Simply Convivial: Organization & Mindset for Home & Homeschool show

Simply Convivial: Organization & Mindset for Home & Homeschool

Summary: Organization is about your mindset, not your closets. No matter how tidy we keep our stuff, we'll still have to work to intentionally choose to do the right next thing. This podcast features quick tips and meaty bites that will help moms of all kinds (SAHM, WAHM & WOHM) focus on what's actually important - sometimes that's cleaning the house, and sometimes it isn't.

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 116. Homemaking Hacks with Virginia Lee Rogers | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 16:58

Homemaking is personal, and no solutions or strategies for improving our homemaking should be superficial or one-size-fits-all. I hope we inspire you to look around your own home and come up with unconventional, personal, workable solutions.

 115. Biblical homemaking is our calling | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 12:19

With laundry and dishes and messy floors and dust and clutter, homemaking can seem a daunting and thankless job. When we let Scripture determine our categories and definitions and mission, however, we realize that biblical homemaking is a service to God and His people, and so we can rejoice as stewards in the place God has put us. Homemaking 101 ought not be about cleaning lists and chores, but about loving and serving people, making homes in which they – and we – can flourish. This month inside the Convivial Circle community we’re talking all about homemaking. Biblical Homemaking is not about achieving a certain look or state in the home. Biblical Homemaking is a process, a service, of love through hospitality to those who live in and enter into our home. That means that what HGTV, magazines, and Pinterest call homemaking, probably isn’t. Homemaking isn’t about decor or style or expressing ourselves. Homemaking is, according to the dictionary, “the creation and management of a home, especially as a pleasant place in which to live.” So this month we’re tackling what it looks like to manage our home in such a way that it’s a pleasant place to live. In fact, I have a special brain dump guide specifically about thinking through biblical homemaking. The guide will help you work out these ideas in your own specific context and for your own family’s needs. .kt-btns_dfc0c8-28 .kt-btn-wrap-0 {margin-right:5px;}.kt-btns_dfc0c8-28 .kt-btn-wrap-0 .kt-button {color:#582786;font-size:34px;border-color:rgba(88, 39, 134, 1);box-shadow:1px 1px 2px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);}.kt-btns_dfc0c8-28 .kt-btn-wrap-0 .kt-button:hover, .kt-btns_dfc0c8-28 .kt-btn-wrap-0 .kt-button:focus {color:#ffffff;border-color:rgba(138, 118, 171, 1);box-shadow:2px 2px 3px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);}.kt-btns_dfc0c8-28 .kt-btn-wrap-0 .kt-button::before {display:none;}.kt-btns_dfc0c8-28 .kt-btn-wrap-0 .kt-button:hover, .kt-btns_dfc0c8-28 .kt-btn-wrap-0 .kt-button:focus {background:rgba(138, 118, 171, 1);} Get the free guide. But for now, let’s dig in. Biblical homemaking – I think homemaking, old-fashioned as it may sound, is the perfect name for our role as women in the home, whether we do or do not do other work inside of or outside of the home.  People need homes. If there is to be a home for people, then someone has to make it. When we make homes, we are imitating God. He made this earth as a home and He prepared a garden as a special home for Adam. Jesus, right now, is in heaven preparing a place for us. When Jesus returns, we will receive an eternal home, a renewed and restored heaven and earth.  So when we make homes here in this already-but-not-yet time, we are imitating God and giving those who enjoy our homes (ourselves included, I hope), a foretaste of future glory.  Cooking, cleaning, corralling clutter – these aren’t ends in themselves and that’s why we’re frustrated when we make them first things instead of means to the real end of creating a home in which people can flourish. It’s biblical homemaking if we are doing the work not for ourselves, but for God’s glory, as an obedient response to His call on our life to ser...

 114. Checklists for bite-sized routines | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 10:54

Get vocational training for your role as homemaker and learn how to organize your attitude so you can organize your life - one straight-forward baby step at a time. We need bite-sized routines to gain traction.

