A few months ago, Calm Order received a call from MKL Design Studios – one of their clients was in the middle of moving into a new home when a member of their family had a health emergency.

The clients were in the middle of two homes, with some of their belongings already in their new home, but the majority of their items still in their current home. Moving became a low priority in the midst of visiting the hospital and caring for their loved one.

When Calm Order received the news, Karen and her team jumped at the chance of giving a helping hand. Within a couple of hours of getting the call, Calm Order had assembled a team of organizers and movers, all willing to donate their time for free to help out the family. They also booked a time to start the moving and unpacking process to take place in the next couple of days and got to work with the preparations needed. This included doing a quick survey of the current and new home to develop a plan of action. In this time, Calm Order was also able to connect with the client to get a full picture of their move, lifestyle, and new home to develop the best organization plan for unpacking in their new home.

On the day of the move, the team started working at 9:00 a.m. including the owner of MKL Design Studios, her daughters, and a team from Get A Move On, which donated all the boxes and packing materials the team used throughout the move. Over 18 people in total came to help – and as Karen described, it was a true sense of the community coming together to help a fellow neighbour in their time of need.

The first step was to clear out the larger items that didn’t require packing, like larger furniture and appliances. The moving team got started on loading those items up and taking them to the new house, while the organizing team started to pack boxes with smaller household items. The first rooms the team focused on were the kitchen and the bedrooms, as these homes require the most time to unpack and organize. They’re also the most used and needed to be ready for the homeowners to use at the end of the day.

From here, part of the organizing team moved on to the new house to focus on unpacking while the rest of the team continued to pack up the rest of the house and the garage. In a matter of hours, the small but determined team had everything in the former house packed, moved, and unpacked to an organized state in the new house. The client was able to spend the morning and afternoon visiting their family member at the hospital and return to a finished house at the end of the day.

For everyone involved in the project, it was a pleasure to be able to help a fellow community member out. Moving can be a stressful process at the best of times but is the last thing on anyone’s mind when an emergency occurs. Calm Order and the rest of the team were happy to be able to help this individual and their family get unpacked in a new and organized home!

When people think about staying organized over Christmas, more often than not they focus on physical clutter, like organizing presents and decorations. However, over the busy holiday season, people can develop mental clutter that can make it difficult to truly enjoy the season. Many people have a lot to do over the holidays in addition to their regular jobs or tasks – there’s visits with family and friends, holiday parties, gift shopping, gift wrapping, decorating, and plenty of other obligations. This holiday season take some time to organize your mental clutter to avoid feeling stressed and overwhelmed.

Remember: you’re not in this alone

If you’re hosting a meal for family and friends, don’t think that you have to do everything yourself. Ask your guests to pitch in and help with the meal by bringing a side dish or beverages so you don’t have as much to do. Cooking a turkey and bringing it as a guest can be difficult, but if you handle the turkey, it is easy for someone else to bring a salad or vegetable. Desserts and appetizers are also easy to delegate to other guests.

When you’re assigning items for guests to bring, be sure to write down what each person is bringing so you or another guest don’t accidentally make the same thing or forget to bring a dish. Make sure you know what everyone is bringing, and if they will need to heat up their dish or keep it in the fridge until the meal is served. This way, you can plan your own dishes accordingly.

Change your gifting habits

A lot of mental stress during the holidays comes from having to buy gifts for your friends, family members and co-workers. Not only is it difficult to come up with ideas, but shopping can be very time-consuming and financially draining. Consider reducing your gift consumption without sacrificing the fun of giving and receiving gifts. Instead, try drawing names for “Secret Santa” or hosting a gift exchange with a lower budget. This way, everyone still gets a gift, but you won’t have to spend the same amount of time or money.

Gifts don’t have to be expensive, and they don’t have to be a tangible object either. Consider going out for a nice meal with friends instead of buying each other gifts or take a loved-one to an activity or performance. These “clutter-less” gifts don’t have to be enjoyed during the holiday season either – they can wait until sometime in the New Year, so you aren’t scrambling to fit everything in December. Postponing your gifts will also help keep your spending down during the holidays.

Take time to relax

There may be a lot you want to do over the holidays, but it is important to make sure to do set time aside to relax and spend time with friends and family. Plan on meeting with friends for lunch or set aside time for after-work drinks. If you really want to relax, a trip to the salon for a quick pedicure or manicure with friends might also be a good way to unwind. It doesn’t have to take up a lot of time but getting together can be a great way for you to take a break while spending time with your loved ones over the holidays. Finding time to get together can be more special than just sending them a gift.

Purchase supplies ahead of time

It’s not too early to start purchasing your groceries for the holiday meal. Start looking for sales on cranberry sauce, condiment spreads, crackers, pickles, and other non-perishable foods. Turkeys, hams and other meats and fish can also be purchased in advance and frozen – just be sure to give yourself enough time to safely defrost them before preparing. Some desserts and baked goods can also be made up ahead of time. You can start baking simple bars, dessert squares and cookie dough now and freeze them. Whenever you have people over or need a dessert, you can simply pull them out of the freezer before the meal, so they are ready to go when you need them.

It can be hard to have fun over the holidays when mental clutter is weighing you down. Take time to relax over the holidays and make visiting family and friends a priority. Do what you can ahead of time but remember that you don’t have to do everything on your own. Giving gifts is a popular holiday tradition, but it doesn’t have to take up a lot of your time or money. With these simple steps, you can enjoy the holiday season!