode154 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com   Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com   Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life" Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY   Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home" Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE   Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson   Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae

Sometimes life can feel "crazy busy". For me, when that happens, important things tend to fall through the cracks. And while I'm constantly getting stuff done, it seems there's a lot that's not getting done. On today's Encore Episode of Life Made Simple, we are going to rewind to a very crazy busy time in my life when I needed to refocus, reassess, and reset.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode153 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com   Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com   Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life" Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY   Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home" Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE   Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson   Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae

Cleaning, tidying up your house, and doing random chores is just unavoidable. But there are for sure some chores you dread way more than others. Maybe it's just physically tiring to do. Or maybe it just seems boring and tedious. Or maybe it's just plain gross!  What chore is on your need-to-do-soon list that you've been dreading? Maybe even avoiding or putting off? On today's episode I give you a few ideas on how to make that chore a little more enjoyable.     Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode152 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com   Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com   Episode #59: Use Music For Motivation And To Boost Your Mood   Free Download: Motivational Songs To Boost Your Mood Or send a text to 44222 with the word MOODMUSIC   Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY   Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"  Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE   Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com

Clutter doesn't appear out of thin air. At some point in time, every item in your home was carried across your threshold by either you or some other member of the family. For most families, including my own, stuff easily comes INTO the house. However, things don't GO OUT as effortlessly. Letting go, downsizing, purging, and removing unnecessary things from our homes takes time and effort. It takes INTENTION. On today's episode I give you a detailed periodic purge schedule that you can adopt to help declutter your home on a regular basis.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode151 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com   Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com   Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"  Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE   Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY   Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson   Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCa

Imagine there was a natural disaster or some other emergency. If you only had a very short amount of time to evacuate your home and could only take what could fit in your car, what would you take? What do you have that's irreplaceable? Anything extremely valuable? Here's another question for you... is your home simplified and organized enough so that it would take very little effort to quickly grab those sort of things?   The reason I ask these questions is not necessarily to convince you to prepare for such an occasion, although that's not a bad idea. My intention for today's show is to encourage you to analyze your relationship with your belongings.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode150 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com   Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com   Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY   Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"  Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE

"The hardest decision in life can be which bridge to cross and which one to burn." We all spend an inordinate amount of time, and a tremendous amount of energy, making life choices every day.  Some are huge and can have an impact on every aspect of our life. And then some are trivial, like what shirt to wear or what to have for lunch. On today's episode I give you my thoughts on making tough decisions and trusting life's journey.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode149 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com   Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com   Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life" Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY   Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home" Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE   Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson   Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae

I've said it many times before, I am not perfect. This is a journey... and we're in it together.  Simplicity isn't just about having your home organized, it's also about mindsets and habits. On today's episode, I share with you one small change that I recently made (by accident) that has made a huge impact in my life. Ironically, it has to do with a piece of advice I shared on the show a long ago, yet never did myself.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Episode #47: How Do Digital Distractions Impact Your Life? Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode148 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com   Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com   Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY   Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"  Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE   Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson   Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae

If you don't already know, on my website there is an "Ask CarlaRae" page. I always have a link to it on the bottom of my show notes for every episode, which is CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae. I love receiving messages from our listeners! Usually I get organizing questions, suggestions for topic ideas that people are interested in hearing about on the show, and sometimes I get random messages of people just wanting to just say hello, which I REALLY love. I am the only person who reads or listens to these messages, they do not go to a virtual assistant or customer service tech. They go straight to me. And I always try to reply within a day or two depending on if we're traveling or not. Every once in a while I feature some of those questions I receive on the show, with permission from the sender, of course. On today's episode I share with you a very unique question I received from one of listeners.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode147 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSim

Today, just for fun,  I am going to give you 5 random unique and easy mini organizing tips that you can implement in your home today.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode146 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com   Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com   Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY   Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"  Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE   Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson   Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae

For most people, Mondays are the worst day of the week, hands down. Even if the day itself actually goes by just fine, we still for many reasons anticipate Mondays to be hard and awful.  And for most people those feelings of anxiety and even depression can start on Sunday. We all know that weekends are great, but when those two fun and relaxing days are fast receding, it's hard to ignore that our dreaded Monday is fast approaching. A cloud begins to descend, then the blues set in. Chances are, you’ve felt it too. Sometime around 4pm on Sunday, most of the developed world gives one huge collective groan. Do you despise Mondays? Do you ever get the Sunday blues? Well, then hopefully today's show can help. On this episode of Life Made Simple I give you a three unique strategies to help you outsmart your Sunday Sadness.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode145 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com   Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com   Free Guide:  "9 Ways to

