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5 Ways to Say “No” Without The Guilt

5 ways to stay organized and say no without guilt.

Today we are so lucky to have Laura Smith of I Heart Planners with us! Laura Smith is the founder of I Heart Planners, creator of the Sweet Life Planner, and host of Get Organized HQ Summit that’s a free event happening online September 14-18th. Laura helps busy women ditch the one-size-fits-all planning system so they can create homes that work for them and are filled with less stress and more peace. In this episode, Laura talks a lot about how she delegates, how she makes priorities, how she doesn’t do all the things and ditches the guilt in the process.

I have known Laura for quite a while as we were in the same business mastermind together- it’s how I met her. She’s always just amazed me with how big she’s grown her business, how well she runs her business, and she’s the mom to two very small children, six and four. I wanted to talk to her today because even though it does seem like superwomen from the outside, Laura went from designing nuclear power plants to planners & printables! 

1. Figure out what makes you crazy

Laura admits she’s always been horrible at multitasking.  She always felt frustrated when she tried it.  She knew that if she was going to work she needed focused time. 

“Let’s not waste our time feeling guilty for the things we don’t do.”  Delegate what you don’t like or completely drop it.

READ: Getting Over Daycare Guilt: 4 Ways Your Child Will Thrive

She doesn’t do it all on her own.   When you see a lot of people online, you imagine they’re doing ALL the things.  But the truth is that they have so much help doing all the things!

2. Carve out one little space to stay neat

You don’t have to revamp everything.  That’s overwhelming.  Just pick one space and get that under control.  It can be a closet or a small corner. For Laura, that’s her office.

READ: Stay Organized: The One Thing You Must Do to Keep a Space Clutter-free

3. It’s not just your space, it’s your time

Laura recommends dividing your tasks into main priorities and then everything else.  She takes just three to five tasks and if she gets those done, its a good day. You can’t beat yourself up for the unexpected things life brings you.

4. It’s about how you talk to yourself

You need to talk to yourself like you’re not a failure.  We’re all different.  Laura says, “It’s ok if someone does a good job doing twelve things, and it’s ok if I can only do five things.”

READ: Yes, you do indeed rock! 4 steps to overcome self doubt

5. First goal: Teach the kids.  Second goal: get the thing done

Let’s be honest.

“It goes less smoothly and takes more time with little hands,” notes Laura. You get more stressed when they try to help because you’re so focused on getting it done.   So instead, focus on teaching your kids during your time together. Getting a household task done like folding the laundry comes second.

She also tries to not have many things in their rooms. They do a huge purge every six months of her kids’ rooms to keep clutter under control.

Her kids keep up the organization when they know where things are and where they should go. They have a crafting closet and her six-year-old daughter will just get out a piece of paper on her own to start creating.

Resources We Mentioned:

Get Organized HQ

Laura hosts a free summit that you can sign up for here: https://noguiltmom–iheartplanners.thrivecart.com/get-organized-hq-2020-1/

I Heart Planners

Sweet Life Planner

Download the Transcript here

The best mom is a happy mom.  To better take care of you, download our No Guilt Mom mindset here .   These reminders will help you second guess less, and feel more confidence every day in your parenting. 

Brie Tucker

COO/ Podcast Producer at No Guilt Mom
Brie Tucker has over 20 years of experience coaching parents with a background in early childhood and special needs. She holds a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Central Missouri and is certified in Positive Discipline as well as a Happiest Baby Educator.

She’s a divorced mom to two teenagers.

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