After our presentation at the NAPO 2014 Conference in Phoenix, we met a certified professional organizer, Miriam Ortiz y Pino, who turned out to have a little more in common with us than being an organizer like Vanessa.  She’s been practicing voluntary simplicity for a long time now and after talking with her we thought it would  be great to have her on the show to share her thoughts on what voluntary simplicity means to her, and also tap into some of her tips and advice to those who want to simplify their lives too.

Note: The school year starts soon! Get a copy of Supermom vs Super Mom for yourself or gift it to a Mom who needs a little “less” in her life. It’s less than $5 and will save you countless hours and effort!

Buy Supermom vs Supermom

Topic:  Voluntary Simplicity with Miriam Ortiz Y Pino Interview

Miriam Ortiz y Pino  is a Certified Professional Organizer, Simplicity Expert & Coach, Entrepreneur, Writer, Blogger and Creator of The Streamlined System. For over 15 years Miriam has worked with entrepreneurs and other busy and creative people to eliminate the distractions, simplify systems and create routines so they can get it all done practically effortlessly.  The More than Organized Blog was recognized as one of the top 5 Simplicity Blogs in the world and she has contributed to several books. You can check out her website,http://www.morethanorganized.net, for free articles, resources, and to sign up for her FREE “One Minute Mail (& email) Solution Kit.

1. Tells us a little more about what you do and how you make lives simpler.

2. Everyone enjoys a little backstory…can you share with us a little bit about your life before becoming a professional organizer (in other words…were you always organized or did you have to learn to become more organized, etc)?

3. Living a life of simplicity is different for everyone, can you share with us what simplicity means to you and how you embrace it in your own life?

4. In your experience, what are the most common areas people request your help for getting organized and adopting simplicity?  Why do you think they struggle?

5. Getting and staying organized and embracing a life of simplicity is more than just buying organizing products, watching “how to” videos, reading books or even hiring a professional organizer.  Can you share with our listeners your advice on what it takes to embrace a simpler and more organized life…and make it stick?

6. You offer more tips and advice on your blog and website. Can you tell us little more about your workshops, products and services? I know we have a lot of DIYers out there…

7. Is there anything else you’d like to share?

8. What is the best way for our listeners to learn more about you?

Question:

So, what does voluntary simplicity mean to you? How are you practicing voluntary simplicity in your life? Please share your thoughts in the comments below. We’d love to know!

Be sure to leave a comment below.

Qs & Comments:

Announcements:

• Would You Like To Share Your Simple Life Story?

• We’d love to interview you for the show! Have you started your own simple living journey and learned some lessons that may help fellow Simple Life Together listeners? If you’d like to share your story then drop us an email at Dan@SimpleLifeTogether.com or Vanessa@SimpleLifeTogether.com

• SimpleREV Tickets:

  • Early Bird tickets are now available for SimpleREV! Only 50 tickets will be offered at the Early Bird pricing so make sure you lock yours in today.
  • SimpleRev is being held on Oct 3-4, 2014, in beautiful downtown Minneapolis on the University of St Thomas campus. To get your tickets at the lowest price that will ever be offered, just go to SimpleRev.com/tickets. I’ll also put a link in the shownote to the SimpleRev podcast in iTunes, as well. Or just search iTunes for SimpleREV, all one word.

• Project 333

  • If you have questions or just want to learn more about Project 333 or Courtney Carver’s Dress With Less microcourse. You can learn more about that at SimpleLifeTogether.com/dress.

• Edit & Forget It Challenge

  • Finally, sign up for the Edit & Forget It Challenge! If you’re already on our Edit & Forget It Challenge email list, that’s great. If not, you can sign up here.

Shownotes:

You can download a PDF of our show prep, too.

Resources and Links:

• You can help support SimpleLifeTogether.com by using our Amazon Affiliate Link for any purchases you must make. Thanks!
• Supermom vs Super Mom
• More Than OrganizedMore Than Organized FB Page

Photo Credit Gisela Giardino

The post SLT070: Voluntary Simplicity with Miriam Ortiz y Pino appeared first on Simple Life Together.

