Organize Your Life Herald Sun Press in Cheryl Critchley's Parenting Column

I was recently asked for a quote to go in an article, which appeared in yesterdays Herald Sun in Cheryl Critchley's Parenting Column & is Author of 'Unspoil Your Kids'. The title, was "Feeling off Colour?", in relation to food additives - which is close to my heart, as both my children are intolerant / allergic to lots of them!

I have written a short article on the topic (below) in relation to what has helped our family navigate the very confusing world of food additives; food preservatives; food labeling and food additive intolerances and allergies in general. I know first hand it can be stressfull nightmare, so I hope this helps you at the beginning of our food allergy diagnosis.

“Get Organized to keep nasty additives out of your life and shopping trolley”
By Claire McFee Author of Organize Your Life

Until my kids were diagnosed by a Naturopath with several food intolerances, I had no idea how many nasty’s were in the food we ate and the effects they were having on them. For a few years I struggled with which numbers I had to avoid when shopping and found it really hard to remember which ones were which. Thankfully a couple of things have turned this process into a ‘normal’ experience rather than an overwhelming one.

• Use an Additive Card when shopping
Thankfully along came Katy from Smart Snacks and her brilliant Additive Card that I could put in my purse and easily refer to when out and about. It makes your life so much easier!!! You can just circle the additives that you need to avoid – using a different colour pen for each family member.

• Use a Food Additive List
The other tip I recommend is using a List like we have on our Organize Your Life e-Organizer - to make a note of the additives and products in general that your family need to stay away from that you can use for shopping; with babysitters and for sleepovers at your friends’ places.

• Say goodbye to those Nasty Side Effects
I certainly don’t miss the behavioural issues we had pre-diagnosis that’s for sure! It makes you wonder how many kids are misdiagnosed with things like ADD when it could just be an additive or gluten intolerance/Allergy.

• Spread the word
Like me, be sure to tell your friends about your experience, so they can look into this as the possible cause of any issues they may be having. It is soooo much more common than people realize and we as consumers need to help spread the word to keep the pressure on the food companies and Government when it comes to what is allowed in our foods and how foods are labelled.

These things can make a huge difference to creating a less stressed life, by helping you pre-plan what your family puts into their mouths and prevent any of those nasty side effects.


If you have any questions in relation to you or your children's food allergy / diagnosis etc I would be happy to answer your questions and do my best to help.

till next time,


Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

ps: When you buy the complete "Organize Your Life" e-Organizer download with ALL 4 Life Organizers we will throw in a Free copy of the "Organize Your Life" eBook worth $17. The e-Organizer is a convenient, comprehensive, versatile, and interactive e-organizational product you can type into on your computer or printable out if you prefer - EASY!

Discover the 7 Essentials for Guilt-Free Living for Business Mothers

Discover the 7 Essentials for Guilt-Free Living for Business Mothers

Are you struggling with not enough time to do what is important to you? Is juggling business and motherhood hard work most days? Do you want to make more money but cannot see how in the time you have?

Make sure you join Valerie McDougall and Jayne Jennings of Guilt Free Business Mothers.com with their special guests from the 3rd February for a FREE 7 Week teleseminar series. They will reveal:

• the common mistakes many of us make trying to be more organised and how you can AVOID them - and save yourself precious time and money
• those words you MUST know NOW to increase your financial intelligence (and your money!)
• the key steps you NEED to take if you want to enjoy the benefits of greater self confidence in business
• the very real impact work and stress are having on women’s hormones and what you need to do to STOP this happening to you
• how you CAN create a delicious relationship with your partner while growing a business and nurturing your family
• the SIMPLE steps you can use to move from frantic to fun family life
• how to identify and overcome the GUILT trap.

If you are ready to escape the daily struggle and enjoy more time and money – guilt free - this is for you! Register today.

Important: You need to register to take advantage of the special offers during the calls.

Hope to see you on the call.

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

New Mini Organizer / Life Planner to help Organize Your Life with matching Bargain Mini-price Tag

We are excited to announce a brand new Mini-Organizer full of the most commonly used and needed household Lists, Planners and Journals & Calendar for your Busy Family Life.

We have a great Introductory Price of only $17...And once you see how much easier it makes your life you can upgrade to the whole Organize Your Life Organizer for only $47 (rrp $87) A Bargain no matter what way you look at it - So get in FAST!

To check it out just go to this webpage - Organize Your Life for more info and if you want a sneak peak of what is inside our Organizers just click on one of the demo vidoes on the Organize Your Life website.

FYI the complete set of Organize Your Life Organizers covers Organizing your Family; Organizing Your Money; Organizing Your Self and Organizing Your Home. As part of the upgrade offer not only will you save $40, but you will also get a free copy of our accompanying Organize Your Life eBook worth $17

Until next time,

Claire McFee
Author Organize Your Life :)

Forget New Years Resolutions and get ready for some Great 2010 Goals Now

Well we are nearly at the end of January, with Summer School holidays coming to an end here in Australia. After over a month already I am ready to get back into my normal routine - and not feel torn between work and the kids. It's been a great summer holiday but my thoughts are starting to focus more on the year ahead and what I want from it and what action i need to take to achieve those goals! That of course means getting these Goals 'down on paper' as they say - even though these days that just as often means typing into a computer file!

As I've said for years - New Years Resolutions invariably don't work due to the craziness of that time of year and holding off till February to get your goals happening is way more realistic and therefore achievable.

