Jul 11

The Perfect Staycation – 6 Local Ideas This Summer

By Sherry Borsheim Blog, Inspiration, Simple Living No Comments

Happy Summer!!

With all this lovely sunshine ☀️, I’m right in the mood to plan some adventures – and where better to begin than in my own backyard?

Let’s get right into it!

What IS a Staycation?

A staycation is an alternative to the traditional vacation. Staycation quite literally means a stay-in, vacation!

This allows you to be fully present without the many additional stresses of travel, and to spend quality time alone, or the people that really matter in your life 🤍

It can be easy to take your most important relationships in life for granted, including the one with yourself. When you’re caught up in work and life tensions, you can often overlook the small joys in life with those you love.

These kinds of vacations are great because they are totally customizable. You can make it an expensive, pampering, luxury stay, or as different and unique as you like!

A vacation often requires an extensive plan and a long journey. If you’re headed to a more remote place, sometimes you’ll need to plan even multiple methods of travel. And maybe learn a little of another language! 😵‍💫 This can easily turn overwhelming. With that being said…

Welcome to the staycation!

Benefits of a Staycation

Planning this type of vacation usually involves staying at home and visiting local attractions. Some people may also choose to stay at a local hotel.

With a staycation, you won’t have to worry about catching a tour bus or flight on time. And you will save several thousands of dollars. Even more ideal if you have a large family! 💸

You will be able to enjoy more time with yourself. There isn’t any packing to do, just relaxing, and you can forget about the extra suitcases needed for babies, toddlers, or multiple kids to manage.

What to Consider, and How to Plan

Are you going to go for more of a family setting, a romantic couples-oriented stay, or do you relish some solace alone? Tropical or home-style oasis? Do you want to decorate, or just declutter and relax in your newly calmed space? Decide on the purpose, and you can create any theme imaginable!

You also have the option to stay in your own city or visit a nearby one. Your stay-in vacation can really be that – staying in – or you can plan to visit some local attractions and events.

Be a tourist in your own city!

6 Ideas for the Perfect Staycation

1. Get Outside

A great way to soak up the sunshine and connect with those you love is to plan a local hiking trip with your sibling or best friend. If you’re not a rigorous hiker, you could also go walking around a new neighborhood to see some different sights!

Planning a picnic with family or friends is always fun too! 🧺 Each person can bring a different dish potluck-style or you can create your own charcuterie boards.

It’s also super trendy right now to decorate your picnic blanket with pillows, a small communal table, flowers, and the like 🌼

Being influenced by new recipes will also help you improve your own cooking skills. And who doesn’t love to be surrounded by delicious food, favourite people, and beautiful scenery?

2. Restyle your Home

Curtains are an easy decor change, but one that makes a lot of impact! Consider swapping to something more light and fresh, or if you’re going for a tropical theme, colorful and citrusy!

You can also rearrange your furniture (I love this!) to create small conversation nooks. Make sure to allot plenty of walking space in between pieces. Move furniture away from the windows to let in more natural light and create a sense of “breezability.”

3. Declutter to Reduce Stress

Staying inside when your house is cluttered and cramped with “stuff” – not relaxing.

Putting on some jazzy music, pouring a glass of wine (this is vacation right?😉), and sorting that procrastinated mountain of mail – verrrry relaxing.

Sort through the pieces of decor you feel need a refresher and set them aside to be replaced or moved to another location in your home. Also sift through your miscellaneous everyday items and your closets for linens, board games, and storage.

Think of a lovely resort – it’s not filled with clutter and unused items. It highlights complimentary decor pieces that have a relaxing, inspiring feel. And gives you plenty of open space.

While you’re relaxing at home, work on creating that sense of lightness and openness you’re craving – so you can keep it all year long.

4. Host a Wine Tasting

A really fun, social idea!

Invite some friends over and have each couple bring one bottle of wine that is cheaper, and one more expensive. Place them in paper bags (to hide the labels), then everyone can try them and choose favourites, before revealing which was the finer wine 😄

This event needs a couple pre-event materials like a corkscrew, two decanters, wine glasses, simple palate-cleansing snacks, and if you’re feeling crafty, wine glass charms! These charms would even be an extra little fun activity to make.

Want to host an even more memorable night? Make a charcuterie board or appetizer plate.

Alternatively, if you live near some wineries, most tour companies offer a package for a guided (optionally romantic🌹) “Staycation-Themed” wine tour.

5. Indoor Oasis at Home

Do you have a spare room at home?

This could be a blank canvas for you to create a fun, tropical indoor oasis – all year round. This is also a great activity to get the kids and whole family involved!

Some great additions could be hammocks, tropical plants, a misting machine, painting patterns or using wall stickers. And for reading materials, travel magazines and books!

A great spot to decompress from work and it will help you feel like you’re a million miles away.

6. Try Out a New Restaurant

What about checking out that new place on the corner you see every day on your drive home from work? The one that is always busy, full of people laughing, and pumping out great music!

This is a fantastic (and delicious!) way to support a local small business and try something new at the same time.

Or head out appy-hopping on a downtown street with yummy tapas-style restaurants.

Try a few dishes at each place!

So What Will Your Staycation Plans Be?

Start planning your staycation now while the ideas are flowing! You deserve it 😌

Make a list of all the local attractions that you have always wanted to enjoy. Search up the new restaurants and entertainment venues in your area. Check your city’s local events calendar!

And savour going easy on your mind and body.

Comment below to share your relaxing summer plans!

And which staycation tip will YOU try out?

Like this article?

You’ll love this one Style & Declutter Your Home for Spring

Jul 04

Love0

Clutter + What You Eat

By Sherry Borsheim Blog, Home Organizing, Simple Living No Comments

Is your kitchen cluttered? You may be self-sabotaging your own weight-loss efforts.