 113. Tips for using checklists with Stefani Mons | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 14:19

A procedure checklist is simply a list of specific, small actions to take in a clear and logical order. Instead of doing what feels best in the moment, we take the time to think it through, make it clear, and so save ourselves not only time but also willpower points. Because making decisions takes energy and willpower, having the checklist to work from keeps us on track more consistently. A procedure checklist is the best tactic for overwhelmed moms at home.

 112. Make your checklists priority-focused | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 11:27

One key principle that applies is keeping them short & specific. But that’s harder than it sounds! So today I’m sharing an excerpt from a member-only mentoring session where we discussed what a priority is and how it affects our planning. I think you’ll find it helpful as you attempt to choose what matters most and what the right next thing is.

 111. Procedure Checklists for the Overwhelmed Mom | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 7:25

Are you an overwhelmed mom? Frustrated with too much to do? A set of procedure checklists is just what you need to get the traction you want. When you're looking at how to organize your life, getting a few key procedure checklists is the perfect place to begin.

 110. Wobble in Balance | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 12:46

True balance is not a matter of perfection, achievement, or equality. It is about making the needed adjustments as you go. When you try to organize your life, seeking balance is good, but only if you have the right metaphor. The truth about any athlete able to maintain balance in awkward positions is that although they look stable and unmoving, their entire body is actually tense and continually on the move, adjusting and twitching to keep their position. It looks effortless, but their entire body is constantly engaged to make it possible. We, however, in our lives, have something better than appearing to be stable. In our lives we can have stability because we are not our own source of stability. God is our rock, and our stability is found in Christ. So no matter how much we wobble, visibly or not, we can have a foundational assurance, trust, and security – not in our ability to handle all things, but in God’s ability to handle all things. Today’s podcast is an excerpt from one of twelve lessons inside Simplified Organization: Organize Your Attitude. It’s called Wobble in Balance. Enjoy. So many moms are frustrated by what doesn’t get done and what gets undone every day at home. At Simply Convivial, we give moms the direction & accountability they need to manage their real-life homes with satisfaction, consistency, and joy. Usually, that means starting with our attitudes, not our closets. Our life flows from the inside out, and so does the organization approach we teach in Simply Convivial Membership. Join today and be a part of this month’s conversation on balance and next month’s conversation on procedures. This conversation as well as book clubs, support and accountability through the courses, weekly goal accountability, and small win celebrations happen inside our private chat app community. It’s not on FB, there are no ads, no algorithm, and no distractions. Just real moms meeting each other where they’re at, spurring one another on to love and good works. We’d love to have you there with us. * Learn from gospel-centered homemaking & homeschooling self-paced courses you can navigate on your own terms. Level up your plans and progress, one step at a time.* Find a community of likeminded women, working to find what’s important, and do it – every day.* Get support through ongoing conversation, discipleship, and prompts to increase your skill and your motivation as we spur one another on to love and good works. The direction & accountability homemakers need to make noticeable progress in their home management skills. just $15/month – for a limited time Enroll today. Listen to the podcast

 Ep #109 – What to do when life feels wobbly, a conversation with Virginia Lee Rogers | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 19:02

Balance is something that we all strive for – at least sometimes.  Sometimes we definitely give up. What’s the right balance in our home management duties? What’s the right balance in seeking balance? Today Virginia Lee Rogers and I are chatting about balance, why it’s so hard, and how to keep it in perspective. We want balance because life feels wobbly. Today my friend and Simply Convivial customer support manager Virginia Lee Rogers are talking about why we feel wobbly and what to do about it. Today’s conversation is also a look at real life home management, why it feels unstable, and what to do to find that stability we’re looking for. Let’s dig in. In addition to helping me answer emails and managing my customer support, Virginia Lee homeschools her 5 kids and is part of the Charlotte Mason IRL team, an instagram account dedicated to showing what homeschooling with the Charlotte Mason method looks like in real life. Listen to the podcast Find me on Instagram Watch me on YouTube So many moms are frustrated by what doesn’t get done and what gets undone every day at home. Simply Convivial gives moms the direction & accountability they need to manage their real-life homes with satisfaction, consistency, and joy. Get the support you need to find the satisfaction you long for in your real life home duties by joining today. In addition to a dozen courses that offer small step by small step instruction for making meaningful progress, you’ll get accountability and camaraderie inside our private, not-on-Facebook chat community. Learn how you can grow in diligence and delight – quickly – with the 5 Essential Practices to Get Organized course inside Membership. In just 2 weeks, you’ll be up and running.