If you want to feel good, you need to stay healthy. And one very SIMPLE health habit you should incorporate your life is stretching throughout the day. On today's episode I share with you how stretching has been something that I've neglected to do. I also share with you why and how I've made it an intentional  daily habit in my life... and why you should, as well.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode144 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com   Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com   Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY   Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"  Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE   Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson   Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae

What is meal planning? Well, meal planning is asking the question "what's for dinner" once for the whole week, instead of asking it every night. You then go shopping for and sometimes even prep the ingredients ahead of time. I'm just going to be honest with you. I have a love-hate relationship with meal planning. We've all heard it before, planning out meals for the week helps to save money. It can help save time by cutting down on extra trips to the grocery store. And the biggest benefit is that it eliminates the 5 o'clock scramble to figure out what's for dinner, which is never fun to do at the end of the day when you're tired and hungry.   But if there are so many benefits to meal planning, why do most people, including myself, dread doing it?!? On today's episode I share with you some very practical tips and simple techniques that I've learned over the years that has helped even the most resistant of my clients.   Links Mentioned in this Show: FREE DOWNLOAD:  CarlaRae's Nutrition Guide Or send a text to 4

Samantha, one of our listener's, recently sent me a message, "I just moved into a very small old house and it seems the only storage spot is in the cellar. I'm really nervous about moisture. Do you happen to have any storage tips?" Yes, since I live in Seattle (where it tends to be wet most of the year) I've encountered this question many times before from a handful of clients. And I definitely have some thoughts for you when it comes to using cellars or basements for storage.     Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode142 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com   Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com   Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY   Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"  Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE   Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson   Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae

Imagine being on top of all your priority to-dos in life. Wouldn't that feel so good? There is so much peace that comes with knowing that everything is getting done when it needs to be done.  For today's episode I do a little review of some of my favorite time management techniques. And then I have a challenge for you to try. It's something I actually did myself this weekend... and it was AMAZING!   Links Mentioned in this Show: Episode #41: Your Must-Have New Year's Resolutions For A Simplified Life Episode #130: Use The "2-Minute Rule" To Tackle To-Do List Debt Episode #31: Urgent vs Important - Is It Important? Or Just Urgent? Episode #79: You Need To Know The 4 D's Of Productivity Episode #24: Do You Have An Ignore List?   Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode141 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com   Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com   Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY   Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"  O

Recently, I was so caught up in my life that I didn't take the time to show appreciation to a few people who really deserved it. Too often I have let those little opportunities to bless others who have blessed me slip right through my fingers. On my quest to simplify my life I want to focus on what's really important to me. People are important to me. Showing gratitude is sooo important to me. Today, I share with you my commitment to always take the time to give credit where credit is due.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode140 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com   Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com   Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY   Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"  Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE   Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson   Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae

Life changes. It evolves. It advances. And as it does more things tend come into our lives. More stuff, more work, more technology, more distractions. We keep squeezing a little bit more in here and a little bit more in there. It happens to all of us. Our culture and society thrives off of the idea of "more". But then eventually, sometimes, we get to the point when life can get a little overwhelming. It can be hard to handle it all. I know that we are almost programmed to believe that more is better. But today, I propose an alternative to this way of thinking. For the sake of peace of mind, serenity, joy, happiness, and true fulfillment (which we all strive for), I think we need to focus on less, not more. Have less. Do less. And be more. For today's episode, I give you 7 things in your life that you can stop accumulating today in order to live a simpler, happier life... 7 things to have less of so that you can be more.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Episode #74: I Collect Too Many Ideas & Good Intention

Messy, cluttered, or disorganized? On today's episode I give you a quick quiz to help you figure out what category your space fall into. Keep in mind, you may find that you relate to a little bit of all three. And that's ok. The first step to simplify your life is to identify the problem. Then make an action plan to do something about it.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode138 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com   Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com   Free Guide:  "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"   Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY   Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"  Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE   Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson   Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae