Christy’s Simple Tips: Simple Storage Solution

Pocket Shoe Holders Pinnable



Use a shoe holder to contain the little things that clutter up cupboards and shelves.

The one pictured above is hanging inside a laundry closet and is being used to store cleaning supplies.

We have one in our tiny bathroom in our travel trailer. We use it to store personal hygiene and first aid supplies—hairbrushes, shampoo, My Little Pony bandages—all the goodies!

We’ve used them for outdoor items, such as jump ropes, bubbles, and sidewalk chalk. We’ve used them, for dusters and rags. We’ve used them for random homeschool helps and putzy little game items, such as decks of cards, wrap-ups, card holders for little hands, and the all-important place to store lonely game pieces. Poor little lonely game pieces. And, get this, we’ve even used them for shoes—I know, crazy!

The pocket holders are simple and cheap, can be cut down to size, and hide easily on the back of a laundry room door, in a bathroom, or on any wall.

Best of all, they pocket all your stuff–most of which you should just get rid of anyway. Ahem.

To submit your simple tip and receive a link to the page of your choice (blog, Pinterest, Instagram, website), please use the contact page or send an email (pictures are optional) to TheSimpleHomemaker at gmail dot com with SIMPLE TIP in the subject.

3 Things to Do Before You Lose Your Wallet

Three simple steps to take today in case you lose your wallet tomorrow.

3 Things To Do Before You Lose Your Wallet...Just In Case



Because sometimes I’m a loser, I have left my purse in random places. Most recently I was grocery shopping with my alpha and omega girls–my 18-year-old and my 3-year-old. We were in the pickle aisle, because I was pregnant, when we decided to split up. Hannah set off to snag what she needed, and, after drooling over pickles a while longer, little Ellie and I headed off to look at watermelons. Pickles and watermelon–yummy!

It wasn’t until Hannah showed up that I freaked out, because she no longer had the cart–you know, the cart with my purse in it–my purse which was open. (Don’t tell my husband.) I said, “Where’s the cart?!” and she said, “I left it with you!” which was, unfortunately, true, because when you do something totally and inexcusably lame, you always hope it’s someone else’s fault. We went running through the aisles to try to remember where we–we as in I–left the cart…and the purse…which was open. We found it by the pickles where I left it. No harm done…but still, don’t tell my husband.

So that brings us to the topic of this post–what you should do before you lose your wallet, in case you’re as totally and inexcusably lame as I am.

What to Do Before You Lose Your Wallet

This is a simple three-step process:

1–Purge your wallet. (I know, I know, I always say to purge, declutter, cut back. That’s because it’s good advice.) Keep only what you need on hand. For me, that means the following:

What I Need:

  • Driver’s license/ID
  • Debit card for household purchases like food
  • Debit card for gifts and homeschool material
  • Cash ( A ridiculously small amount)
  • Insurance card
  • Sam’s Club membership card (or they won’t let me in for their good deals on cheese)
  • The Simple Homemaker business cards (because people ask for them)
  • Library card (this can also stay in the glove compartment)

What I Don’t Need:

  • Credit cards
  • Gift cards (I keep them elsewhere and only bring them along if I will use them…and it’s Christmas)
  • Shopping cards (I can enter my phone number or use a phone app instead of scanning my loyalty cards)
  • Social security card (you’re not supposed to carry this around anyway)
  • Receipts, papers, phone numbers, old lists, etc. (I’m fairly paperless, thanks to my phone; if you need some of these items, sort through them weekly so you don’t have too many)
  • Chocolate (that’s a lie)

2–Document the information on all your cards, front and back. Replacement information is almost invariably on the back of the cards that you will lose if your wallet is missing. Don’t you love irony? Update your information as needed. There are four ways to record this info:

  1. Copy all the information by hand.
  2. Photocopy all the cards together, first the fronts, then the backs. Number the fronts and backs so you know which fronts go with which backs. It’s always embarrassing to call the library and tell them your debit card was stolen–they really don’t care.
  3. Record it digitally by typing it into a document and saving it somewhere, although you may not want to include your credit/debit card numbers if you’re launching it up to the cloud.
  4. Take photos of the fronts and backs of all your cards with your cellphone and save the information someplace safe, deleting the photos after they have been saved, in case you lose your phone…because you keep it in the purse you left in the pickle aisle.