 108. Balance is time management | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 10:12

How do we organize life and keep all the plates spinning and ourselves in balance? Time management, obviously, is crucial. Today’s podcast episode is all about how to manage your time to keep up with your responsibilities. PS – If it seems hard, it’s because it is. September’s theme topic inside Simply Convivial Membership is balance, and one of our members, Julie, summed it up perfectly: “I think that’s why so many programs and planners and classes or groups are appealing, because they often promise that key to life that we all feel like we’re missing. I always feel most balanced when I am truly centered on the true Center — the more I abide in Christ, the more I am attending to His word and living out the truth of Scriptures, I feel more confident about the decisions I make throughout the day.” Amen! There is no amount of balance that will make all you’d like to do fit into your day. Your time, my time, is limited. This episode is an excerpt of a troubleshooting session I did with Simply Convivial Members on September 2nd, all about time budgets. Several of the courses inside membership give directions for completing a time budget, so we dug deep into why it’s important and what traps we’re likely to fall into as we work on them. Every week inside Simply Convivial Membership we do a thirty minute topic-specific troubleshooting session. The full replays are added to the member-only podcast, but here’s a clip of a couple best-of moments for you as you consider balancing your time. Balance is such a tricky topic, because when we uncover what we mean when we talk about it, we uncover our unrealistic expectations that usually boil down to perfectionism. So if we want to work on realistic balance, that begins by assessing and managing our time effectively. I do this by creating a time budget. Just like a money budget, a time budget isn’t about wishful thinking. It’s about looking at what’s actually available and how best to spend that. Listen to the podcast Find me on Instagram Watch me on YouTube Learn how you can grow in diligence and delight – quickly – with the 5 Essential Practices to Get Organized course inside Membership. In just 2 weeks, you’ll be up and running.

 107. A Balanced Life - is it a thing? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 9:07

People talk all the time about living a balanced life, but what do they mean? What do we mean when we say we’re trying to balance our lives? Some mean they are working on work/life balance, a seemingly elusive goal. On the hunt for how to organize their lives, it seems most moms are looking for some secret formula to make juggling our many responsibilities possible – and maybe even equitable. Inside Simply Convivial Membership this month, we’re talking about finding a balanced life. What does it mean? Should we be seeking it? How? What can we do to stop feeling like we’re scrambling and missing important pieces of home and time management? In our Convivial Circle monthly topic chat channel, a few of our members offered helpful analogies for balance: I think some people have the idea that with balance you can do anything. If you just learn how to balance it all correctly, then it will all work out… sort of like a waiter balancing a huge tray of food. Not that I never fall into that view/trap, but it’s probably better to think of balance as scales, where we realize we only have control over one side, and if we put too much on “our” side, then we’ll be out of wack no matter how much creative arranging we try to do with our over-full side.StefaniSimply Convivial Community ManagerI always think of a gymnast on a balance beam. It takes incredible skill, concentration and practice to balance. It isn’t something you achieve but requires constant effort and practice to acquire the skill. It seems as though the world tries to elevate the idea that if we could achieve balance our life would be easy, simple and good. It seems like a newer version of “having it all”. The “promise” of ‘You can have it all, if you just find balance.’AbbySimply Convivial Member The hunt for a balanced life Balance. The dictionary defines the verb to balance as “to keep or put something in a steady position so that it does not fall” or “to offset or compare the value of one thing with another” The first definition is the one we usually mean when we talk about achieving balance in our lives. We want to be steady, regular, diligent, consistent. We hate feeling like we’re scrambling, dropping the ball, and never getting to what matters. So we think that balance is the answer. But what is that something that we’re putting in a steady position so it doesn’t fall? Is it our to-do list? Is it our various roles and responsibilities? Is it our attitude? Or is it C – all of the above? In seeking the first definition of balance, we often settle for the second, which basically means we make trade-offs and hope everything will come out even in the end. We didn’t get to the laundry, but the schoolwork was done. We didn’t mop, but we did get dinner on the table. Does the value of what was done make up for what doesn’t? Sure, we want all of the things done so that we never have to make trade-offs like that, but it’s just not going to happen in this life. It’s an idealistic dream. We can continue honing our skills and getting better at what we do. We can expand our capacity and align our expectations. But we will always be making trade-offs. We just need to make sure those trade-offs are done in favor of the work with ultimate value. And, if we’re going to keep anything in a steady position...