My goals have to do with streamlining the business further; outsourcing more; getting great new publicity for Organize Your Life etc. on the home front my goals have to do with having a smooth transition into our new house; to get the garden started etc, etc. What are you main Resolutions you want to achieve in the coming months.

go to our website for more articles on how to achieve your goals, step by step. You can do it!!

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

Organizing Deferred Payment and a great discount on New Furniture

Boring to some but exciting to us at the moment, with tens of thousands of dollars going towards the final stages of building our house every cent saved at the moment makes a big difference. So exciting to only be a few months away from moving into the new house after all this time! (it's been 4 years since we bought the block.)

Anyway, there are some amazing Furniture sales on at the moment, so I of course organized myself a trip into town to check them out - for the best possible discount of course.

A couch/sofa was specifically what we were after on this shopping trip, so that meant using the Butt Test - as our lovely Harvey Norman Salesman jokingly referred to it as! We sat in lots of couches and one couch surpassed all others in 'butt comfort'. A beautiful dark brown leather couch you could easily fall asleep in - Bliss.

Next thing was taking advantage of the finance packages on offer. Due to lower cash flow while Neil has been working on the house and huge expenses building the house -not having to dip into the house mortgage sounded pretty good. We were able to get an amazing deferred payment plan with www.gemoney.com where apart from a small monthly account keeping fee and set up charge, we don't have to pay a cent for ...wait for it... 33 months!!! Sounds too good to be true I know, but we have actually done this once before about 15 years ago when we were first starting out and it is all ligit.


As long as you pay the loan / deferred amount in full by the end of that time, you can save a fortune. If you don't pay the full payment out at the end, by being organized enough with your money and budgeting for the upcoming expense, that is when you get hit with exorbitant interest charges.

That said if careful it is a great way to buy items but not have to outlay for them upfront. I love it!!

Oh and I was also able to get another 5% discount off the 20% already being offered which is always a huge bonus with bug purchases. My husband really wanted an ottoman to put his feet up at the end of a long day and I really wanted a single armchair to curl up with a book in a sunlit corner but the price was ending up to more than we had budgeted, so I simply told the salesman that those two items weren't definite yet.

I said nicely :) - "Let me know if you can do a slightly better deal and I might be able to still buy it all"...So he went to the head boss and came back saying ok. So that was another huge win. the lesson here is that it can't hurt to ask - even when an item is already on sale. Have an organized approach to this and plan out what you are going to say before hand as this usually pays off.

So if you are in the market for some new household items try these shopping budget tips to get the best bargain and value for you dollar!

Claire McFee Author & Founder
Organize Your Life Organizers

For more tips on money budgeting work etc go to this article at Organize Your Life

Retail Shop Therapy Brain Turn Around saves you Money & Guilt

Hopefully you spent wisely for Christmas and haven't overdone it by spending money you don't have. Read on to find out more about how the mind works when it comes to shopping / retail therapy...

How Retail shop therapy brain turn around saves you money & guilt....

Neuropsychologist David Lewis “Since the recession (due to the GFC) began, it has become apparent that shoppers are doing an about-face and turning away from purchases that once turned them on.”

Good news for your hip pocket – we are less likely to impulse spend and therefore regret it later emotionally and financially. Experts suggest there are a few reasons for this trend - Where in the past our brain allowed certain unhelpful chemicals to make buying decisions for us, through better awareness we are now more likely to let the more sensible chemicals win out, which is clearly the better way to go.....curbing your spending habits.

Shoppers are more aware than ever - due to growing popularity of environmental and social justice groups - that doing the right thing can have a huge personal and environmental and social knock on effect. We are then more likely to donate to worthy charities if we aren’t over stretched from unnecessary shopping purchases. We then feel better about ourselves emotionally and the less fortunate are better off, which is good all round!! Less stress, more money in our pocket and bank accounts. Win Win!

Quick tip , take a shopping list when shopping with what you NEED, not what you WANT or would like, and don't get anything if it's not on the list!!!

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

'Are you Spent?' ie: OVERWHELMED?!

I read a great article a while ago by journalist Maria Lally about the phenomenon of being "Spent". Being diagnosed as being 'Spent', basically means you are exhausted, overwhelmed and just running on empty.Sounds familiar anyone!?

A Book has even been written about it, by Dr Frank Lipman called "Spent? End exhaustion and feel great again."

Lipman had countless patients come to him who, even after a full 8 hrs sleep were tired and unable to achieve what they normally would in a day.

Lipman's research found that a big contributing factor - especially to women in the West, was not being in tune with Nature. Simply going to bed when it gets dark - yep - very early in Winter and getting up to natural sunlight in the morning, can make a massive difference to our sense of Wellbeing. Lipman goes onto say "Our DNA isn't in sync with Modern life, and our energy levels, sex drive, waist size and mood are paying the price."

Thankfully Lipman suggests some less extreme ways - apart from going to be at 5.30 over Winter (!) to get back in sync with nature and ourselves to be able to feel 'normal' again. These include but aren't limited to:-

* Going on a Technology Detox
- Daily exposure to phone (especially portable home phones, ot just mobiles) and computers overstimulates and affects our sleep patterns.

* Eat protein for Breakfast

* Deal with Bad Digestion (I have Lemon Juice every morning which helps kick start my otherwise problematic Digestive System.)

