Do you ever feel so bogged down that you don't want to do anything? Have you become frustrated with how you are living day-to-day? Do you have laundry, papers, dishes, clothing, and tons of stuff piling up? How about your garage and closets? Do you know what's in there? Well, you are not alone. Many people that I help are overwhelmed with responsibility, children, loss, caretaking, work, and life in general. Many people live lives of quiet desperation just waiting for that "adult nanny" to walk in and save the day. I-Deal-Lifestyle offers you that wonderful "adult nanny" type of service every day of the week. I-Deal-Lifestyle also offers personal shopping, Feng Shui, Decor Solutions, Life Coaching, office and paperwork assistance, and much, much more. We love helping people with their self and space, clearing a path for more joy, wellness, and clarity. We teach you easy and efficient ways to keep your area organized long-term.
You want to know when enough is enough and get someone to help you sort through all of the things that are clogging your lifestyle. I-Deal-Lifestyle has the expertise to organize every aspect of your self, your life, and your space. We manage every room in your home, including home offices and children zones. We do it with zest, talent, warmth, and concern for detail so that you will feel intense relief even with one visit. Using Feng Shui as a template for organizing makes it interesting and puts some structure and zing into effect. I-Deal-Lifestyle, Professional Organizers will even Feng Shui your bookcases, built-ins, and your desk. Feng Shui, an ancient artistic practice of placing objects in your home. It is a unique way to create balance and harmony, wellness, prosperity, romance, friendships, family harmony, health, creativity, and wisdom. If you don't think it is real, Marla Stone owner of I-Deal-Lifestyle, and author of The Clutter Remedy will tell you it is since she sees how people naturally actually Feng Shui without knowing it exists. Her expertise in moving furniture around and placing your decor in unique places immediately affects the occupants of the home or office. A Feng Shui Template divides your home into nine separate but equal areas. These sections are called Bagua’s. When your your home and office are a perfect rectangular shape your Bagua areas are evident. When your spaces are not an ideal rectangular shape, then you have "missing" parts that can be enhanced to maintain balance and harmony. Each Bagua area is associated with specific colors, shapes, and elements. Feng Shui is a learned skill, and you can grasp it with a lot of training and education. It is a fun way of decorating and organizing yourself and your space. So get Feng Shui'd, organized, and breathe some vitality and life into your self & space. To learn more about how you can Feng Shui your space read Marla Stone’s book on Feng Shui here https://www.i-deal-lifestyle.com/free-feng-shui-e-book.html Call I-Deal-Lifestyle for a free 30-minute consultation and GET ORGANIZED NOW! 949-709-7000. Or email and set up an appointment for an assessment to get started! Info@i-deal-lifestyle.com Professional Organizer, Orange County, Los Angeles County, San Diego County
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Health Challenges That Mess up Your Life and Space By Marla StoneMental, Emotional, Physical Wellness versus Mental, Emotional, Physical Illness is a positive way to talk about Mental Health Challenges. I also like to talk about the difference between mental health vs. emotional health vs. physical health because they all work together. Vibrant Health is all about inner feelings, feeling balanced and whole, being happy and satisfied with life, and having a good mood. Mental Health is all about how your mind, thoughts, and cognitive processes are working. Physical Health is all about how your body is operating and staying healthy and balanced.