3–Store this information someplace safe. I think we’ve already established that the wallet is not a safe place to store the information you will need if you lose your wallet, right? Of course right. Here are some storage options:

  • Safe
  • Filing cabinet with other important documents
  • Digital storage facility, like Evernote, Dropbox, Google Docs, or a secondary hard drive; info on a universal storage locale like Google Docs can be accessed if you lose your wallet on vacation, where you likely won’t have your info along. (If you have other ideas or advice for digital storage, please share in the comments.)
  • Someone reliable, like your mom–I laughed out loud, since this mom is the one who left her purse wide open and unattended in the pickle aisle. Your mom is probably more reliable than my kids’ mom.
  • Post office box

Nobody plans to leave her purse in the pickle aisle, but it can happen to anybody, right? Right? Right? Right? Do you ever get the feeling that nobody really “gets” you?

Anyway, it’s better to be prepared. This will take you 10 minutes or so if you just buckle down and do it. Now would be a good time.

This is where you share your inexcusably lame moments…and your wallet advice.

Photo credit (without words)

 

 

What to Do With Your Unwanted Electronics

What to Do with Unwanted Electronics -- how to donate, recycle, sell, or upcycle.

Photo Credit

We have some serious computer geniuses in the extended family–I mean serious. As technology advances, so do they. This means they have veritable computer graveyards, known in the biz as e-waste. It’s impressive, really, how they can extract a skeleton and some guts from their graveyard and create the computer world’s rendition of Frankenstein’s monster. Go bro!

Most of us have our own budding e-graveyards, some old unused techno-gadgets stuffed in a drawer or closet or that old desktop computer from high school sitting unused in a corner. Unfortunately, most of us don’t have Frankenstein-like computer revival skills. It’s tempting just to toss the e-waste, but that’s a no-no for several reasons I won’t get into here, but which you can read about here. What is a responsible grown-up supposed to do with old cellphones, iPods, televisions, Kindles, computers, and other techno-clutter?

First things first. Before kissing your e-waste goodbye and shedding that final tear, do the following:

    1. Check your state’s laws.
    2. Consider upgrading instead of replacing old equipment.
    3. Wipe out the memory and any other personal information–you want total computer amnesia.
    4. Remove the battery if that bugger has to be recycled separately.

Where to Recycle Old Technology

Photo credit.

Next, check out these websites for quick and easy e-waste solutions:

Where to Recycle Unwanted Electronics

Environmental Protection Agency

Earth911.com

The Manufacturer–some companies, such as SamsungDell, and these fellas, will take back their gadgets at no cost to you…although I’m not sure why it should cost you. They should give you a cookie.

Where to Sell Unwanted Electronics

Gazelle.com

BuyMyTronics.com

Nextworth.com

Craig’s List (Who is Craig, anyway, and why does he have such a big list?)

The Manufacturer–many companies, such as Best Buy, Dell, and Amazon will buy back your e-waste to refurbish or recycle for parts and either give you a gift card or deduct the cost from an upgraded unit. Some of those companies will buy back other company’s electronics, too. Cool beans, eh?

Where to Donate Unwanted Electronics

National Cristina Foundation — NCF gives the products to organizations in need.

Cell Phones for Soldiers

Freecycle

Goodwill

Interconnection.org — They put new operating systems into old computers and donate them to needy causes.

How to Repurpose Old Technology

Update the innards.

Pass it down to the kids to be used as a word processor or typing tutor.

Make a fish tank out of a monitor.

Make jewelry.

Make a cat bed…my personal favorite use.

Try one of these techy ideas.

There are hundreds of ideas online or in the head of the exceptionally creative.