Background for Simplicity Profiles:

We’re looking at doing Simplicity Profiles every month or so. We’ll start the show with our featured guest and talk with them about simple living, how they embraced simplicity, what they’ve learned along the way, etc. We think the talks will last anywhere from 20 to 25 minutes. Sometimes longer, sometimes not. Then we’ll do the announcements, sometimes a Thing segment, and sometimes the Qs & Comments segment. We think it’s great to highlight your stories, and for you to be able to share:

• Your triumphs
• Your challenges
• Your struggles
• Things you’ve learned along the way

Each of us has our own story when it comes to simplifying, simplicity and simple living. Sharing what you’ve learned, what you’d do differently, advice you’d share, and even mistakes you’ve made on your journey, helps us all grow individually and as a community. We’re all in this together, so we’d all love to hear from YOU. When we started Simple Life Together, we kind of felt alone on our journey. We really wondered who would want to listen in and weren’t sure whether or not what we had to say mattered to anyone but us. Well, you’ve changed that for us, and we want to change that for you, too. We’ve been incredibly inspired by stories from the Edit & Forget It Facebook page, emails we’ve received, voicemails…you name it. YOUR story is unique...and if you’re willing to share it, it can serve to inspire others to follow your path. We’ve found out first-hand that something we mention in passing on the show can have a positive impact on someone on the other side of the world…and make their life a little better. Your story can do that too! The world is waiting, and we want to share our platform so you can share your story just like we have.

Simplicity Profile:

Liz Neighbors is joining us to share a bit about her simplicity journey. Liz and her husband Griff split their time between Connecticut and spending the summers in Cape Cod with friends. Liz worked in retail for years but stayed home to raise her kids for the past 18 years. In that time, Liz has blogged, ran an eBay business, and started getting that “it’s all too much feeling” lately like so many of us. She’s been a Simple Life Together and Edit & Forget It Challenge supporter right from the start. And get this…Liz started a mission of no shopping back in November of 2013 and is 7 months into her journey!

1. Tell us how you got started on your simple living journey…and maybe paint a picture of what your life was like before you started simplifying your life.
2. What was the catalyst?
3. Everyone struggles in some way when it comes to simplifying or editing, or making major life changes. What has been the biggest challenge(s) for you along the way? And do you still struggle with any?
4. What does your life look like now that you’ve been on your simplifying journey?
5. Can you share with us some things you’ve learned along the way or things that you may have learned from others on the Edit and Forget It FB page?
6. Tell us how people can find you

Question:

So, how have you been simplifying your life!  We’d love to know. Be sure to leave a comment below.

Thing Segment:

Vanessa: Aereo….watch tv online. It’s a nice alternative to cable and allows us to watch more local channels on our laptop or on our big screen television via Air Play. It was especially nice to watch the NBA playoffs and finals where the San Antonio Spurs whipped the tails off of the Miami Heat!!!! Dan: Ariana Huffington’s book, Thrive. The book is very much in line with how we want to live our lives…deliberately, on purpose, and taking care of that which is most important in our lives.

 Announcements:

• We’re hitting the road for a few weeks!!! Shows may be a little sporadic but we’ll be sure to post a few blog posts here and there and maybe…just maybe…we’ll do a fun video tour of our tiny teardrop camper we always talk about on the show!

• Simple Rev: Dan is working with our friend Joel Zaslofsky of Value of Simple on a “simplicity summit” of sorts, called SimpleRev, short for simple revolution. SimpleRev will be 200+ passionate simple-living advocates. Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist will be there, and even others like Brooke McAlary of Slow Your Home and Mohamed Tohami of Midway Simplicity will be supporting from afar.To learn more, just go to SimpleRev.com or SimpleLifeTogether.com/rev
  • Dates: October 3-4, 2014
  • Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Venue: University of St. Thomas Downtown Campus

• Don’t forget if you have questions or just want to learn more about Project 333 or Courtney Carver’s Dress With Less microcourse. You can learn more about that at SimpleLifeTogether.com/dress.