* Downsize your Workout

For more info you can check out his website @ www.spentmd.com


Cutting down on your 'stuff' can also lighten our mental load too, reducing the chances of becoming officially 'Spent'. Factoring in some all important 'Me Time' is also vitally important to your Wellbeing as well.

To read an article on Organizing better Wellbeing click here.

Claire McFee Author
Organize Your Life

Personal Goal Setting

Goal Setting

Even if your Life Goals are only in your head and not on paper it is better than aimlessly going thru life with no real direction at all. However Studies do support that if you get your Goals down in writing, you are A LOT closer to achieving them. If you are a detailed oriented Goal-Setter - you are putting yourself way ahead of the pack. I know which type of person I'd prefer to be - do you?

That said, our Goals can sometimes change completely and ‘that’s ok’. Don’t beat yourself up if you change your mind about what you want at particlular stage of your life....change is inevitable in all areas of life, so just reassess your goals when necessary and go from there. As Dr. Timothy Sharp from the Happiness Institute says “There is much to be gained from journeys of self discovery”, and that reassessing and questioning were you are ‘at’ and where you want to be are a ‘constructive part of the process...just be conscious of focusing these questions on the positives.”

More on Goals...
Values and Personal Goal Setting

Creating time to get your Goals down on paper let alone implementing them takes organization – as it is all inextricably linked. To properly define what we want from life and how we can break that down into achievable goals takes time to reflect and assess where you are in relation to those goals.


Having core personal values that include respecting YOUR needs and wants, not just everyone elses will greatly influence your main Goal and breaking down of what you are able to achieve. So be conscious of allowing yourself the time to ponder ‘What's next?’ for you, as the more time you spend on this stage, the more time you will save in the execution stage. Psychologist Gemma Cribb, quoted for a Cleo article on this topic titled “The Life re-edit”, says we are often forced to contemplate our life direction when external circumstances change unexpectedly. Whether or not the contemplation you have is planned or unplanned, use your time well.

Assessing your 'Life Direction' it helps to focus on your true values. Cribb goes on to say, “Identify what’s meaningful to you in life and these values will become a reference point. Values are compass points, rather than definite goals ..regardless of other circumstances that are happening in your life.”

So have a think about where you are, where you want to be and whether you have been taking your personal values into account. They will help guide you, so keep them in mind! :)


Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers


Article of Interest: If you just need some tips on how to organize some basics in your life try reading this "How to Get Motivated & Set Goals"

How to cope when a family pet dies....

Our Golden Labrador Angel was hit by a car and was put down recently. It was really, really sad. The grief physically hurt for a few days but thankfully has dissipated. Pets really do become part of the family don’t they. The kids were just devastated by the loss of another pet so soon - our cat sparkles died unexpectedly less than a year ago. They cried and cried which was the hardest part for me. Not being able to take their pain away. I know that as part of the grieving process they needed to go though that on their own terms, but was heartbreaking to watch.

Emma verbalised her distress about what would happen in the future when she needed ‘time out’ from the rest of the family (i.e.: was upset with one or all of us about ‘whatever’) - who would she go to take her mind off things and get some affection and unconditional love from? It was an insightful thing to think and not one that we can ‘fix’ –at least not immediately. The loss of a pet can’t be solved overnight by getting another pet straight away. Sometimes it’s just too painful and you need time to heal first. That’s certainly how we feel. Angel was 3 ½ - so we had finally gotten her through the crazy young Labrador stage to the more sensible stage, making it all the more hard to accept her untimely death.

Having pets and inevitably losing them at some point –hopefully later rather than sooner - is all part of growing up and learning about responsibility and of course change and death. I encouraged the kids to write down their thoughts and do some drawings about Angel and their favourite memories of her – and what might be on a head stone if we had a proper one – i.e. RIP and what the means etc. We discussed burying her together, which as hard as it is to do is an important part of the grieving process. We went through this with Sparkles as well, so this wasn’t completely foreign to them. When we buried the cat they asked about the ‘how will she breath under the ground’ type questions and we had similar questions again from our 7 year old son about Angel..which of course leads to the ‘soul’ having already left the body and being in heaven so it’s ok…. Can be a bit of a hard concept to explain but is a good opportunity to discuss it all the same.

When a pet dies it’s also a good idea to put together a min-book of memories and photos of your beloved pet. Angel did some crazy naughty things that we remember fondly (in retrospect!!) and they will be lovely to have to look back on. We just hope the next pets we have will be around for longer than our last two that’s all!

How have you dealt with the death of a family pet? How did you help your children deal with the grieving process? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

Organize Your Life Free Organizing MP3 Interviews

I was interviewed recently by Amanda Robins - Founder Of Toddler Taming Entrepreneurs and Connie and Charly - Founders of Stretch your Mind and Body on Organizing and how it relates to these areas of your life.

As I always say EVERYTHING is interconnected so getting organized can not only save you time and money but it can save your sanity as well! To listen to these interviews for free simply click on the links below. You will be taken to the Organize Your Life website. Please note the audio may take a minute to download but is worth the wait - as we have a great freebie and discount on offer for our Organize Your Life Organizer.


How to get into the Organizing Zone

Getting Organized to achieve Balance in your life

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

Need some advice on "How to Organize Your Home and life" ? then read our Organizing Articles here.