Get rid of those squeaky computer mice and stale memory chips…and my cheesy puns while you’re at it! You may be connecting soldiers to their families or making a little cash in the process.

What do you do with old electronics?

10 Questions to Help You Manage Your Online Subscriptions

Simplifying is not confined to the brick and mortar world. A simplified life can be sabotaged by how we spend our online time. To free up time and e-space, it may be time to evaluate the online subscriptions cluttering up your inbox and RSS reader.

The last time I estimated, there were about 8 kazillion websites competing for subscribers. (That’s a number I made up because I’m too lazy to research, but it feels right, doesn’t it?) How do you decide which sites deserve your precious time and which don’t?

First and foremost, if being online is hurting your family, your budget, or your marriage, get off now…and stay off!

If you simply need to be a better manager of your online time, here are ten questions to ask yourself before subscribing to or unsubscribing from a blog or website:

Which Online Subscriptions are Best for You? A 10-Question Assessment to Help Manage Your Subscriptions | TheSimpleHomemaker.com

Ten Questions to Help You Manage Your Online Subscriptions

1) Does it offer relevant value to my life right now? Sure, someday I might like a little place in the country with some chickens and horses, but subscribing to chicken-raising blogs and saddle sale alerts is not getting me there. Hello irrelevant!

2) Do I read almost every post? Regardless of how amazing the site may be, if I delete or skip over the majority of the posts, it is not worth the five-second delete time and the e-space it’s cluttering up.

3) Do the posts offer gentle encouragement instead of debilitating fear or guilt? Just like my blog, my inbox is a no-guilt, no-fear zone. Period.

4) Am I able to read deal posts and promotion notifications without being tempted to exceed my budget? In other words, can I pass up deals that are too good to pass up?

5) Are the posts reasonable, rather than overwhelming, in their frequency? One of the very few blogs to which I am subscribed sends out one highly relevant Crohn’s-friendly recipe about every two weeks. That’s my speed. A deal site I subscribe to sends out a bundled compilation email once a day so I can quickly scan it for free Redbox codes relevant deals.

6) Is each subscription unique? Back before I decided that actively trying to grow my blog was like actively trying to grow a third arm, I was subscribed to several blogging sites. I spent so much time reading them, I didn’t get around to working on my blog. Now I occasionally subscribe to one here and there while they run a series, and when the series ends, I reevaluate.

7) Is the site encouraging me in my craft, parenting, faith, or marriage? If my writing site subscription makes me read and dream about writing, but hinders me from ever doing the kind of writing I love to do, how is that benefiting me? Let me help you on that one. It’s not! If a site contains husband bashing, it’s o-u-t, out! If it focuses on materialism or clutters my mind with too many thoughts of what the world says I should be doing, it’s so outta here.

8) Is the site promoting contentment? I totally unsubscribed from DreamHorse.com. ‘Nuf said.

9) Is it just plain fun for me? If a site gives me a good ol’ fashioned G-rated endorphin-releasing ab-toning hee haw, I just might have to keep that subscription. If it’s uplifting, encouraging, or in any other way like a virtual fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie, it’s fine in moderation…but the kids and hubby still come first.

10) Does the site belong to a family member? When a family member lets us know they keep up on our travelsour music mission, The Simple Homemaker, or our teens’ (Hannah and Marissa’s) sites, it’s encouraging. When we learn that a cousin or niece or sibling starts a site, we jump on board.

If you answered yes (or not applicable) to most of these questions, then the site may be worthy of your valuable time. If most of them received a resounding NO, then it’s time to mercilessly hit the unsubscribe button, even if it’s my site.

So…now what?

If you have hundreds of subscriptions, I feel your pain. I had over 150 after simplifying my online life. I’ve knocked it down to the 60s, and I still chisel away as needed. Instead of receiving upwards of 100 subscription emails a day, I receive about 8-12.