• Finally, sign up for the Edit & Forget It Challenge!If you’re already on our Edit & Forget It Challenge email list, that’s great. If not, you can sign up here.

Resources and Links:

• Help support SimpleLifeTogether.com by using our Amazon Affiliate Link for purchases you make. Thanks!
• Thrive by Ariana Huffington
• Aere0

The post SLT068: Simple Living with Liz Neighbors appeared first on Simple Life Together.

So, who better to talk about smoothies, than our friend and someone who’s become our own personal… “healthy liquids expert,” Farnoosh Brock, the author of The Healthy Smoothie Bible!  Read more…

Note: Our new book Supermom vs Super Mom is digital and will help you eliminate clutter in your life, too!

Buy Supermom vs Supermom

Topic:  Farnoosh Shares The Skinny on Healthy Smoothies

We asked Farnoosh a bit about simplicity and a lot about healthy smoothies and her new book. So, we’ll share the questions we asked her with you here, but to get all the goodness you’ll just have to listen in to the show this time.

• Before we get into the book, let’s start with simplicity. You’ve really adopted simplicity into your life over the last couple of years and had a terrific guest post on Joshua Becker’s Becoming Minimalist blog that we’ll link to in the show notes. Share some thoughts on how your life has changed with your focus on simpler living.
• When we talk about juicing, one of the first questions we’re asked is what’s the difference between juices and healthy smoothies, or juicing and blending. How would you answer that?
• Which do you recommend, juicing or smoothies?
• So Farnoosh, what would you list as some of the benefits of integrating healthy smoothies into your lifestyle?
• How do you recommend people get started with healthy smoothies?
• Be honest…what is your favorite smoothie?
• Tell us about the process of making healthy smoothies, and share some tips on how you’ve simplified your smoothie making?

Major Takeaway:

So the major takeaway here is this: Adding healthy smoothies to your lifestyle is a simple way to increase the intake of fruits, vegetables, certain superfoods, and even supplements into your life. While we’re big juicing fans, sometimes prep and cleanup from making healthy smoothies is a LOT easier. Give it a try! You can get your own copy of Farnoosh’s Healthy Smoothie Bible today!

Question:

So, you know we’re enjoying more smoothies! And if you didn’t see it, Vanessa did a post this past week about dehydrated snacks that we like to make, such as fruits and jerky. Be sure to check that out, too.

But how about you? Have you adopted any new healthy changes or simple foods lately? Do you have any tips or advice you’re willing to share? We’d love to hear it.

Be sure to leave a comment below.

Qs and Comments, iTunes Reviews

And we got a nice voicemail from Connor Trueman  from Journey To Simple and also Liz Neighbors on our Speakpipe app on the website. Thank you both so much for phoning in!

 Announcements:

• The SLT Facebook Page:

  • We have a Simple Life Together Facebook page and forum. Yeah…some of you are saying “FINALLY!”
    • Now, admittedly, we’re not the biggest fans of Facebook, but it seems to be where most people are.
    • We’ve had the private Edit and Forget It page on Facebook for over a year and it’s become a wealth of information and and a great resource for everyone there. We’re hoping the open Facebook page for Simple Life Together will grow to be the same.
    • We’ve installed a forum app there too so we can categorize things by topic. That should help a lot!
    • We haven’t started seeding topics there yet but it is an open page and open forum so feel free to start setting up topics too!
  • So, we look forward to seeing you on our open Simple Life Together Facebook page
    • We’re building the new Simple Life Together page on Vanessa’s previous GetSimplifized page. So, while the URL has already changed to Facebook.com/SimpleLifeTogether, it’s not changed in the Facebook search yet. It still shows up as GetSimplifized.
    • FYI, Facebook told me they have a 14-day waiting period for page name changes, so it should change on the 21st of April.

