How to Declutter Using the reHome Hub
Helping Busy Entrepreneurs Declutter with Impact. As a woman in business, you’ve got a lot on the go.
Helping Busy Entrepreneurs Declutter with Impact
As a woman in business, you’ve got a lot on the go. Making time to declutter and organize isn’t easy, and it can be even more challenging when you don’t know what to do with the items you want to let go of.
I know you don’t want to toss a perfectly good coffee mug in the trash, or to chuck out a T-shirt simply because it’s got a highschool emblem on it. Maybe you’ve got a big, heirloom dresser that you couldn’t possibly lift on your own, or even an old set of Pyrex bowls that might hold some value. As professional home organizers, we’ve seen this countless times!
Meet the reHome Hub: Your Go-To Decluttering Directory
Our second-hand directory connects you with local organizations eager to give your items a new lease on life— and keep them out of the landfill. Whether you're itching to donate, consign, or sell your goods, we've got you covered.
The reHome Hub is online and absolutely free! Making it accessible to all Albertans with just a few clicks.
How Do I Declutter With the reHome Hub?
It’s as easy as Sort & Simple! Sortandsimple.ca, that is. From our website, go to the menu and select reHome Hub. There you’ll find the second hand directory!
You can browse all of the organizations, or you can refine your search based on the category of item you are looking to rehome. We've curated a list of businesses, charities, schools, and makers looking for:
• Clothing and Textiles
• Baby and Children's Items
• School and Art Supplies
• Books and Media
• Furniture and Home Goods
• Home Renovation Supplies
• Sporting Goods
• And more!
For each organization, you’ll find helpful information including what items are accepted, where they are located and how to get in touch if you have further questions. Plus, we’ve listed who can do pick-ups (great for big furniture!) and highlighted some of the most needed items (wonderful for decluttering motivation!).
The reHome Hub is more than just a directory - it's a platform that showcases the commitment of Albertans to keep reusable items out of the landfill. With our comprehensive list of organizations, you can trust that your decluttered items will find new homes and new life!
Time to Declutter with Impact!
With the reHome Hub at your fingertips, you’re ready to tackle decluttering with confidence.
No more wasting time, wondering where all your stuff should go after spring cleaning, or stressing over where to consign clothes in Edmonton. Head on over to the reHome Hub to save time, declutter with purpose, and support sustainably-minded community organizations!
Still feeling stuck?
Contact Sort & Simple to declutter with confidence!
Photography | Christina Louise Branding
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kaytlyn Beakhouse is the Lead Organizer at Sort & Simple Professional Organizing. With a passion for simplicity, efficiency and sustainability, her team brings flow and function to any space. Ready to organize your space? Contact S&S
How to Start Organizing Your Space
A professional organizer’s guide to kick-starting decluttering and organizing for 2024.
A professional organizer’s guide to kick-starting decluttering and organizing for 2024.
Welcome to 2024!
It’s the time of year when new beginnings abound and we want to give you the secret ingredient to organizing success. Whether you prescribe to new years resolutions, or are just ready to make a change, we’re ready to share our #1 tip for starting your organizing journey!
Let Me Introduce Myself
I’m Kaytlyn Beakhouse, the Owner and Lead Organizer at Sort & Simple Professional Organizing. I have a passion for simplicity, efficiency and sustainability. Our team of expert organizers supported over 100 individuals on their organizing journey last year, and we want to help you get started too!
How do I get organized?
You might be thinking the first step is to declutter. While that typically is a major part of the process, there’s something we need to do first. Before attempting to make decisions about what to let go of or keep, it is essential to identify your goals and motivators.
That’s right. Before you break a sweat moving boxes, shuffling papers and emptying out drawers, we need to sort out what we are working towards and why. Not only will this help you work towards a specific goal, it’s going to empower you to make intentional decisions.
STEP 1: VISUALIZE YOUR SPACE
Close your eyes and picture your space transformed. What does it look like?
Likely, you’re already picturing a functional, tidy space where you can easily access and put away items. If it’s an office, there are neat filing systems and a clear desk top. In a bedroom you see calming colours and a floor clear of clothes and clutter.
Let’s keep going. How does the space feel once it’s organized? Maybe your craft room feels inspiring, creative and peaceful. Or a kitchen feels cozy, welcoming and energetic.
From there, what activities are you doing in the space? Identify the specific functions that it serves. In a storage room you might picture yourself stowing away holiday decor with ease, whereas, in a living room you can picture friends and family gathering together with ample space to play games.
Now, I want you to imagine how you feel in this space. Confident, peaceful, happy, excited, relieved - these are many of the common emotions clients are working towards.
STEP 2: WRITE IT DOWN
Having created a clear and specific visualization of your transformed space, it’s important that you write it down. This further solidifies the image you’ve created and turns the vision into articulated thoughts.
TIP: If you share your space with others, do this part together to ensure you’re on the same page.