Try these three tips:

  • unsubscribe from one or two each day, or
  • attack it faster with my ridiculously simple “Ten Things” strategy, and
  • check out Unroll.me, a free service that helps me manage my subscriptions. It bundles those 8-12 emails into one message and makes unsubscribing a snap! I love you, Unroll.me!

From now on, add no newbies—not even me—that don’t score exceptionally well on the test above. Deal? Deal!

So, ‘fess up. How many online subscriptions do you have? And how do you decide what’s a keeper and what isn’t?

 

Too Many Emails, One Simple Solution

UnrollMe Pinnable


My email inbox used to be OOC–out of control. I didn’t think I had many subscriptions, but with our on-again, off-again internet access as we travel the country, I couldn’t consistently check, answer, and delete. The emails were multiplying like rabbits, even though I was manually unsubscribing and deleting as fast as I could. Like rabbits, people!

That’s when I discovered Unroll Me. (It’s FREE, so keep reading.) My email inbox was full of ads, alerts, Simple Homemaker contacts, Travel Bags contacts, business, and personal messages. I couldn’t find the good stuff amongst all the ads! Now my email inbox contains this:

  • Simple Homemaker emails (comments, questions, contact form)
  • Personal emails from family and friends
  • The Travel Bags emails (our family’s travel blog)
  • Stephen Bautista Music emails (my husband’s music)
  • One daily email containing all my subscriptions and advertisements

It’s no longer overwhelming, so I can manage it on a daily or bi-weekly basis. And if I don’t have time to read the Unroll Me daily email, I delete it, knowing I haven’t lost any personal emails or messages from you terrific people. Oh, so happy!

Here’s how Unroll Me works:

When Unroll Me and I first hooked up, UM scanned my inbox. It then listed all my subscriptions and gave me a simple option for each: roll it up, unsubscribe, or leave in inbox.

Here’s what that means:

For the sake of example, let’s say I’m subscribed to my family’s travel blog, The Travel Bags…which I am. I like to know what we’ve been up to.

Roll it up: If I choose this option, my messages from The Travel Bags will show up with all my other rolled up subscriptions in one email a day. ONE, people. Not 10. Not 100. One. I scan the single daily email and click on whatever I want to read. When I’m finished, I delete ONE email. If I get behind and, for example, don’t read emails throughout the entire month of December (oops), I can go in and delete 31 emails, not 310, not 3,100, 31.

Unsubscribe: If I don’t really care about the Bagasao family’s music missionary travels throughout the country and I don’t want to be subscribed to The Travel Bags anymore (heaven forbid!), I click unsubscribe and UM unsubscribes for me. This alone is well worth setting up a UM account. No more pesky unsubscribing! No more, people! Imagine the freedom! I thought I didn’t have very many subscriptions, but UM has unsubbed me from over 150 lists. Insanity.

Leave in inbox: If I want to make absolutely sure I get each and every update from The Travel Bags as soon as it comes out, I leave it in my inbox. All subscriptions left in the inbox continue exactly as they always have. Of course, that’s what I do with my subscription to The Travel Bags. Grin.

Are you afraid of committing to an unsubscribe or roll-up? UM keeps track of all your unsubs, roll-ups, and inbox emails and lets you change your mind at the click of a button. No commitment necessary!

Every day (you choose morning, afternoon, or evening) Unroll Me sends me the collection of the day in one email. At the top, it shares how many new subscriptions it has found. If it finds new subscriptions and you haven’t subscribed to anything new, it’s because it’s finding emails from addresses it hasn’t yet seen since you hooked up with Unroll Me. It encourages you to quickly tidy your inbox by rolling up or unsubscribing right away, and gives you an easy link for doing so.

Oh Unroll Me. I love your efficient, tidy ways!

One quick note on Unroll Me that may confuse you. My UM account states that I have well over 100 subscriptions. I absolutely do not. Many companies will send emails from numerous different addresses. Each one is considered a subscription and needs to be rolled up. That’s why you may have to roll something up more than once. I’ve never had to unsubscribe more than once, however.