• Mastering Evernote:

  • If you’re looking to master Evernote, two books we recommend are “How to Automate Evernote” by Kosio Angelov, and Brett Kelly’s “Evernote Essentials”.

• SimpleRev Tickets:

  • Early Bird tickets are now available for SimpleRev! Only 50 tickets will be offered at the Early Bird pricing so make sure you lock yours in today.
  • SimpleRev is being held on Oct 3-4, 2014, in beautiful downtown Minneapolis on the University of St Thomas campus. To get your tickets at the lowest price that will ever be offered, just go to SimpleRev.com/tickets. I’ll also put a link in the shownote to the SimpleRev podcast in iTunes, as well. Or just search iTunes for SimpleRev, all one word.

• Project 333

  • Don’t forget if you have questions or just want to learn more about Project 333 or Courtney Carver’s Dress With Less microcourse. You can learn more about that at SimpleLifeTogether.com/dress.

• Edit & Forget It Challenge

  • Finally, sign up for the Edit & Forget It Challenge!If you’re already on our Edit & Forget It Challenge email list, that’s great. If not, you can sign up here.

Note: Our new book Supermom vs Super Mom is digital and will help you eliminate clutter in your life, too!

Buy Supermom vs Supermom

Shownotes:

You can download a PDF of our show prep, too.

Resources and Links:

• You can help support SimpleLifeTogether.com by using our Amazon Affiliate Link for any purchases you must make. Thanks!
• Healthy Smoothie Bible
• Healthy Juicer’s Bible
• All of Farnoosh’s Books on Amazon

• Dress With Less
• Evernote Essentials
• Automate Evernote
• SimpleRev Tickets
• Supermom vs Super Mom
• PackingLust.com

 Photo Credit: Farnoosh Brock

The post SLT064: Healthy Smoothies Made Simple With Farnoosh Brock appeared first on Simple Life Together.

Mridu is smart, fun and totally down to earth. She offers tons of tips and advice on her funny yet very informative video blog as well as her online workshops.

Mridu is passionate not just about organizing, but about embracing simplicity and taking charge of your life and happiness. I’m so grateful we were introduced and hope you find Mridu just as inspiring as I do!

The post Interview with Mridu appeared first on Simple Life Together.

So, last week we introduced the Qs & Comments segment where we answer questions you send in. And today we have our first guest on talking about how she’s simplified her life, too! But before we tell you any more about our special guest, we want to give you a little background on this new segment. Read more…

Background for Simplicity Profiles:

We’re looking at doing Simplicity Profiles about once a month. We’ll start the show with our featured guest and talk with them about simple living, how they embraced simplicity, what they’ve learned along the way, etc. We think the talks will last anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes. Sometimes longer, sometimes not. Then we’ll do the announcements, sometimes a Thing segment, and sometimes the Qs & Comments segment.

We told you there would be a few changes coming along, didn’t we? We think it’s great to highlight your stories, and for you to be able to share:

• Your triumphs
• Your challenges
• Your struggles
• Things you’ve learned along the way

Each of us has our own story when it comes to simplifying, simplicity and simple living. Sharing what you’ve learned, what you’d do differently, advice you’d share, and even mistakes you’ve made on your journey, helps us all grow individually and as a community. We’re all in this together, so we’d all love to hear from YOU.

When we started Simple Life Together, we kind of felt alone on our journey. We really wondered who would want to listen in and weren’t sure whether or not what we had to say mattered to anyone but us. Well, you’ve changed that for us, and we want to change that for you, too.

We’ve been incredibly inspired by stories from the Edit & Forget It Facebook page, emails we’ve received, voicemails…you name it. YOUR story is unique...and if you’re willing to share it, it can serve to inspire others to follow your path. We’ve found out first-hand that something we mention in passing on the show can have a positive impact on someone on the other side of the world…and make their life a little better. Your story can do that too! The world is waiting, and we want to share our platform so you can share your story just like we have.