We’ve made it nice and easy - use our complimentary worksheet to organize your thoughts.
STEP 3: FIND YOUR MOTIVATIONS
With your clear and specific vision identified, take a look over and see if you can spot your key motivators. These are the “why’s” that will keep you working towards your goal.
Here are some examples of visions and their accompanying motivators:
My space will look beautiful. - Motivated by aesthetics.
My space will feel inspiring and creative. - Motivated to have space for hobbies and learning.
I will be able to cook for my family. - Motivated to spend time with loved ones.
I will feel confident in my abilities. - Motivated to grow and improve self-esteem.
List at least three motivators that you can refer to throughout the process. These are going to be paramount to overcoming obstacles like loss of momentum or indecision.
TIP: Post your vision and motivations on a wall to keep you on track.
STEP 4: TIME TO DECLUTTER!
Armed with an inspiring vision and clear motivations, now you’re ready to tackle the decluttering and organizing process!
When you come across items you’re not sure about letting go of, reflect on whether it aligns with your vision. You’d be amazed how many things we have in our homes that don’t match our goals. With your specific goals in mind you’ll be able to make intentional decisions confidently.
TAKE ACTION
It’s time to apply what you’ve learned and to make 2024 the year you declutter and organize.
Want to make it even easier to get started?
To guide you through finding your organizing vision, download our complimentary worksheet here.
Looking for additional support? We’d love to work with you through identifying your goals and motivations, to set you up for success. Contact us below!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kaytlyn Beakhouse is the Lead Organizer at Sort & Simple Professional Organizing. With a
passion for simplicity, efficiency and sustainability, her team brings flow and function to any
space. Need help getting started? Contact S&S
Helpful Contracting Tips from Mike Figliuolo, managing director at thoughtLEADERS, LLC
Through Mike Figliuolo’s course in LinkedIn, you will learn what different contracts mean, pricing and payment terms, warranties and liability terminology and expectations, and insurance requirements. He also lets you in on what you should consider when defining your project scope.
The following content is a mixture of copied text and personal interpretation. The purpose of this blog post is to share our experience taking this course and highlight it’s value and availability to access through LinkedIn’s Learning portal.
We know contracts are not the sexiest topic of conversation in business, but boy are they life savers. We have been writing contracts for years now here at YBB and we enter into contracts for a significant majority of our collaborations, specifically ones that span over months or years time. Event if exchange of services is the primary payment detail, we highly suggest you start entering business relationships with a contract agreed upon by both parties before any work or exchange is done. Through Mike Figliuolo’s course in LinkedIn, you will learn what different contracts mean, pricing and payment terms, warranties and liability terminology and expectations, and insurance requirements. He also lets you in on what you should consider when defining your project scope.
Helpful contracting tips the highlights are:
Minimize the size of numbers.
“Instead of saying, "The client will pay $60,000 for 300 hours of services," say, "The client will pay $200 per hour of services rendered. "The consultant will provide up to 300 hours of service."
Those are much smaller numbers. That's a lot easier to accept and approve on the client side.”
Specify expenses in words verses in numbers.
“If you say, "The client will pay up to $15,000 in travel expenses," they'll likely negotiate that number. It's a big dollar amount. If, instead, you say, "The client will reimburse "for actual travel expenses," it's more likely to be accepted as written with no negotiation.”
Require a minimum purchase of services.
“A lot of effort goes into selling, proposing, and contracting for an engagement. You don't get paid for that time. If the client uses 60 hours of your time contracting and then only does a six hour engagement,you've made a pretty poor hourly rate. Require the client to pay for a minimum number of hours,whether or not they use them. It'll at least guarantee an acceptable return on your sales and contracting time.”
Define your classes of travel.
“Many consultants spend a lot of time on planes and in hotels. The client will want you to choose the cheapest accommodations possible. Don't sacrifice your lifestyle unreasonably. Specify acceptable classes of travel in your contract. At thoughtLEADERS, when we travel internationally, we specify that we travel business class. My instructors are on the podium for eight hours, teaching a class to up to 35 people. I cannot put someone on a plane for 20 hours to go to Singapore and teach a class back in economy in the back of the plane. It's specified in the contract the class of travel that we'll use.”
Use terms like in its sole discretion, or as mutually agreed upon in writing.
These terms can simplify contracting and improve negotiating success. The terms are advance permission to make a decision without further approval, or they get the contract done sooner and leave the smaller points for future discussion and mutual agreement.
If you’re interested in taking Mike’s course on LinkedIn, here is a list of learning objectives you will learn:
Learning objectives
Identify effective consulting contracting techniques.
Explain how to evaluate an attorney for legal counsel.
Compare and contrast different types of major contracts.
List the major players in a contracting process.
Define payment terms.
Define warranties and liability.
Scope a consulting engagement.
Describe how to negotiate major contract points.
When you’re a busy entrepreneur juggling work and family life, it can be overwhelming to add holiday shopping into the mix.