There is an itsy bitsy teeny tiny learning curve–really tiny. Give it a go for a couple weeks and see if you love Unroll Me as much as I do. If you don’t, we can still be friends.

By the way, I don’t get paid for telling you this. Your clean inbox is my reward. Grin!

Click here to get started on your clean inbox.

Now that I have a clean inbox, I love reading your comments! Share your tips for managing emails.

 

How to Organize Ebooks (and Create Your Own Library) in 5 Simple Steps

This post contains affiliate links. They don’t bite, so don’t be afraid of them. If you purchase something through my affiliate link, I receive a portion of the proceeds at no additional cost to you. It’s kinda like a great big thank you for my time.

How To Organize Ebooks Pinnable

Just as real books in the real world can cause a real big mess real fast, ebooks in the e-world can become e-clutter. They can get all jumbled up so you don’t know what’s what and can’t find what you’re looking for when you need it. Even e-clutter makes me shudder. Shudder. See?

Stocking up on useful-to-you ebooks allows you to create an amazing resource library, but it’s a waste of time and money if you can’t find them when you need them. That totally used to be me, but not anymore! Is that your dilemma?

Never fear! Librarian-Wanna-Be is here! I’ve got your back with my ultra-simple ebook organization method.

How To Organize Ebooks in 5 Simple Steps

Simple Step #1: Create a Folder for Your Library

  1. Right click on your desktop.
  2. Scroll down to “new” and click.
  3. Scroll down to “folder” and click.
  4. A folder will pop up on your desktop with the current name, “New Folder” highlighted. Type over “New Folder” and hit “enter” to give it a pretty name. I call mine “Christy,” because that’s a pretty name. 🙂 Not really; I call it “Library,” because I always wanted a library. We will henceforth refer to it as “Library.”
  5. Double click on “Library” to open it up. You now have this image:

How to Organize Ebooks 2b

Because I share my computer with all my minions, I have my own “Christy” folder on my desktop. I created my “Library” folder within my “Christy” folder on my desktop. If you want your “Library” folder inside of your version of a “Christy” folder on your desktop or anywhere else, just drag and drop your newly created Library folder into your “Christy” folder, or create a “Library” subfolder by performing step 2 below inside your “Christy” folder. When I double click on “Christy,” it opens up to the image below, where you can see my “Library” is located:

How to Organize Ebooks

Simple Step #2: Create Subfolders Within Your Library

  1. Either simply click “New Folder” in your open “Library” window and skip to 5, or follow the next three steps.
  2. Right click anywhere within the Library window.
  3. Scroll down to “new” and click.
  4. Scroll down to “folder” and click. (Is this sounding redundant? Yawn.)
  5. Type in a category for your books. Categorize by genre, topic, alphabet, whatever tickles your organizational fancy. I categorized by use, such as recipes, homeschooling, getting fit–that folder’s dusty. (It’s really called health and beauty…and it is dusty.)

Simple Step #3: Create Subfolders for Current Reads and Duplicates to Use as Gifts

  1. Create a subfolder for books you’re currently reading or that are on your immediate “Read This Now!” list. I began my “Current Reading List” or “Ahem! Read This Now!” folder with an “A” so it sat at the top of my other folders as a nagging reminder. Nag nag nag.
  2. Create another subfolder for duplicate books or those that came as part of a bundle but which you don’t want or need. This is important to keep down clutter. These can be used as gifts or as giveaways. (Learn how to give ebooks as gifts without breaking copyright laws or selling your soul.) I began my “Duplicates” or “Zany Gift Basket” folder with a “Z” so it was bumped to the bottom of my folder line-up where it’s out of the way, but I’ll know where to look for it.

How to organize Ebooks 2

Simple Step #4: Create Subcategories Within Subfolders

  1. Double click to open one of your topic folders, such as my “Homeschool” folder.
  2. Repeat step 2 within that folder to create subcategories. These can go as deep as you want, although I’ve never actually tested that theory, nor will I. I do, after all, have a life and an extensive “Ahem! Read This Now!” folder calling my name.