The separation of Mental, Emotional illness vs. Physical illness has always confused me. Why are brain (mental health/emotional issues and physical health issues split into two categories? The answers are in psychiatry, which started in the 1800s and asserted that it was the "medical" treatment for "the mind." Why didn't medical treatment for the whole person, mind, body, and spirit ensue? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychiatry. Isn't your brain and your emotional self part of your body? I would think so. At some point in the early 1800's when Psychiatry, a new field started, anything to do with depression, psychosis, "odd or strange" behavior, personality traits, and communications started to fall under Psychiatry instead of going to the old family doctor. Many of these "odd or strange" behaviors come from Medical issues, childhood issues, trauma. Yet, the person would be dealt with by a Mental Health Specialist or Psychiatrist versus a "regular doctor." That is when stigma increased, and terms like "nervous breakdown," "crazy," "mental patient," and any other negative connotations about mental health challenges started growing and upsetting the actual care necessary for mental health. The other problem with the separation between medical and mental health care is that many mental and emotional health challenges have organic and medical causes. That often was overlooked by Psychiatrists who wanted to find a dynamic and or personal weakness as the cause. Many people can die from having a Psychiatric diagnosis take over their treatment when the mental and emotional health issues originate from a physical disorder. The ideal situation if one is having mental/emotional health issues is to have a Psychiatrist and a Physical Health Practitioner on one team. Often there is NO communication between the two disciplines causing lengthy and unsuccessful results. Most people, though, who suffer from emotional, mental, and or physical health challenges, may become disorganized and have difficulty with motivation to clean and keep things organized. Emotional illness comes from having the mental state disrupted. Emotional illness can be from having physical condition disrupted. Sometimes mental and physical disruption is happening all at once, and then your self and space will be tremendously affected. Finding a team approach to help you get back to WELLNESS may help put you back on track and the fast train to recovery. Looking at old memories of hurt and pain, facing them and talking to a Licensed Therapist, examing your diet, exercise, addressing physical health issues, staying on a good medical/mental health regimen, and pulling all of your support and resources together is essential to recovery. Finding out the source of why there is an emotional factor (hostile and harsh feelings) would be the first step in addressing any self or space imbalance. Once you find out the source, then the treatment can be organized so you can get organized and resume a balanced self and space. If you are experiencing any mental, emotional, and or physical issues, and you realize you want or require help, contact your insurance carrier and or any community resources in your area to address these issues immediately. You may want to get a mental health consultant and or coach for guidance and resource coordination. Waiting to focus on your mental and medical health issues may only extend the suffering of yourself and your space. www.i-deal-lifestyle.com We are in the midst of winter and the aftermath of the holidays. The #newyear2021 is upon us. How are you going to get the energy to get the #holidaydecorations cleaned up and put away? The magic word is motivation.
How will you muster up this vitality and stay encouraged? Many words describing the opposite of motivated are aimless, meaningless, unplanned, vague, dissuaded, suppressed, halted, prevented, depressed, dejected, discouraged, disheartened, cast down, lazy, dull, and sluggish. So to not end up, at the very least, lazy, lethargic, averting a slow-moving and #tumblingsnowball of a Winter, here are some tips for staying with-it and happy during #winterseason2021 Tips for Getting and #StayingMotivated Boost Exercise. Talk To yourself in the mirror and smile at yourself too. Seriously it works great when you say positive things and give yourself a big smile every day. Cut back on fatty foods: dairy, meat, oil. Increase veggies, fruit, and lean protein. Sleep well, and if you don't sleep well, find out why and fix it with herbal sleep products, don't eat 3 hours before bed, don't overstimulate yourself before bed with too much exercise or scary movies or your cell phone, get a fixed sleep schedule, see your doctor. #Copingstrategies are any behaviors, thoughts, or actions which will decrease anger and or sadness. Each person has different coping strategies for lifting themselves out of the dumps or moving them away from becoming a self-sabotaging terrorist. You know what your coping strategies are! And if you don't, here are a few to contemplate. Socialize (get on www.meetup.com) and find a group. Book club and or charity you would enjoy. Read books on how to stay motivated. The top two triggers for a mood outburst, whether in the anger and sadness category, are family and holidays. Recognizing those two things are are catalysts for being miserable and unmotivated will prepare you to introduce adaptive coping strategies.
Marla Stone, MSW, Author l Keynote Speaker l Professional Organizer l Productivity Expert l Decor and Feng Shui Idealist www.i-deal-lifestyle.com info@i-deal-lifestyle.com Lots of Tips and Suggestions From Life Organizer Marla Stone, MSW for 2021
Have an excellent 2021 Marla Stone, MSW is a Professional Organizer/Lifestyle Coach, Decor, and Feng Shui Specialist. www.i-deal-lifestyle.com Okay, well, it looks like you will make it into 2021 with or without a “hitch.” If you compare life to a pomegranate seed, it can be bitter and sweet at the same time. But if you didn’t have the bitter, you also wouldn’t know the sweet, now would you. You can NEVER get rid of ALL the chaos in your life, but I will offer some things to make it sweeter for 2021.
