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

For today's episode, we do something a little different. Instead of giving you my thoughts on a topic, I instead share with you an article written by Shawn Achor, who is a Harvard trained happiness researcher. The article is about one particular happiness habit... it's called "The 5 Minute Fix". Then, afterwards, I share with you Shawn's five tips to get some peace and quite.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Episode #47: How Do Digital Distractions Impact Your Life?   Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode117 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

Happy Thanksgiving! This time of year we are all taught to count our blessings. Say thank you. Consider yourself lucky. Be grateful for all that you have. These are things that many of us were taught when we were younger so that we would grow into decent human beings with good manners. But it turns out, there's a lot more to this whole notion of gratitude. In today's episode I share with you some advice from a professor of pyschology on how to tap into the benefits of gratitude.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode116 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

  This is the Part 3 in our three week series on the topic of how to declutter your brain. For this week, I give you some very practical, simple actionable tips and techniques that you can do every day throughout the day to help keep your mind decluttered.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Episode #67: Good Night, Sleep Tight! (PART 1) Episode #69: Wake Up, Sleepy Head! (PART 2)   Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode115 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 my crazy busy family, life never seems to stop. And with Thanksgiving coming up and then Christmas just around the corner it has started to get even busier. And when life gets busy, my to-do list gets longer. It seems every other minute something new that I need to do, or buy, or remember, jumps out at me. My brain gets flooded! The question is, when life gets crazy and your to-do's begin to multiply, how do you keep track of it all? The answer may seem simple - and maybe a little obvious - but if you think of something you don't want to forget, you have to write it down.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Episode #90: My Favorite To-Do List Tool Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode114 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 Face

Today we are going to continue with a topic that we started last week: how to declutter your mind. Because, if you're anything like me, sometimes the thoughts that spin around in your mind can feel chaotic and overwhelming. Is it possible to simplify our brain? Yes. Yes it is. If you didn't get a chance to listen to last Monday's episode, go back and push play on Episode #111 How To Declutter Your Mind (Part 2). Today I go over a handful of the different types of negative thinking patterns that we all tend to struggle with. I also give you some very specific ways as to how to challange and replace those negative thoughts.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Episode #111: How To Declutter Your Mind (PART 1) Episode #17: A Simple Mantra To Get Through A Bad Day   Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode113 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 St

I am a recovering pack rat. And to this day I am still extremely sentimental. For me, there is a huge connection between memories and things. But over the years I've had to dig deep and somehow change my relationship with stuff. I've needed to figure out how to hang on to memories without needing to hang on to the things that are associated with them. Because while I want my life to be filled with moments and memories, I don't need it to be filled with stuff. On today's quick and brief "3 Minute Thursday" episode of Life Made Simple, I share with you a story about how I recently let go of something sentimental for the sake of simplicity. I'll admit, it was hard, but necessary.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Episode #91: A Unique Strategy To Help You Let Go Of Keepsakes   Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode112 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

You know I love talking about how to simplify and declutter your house. As a professional home organizer, I've dedicated my life to helping people let go of all the clutter laying around their homes... all the stuff that eventually sucks up their space, their time, and energy.  I want to help people exchange all the unnecessary physical clutter in their homes for serenity, peace and happiness. But at times we need to consider a different kind of clutter. I'm talking about the non-physical type of clutter that we all have in our lives. Today, I talk about mind clutter. The clutter that we have complicating our brain. More specifically, the negative thoughts that fill up our minds and fog our vision. Unfortunately, for many of us, a cluttered mind can be a lot worse than a cluttered home or workspace. When your mind is cluttered with negative thoughts, you can easily feel stressed, anxious, restless, unfocused, and overwhelmed. And we all know that the process of decluttering our homes isn't always easy. But de

For many of us, daily life – as I’m sure you’ve noticed – has become an endless, exhausting to-do list. For me, when I see open time in my calendar it means opportunity... opportunity to do more. But, if I'm not careful, openness that turns into opportunity results in overwhelm. On today's episode we look at the importance of scheduling unscheduled time.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode110 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 we look at a popular notion that I've seen many times in the field of home organizing and simple living. It's the idea that frugality and minimalism go hand in hand... I have to say I've seen these two terms tossed around together quite often. The truth is, while there can be a little overlap and these two terms can in some ways be combined, their meanings are very different. On our quest to find simplicity in our lives, it is so important to understand the difference between these two concepts and how they can actually at times either complement each other or clash.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Episode #15: Do You Have A "Just In Case" Mentality?   Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode109 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: CarlaRaeArnes

For today's quick and brief episode we're going to talk about healthy eating. More specifically, I'm going to give you some really easy, real food meal ideas. Yes, real food. It’s a term that’s tossed around a lot these days. But what exactly is “real food”? While there is no official definition for the term, after looking around on a few real food blogs I found that there is a general consensus for what it means. Real food is wholesome and nourishing. It is simple, whole food. Pure and unadulterated, sustained yet unchanged by man. It's food made simple. It's clean eating. Sometime in the next few months we'll plan on having a longer full length episode on the topic of real food. But for now, on today's episode I give you some quick and easy meal ideas that involve real food in the microwave... because when it comes to cooking, how much quicker can you get?!?   Links Mentioned in this Show: RECIPES: Microwave Meals from Melissa Harrison on BuzzFeed   Healthy Dorm Room Recipes on Greatist Healthy Mug Recipes