How to Organize Ebooks 3

 Simple Step #5

  1. Locate your downloaded ebooks.
  2. Right click on the ebook of your choice.
  3. Scroll down to “cut” and click.
  4. Locate and double click to open the folder of your choice in your “Library.”
  5. Right click in the window.
  6. Scroll down to “paste” and click.
  7. Alternatively, open the window where you currently store your ebooks and open the “Library” in a separate window. Drag and drop each book to its respective folder.
  8. From now on, save each book to its respective folder. That’s a good librarian.

Where do I get my ebooks for my ebook resource library?

  1. I subscribe to four and soon-to-be only three newsletters that offer freebie alerts. Two are specific to my homeschooling approach, one is a generic homeschool site that I’m booting soon, and one is a general frugality site. I skim them quickly and am very selective about what I download.
  2. I save freebies offered as newsletter subscription bonuses for sites I follow at one season of life or another. Eventually I unsubscribe if that blog overwhelms me or is no longer relevant to my life.
  3. I receive them as gifts. Ebooks make great gifts. I talk about that here.
  4. I occasionally buy a book specific to my homeschooling, homemaking, writing, or blogging needs, usually on sale.
  5. I occasionally purchase a mega-bundle, mostly for the bonuses to be honest. Even if I’m only interested in 5 or 6, it’s cheaper to buy the whole bundle than those few separately. The rest go in my “Zany Gift Basket” folder.
  6. I keep my eye on the Bundle of the Week, 5 related books for $7.40. Usually I pass, because I don’t like to spend too much money and I already have other books on the same topics, but sometimes I jump.
  7. I write my own! Ha ha! Except I’m not joking. (If you’re keen on that idea, check out From Idea to Ebook, an affordable course to help you write and market your own ebooks.)

Now get to organizing, and enjoy your library! Librarian-Wanna-Be signing out!

How do you organize your ebooks?

From Idea to eBook Online Course

BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

My Simple “Ten Things” Strategy

Sometimes life is overwhelming and everything just seems…complicated, which is the opposite of simple. I’m totally not on board with complicated. Away from me, Complicated!

When my life is feeling complicated and I don’t know where to start, I turn to my little bag of simple tricks. One of my favorites is my ridiculously simple, but highly effective “Ten Things” Strategy. It goes like this. Pay attention now.

Do ten things.

Do ten things! Simple life strategies from The Simple Homemaker.

That’s it! That’s the whole strategy.

You could stop reading right now and go do ten things, or you could procrastinate hang out here and let me break it down for you. Hangin’ around? Okay. Here’s the gist of my simple “Ten Things” Strategy.

If your backside is plastered to the couch, tell your backside, “Listen up, Backside. You can do ten things. You really can!” Backside may whine a little, but eventually it comes around and says, “Hey, you may be right about that. Let’s do it!” (Please tell me you have conversations with your backside, too.) Between the two of you (you and Backside, that is), you can quickly blast through ten things.

Sometimes doing ten things doesn’t make much of a difference, but if you and Backside work smart, those ten things can really add up.

Here are ten ways to be smart about my simple “Ten Things” Strategy.

1) Do ten simple things that make a big difference, like picking up the big blankets on the floor in the family room, or making the bed in your bedroom or putting ten big things in the dishwasher or picking up the ten biggest toys in the playroom.

2) Enlist your children. When I enlist all of my kiddos, that’s 8 people at work. That means 73 things gets done or picked up or folded or washed. (That’s 73 instead of 80 because the one-year-old can only count to three, so she stops there.)

3) Don’t give it too much thought. If you’re a TV watcher, hop up as soon as the commercial hits or the Netflix episode ends and do your ten things. If you walk into your bedroom and it isn’t inviting, quickly do ten things and then continue with your day.

4) Just do it, even if (or especially when) you don’t feel like it. If you’re just feeling blah and you want to ignore the mess in the kitchen and eat hot popcorn with chocolate chips melted in it, throw ten things in the dishwasher first, or clear ten things off the table. Whatever!