Since it is a New Year, most of us have a conscious or unconscious desire to improve ourselves. You may have even written a list of resolutions. I love the word resolution. Simply, it means to re-solve areas of our lives that are not working. One of my favorite sayings as a former psychotherapist was, “So how is that working for you”? I used that phrase when people would go over and over the negative aspects of their lives, as if talking fervently about their woes would somehow solve self and life issues. Rarely does just talking change or transform something that bothers us. It is the action that follows the thought that will change behavior and lives. Even cognitive restructuring, a popular therapy technique, is just a band-aid if a new activity doesn’t occur. So definitely write out the list of things you wanted to accomplish in January 2021, not only something you want to change but what you genuinely want to see manifest in your life. With all the wisdom and ideas I collected throughout the years, I will share a list of my favorites with you. I will also talk about ideas for improved health, wealth, and lifestyle in this article. Ideas and Thoughts for 2021
People change when people want to change or perhaps “see the light.” You could wait a whole lifetime for a person “to change,” but it doesn’t mean they will. You could wait for your entire life to change yourself, but you only change when something changes. It takes WILL to change! Most people who are “toxic” are usually in the mindset that they are entitled and perfect, and therefore they do not believe that change is necessary. Toxic people may not have the will to “see the light” since it would be overwhelming to realize how much time and effort it would take to change their ways. The type of person that thinks of self first puts self first is called a “frenemy.” Often they do not see their demise. They wonder why things do not work out for themselves, blaming others for their life blunders. Living like a hamster in a wheel, going round and round is a crazy-making process. You end up going nowhere. Get out of your rut and groove and change it up. Stop the wheel, get off, create goals, and work on achieving them. Admit what doesn’t work for you in 2021 by using the decision making chart in my previous blog to identify a new coping strategy to change what does not work. Decision-Making Chart http://www.i-deal-lifestyle.com/1/post/2011/10/how-to-make-difficult-decisions-by-marla-stone.html Have a wonderful and safe and happy and healthy holiday season and happy new year! There may never be a perfect time for decluttering your home’s environment as it is usually time-consuming and can often be stressful. Although considering that we encounter many obstacles and changes throughout our lives, this often encourages improvement.
Over time, it seems easier to forget about our items building up as we put them in storage and set them aside in our rooms. The activity of decluttering doesn’t have to be a time-consuming chore. Make it a rewarding experience as you move into your beautiful new home by gifting and donating belongings you don’t need as well as simply tossing items of no value. Whether you’re someone who’s lost track of organizing their things, have a hobby of collecting, or even someone who just loves all their stuff, there are helpful ways to help you live a more balanced life. Keep possible emotional, physical, and psychological effects in mind as you take the steps to finish decluttering before moving. Being aware of any of these aspects and working through them will undoubtedly help you reach a refreshed lifestyle. Unpacking in Your New Home Before you move, you’ll want to take the time to decide what you actually want to unpack into your new, open spaces. This is the best time to remove all forgotten and unused items from your old lifestyle before they enter your new one. When you begin, ask yourself what each item’s worth is to you and your health. Don’t think twice about certain things such as food storage containers without lids, expired foods, or damaged items that cannot be repaired. If these things cannot be repurposed, then put them in the trash without worrying about it anymore. For some friendly and supportive advice, you can use specific techniques in The Clutter Remedy: A Guide To Getting Organized For Those Who Love Their Stuff by Marla Stone, MSW to help you make good decisions about what to pack up and move. This book will even guide you through organizing what you have and want to keep to create functional spaces you’ll love wherever you are. Minimize Stress Avoid overthinking about different kinds of decluttering strategies; there is no “right” strategy to start. To easily keep track of everything, you can organize items by category. If they hold true sentimental value and bring happiness, keep them. Otherwise, you can then decide how you want to get rid of the items. Make the process less stressful by taking breaks as well as asking for help from your friends, family members, and our residential declutter services to assist you. We can help with a wide variety