To view our most recent Organize Your Life Newsletter for lots of Christmas Advice click here.

Join "The Story of Stuff" Community to help push for change in the world

Annie Leonard has done it again with a fabulous follow up to the brilliant mini-feature The Story of Stuff with The Story of Cap and Trade

If you don't know much or anything about the Carbon Trading Scheme; reduced target emissions etc then perhaps it's time you did and this is the best way I recommend to. :) As Annie Leonard (Founder of the Story of Stuff) succinctly says - the answers aren't going to come from the people that created the problem - conflict of interest anyone!??! - the solutions to the problems we are facing have to come from elsewhere.

The benefits of speaking up and joining forces with groups like these is a safer, cleaner, fairer world for ourselves and our children. No brainer don't you think!

There are more "The story of.." mini-features to follow The Story of Cap and Trade, so keep and eye out for them and join the over 9 million people who have already watched them. Help spread the world. Believe in People Power. I do. :)

Have you seen the Story of Stuff videos? What are your thoughts?


Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

Book Review & competition :- Escape the Parent Trap; Unspoil Your Kids

We have a great competition at the moment - Within Australia only sorry :)- for a new release called "Escape the Parent Trap; Unspoil Your Kids" by Herald Sun Columnist Cheryl Critchley.

All you need to do is email enquiries@organizeyourlife.com.au telling us "What you have done to get back to basics with your family" by the Dec 2nd 2009 for a chance to win a copy.

Here's a blurb about the book and my review of it below. Would love to hear your thoughts on unspoiling our kids - do we need to / how do we need to??

Mother of three Cheryl Critchley, who refuses to let the parenting industry run her life, is on a mission to de-clutter parenthood and bring back the basics. Today's parents are time-poor and confused. We are literally drowning in paraphernalia, from programs teaching babies to read to professional party planners for five-year-olds. We have lost confidence and become paranoid, wrapping kids in cotton wool and spoiling them rotten. Cheryl says it's time to slow down, relax (yes relax!), keep it simple and take charge. Parents need permission to ignore the guilt-trip laid on by marketers pushing $1500 prams and overpriced private schools. They need good, basic advice on how to host a great party without spending a fortune, whether your child is ready for school and what to tell teenagers about drugs. They also need to be wary of kids growing up too fast and becoming slave to the range of new technologies taking over their lives. With expert tips and straight talking advice, in the style that has made Cheryl's Parent Trap column in the Herald Sun so popular, you can unspoil your kids and truly enjoy life with them. It's not too late!


“Cheryl Critchelys’s new book ‘The Parent Trap’ tells you exactly what you need to know, to get the rod out of your back that you inadvertently planted there long ago! This easy to follow guide clearly spells out the areas you need to look at to function more effectively as a parent and most importantly as a family. Your words of wisdom will help countless families get back to basics and regain their lives at the same time.” Claire McFee Author Organize Your Life


till next time,

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers


If you haven't already read our article on how to give your home a makeover by reorganizing it then you will love this article.

Where are your House ‘Clutter Clusters’?

Sarah Wilson from The Age’s Sunday Life Magazine had another interesting article on clutter recently – and in particular Feng Shui / Energy Flow. I’m not sure if Sarah has coined the term but she talks about ‘Clutter Clusters’ in the home and the effect they have, not only on your home but on your life.

Everything in our lives – both physical and mental are all inter-related. If there is too much attention in one area it means another area is missing out. If there is an obvious problem area, it is a sure sign there is a energy blockage somewhere. The more self aware we are the more able we are to recognise this early on – hopefully before the problem gets out of hand and do something constructive about it – say organize your life better!!??.

I know in the past my health has suffered greatly from not having balance in my life – and I’m sure if a Feng Shui consultant came into my home during those times they would have found build ups in the related areas. Where are the main ‘clutter clusters’ in your home? Do you try to organize / declutter these messy areas at least sometimes or are they always there making you feel out of control and overwhelmed? If you have tackled your clutter 'hot spots' successfully, how have you done it?

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers


If you haven't already read our articles on how to organize practically every aspect of your life and home then go to http://www.organizeyourlife.com.au/organizeyourhome

International Buy Nothing Day is coming around again!

It's coming up again - a favourite 'DAY' of mine - International Buy Nothing Day.

So on Nov 23th 2009, try to consciously choose not to buy anything if you can help it. If you must buy something, at least make sure it is a 'must'. The difference this can make is bigger than any of us can imagine.

A lot of people may think - it's just delaying what I have to buy anyway, so what's the point? Well in some instances this is the true but in many cases it is preventing purchases and unnecessary consumerism by stopping you buying something that you otherwise would have.

Let's not forget the Power of the People - collectively we can have an impact Worldwide - especially on day's like International Buy Nothing Day.

So take part and do your bit. I know I will! Being a conscious (and therefore more organized) consumer is a better way to live. :)

Happy Organizing

Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

How is your Work / Life Balance Going?

Work *Life * Balance – Do you have it or desperately need it?

Finding Work /Life balance has been a hot topic for many years now – not surprisingly since the majority of women have gone back into the workforce sooner and for longer hours after having children. Thankfully the Supermom / Supermum Myth has abated with the media no longer propping up the – you can have it all. Only to result in so many women trying so hard to attain, only to fall in one big heap!