Today I share with you a request that I received from one of our loyal listeners. Imran recently reached out to me and asked if I could spend more time on the topic of sleeping disorders. He explained that he feels like he's tried all the other conventional methods and yet still struggles with getting a good night's rest. Now while I usually spend most episodes talking about time management and home organizing, every once in awhile I think it's important to talk about how to simplify and un-complicate other areas of life, like relationships and health. Like I explained back in episodes #67 and 69, for many years I used to struggle with insomnia. I've gotten much better, but I still have trouble every once in awhile. And like Imran, I've tried everything. On today's episode I share with you one of my most successful strategies to get a good night sleep.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Episode #67: Good Night, Sleep Tight! (Part 1) Episode #69: Wake Up, Sleepy Head! (Part 2)   Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneso

Over the years, I've seen a wide range of chaotic messes. Overall, the messes may look alike but their root causes are rarely the same. It's my job to make sure that my clients don't spend too much time, energy, or money addressing the wrong issues. On today's episode we take a very quick look at one very common cause of clutter that I see quite often.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode106 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

Have you ever noticed, whenever you go to a scheduled event, meeting, or party, that about 1 in 5 people show up late? If you're a punctual person, you've for sure noticed it... probably because you get a little annoyed by habitually late people. A study done at San Francisco State University found that about 20% of the U.S. population is chronically late. And while it does seem very rude and inconsiderate (especially to people who tend to always be on time), it’s not necessarily because they don’t value others’ time. It's a lot more complicated than that. I know this because, like I confessed way back in episode #19, I used to struggle with being on time. Yes, kind of ironic, since I am technically a time management specialist. Over the years, I've gotten much better. And now, I actually tend to be a little early to events. Considering being about 5-10 minutes late was an ingrained habit since I was in my teens, it took a lot for me to change my ways. Not only did I have to evaluate my mindsets and figure ou

What is it in your life that you intend to do, but for some reason you just don't do it as often as you want, or maybe it just doesn't happen at all? Maybe it's something your procrastinating on. Maybe it's something you're subconsciously avoiding because you feel overwhelmed. Or maybe you don't end up getting around to it because you feel like you just don't have the time. Or, if your honest with yourself, you're just not making the time. If you have a few things that come to mind,  you're not alone. We all have something important in our life that we want to tackle, but we just don't make the time for. In this episode I introduce you to a simple technique that might help.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Episode #8: "How To Make A Perfect Day Itinerary"   Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode104 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 Ste

If you follow our show, you may have noticed that we have not released a new episode for the last 2 weeks. First off, I apologize for leaving all of our regular listeners hanging. I've received a handful of emails and messages wondering what's up. I'm happy to say everything is ok and the show is for sure still going strong. For the last couple weeks, my husband and I have been traveling. We were actually celebrating his 50th birthday. Yes, the big 5-0! Before I left we recorded a few episodes to be released while I was gone, but unfortunately there were a few technical difficulties. So, we will release them sometime this coming month instead. Now that I'm back from celebrating my husband's birthday, which was a very special occasion for our family.  I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts on special occasions, particularly the special things that we save for special occasions.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode103 Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.c

We are in the middle of the back to school season, and if you're a parent of a school aged child like me, your home is probably already getting flooded with drawings, paintings, handprints, coloring pages and worksheets. On our last episode of Life Made Simple I gave you a handful of organizing tips and routines to help the school year go more smoothly for you and your family. And for today's episode, we're going to take a look at how we can celebrate our children's artwork without drowning in it.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Episode #91: A Unique Strategy To Help You Let Go Of Keepsakes Episode #10: Can You Have Too Much Of A Good Thing?   Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode102 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

Around this time last year, my son was starting kindergarten. As a home organizer, I naively thought that I was completely prepared for the school year. Boy, was I wrong! After the first week I was so overwhelmed. No one warned me. There was so much to do! And it was unbelievable how much stuff came home every day in his backpack... letters from the teacher, from the principal, flyers, stuff to fill out, supplies to buy, things to sign, events I needed to put in the calendar, and meetings to arrange. And that was only the half of it. I was also overwhelmed with how much school work he would bring home to show me. And since I'm so sentimental, in the beginning I kept most of it. I've had many clients with school aged children and I've helped many of them organize their homework areas, figure out their schedules, and so on. I figured it was going to be easy peasy for me to transition into a new schedule. But until I was actually a parent of a school aged child, I had no idea how much time, energy, and space it

Life is messy. It's chaotic. And sometimes it's overwhelming. By clearing out the clutter in all areas of life, we can somehow find peace, happiness, and freedom. But it's a journey that takes time and effort. And to help you on this journey, through this show, I want to offer you all the tips, techniques and action plans that I've successfully taught all my home organizing clients over the years and have also implemented in my own life. But, like I've mentioned before in previous episodes, a good action plan is not always enough. Many other experts in the field agree that success - in anything in life - is only 20% strategy and 80% psychology. You not only need good strategies and action plans to simplify your life, but you need good mindsets and discipline to actually implement those strategies. Which is why on this show, I put a lot of emphasis on not just practical tips and techniques, but also on the psychology behind it all. Motivation is key. We all must learn how to get motivated and how to stay motiv

If you listen to the show often you know, my motto, my slogan, my challenge to myself and to all my listeners is to focus on what really matters, and somehow let go of the rest. That's how you simplify your life: focus on what really matters, and let go of anything that doesn't. But sometimes it's hard to figure out what really matters in our life, know what I mean? The problem - at least for me - is that sometimes EVERYTHING feels like it matters. Unfortunately, if I look at the big picture of life, all my priorities, my values, my goals, what I really want for my life, I've come to realize that sometimes what I do with my time, and what I hang on to, doesn't always line up with what's really important.   I confess, sometimes what I do and what I hang on to doesn't always match up or synchronize with what I really want in life. And I'm determined to change that. On today's episode I share with you how I came to that realization.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode9

On today's show I offer you a unique (and morbid) perspective that just might inspire you to immediately dive right into an organizing frenzy.   Links Mentioned in this Show: Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode98 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