of focuses in regards to sorting, creating space, selling items, recycling, and even our handyman services. Our goal is to guide you in practical ways to your ideal lifestyle by becoming free of clutter and disorder while promoting emotional freedom. The situation of decluttering and moving can cause you to forget about some of the other things going on in life, but there are many resources here to help you succeed. It’s important to stay conscious of your budget, especially if you’re moving around a holiday. Balancing costs such as moving services, professional cleanings, repairs, and upcoming bills can easily add up if you’re not paying close attention and easily strain your financial situation. Consider looking into a fixed-rate low interest loan, such as a home equity loan, on your current home to help cover these expenses. A home equity loan doesn’t have any requirements as to how you use them, so long as you pay them back within the timeframe of the loan. A loan like that can drastically lower the financial and emotional stress of moving, giving you less worries of the risk of falling into debt. Recycle, Repurpose, and Donate to Charity Rather than feeling guilty about throwing your items away, consider repurposing, donating to charity, and simply recycling or even upcycling. This way you can feel much less guilt about how much stuff you throw away and don’t have to worry about it sitting in a landfill somewhere. If you have nice clothing, jewelry, home decor, antiques, books, DVDs, CDs, collections, and working electronics or appliances that you just don’t use anymore, this can be a perfect opportunity to gift them away, or simply give them away to friends and family. You can also consider donating items similar to these to charity. There are still many organizations accepting a variety of donations during this time including the Salvation Army, Goodwill, MedSupplyDrive, the Humane Society, Feeding America, and even more. Recycling certain things can support a great cause and help the Earth’s sustainability. Recycling benefits the environment in a number of ways and going green can be inspiring to practice. Learn about what common household items you can recycle and how so that you can start removing it all from your spaces more efficiently. Sell & Downsize Before getting set up in your new home with your new, refreshed lifestyle, make sure the only large items that you take with you are practical. Furniture frequently falls into this category, and if you have a big couch or too many chairs, ask yourself how often these will all be used, or if all of it will fit in your new house. If you don’t live with many people and don’t have visitors over often, or if you have smaller spaces, then this is your opportunity to downsize items like these. The online marketplace can sometimes be discouraging during the selling process, but you can still get lucky and find someone willing to make the trade. Place your furniture or other big home items for sale online with Craigslist, Facebook groups, or other websites where you can meet with locals. You can even have a garage sale for a possibly quicker sale of everything within a few days. When you downsize and purchase more fitting furniture for your new home, don’t get lost in large retail company deals and upsells. This can risk going over your budget and hurting your credit score. Instead, purchase furniture and decor locally from online groups, consignment, and thrift shops. Plus, scoring a secondhand gem for a fraction of its original cost is a motivating feeling. Get Started on Decluttering Your Lifestyle Now Once you’re finally done, you can even take practices you’ve learned to the next level by applying home style trends like Feng Shui, which will continue to help you keep your home life balanced. This particular focus is said to improve aspects of your life, such as wealth, fame, recognition, love and relationships, family harmony, good health, creativity, skills, and knowledge. Soon enough, you’ll find yourself adapting home trends to continue balancing your lifestyle. Whether your move is happening soon or not for a long time, it’s never too early to start decluttering now. In addition, decluttering helps your home make a strong first impression which makes the selling process easy for buyers. Focus on living more with less stuff, and how you can continue to maintain it. By doing so, not only are you organizing and crafting optimal surroundings, but you are also learning more about yourself and your own values to fully create your ideal lifestyle. How To Choose A Professional Organizer in Your Area Who Truly Knows What They Are Doing Marla Stone12/17/2020 Many organizers show up in every part of the country, wanting to get into your sock drawer and organize your pants, shoes, office, makeup, kitchen, kids toys, garage, and your life? Yet, are they qualified to do so? Since there are no mandatory licensing or certifications to become a professional organizer, how do you know who to choose? How do you know who is who, and what is what in the professional decluttering arena? It is simple.