Work / life balance is different for everyone depending on things like the number of children you have; whether you choose to send them to private school; what level of debt you have; how good you are at budgeting; whether you take time out for yourself and also your partner in your 'busy' life schedule; whether you look after elderly parents who are not well; whether you have help from elderly parents who are still more than able to help with looking after the kids; making some meals; how much overtime your partner does; whether you work inside the home or outside the home and whether you have learned how to switch off from work if it is the latter – not easy for most people that’s for sure!

I have obviously found that being pretty organized on the home-front makes a big difference to whether I have a good work / life balance or not. Also right 'up there' is how many hours a week I work. Having spoken to many women over the years about the magic number of hours it is that seems to keep life functioning smoothly, without tipping you and your family over the edge – seems to be around 15-30 hours per week maximum before things start to come apart at the seams.

Managing debt levels is also a key factor in having a good work / life balance. Things like not worrying about buying second hand cars and living in a comfortable home rather than a McMansion like your friends may reside in; Shopping at OP Shops for 'vintage' clothes sometimes rather than always buying brand new; growing your own vege’s rather than buying from expensive supermarkets can really make a big difference – especially when looked at as a whole. Also things like not buying take out food too often, which you are less likely to do if you are not working too many hours in the first place. A lot of people sadly don’t see the connection between working more and how often, the increase in pay is chewed up by the increase in associated work costs. For eg: – clothes; petrol; child care; take out etc. There is a fine line between what makes it worthwhile and what doesn’t. It is a good idea to sit down and really look at the figures to assess whether it is worth it if you are feeling stressed out if you come to the conclusion that your work /life balance is definitely out of whack.

I just find it really sad at how many over-worked, stressed out, frazzled, overwhelmed mums/moms are out there, who know something has to give but can’t work out what or how and it’s not a nice position to be in. When I think back to my mum and grandmother’s day when their role was solely to raise the children and take care of the home – in some ways it sounded like a much easier time. Not as many arguments about who did what –it was a lot clearer!!

Don’t get me wrong though, I love the fact that women are able to choose whether they work and many do because they love it and need it for their emotional wellbeing, but I worry about the growing number who ‘have to’ rather than choose to, just to keep their heads above water and how this is affected them, their partners and of course the wellbeing of their children.

A recent article I read on work/life balance and what the children’s perspective was on their how much time their parents (in most case didn’t spend with them), and not surprisingly most kids simply yearned for more time and attention from their parents – one let alone two!!

Where there is no choice about work hours and whether one or both parents work, more than ever, the time spent as a family is of the utmost importance and giving thought to how you can make the time you spend with your partner and kids quality time – if you’re not too exhausted from work that is!!

Work Life balance is certainly a very complicated topic. What are your thoughts –do you have a good work life balance? What do you think helps to maintain a good work / life balance?

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

Subscribe to our Organize Your Life You Tube Channel

Organzie Your life has it's own You Tube channel with lots of How to Organize your Life Tips and info. You can subscribe to the Organize Your Life You Tube channel easily by clicking the link below. You should also be able to see the most recent Organize Your Life Organizing Videos on the You Tube side bar to the right of this page. Wait till and image of Author Claire McFee appears or Organize Your Life and click away. Don't forget to leave a rating -we really appreciate them!

Organize Your Life You Tube Channel


Happy Organizing,
Claire McFee
Author Organize Your Life

Organize Your Life Organizing Newlsetter Archive

If you missed any of our Organize Your life Newsletters - for your regular home, life, money, work, family & self organizing tips, advice, motivation and inspiriaiton don't fear - here is a list of some of our recent Organize Your Life Newsletters for your perusal.


Organize Your Life Newsletter 72
Organize Your Life Newsletter 73
Organize Your Life Newsletter 74
Organize Your Life Newsletter 75
Organize Your Life Newsletter 76
Organize Your Life Newsletter 77
Organize Your Life Newsletter 78
Organize Your Life Newsletter 79
Organize Your Life Newsletter 80



Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

Blogtalk Radio Organization and Balance Interview

Join me on an upcoming interview on Stretch Your Mind and body BlogTalk Radio next Wed 7am EST to help you achieve more Balance in your life - by Organizing your life of course!

Hope you can join me.

If you can't make the live interview you may prefer to check out this great
'Stretch your Mind and Body' Newsletter.


Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

Wonderful Support for Parents of Premature Babies

Having a premature baby must be one of the hardest things imaginable - one of my children was 2 weeks early and he seemed so tiny and helpless as it was! I feel for the parents out there who have their babies prematurely and wanted to promote a wonderful Organisation called L'il Aussie Prems who were on new TV Show 'Money for Jam' Recently.

L’il Aussie Prems was created by Julia Toivonen in March 2007 who is mum to two premature babies, Ronan born at 27 weeks gestation in 2006 & Tristan born at 36 weeks in 2008 at Monash Medical Centre, VIC. Through her experience of giving birth so early to Ronan, a year after his 110 day long journey Julia decided to create L’il Aussie Prems to reach out to parents and offer support and understanding whether parents are still in the NICU/SCN or at home. It has been a major learning curve creating and administrating a website but one Julia has thrived on. To date, the forum has a membership of over 1000 members with a staggering 185,000 forum posts on support and advice from other families.

Have you had a Prem Baby or do you know someone who has? How did you/they get through it?

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

L'il Aussie Prems also has a great blog too.