Simplicity Profile:

Tania Ginoza is an Assistant Financial Controller who lives in Hawaii. She is also a freelance writer and blogger who shares her passion for design, a creative life and living well on her website MauiShopGirl.com. When not crunching numbers or writing, she can be found walking the beach during sunset hoping to spot a whale or two!

1. Tell us how you got started on your simple living journey…and maybe paint a picture of what your life was like before you started simplifying your life.
2. What was the catalyst?
3. Everyone struggles in some way when it comes to simplifying or editing, or making major life changes. What has been the biggest challenge(s) for you along the way? And do you still struggle with any?
4. What does your life look like now that you’ve been on your simplifying journey?
5. Can you share with us some things you’ve learned along the way or things that you may have learned from others on the Edit and Forget It FB page?
6. What advice would you give someone who is “on the fence” about where to start simplifying in their own life?
7. Tell us how people can find you (mauishopgirl.com)

 Question:

So, how have you been simplifying your life!  We’d love to know. Be sure to leave a comment below.

Qs & Comments Segment (New):

Our first question comes from April. April wrote in wondering how to cut down on the stuff coming into your home, especially gifts for her daughter? She doesn’t want to deny her daughter, but believes kids can suffer from analysis paralysis with too many toys.

Next up is a voicemail from Jared. Jared asked how do best deal with digital clutter. Jared’s physical life is clutter free and in good shape, but he wonders how he can make his digital life clutter free, too!

Sara wrote in saying how she loves the style of the small cottage plans from Tumbleweed Tiny House Company and also wanted to hear more about our consideration to get rid of one of our cars to become a “one car family.” 

 Announcements:

• Dan is working with our friend Joel Zaslofsky of Value of Simple on a “simplicity summit” of sorts, called SimpleRev, short for simple revolution. SimpleRev will be 200+ passionate simple-living advocates. Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist will be there, and even others like Brooke McAlary of Slow Your Home and Mohamed Tohami of Midway Simplicity will be supporting from afar.To learn more, just go to SimpleRev.com or SimpleLifeTogether.com/rev
  • Dates: October 3-4, 2014
  • Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Venue: University of St. Thomas Downtown Campus

• Don’t forget if you have questions or just want to learn more about Project 333 or Courtney Carver’s Dress With Less microcourse. You can learn more about that at SimpleLifeTogether.com/dress.

Finally, sign up for the Edit & Forget It Challenge! If you’re already on our Edit & Forget It Challenge email list, that’s great. If not, you can sign up here.

 Shownotes:

You can download a PDF of our show prep, too.

Resources and Links:

• Help support SimpleLifeTogether.com by using our Amazon Affiliate Link for purchases you make. Thanks!
• Dress With Less
• Tania referenced Eileen Fisher’s YouTube channel

Photo Credit: BlueRidgeKitties

The post SLT057: Simple Living with Tania Ginoza of MauiShopGirl.com appeared first on Simple Life Together.

So what’s the best To Do list? Well, the best To Do lists are the ones that works for you! Whether you prefer an analog or digital solution…anywhere on the spectrum of tying a string around your finger, pencil and paper, or the latest To Do app…figure out the tool or tools that work best for you and stick with it/them. Continue reading…

If you’re not sure which tools work best for you, don’t worry. Just take some time to think about, research and maybe even test a few tools for yourself before committing to one…or a TON of To Do list management tools. But before you get started, there are some things you should know or consider.

Main Topic:

To Do Lists in Four Simple Steps

We have lots of different types of To Dos: personal, professional, work, projects, etc. But no matter what type of To Do you have, there are four simple steps you have to focus on to get your tasks or To Dos done: CAPTURE them, CONTAIN them, ASSIGN a date and EXECUTE!