Managing and pushing a clutter-free life is a big business. Whether the "professional" organizers are in Orange County or Colorado, Nebraska, or Florida, professional organizers have multiplied by the thousands in every city and state. Everyone and their mother is calling themselves a professional organizer. Don't fret; there is a way to get some help, confidently, and without reserve. Suppose you are one of the many that still have not gotten uber-organized. How do you pick an honest, dependable, knowledgeable, and experienced professional person to organize, declutter, and figure out your space? The answer is easy, use your gut instincts first, do an internet check for reviews, interview, and look at the person's credentials. There is a subjective and objective way to look for the perfect home and business organizer. A real professional organizer will have clear and concise criteria for what to keep in your life. A beneficial book, and possibly a book that will help you "do-it-yourself," called The Clutter Remedy: A Guide To Getting Organized For Those Who Love Their Stuff, will be a starting point for your reference of how to organize optimally and professionally. The book, by former social worker/psychotherapist Marla Stone, describes the best way to organize your life, stuff, and space. The Clutter Remedy strategy all happens in a short period, and you learn how to stay organized, long-term. The criteria Stone developed create a seamless, effortless way to choose what to keep in your life and what to toss, without regrets or angst. The Clutter Remedy book talks about using criteria to choose what to keep and gives a precise reason for how clutter begins and how to end all the clutter cycles. So, in essence, you stop the human in the hamster wheel syndrome: going from clearing and putting everything away to ultimately going back to clutter. When deciding to go with someone calling themselves a "professional" organizer, meet with them before hiring and get a sense of their personality. You want to hire someone you feel comfortable working with, whatever their expertise. To me, the most important traits to look for in a professional organizer are: Kindness Empathy A non-judgmental attitude Good communication skills A positive demeanor Goal-oriented You want someone flexible, creative, and adaptable, especially when there are more severe over-collecting and over-accumulation challenges. When you finally have picked the correct person to work with, make a plan, select a date, and buy supplies that will contain your things to create ample space. Next, get your yoga wear on, hydrate, and get to work, or at least be prepared to work side by side with the professional you choose. Also, I highly recommend before starting the project that you read or listen to The Clutter Remedy: A Guide To Getting Organized For Those Who Love Their Stuff. It is a fast read and will tell you how organizing is supposed to be accomplished for a quick and long-term solution to clutter. Marla Stone, MSW, Professional Organizer is located in Orange County, Ca www.i-deal-lifestyle.com Why are there so many serial daters, divorces, parent/child episodes, and relationship drama resulting in less than satisfactory bonds? One reason is psychology secrets. Therapists and diagnosticians don't always tell you what is truly wrong with you. Also, the lack of accurate dual diagnosis diagnosticians in the mental health field leaves one patched up and not fixed for good. Understanding your personality disorder challenges is essential to understanding how to declutter your relationship strategies. Next is the use of impeding and non-assertive language, and not acknowledging, naming, and sharing feelings, and the lack of focus on an ideal lifestyle, and rather living a mundane one.
Improving relationships is an essential and healthy aspect of having a closer bond with yourself and other people. Relationship remedies created by Marla Stone, MSW provide a fresh perspective on improving relationships, leading to a more fulfilled life. The strategy's Stone has created focuses on all kinds of associations, such as the relationship with yourself, your partner, parent-child, friends, family, and business associates. Stone's background as a former psychoanalyst, home, business, and life organizer has given her experience in different mental and personality health challenges and how those can affect relationships and resolve them. Her relationship building programs draws from her broad knowledge of human interpersonal challenges and emotional blocks, Stone's creation of life and relationship remedies, and discusses how best to handle every relationship type and situation. Stone's technique of having a "good picker" simplifies identifying which relationships are worth pursuing and which ones you want to keep at a distance. The most robust relationships always start with oneself, understanding and knowing what you truly value in life, what makes you happy, self-care, being organized, good communication skills with yourself and others, and a healthy belief system. Understanding oneself leads to a better understanding of any personal challenges that may disturb relationship processes with others. Having a "good picker" also depends on having criteria for ideal relationships. Picking the correct family, friends, and peers to engage is manageable for a peaceful and rejuvenating experience rather than laced with drama and chaos. Choosing people to associate with based on your understanding of their strengths and personal challenges is optimal for easy-going and helpful relationships. Improving parent-child relationships is about having guidelines, responsibilities, and consequences for your children. It is optimal to establish healthy