5) Let your progress fuel you. Sometimes (like in my alternate reality) there are only twelve things that need to be done. When I get through ten, I find myself motivated to do the last little bit.

6) Listen to your body, but don’t listen to your body if you’re in a funk. In other words, if you’re really hurting, pick up ten dirty socks and call it a day. If you’re just feeling unmotivated and whiny, pick up all the dirty socks and call it one thing–the dirty socks.

7) Apply this to anything–a pile of paperwork, a full email inbox, messy bedrooms, garage sale items needing pricing, unfolded laundry, lonely socks looking for soulmates, bushy eyebrows, unwrapped presents, thank you notes, dusty knick-knacks (no knick-knacks, no dust…just sayin’), fund-raiser phone calls, push-ups needing pushing.

8) I’m not above bribery. When my backside is feeling particularly unmotivated, I say, “Hey ,Backside, we do ten things, we’re eatin’ ten M&Ms.” It’s not pie, but it works.

(If you’re one of my food nazi friends (love ya!) cringing at the thought of my eating ten M&Ms, two things: 1, I don’t eat M&Ms because they make my stomach hurt and cause the air around me to turn a rather unpleasant shade of green (a humiliating, but amusing post for another day), and 2, chill. Still love ya.)

9) For a bigger impact, do ten things in ten areas of your life. Do ten things in the bedroom, bathroom, office, purse, sock drawer, email inbox, junk drawer, garage, van, laundry room, piano bench, spice cupboard, junk drawer, pantry, tool box, play room. That’s pretty intense. Usually I stick to ten simple things.

10) Use the ten things strategy in reverse to keep your playtime in check. “I will only pin ten things, read ten blogs posts, eat ten cookies (What?! They’re little!), chat on the phone for ten minutes, read ten pages.” Mmmm…cookies.

My “Ten Things” Strategy is so ridiculously simple, that it really didn’t need a ten step expose. Still, that was fun, wasn’t it? Yup, fun over. Now it’s time for you and Backside to get down to business. Now, right now, let’s get up and do ten things. (Eating ten cookies doesn’t count.) Ready? Break!

For Monday through Friday “Do Ten Things at Ten” reminders and fun, join me on Facebook or Twitter. Are there cookies? You’ll just have to find that out for yourself.

Did you do it? Did you do ten things? What’d ya do?

An important note: After reading the comments from some of my Simple Homemaker Facebook friends and Twitter tweeps who are doing a daily Ten Things Challenge with me, I’m noticing some confusion. When I say “Do Ten Things!” I do not mean these ten things:

  1. Clean the bathroom until it shines, AND
  2. Cook dinner…for a month, AND
  3. Do all the laundry in the house…or neighborhood, AND
  4. Change the tire on your car, AND
  5. Mow the lawn, AND
  6. Run for President, AND
  7. Get your doctorate, AND
  8. Write lesson plans for your child’s entire educational career, AND
  9. Get married and have children, AND
  10. Get therapy.

I mean something more like this:

  1. Wash ten dishes, OR
  2. Pick up ten toys, OR
  3. Trim ten little toenails, OR
  4. Address ten Christmas cards, OR
  5. Tackle ten things in your paperwork pile, OR
  6. Fold ten things from the clean laundry basket that’s become a permanent household fixture, OR
  7. Put away ten things from the dishwasher, OR
  8. Put away ten things on the kitchen counter, OR
  9. Pick up ten things on the family room floor, OR
  10. Dust ten things on the mantle (which, by the way, you would never have to do if you didn’t have ten things on the mantle, you know. Less is more because less is less dust, less work, less clutter, which means more time, more fun, more living!).

Please don’t feel like I’m telling you to work for an hour or wear yourself out. This is a simple strategy to make a little dent in a big project or to extinguish a hot spot or to tidy up a small mess. It’s simple! Of course, if you can and want to, go ahead and run for President and get your doctorate this morning…but don’t feel you have to. Are we clear? Good! Now go do ten simple things!