Last Day for My Outrageous Wellbeing Giveaway Freebies

Hurry - Last day for the “My Outrageous Wellbeing Giveaway” Event

It is the last day you can get all the wonderful free gifts at the“My Outrageous Wellbeing Giveaway” Event. The Event has been a HUGE success due to all the work that Lenore and Charly have done. Thanks for putting it all together ladies enabling people like me to help more people - That is our aim after all!

If you haven’t had a look at all the wonderful products on offer quickly go to the site before it's closed.


What are you waiting for !


Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

'How to get into the Organizing Zone' - Free Teleseminar

I have an (Free) Interview on 'How to get into the Organizing Zone' Wednesday Morning the Nov 4th, 10 am EST. It is with Author Amanda Robins of Toddler Taming Entrepreneurs

Don't be mistaken that you have to have kids or run your own business to get some great organizing tips you can apply to your life and home on this call. The Free Teleseminar can help with your Home based Organizing no matter what. The call can be listened to via a live webcast. So just click on the link to get the call details....Organizing your life, better home organization, decluttering and de-stressing your life is just a click away!

Look forward to hearing you on the call.

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

House building Tips to Stay Organized and keep Stress Levels Down

I felt the need to write a slightly more positive post about building your own house after my recent ‘overwhelmed’ house building post!! Apart from genuinely feeling overwhelmed by all the choices and house decisions I had to make, I was actually premenstrual at the time of writing!!, which tipped me over the ‘this is all to hard’ edge!

Well, I’m no longer feeling pre-menstrual and thought it may help to add some constructive comments about what you can do if you are building your own home to make it less stressful.

So here are some house building tips to stay sane and be organized in the process –or as organized as you can be – normal organizing rules seem to go out the window for a while – with Mess being and almost constant on the building site!!:-


Using good old Manilla folders to ‘house’ all the magazine clippings; Tradie quotes etc.

It also helps to use the one BIG note pad, so that you can always refer to that when you need to check notes you have made when talking to anyone to do with building your house. This keeps paperwork mess and clutter to a minimum –or at least all in the one place so it is a bit better organized.

Keeping a folder for all your receipts is also a good idea – and a big envelope for smaller receipts to keep track of costs/outgoings/progress payments etc.

Money Tip when building your own home:- Wherever possible pay by credit card to save on extra interest on your loan – which will even keep you ahead if a 2-3% surcharge is added by the company you are dealing with.

Take photos of your new and progressing house semi-regularly - some from the same spot for future reference. They are great to look back on. Sometimes when you are in the thick of the ‘build’ it’s easy not to bother as you are so busy and focused on the job at hand, but it is worth it.

If you have kids, to get them to feel some sense of ownership of the 'build' by sometimes helping where possible –even if it just sweeping out their ‘new’ room or helping get rid of rubbish into your trailer/skip bin etc

Another good thing to do with the kids when it comes to building a new house and be organized about it, is to have a look online for different ‘looks’ your kids may like to use for their rooms – colours of walls, curtains, carpet, light fittings etc - Reminding them that all good things must wait!! It makes us appreciate them more when we save to purchase new things.

We are now almost lock up with the Front and Back doors having just been hung – I’m surprised at how excited we all were by this latest milestone. Plaster is now starting to go up left, right and centre, which also makes a huge difference to the feel of the place and being able to visualize the house finished…...still can’t imagine living in it yet! But bring it on!!

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

Now almost 100 Free Health & Wellbeing Giveaways for you!

Well the Outrageous Wellbeing Mega Giveaway Event is into it's 2nd week- so only 2 weeks to go! In fact I have just been informed by Lenore Miller - founder of Outrageously Healthy and this Wellbeing Giveaway event that our Organize Your Whole Life ebook set is the most popular. Lenore says:-

"Claire McFee - Popular with our members
and the most downloaded gift in the
My Outrageous Giveaway Event"

We continually get great feedback about Claire McFee's Organise Your Life products.
If you are interested in de-cluttering your head, home and heart in favour of harmony, health and happiness ... then this is the most exciting product you will have ever seen.

If you feel disorganized or over loaded, do you forget appointments or due bills? Maybe you lose track of birthdays, special occasion's or the favourite movie you wanted to hire at the video store.
Stop Feeling Overwhelmed & be in control of Your Life
Stop misplacing your "Stuff" & Never Miss An Appointment Again!
Take Control Of Your Money Fears...Once And For All!
At least go and take advantage of the 4 complimentary e-books, while you're their check out the E-organizer and see what you think. They have a video showing you how it works.

Thanks for the wrap Lenore!!!

To take part in this great giveaway go to My Outrageous Wellbeing Giveaway and get heaps of great free stuff including Freebies covering :-

"Stress Relief Audio Tool" Contributed by: Amanda Robins
Weight loss and fitness advice
Self confidence Tips
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Beauty secrets
the Law of attraction explained
Finding your passion
Expert reviews on popular diets
Healthy Detox methods
Ethos =energy transformation healing open source method
Baby massage
Alternative healing explained
How to’s for yoga and Meditation
Action guide for smart savvy women
How to achieve guilt free eating

.......the list goes on!!

Bye for now,
Claire

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

building a new house can be stressful - hang in there you can do it!!

For our regular readers you know my husband and I are building our own house at the moment. I wanted to share my thoughts on the whole building process. As we are still in the thick of the whole process, my view is probably tainted with the overwhelming nature of building your own home. To build or to buy a house ready made?? At the moment I would say buy don't build!!