boundaries, follow-through, attentive to their dreams and goals. Allowing your children to know their self-worth and helping them hold the importance of criteria for the relationships they have is important for their well-being and autonomy. Improving your relationship with family and friends depends on having a standard for what you want in that relationship. Business relationships are similar to that of relationships with your children. Having a better relationship with your boss, coworkers, or employees requires boundaries, rules, consequences, communication, shared feelings, and validation. Mental and personality health challenges affect relationships and life itself. When not addressed with an understanding of the interpersonal dynamics, it will cause tremendous weariness and dissatisfaction. These prickly and unpleasant health disturbances will get in the way of productivity, intimacy, interactions with others, and dreams and goals. Mental health and personality unruliness can be overlooked and not addressed, leaving unhealthy behavioral patterns to play out, causing upset and havoc in most situations. However, we often find ourselves faced with people of particular personality challenges that disrupt our life, happiness, and goals. To understand these obstacles, Stone has created fourteen different interpersonal challenges and how they will impact individuals, families, and businesses. She then explains how to help people heal these maladaptive aberrations that disturb their relationships with others and severely damage a chance of living a fulfilled life. Stone has developed a test through her business I-Deal-Lifestyle Inc. that is a highly accurate check of the fragments of mental and personality challenges within the psyche, which will create maladaptive behavior patterns throughout life when not addressed. Once a person understands what innate personal challenges are causing them the most difficulty, they will learn how to replace them with healthier traits and see themselves clearly, while connecting to their inner voice, dreams, and goals. The fourteen personal challenges Stone has identified are: boundary, rebellious, unbalanced, motivation, ego, obsessive, fear, memory, addiction, nervous, attention-seeking, dependency, rigid, and detached. Stone has posed difficult personality blocks into commonplace non-threatening, and defined challenges. With some intervention, strategy, and desire to heal, any person disturbed by negative interpersonal health aspects can become a healthy life/relationship participant. The solutions for having a healthy, well-rounded character are simple, and a person can take a turn for the better quickly, efficiently, and with confidence. For more information visit www.i-deal-lifestyle.com Top 10 Tips For Decluttering Your Home During Lockdown
Living in a lockdown situation will be unnerving. It will create some situational depression for many of you. Learning and utilizing coping strategies that work will make life, work and interaction with family and friends much easier. Understanding the idea that within your self you are truly free to remain creative, organized and focused is the most important factor to not feeling, “locked down.” There are many ways to stay free of depression symptoms, and remain driven and focused in the now and in your future endeavors. It is as simple as "willing" yourself to do the things you love to do, despite a government order to stay inside. "In my soul I am free" is the mantra to adopt in order to remain autonomous and connected into something much bigger than the world at large. Here are 10 Top Coping Strategies During Difficult Times 1. Write a new goals list, even if you think you have one. Include every single thing that you want to do in life within the next three to five years. Go Big, Fairy Godmother Big! 2. After writing your lofty goals, write three specific ways you will fulfill those goals. For instance if you said build a new business, three specific ways to achieve them would be:
4. Write 30 things you want in an ideal partner. Go Big, Go Fairy Godmother Big! Whether you are in a relationship or not, this is the time to evaluate your partner relationship. Settling for a so, so partner is not ideal. Understanding what you truly want in a partner takes some thought and insight. You owe your current partner and future partners the fact that YOU are clear on what you want in an ideal partner. Nobody is good at guessing what someone else wants out of life. 5. Clear out any emotional clutter that is stirring around inside of you. Any past traumas, or unresolved negative aspects of yourself lead to cluttered decisions and difficult paths in life. Take the time to write a list of all the things in your life that hurt or wounded you. Then, use The Clearing and Healing™ techniques discussed in The Clutter Remedy: A Guide To Getting Organized For Those Who Love Their Stuff by Marla Stone, MSW. The strategy to heal and clear out those old “cobwebs,” is worth your time. 6. Declutter any cluttered and sloppy spaces you have in your residence or business offices. Figure out storage solutions that will keep your space looking like a “model home,” or an "ideal" corporate executive space. Living, and working in a clear and uncluttered space lends to the creative processes you want to engage in, while in lock down mode. Read Chapter Three of The Clutter Remedy https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-clutter-remedy-marla-stone/1130791302 to gather ideas on how to get your space looking like something out of a magazine. 