Which is actually failing you – Willpower or Clutter?

While diet and exercise are vital, your home environment also plays a big role in helping you slim down. AND, it’s an easy “without equipment” fix, too!

Here’s a few student examples to consider before you begin your own reorganizing:

How does this photo make you feel:

…Compared to the feelings you experience from this one?

Which one looks more like YOUR kitchen? If you identify with the first one, there’s a reason why your diet may be failing you.

Clutter and Motivation

Clutter is really damaging to diets. It drives people to think, “Everything else is out of control, so why shouldn’t I be?” and they throw away all care to make room for comforting junk food.

Because who wants to take the time to prepare a nice meal in a kitchen that requires a bulldozer to remove countertop clutter?

Probably no one.

So you choose an easy, fast meal – but convenience always comes with a price!

Assess Your Space

Take a look around your kitchen,

Are pots and pans often left out?
Do your cupboards overflow with mismatched tupperware?
Is your pantry full of stuff you bought and never use?
Do you have a home for every kitchen item? (how often do they stay in that home?)

If you find yourself going to the grocery store and picking out all these lovely ingredients for a nourishing meal, then coming home and losing all motivation… clutter is probably why.

As Marie Kondo often encourages; “Tidying up helps to calm you down.”

What can I do?

As we progress in our knowledge of what does and does not work for dieting, we’ve learned that places – such as cluttered offices or disorganized homes – can be modified for our overall benefit.

This means we can change the spaces we spend the majority of our time in, to help us control our food intake. Intentional design is steadily becoming an important solution in helping us lose weight.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

(Learn the rest of Sherry’s methods in the Organize Your Kitchen course)

Manage Your “Breakfast Zone”

What’s in a Breakfast Zone?

This is where you’ll keep your family’s morning favorites. This can include bread, peanut butter and jams, honey, cereals, etc.

A good idea to save space here is to use large containers for cereals. They often take up less space than bulky boxes and will stay fresh for a lot longer!

Set Up Your “Meal Prep Area”

This area will likely be close to the sink, or where you feel is the natural place you like to prepare meals.

Group your prepping utensils together and store them in a nearby drawer or cupboard that will be dedicated to preparation supplies. Included here are also aluminum foil, zip bags, and the like.

Tame Your “Tupperware Turmoil”

Ah, the dreaded drawer of chaos. Everyone’s least favorite, but often-used space!

The easiest way to keep it manageable is to keep it separate. Use a container for lids and sort them from largest to smallest. Use another container for kid’s dishes, lunch thermoses, etc.

Stack the rest of your containers with similar shapes. Ex: square containers stacked from largest to smallest, then another stack for rounds, and rectangles.

Happy Home, Happy Life? Studies say so

Without needing to say it, I’m sure we all know that a beautiful, clean home will never negatively impact our lives.

But clutter on the other hand… There are not only physical difficulties that come with it, but mental health problems too.

If you found these tips helpful, check out Sherry’s Organize Your Kitchen course! This 8-module (plus a bonus!) was designed to help you lessen stress and boost your health by learning the principles of managing clutter and restoring a sense of order to your home.

Like this article?

You’ll love this one Reduce Stress and Mind Clutter: Minding Your Mind

Jun 13

Love0

Work-Life Balance vs. Work-Life Negotiation

By Sherry Borsheim Blog, Business Organizing, Time Management No Comments

This topic of work-life balance for entrepreneurs has been something I’ve never totally bought into. Both as an employee and as an entrepreneur myself.

There are times in my life when both my work and personal lives are flowing with ease. I experience way less stress in my life.

…then there are times when I’m working too much and stress levels are sky-high. I’ve experienced occupational burnout several times and usually, my body just says enough. And it takes me weeks to recover from these problems.

You would think I have learned my lesson the last time😅

What I have learned over the years (and I’m still getting better at this all the time!) is the importance of setting boundaries. Re-evaluating my priorities regularly and listening to my body are examples of work-life negotiation. These practices are important to my well-being.

My top priority is to take better care of myself. For example, my solutions for this are eating healthier, drinking more water, exercising, getting a good night’s sleep, unplugging, and enforcing downtime.

For me, this could look like gardening, reading, walking along the water, cooking and baking to fill the freezer, or simply hanging out with friends.

There are times when I’m working on a project, and the deadline is a week away, like a moving day. And it’s all hands on deck to get the house packed, repaired, painted, carpets redone, and all cleaned up.

Then the big day arrives, and my team is frantically unpacking to set up the kitchen and bedrooms.

In the past four months alone, I’ve packed, moved, and unpacked five households!

My work-life balance has been more on the work side lately. Our cycle is that we work longer days to get the job done faster.

Then we rest 😴

This leads me to believe in work-life negotiation as I find it more relatable in terms of how I merge time management and my personal life.

When I’m working longer hours, I negotiate with myself to schedule work days off. And on those days, I turn off my cell phone and don’t go into my office.

I literally turn it all off 📵

It might be a day or three days where I’ll get away. I’ll garden, read, go for walks with my husband, cook, get a massage, a mani-pedi, or meet with friends. When It’s my off time, I unplug!

When I negotiate with myself that I will have to work longer hours for a short time, I still make sure I’m taking care of myself.

With work-life negotiation – as Dr. Chris Mullen, Ph.D. wrote in Forbes – the concept of work-life balance is outdated.

Implementing work-life negotiation encourages you to reassess your workplace goals and empower not only yourself but also your employees.

This opens up the opportunity to discover an individual path of work time vs non-work time. It’s also a good tactic to force yourself into developing good time management skills.

It means you still get your work done… and you get to make time for yourself and your personal responsibilities.

So with all that, are you on Team Work-Life Balance or Team Work-Life Negotiation? 🧐

Comment below!