There are so many fabulous bloggers out there, and we want to highlight them on Cityline.ca. We’ll be profiling different lifestyle bloggers from month to month — they might write about food, fashion, beauty, décor, parenting, entertaining, gardening, you get the idea! For December 2013, we’re putting the spotlight on one of the most organized bloggers we know: I’m an Organizing Junkie. Run by Laura Wittman, this super organized mom shares the best tips to help you get your life in order, too! Here’s our Q&A with Laura:
When did you start I’m an Organizing Junkie and what was your inspiration behind starting the blog? How did you come up with your blog’s name?
I started my blog back in May of 2006! My youngest son was just 6 months old at the time and I discovered blogging while internet surfing one day during nap time. I loved to organize so one day I just decided to start a blog about this crazy passion of mine and called it “I’m an Organizing Junkie”. It was one of the first organizing blogs out there and quickly became popular with those looking for some help in this area.
On your blog, you share organizing ideas in a variety of areas, from menu planning advice, to home organization tricks, to online organizing tools. What are your favourite types of posts to write?
My favourite posts to write are the before and afters of whatever I’m organizing in my own home. Most people are visual learners so I get excited to show readers how I organize a space successfully using my PROCESS steps. PROCESS is an acronym I created to simplify the various organizing steps and give you a process to follow for optimal organizing success. More information can be found here.
At this time of year, even the most organized people can find themselves feeling frazzled! What’s your top tip to help people stay calm, cool, and collected this holiday season?
There are so many wonderful things about the Christmas season that often we overwhelm ourselves trying to do all of them. One of my tricks to help this and to have a more intentional holiday is to schedule backwards. Take a calendar and starting with Christmas go backwards on the calendar writing in everything that needs to be done, parties to attend, baking to be done, presents to be wrapped, etc. It’s common for us to schedule the parties, but we forget to schedule in everything else which leaves us staying up much later than normal surviving on very little sleep. Determine what makes you most happy during this season and make time for what matters most.
Tell us about a few posts that you’re particularly proud of and want to share with Cityline.ca readers.
Here are some of the posts I’m most proud of because they demonstrate how passionate I am about encouraging others to simplify and slow down.
The Laundry System that Changed My Life
Let’s Stop Complicating Life More Than We Need To Okay?
8 Things to Do Right Now if You Are Feeling Frazzled
Declutter Help for When You’re Overwhelmed
The Rewards of Living an Organized Life
How to Slow Down in a Super Fast World
What do you hope readers get from visiting your blog?
I hope readers find fun, practical organizing inspiration without being overwhelmed at my site. My blog isn’t all about how to have the perfect home where everything is perfectly organized all the time. Life is constantly revolving and happening and we don’t live in bubbles where nobody moves. My blog helps you manage it all in real life. It’s not about living in magazine-ready show homes, it’s about practical organizing solutions for the everyday to help you save time, money and your sanity. You don’t have to be born organized either (I wasn’t!), anyone can learn the necessary skills needed to create a clutter- and chaos-free home. My ultimate goal, of course, is to create organizing junkies everywhere!
What are some other blogs you love reading?
Here are some of my favourite Canadian blogs, a number of which I have been reading for years, and who write across all different categories. Some write about organizing or food or everything like I do, but mostly I love them because they are writing about Canadian life in some way!
What’s your top advice for other bloggers?
Pace yourself. The blog world is constantly evolving and it can be overwhelming trying to keep up with it all. Having been in this business as long as I have, I’ve learned it’s important to take it one day at a time and not get too far ahead of myself. Set daily hours and shut it down at the end of that time. And, most importantly, don’t forget to have fun!
We want to hear from you! Do you know a blogger we should feature on Cityline.ca? Maybe it’s you! Email us at submissions@cityline.ca and include “Cityline Featured Blogger” in the subject line. And don’t forget to include a link to the blog! Look forward to hearing from you!