7. Gain clarity on what makes you happy. Are you doing things in life that create drudgery? Are you a good delegator when it comes to off-shooting tasks that can be done by others, more capable and or willing? Are you noticing when you are in a rut, and don’t know how to stop the human-in-the-hamster-wheel affect? Recognizing that authentic happiness comes from having a vision of what will make you happy makes the wheel go 'round faster and smoother. Figure out how to have the following things happen for you in life: A. An engagement in self exploration. B. An ideal intimate relationship C. Ideal friends and social network D. An understanding of your purpose in the world. Why are you here? What are your spiritual beliefs? E. Accepting yourself as healthy, happy and settled, no matter what state you are in. 8. Love yourself. This is an old adage, but love yourself, and if you don’t, figure out why, and fix the things about yourself that you find unloveable. Do some digging around in uncomfortable memories or thoughts and get some outside help when you hit a wall. 9. Get physically healthier, happier and have more fun. Working on youself with a concerted effort is your responsibility. It is not an overnight phenomenon. Stop blaming others for your own lack of self improvement. Nothing changes unless something changes. 10. Plan places to travel to once lockdown is over, or find out where you can travel to during lockdown, safely. Traveling gives you a different 360 viewpoint of why you’re doing all the other things to improve your life. Traveling is relaxing and inspiring. Going on vacation is as important as all of the above. It is within the reprieve of taking time off that you will notice what you truly want to do with your life with objectivity and a full sense of freedom. Marla Stone, MSW is the Declutter Your Strategy™ Expert www.i-deal-lifestyle.com Ways to Successfully Sell Your Home During COVID-19
For those in the process of selling a home, pandemic restrictions are making the selling process look slightly different. From harnessing technology to connect with potential buyers to taking strict health and safety precautions when showing in-person, it’s important to learn how to sell your home safely and efficiently during the pandemic. Virtual showings One of the best ways to connect with potential buyers right now is through virtual home showings. The benefits are two-fold: you can avoid having window-shoppers parade through your home during open houses, and you’ll keep your family safer from possible virus transmission. For an effective home sale, be sure to hire a great real estate agent who is well-versed in the latest technology for selling homes. Your agent should be able to help you with virtual staging, 3D walkthroughs, and video tours for potential buyers. The 3D walkthrough option allows buyers to “walk” through your home online, checking out every room at their own pace. You can even set up a live-chat function through some real estate companies, which allow agents to show your home virtually without hassle and time-consuming in-person appointments. First impressions Believe it or not, many potential buyers will put a great deal of weight into their first impressions: according to a study, around 80 percent of buyers will know if a house is right for them the minute they step inside. This means your curb appeal should be spot-on by sprucing up the outside of your home alongside your indoor improvements. Before you begin the selling process, think about ways you can improve the exterior of your home. A few options are painting your front door, trimming trees, and tidying up your front lawn. Keeping your house clean Eventually, it’s likely that potential buyers will want to see you house in person. This can be done safely, so long as you follow some pandemic-oriented cleaning tips. First, be sure to wipe down commonly used items. You should be wiping down door knobs, cabinet handles, and closet door handles. Be sure to clean surfaces with a disinfecting spray both before and after a showing in order to keep your family and visitors safe. Another key cleaning tip is to regularly sanitize your kitchenand bathroom. Both rooms are hot spots for germs, and are also areas that, when spotless, can really stand out for potential buyers. Use a disinfectant when cleaning these areas, and go the extra mile by making windows and mirrors shine to really impress buyers. Keeping your home tidy While you work on making both the outside and inside of your home sparkle, don’t forget about everyday tidying. With many families working and learning remotely during the pandemic, you should consider ways to keep clutter from building on a regular basis. As you look around your house, be sure to identify what’s useful and what is clutter. I Deal Lifestyle will help you with this! As described in The Clutter Remedy: A Guide To Getting Organized For Those Who Love Their Stuff, you can do this by categorizing your belongings and determining what gets used, and what takes up space. You want to do away with the unused items, and find tasteful storage solutions for the items you want access to regularly. For those who struggle with clutter on a large scale, the problem may run deeper: consider ways to deal with mental and emotional stress that may be contributing to your tendency to hold onto unused items. As you get your home ready to sell, remember to boost its curb appeal as you keep the inside tidy and sanitized. Harness technology to help sell your home without unnecessary in-person tours, and remember to tidy up everyday after work in order for it to be ready for video tours or showings. |
Here, you will find an array of blog articles about living an ideal lifestyle and how to improve corporate business strategies.Marla is known as the Declutter Your Strategy™ expert. Marla earned her BA in Psychology and a Master's in Social Work. Stone is the founder of |