 106. How to organize your calendar | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 7:15

Learn how to organize your calendar! If you're a busy mom and you want to be organized, you absolutely MUST have a working, accurate calendar. These 3 tips will have you using an organized calendar and bing more in control and aware of your time. Time management is an important skill for both the stay at home mom and the working mom. These organization tips will boost your productivity and enable better home management. Whether you use a wall calendar, google calendar, or a pocket planner - these 3 calendar organization tips will make the calendar of your choice work for you.

 105. How to organize your thoughts intentionally | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 7:33

If you’ve wondered how to organize your life, you’ve probably also wondered how to organize thoughts about your life. If you’ve ever tried to be a more happy mom, then maybe you’ve realized how important your thoughts are to shaping your life – or at least your perception of your life. Even our thoughts – especially our thoughts – need to be organized. Let’s dig in and figure out how to make that happen. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Don’t let useless thinking waste your mental energy, your time, or your brain power. Get your thoughts organized with these organized mind tips that will help you have an organized mindset and mom life. You need to know how to organize thoughts so you can problem solve and keep track of your thoughts and ideas, whether you’re a sahm or a working mom. Every mom’s mind is full and so we need mind organization for mom brains. Organize your thoughts for GOOD! Organization is not about our stuff, but about our minds. So you have thoughts – what happens with them? Our minds are a place where ideas swirl, information comes and goes, and what do we do with it all? Here are 3 things I do to manage the mess that is the thoughts inside my head. Organize your thoughts by writing them down. Your brain has no filing cabinet, no containers – you need to write down your thoughts if you’re going to do anything with them. If we want to manage our thoughts, that starts by writing those thoughts down. Then we can use those thoughts to make better decisions, to think through a problem with more clarity, and to even notice what you’re thinking in the first place. Organize your thoughts by choosing which thoughts to keep Too often we just let our minds run on default mode, accepting whatever ideas and thoughts pop into our heads. We can choose what we allow to stay in our heads. We can choose what goes into our heads. What we read, what we listen to, and even what we think, is under our control. To organize is to take responsibility and choose appropriately, so organizing our thoughts means being intentional about choosing to think on truth. We can declutter our minds by getting rid of the junk that’s there. Organize your thoughts by redirecting your thought patterns. Just like training a distractible two-year-old running amok, we can redirect our thoughts out of the muck and into paths of truth. We can parent our own thinking, disciplining it, picking them up and showing them what’s ok. “No, don’t go there, go here” – that’s all it takes to organize our thoughts, to change our thinking patterns and redirect them into truth. Meditate on truth intentionally and also intentionally turn your thoughts away from worry, stress, and fear. We organize our thoughts when we are deliberate in choosing and also rejecting those thoughts that get air time in our psyche. Related: * Organize your attitude without faking* Own your thoughts

 104. Beat perfectionism with iteration - Get Organized #5 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 7:17

Perfectionism slows us down and prevents us from making real, meaningful progress. If you want to know how to organize your life, know that one of the first things you have to do is overcome perfectionism. Perfectionism paralyzes our organization attempts. We need strategies for beating perfectionism so we get organize life and get things done. Iteration, or iterating plans, is how I beat my own perfectionist tendencies. If you’re a recovering perfectionist, this strategy will end your procrastination as well as help you just get started. Perfection is a mindset. It is all in our heads. So we beat perfectionism by starting with our attitudes. We need a thinking strategy that will help us to talk back to perfectionism. I call this strategy iteration. Iteration means that we take a small steps forward, looking back to assess and learn after each step. Instead of holding out for the ideal or trying to jump to the final goal, iteration looks for progress and learns and grows and adapts as progress is made. Iteration, not Perfectionism Iteration isn’t just baby step by baby step progress, but also includes evaluation so that each step is informed and so that we remain flexible. One way to start iterating is to break down your year into chunks and do interval planning. Instead of making a large, ambitious goal and a long-term plan to get there, you make incremental goals, work on a smaller chunk of the project or outcome, then assess and choose the next right small goal between intervals. By continuing to move forward and remaining flexible, we can beat perfectionism and see momentum in our lives. Related: * Hey slob, you might be a perfectionist* Help! I have a clean room and I hate it Listen to the podcast Find me on Instagram Watch me on YouTube Learn how you can grow in diligence and delight – quickly – with the 5 Essential Practices to Get Organized course inside Membership. In just 2 weeks, you’ll be up and running.