If my husband wasn’t a builder I can tell you we wouldn’t be building ourselves that’s for sure. Don’t get me wrong – building is great for lots of people – those that thrive on the pressure and the constant decisions that have to be made, but I think many people go into building their own place not realizing what they are in for.

I am sooo over choosing things and making decisions and cleaning up mess and hardly seeing my husband due to the long, long hours he has been working for well over a year and I really don’t want to do it again. I think I was smart way back when I was 21 and first met Neil and he was about to start building the home we lived in for almost 10 years. We were young and falling in love and kiddie free and I hadn’t started Organize Your Life yet, so it was a VERY different scenario to now. But I said to Neil at the time I would only go through the building process twice – that’s it. I can tell you now we are onto our second that it is definitely my limit – a small reno maybe down the track but building our own house again from scratch – No way. It’s a huge undertaking when you are already a busy person. So think about ti carefully if you are considering this option.

Anyway that’s my 2 cents – if you feel overwhelmed with your life at times as it is, without the stress of adding more to the mix then choose the easier option by buying a ready made house.

There are of course many things my husband and kids for that matter have learnt from the process - you can find good in most all situations. I just feel like I have had enough lessons for now -can you tell!! I am also grateful that I am as organized as I am. For dis-organized people who take on building their own place I do not not envy - it can make the difference between nervous break down or not!!

Have you built your own house? How did you find the experience?

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

Know your Health could do with some help to function better? Then get these Freebies while you can!

As mentioned yesterday, here's some more about some of the Free Health & Wellbeing products (including an awesome Organize Your Life giveaway) that are being offered at no charge through My Outrageous Wellbeing Giveaway

Dr. Joe Rubino's life-impacting "7 Steps to Soaring Self-Esteem" Achievers Club Membership:
This insightful, eye-opening audio program based on the internationally best-selling book, "The Self-Esteem Book: The Ultimate Guide to Boost the Most Underrated Ingredient for Success and Happiness." Learn the reasons why this program has been the primary guide for thousands to totally improve their lives by elevating their self-esteem. Healthy Self-Esteem is the #1 factor for all successes in life!

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Gillian Hood-Gabrielson's The Truth About Buring Body Fat report: Learn the truth and dispel the myths about burning body fat. You deserve to be educated on the truth - not what the diet and exercise industries would like you to believe. You will come away from this ebook enlightened and ready to take action to once and for all reach your health and fitness goals.

And that's just 3 of the fantastic products that you can get for absolutely nothing....

There are OVER 80 Health and Wellness products waiting for you at My Outrageous Wellbeing.

Organize Your Life is giving away four high quality eBooks on Organizing Your Whole Life - specifically Organizing Your Home; Organizing Your Family; Organizing your Money and of course Organizing your Self - worth $67!


So, how do you get access to these Free products? It's really EASY!

1. Simply Sign up to My Outrageous Wellbeing Giveaway
2. Confirm your membership
3. Login and access your gifts!
4. Of course, you should tell your friends about the event so they can get in on the action too -- Charly and Lenore have made that really easy to do too.

Don't miss out!

Happy Organizing and Happy Health!
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

Outrageous Wellbeing Giveaway - Awesome Health & Wellbeing Freebies up for Grabs

Hi everyone,

I'm really excited to be able to tell you about the best Heath and Wellbeing giveaway event I've ever seen. A lot of Giveaway events suck you in, only to try to up-sell all sorts of stuff you don't want as part of the freebies. This event is free from any of that rubbish - it just has great quality free stuff for you - no strings attached.

Organize Your Life have some seriously good freebies on offer too. Four free Organizing eBooks covering organizing your home; organizing your family; organizing your money and of course organizing yourself.

click here to take part in this brilliant free giveaway offer if you are interested in health and wellbeing like I know most of you definitely are!!

I will drip feed what some of the other freebies are in the coming days and weeks as there are way too many to cover in one blog post! This Health and Wellgeing Giveaway Event only goes for a set period of time, so I'd get organized if I was you and hop on over there now to make sure you don't miss out! :)

Here is the link again for this amazing free Monster giveaway.

Enjoy !!!

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

Community Forum / COMMUNITY CONNECTEDNESS pt 2

Attending the Community Forum I mentioned in a recent post, made me realize that I have neglected the 'community participation' aspect of my life a bit lately and I have noticed the effect. I used to be on various Community Groups/ Committees, but am not on any at the moment and really miss the feeling of fulfilment that you get - helping do work that wouldn’t otherwise get done and meeting other locals you would probably otherwise not meet - let alone get to know. So when our house is (finally finished) I will join a group that sparks my interest – perhaps LorneCare which helps with weeding and revegetation in the area.

Yes of course – doing this will take away from work time and even family time and will take organization of course to do, but it will be worth it.

One of the speakers at the Forum today was Professor Mardie Townsend - from Deakin University. She in fact spoke about the scientific proof that Nature does plays an integral role in our wellbeing and mental health - and the health of communities on the whole.

There are apparently 5 key factors to consider around these issues –
• Physical exercise
• Social connectedness
• Creativity
• Productivity
• Interacting with nature

And surprise, surprise Gardening covers all 5.

