A Mom's Practical Guide To Getting Organized with Laurie Palau

In this insightful episode, Laurie Palau, author of Hot Mess: A Practical Guide to Getting Organized, shares her expertise on overcoming the clutter that dominates our physical, emotional, and mental spaces. Laurie, who juggles roles as a mother, podcast host of This Organized Life, and founder of Simply B Organized, offers practical advice and tips to help listeners lead a more organized and productive life. Through her personal journey of integrating work and life while raising teenagers, Laurie provides strategies for decluttering not just our homes but our schedules and minds as well.

Listeners will learn the importance of setting boundaries around their time, integrating work and life for a realistic balance, and teaching kids valuable organizational skills. Laurie's approach emphasizes starting small, setting clear expectations, and understanding personal and family needs to create a clutter-free and organized environment.

Learning Points and Practical Tips:

1. Work-Life Integration Over Balance: Shift from striving for an unattainable balance to focusing on integrating various aspects of your life.
2. Time Management and Boundaries: Learn to set boundaries around your time to prioritize what truly matters, reducing feelings of guilt and overwhelm.
3. Organizing as a Learned Behavior: Start with specific, manageable tasks to teach and practice organization skills, both for yourself and your children.
4. Using Technology Wisely: Leverage apps and digital tools to aid in organization and accountability within the family.
5. Teaching Kids About Organization: Involve children in household responsibilities early on and tailor approaches to fit their unique personalities and challenges.
6. Reclaiming Time from Clutter: Identify and address various forms of clutter (physical, emotional, calendar, digital) to free up valuable time for what you truly want to do.
7. Parental Controls and Screen Time: Understand when and how to use parental controls, emphasizing trust and learning from mistakes as kids grow older.
8. Leading by Example: Model organizational and time-management behaviors for your children, especially as they navigate the challenges of adolescence.

Important Links:

• Laurie Palau
• Hot Mess: A Practical Guide to Getting Organized
• This Organized Life
• Simply B Organized
• St. Baldrick's Foundation
• Boundaries
• AnyList
• myHomework
• https://www.SimplyBOrganized.com
• https://Amzn.to/2XIRzvz

About Laurie Palau

Laurie Palau is the author of the book HOT MESS: A Practical Guide to Getting Organized, host of the weekly podcast, This ORGANIZED Life, and the founder of simply B organized where she speaks, teaches and works one-on-one with clients to help them reduce clutter and increase productivity. Laurie’s advice has been featured in The New York Times Parenting Section, Family Circle, and Home + Table Magazine.

She can also be seen sharing tips on 6ABC, and WFMZ, in addition to various radio and podcast interviews. When not organizing the world, Laurie can be found at home in Bucks County, PA with her husband Josh, 2 girls, and 2 dogs. She loves coffee and Tito’s Vodka (not together), and in her spare time, she is actively involved with The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which raises funding for Pediatric Cancer Research.