 103. Stay organized with a weekly review - Get Organized #4 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 5:49

Once we spend some time getting organized, the next step is to stay organized. We can’t stay organized without looking at our plans and keeping our systems on track. A weekly review is my top tip for how to organize your life. A weekly review is my secret weapon to stay organized. It’s a time reserved for big picture thinking, planning, and list making. More importantly, it’s a time to LOOK at those lists – and my calendar. A weekly review does not need to take an hour. You can take 15 minutes to get your stuff ready for the week ahead. A weekly review is the key, the linchpin, to all other plans, all other planners, all other systems. Without it, none of the rest will work. Someone who is organized has responsible self-control, is diligent, and likes it. A weekly review is the key for all other planning. Without it, your plans will not work. A weekly review is time set aside for looking at your lists. It’s crazy, but it turns out that your plans, lists, and calendar will not do you any good unless you look at it. We wrap our minds around our lives as they actually are right now so we can be prepared to handle what’s happening. We also view our upcoming obligations in light of the big picture. It helps us get focused on what needs to happen so we can enter our week with calm clarity. That’s how we stay organized. So when is the right time to do a weekly review? Whenever you can make it happen. Sometime between Friday and Monday morning is typical, and all you need is your calendar and a piece of paper. Use your planner if you have one, but as you know from the rest of this series, you don’t need a planner to stay organized, you just need a calendar, a few lists, and the habit of looking at them. Related: * Why moms need a weekly review* Secret to sanity: Allison’s weekly review Listen to the podcast Find me on Instagram Watch me on YouTube Learn how you can grow in diligence and delight – quickly – with the 5 Essential Practices to Get Organized course inside Membership. In just 2 weeks, you’ll be up and running.

 102. Keep a to do list SHORT - Get Organized #3 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 6:31

Keep your to do list short to get more done! This is our third tip on how to organize your life. Too often our plans and lists involve more wishful thinking than realistic planning – and that needs to change. To get more done at home you need to keep your to do list short. A short to do list helps you focus on priorities and feel success, day by day, at home. Every stay at home mom needs a to do list, but we have to do it right if we’re going to experience productivity. These tips will help you get organized at home as you focus on a daily top 3 to do list for optimal sahm productivity. I’ve been a stay at home mom for 16 years – let me share what I’ve learned about how to get more done at home. More than a complicated planner or a system that makes everything go your way, you really just need a to do list – a short one! It will tell you what to do, then it’s our job to do it. Organization is about self-control, not situation control: so we need a list and then we need to do it. So post it notes are my secret weapon. Keeping your to do list short forces you to do two things. First, we are forced to recognize that we cannot do all that we want to do. We likely will do more than 3 things, but having to choose three forces us to choose what’s most important, write it out, and put our attention there, where it matters most. Second, a list of three is attainable. It’s not overwhelming, and so it’s easier to actually get started. When the list doesn’t look impossible, we’re able to get over ourselves, choose self-control, and just get started. A small space for a to do list reminds us that our time and our energy are limited. We need to be careful to choose what we focus on in a day, because our ability to focus is limited. Making a to do list is something we will get better at with practice. So start today and build the skill of making a prioritized list and following through. Grow in organization. You’re practicing, learning, and growing in the skill of being organized. Listen to the podcast Find me on Instagram Watch me on YouTube Learn how you can grow in diligence and delight – quickly – with the 5 Essential Practices to Get Organized course inside Membership. In just 2 weeks, you’ll be up and running.

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