I have never had much of a green thumb but as I get older it is finally something I ‘want’ to do, so I look forward to establishing our new garden when we get to that stage too, knowing how good it is for me to do. Again to make it happen and fit it in – I need to make it a priority and have an organized approach to it to be productive. If I don’t make it a priority no one else will!

Inspired by Mardie I got the gardening gloves on and got the kids to help tackle some serious weeds out the back and we all felt a great sense of achievement with the results.

What do you get from gardening? Does it help you de-stress?

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

Community Forums - Make it a priority to join in

I attended a Community Forum this week in the small coastal town where I live, that only has ~900 permanent residents –that swells to ~30,000 during peak times, with a highly fluctuating group of ‘Seasonal’ workers.

Although there was a lot on my ‘TO DO’ List, I decided to make it a priority to attend because these meetings are notoriously under-represented by young families to advocate their needs - i.e.: child care – not just adequate child care but child care full stop. There are a ridiculous amount of women with degrees here, who end up working as Waitressing and Cleaners long term b/c that’s all they can do without access to child care – which of course cuts into already small family time…..which of course leads to other problems.


Anyway…back to the Forum - the day was very positive with the State Goverment representation and our local Mayor Libby Mears – a highly articulate and considered lady.

The point I want to make about it though, is that I could have easily put this ‘whole day’ Forum in the too hard basket and not attended, missing out on valuable information, contacts and community connectedness on offer. I know many people think it’s all just too hard and opt out of these events – esp. when they have young children, but there are often ways we can ‘make it work’ if we want to make it a priority.

I used to do ‘kiddie play date swaps’ when our daughter was younger, so that I could volunteer at our local community house/do Committee of Management related work. This gave me a sense of being helpful and useful and increased my skills set at the same time (the Internet was just taking off), and actually gave me the confidence to start my own business – Organize Your Life - realising I had way more capability that I previously thought possible.

After all, our Local and State Government only usually act on community issues when enough people put there hand up and make it a priority to try to address. Groundswell movements are what ‘make things happen’ and you have to be a part of Community Meeting, Gatherings, Forums etc to be heard and for things to have a chance of success.

So if there is a Community Meeting in your area rather than putting it in the too hard basket, perhaps reconsider and try to attend even for a short while. You never know who you may meet or what you may learn.

Do you do any Voluntary Work in your Local Community? If so what has it taught you that you didn’t expect it to?

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

Anxiety & Depression Awareness Month & "RU OK DAY"

It is Mental Health Week this week and Anxiety and Depression Awareness Month during October. Here is the link to Beyond Blue and Depression Alliance for more info that may help you if you or someone you know has Depression.

There is also a great Special 'Day' coming today in my region, called the R U OK DAY

Our Local Community has just had a whole "All will be well" Week, which has brought forward an R U OK Day morning Tea tomorrow that I am going to. In the past when I have struggled with Depression - the difference it makes when someone bothers to ask if you are OK can be profound. To feel like someone cares enough to ask means a lot.

So I encourage you to ask the Question of a friend, or colleague or whoever you notice are not themselves. A little bit of Kindness goes a long way - even during our busy lives we can all fit in a bit more kindness to those around us. What a great idea!!


Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers

Time to stop all the complaining weighing you down? Try the 21 Day Complaint Free Program Challenge

It’s all too easy to live a life whereby complaining and commenting negatively about others (Gossiping) and being sarcastic comes naturally to you, but it doesn’t have to be. This bad habit feels ‘normal’, but you can turn this unhelpful habit on it’s head and benefit enormously at the same time. Here's how...

Pastor Will Bowen started a fabulous movement known as the “Complaint Free World” in 2006 with a visual reminder of a Purple bracelet worn while you create a non-complaining habit and move it from wrist to wrist as you get the knack of catching yourself when complaining. When you find yourself complaining you simply swap the purple bracelet to the other wrist until it has stayed on the same wrist for 21 days. Sound easy!!??

Reprogramming your mind (or organizing your thoughts you could say) can take months but once you have reached the 21 days straight the new whinge free/complaint free attitude will put you ahead of the rest, with a much more positive outlook and therefore more positive life. Oprah has jumped on the bandwagon too - promoting the idea via her show – can’t get much bigger endorsement than that!

If you have found that you are stuck in a complaining, whinging mode of life, then consider it is affecting all areas of your life – including your personal and professional organizing effectiveness. Complaining equals 'victim mode' which when it comes to organizing usually equals excuses about why you haven’t done what you know you should have which equals inaction. The opposite is 'solution focused' and propels you to where you want to be…

Some people may argue that venting is a good thing – with a ‘Get it off your chest’ type attitude, but Studies say this isn’t the case. Venting or complaining about anything (and everything in some cases) just keeps anger and negative emotions alive. Imagine for example talking to a friend about something negative that has happened to you. They are more likely to show sympathy and ‘bag’ them too, rather than offer constructive feedback about what to do to solve the issue, which only makes the situation worse. So not talking about it is often a better alternative, which actually allows you to learn to trust and follow your 'gut instincts' rather than having a knee jerk reaction.

As Pastor Bowen says “Most of the complaining we do is just a lot of ear pollution detrimental to our health and wellbeing."

Over 6 million purple bracelets are already in circulation all over the world. What a great uplifting proactive idea. Thanks Pastor Bowen!

What are your thoughts? Do you think you could do it? Do you think it would make a difference to your life and the world around you?

Happy Organizing
Claire McFee
Organize Your Life Organizers