1. CAPTURE your To Dos. There are different ways you can do this (you may need to use several ways to capture your To Dos):

• Write them down. On scratch paper, a post it note or in a notebook.
• You can also record a voice memo.  We use Dragon Dictation and Evernote.
• Send an email to yourself. This is convenient when you’re on the road or out and about away from the office.
• Or directly input your task on your To Do list if you have immediate access to it.

2. CONTAIN your To Dos. This is WHERE your To Dos are kept. One of the best things you can do to manage your To Dos is to capture them in ONE PLACE!

• Paper notebook: Use one you can easily carry around with you or keep in your purse/backpack to take to meetings, on errands, etc.
• Digital: Google Tasks or spreadsheets are an easy tool to use when it comes to editing and not having to re-write your lists when they get messy on paper.
• Mobile apps: There are tons! Try searching for “best To Do apps” for your mobile device and try a couple out.

Note: Containing your To Dos usually requires some sort of a routine, like an end of work routine before closing up shop or a nightly routine at home where you gather all of your To Dos and put them in the proper “container.”

3. ASSIGN a date and time to get them done!

• Before you decide on WHEN…you need to first determine category (personal, work, projects, etc) and the priority of your tasks.
• Note: Priorities may change….that’s why you need to have a routine of systematically reviewing your To Dos.
• Then plug it in on your calendar. Remember…To Dos are pointless unless you assign a date and time to get them done!

4. EXECUTE your To Dos. Putting them on the calendar doesn’t guarantee they’re going to get done but you can use control measures to get help get them done like:

• Use reminders like on Google Calendar where you can set up email, text and/or pop-up notifications to remind you of your To Do item.
• Set alarms on your computer or mobile phone for To Dos you need to get done each day.
• Start a nightly routine where you review your To Dos for the next day.
• Use post it notes (strategically placed) as an additional reminder for those To Dos you just reviewed during your nightly routine.
• Create and put up checklists (again…strategically placed) to help remind you of recurring To Do items. These can be posted on paper, dry erase boards, large post it notes,  glass boards, etc.

Takeaway:

We all have To Do lists and it can get pretty overwhelming trying to manage all of the myriad tasks associated with them.  But if you keep it simple and take a different approach to how you manage your To Dos by Capturing them, Containing them, Assigning a time to get them done and then actually Executing those To Dos, then maybe it won’t be so overwhelming and you’ll start feeling a little more like you’re accomplishing those tasks instead of falling too far behind.

Question:

What types of To Do lists or apps do you use that have helped you simplify your life?  Please let us know and share your ideas and thoughts with us in the comment section below. We’d love to hear from you!

Interview with Erik Fisher of Beyond the To Do List

We had  the pleasure of interviewing Erik Fisher of Beyond the To List.  He has an incredibly popular podcast dedicated to productivity and making things in your life easier.

Thing Segment:

If you’re looking for a virtual assistant, Meredith Jones of Elms Marketing did an amazing job for us! She’s offered a free 30-minute consultation to just for SLT listeners and a 25% discount on VA services. Contact her at meredith@elmsmarketing.com

Announcements:

2013 Podcast Awards:

• Simple Life Together is a finalist for the 2013 Podcast Awards in the Education and People’s Choice categories.
• Voting is still on until 15 November, and you can and should vote once a day at PodcastAwards.com.
• Our friend Erik Fisher’s show Beyond The To Do List is also a finalist so be sure to show him some lovin’ when you vote, as well!

Simple Life Together Meetup in D.C.

• We will be in the DC area for the week of Thanksgiving and are looking at having our first Simple Life Together meetup!
• We’d love to have you come join us for great conversation, pay as you go snacks and drinks, and the chance to connect with others who are looking to lead a simple life in the modern world.
• We’ll be at La Tasca in Rockville Town Square at 7:00 PM on Sunday, 24 November.
• Spaces are very limited but they’re FREE, so make sure you grab a seat before they’re all gone!
• Just go to SimpleLifeTogether.com/dc to sign up or search for Simple Life Together at Eventbrite.com

Shownotes:

You can download a PDF of our show prep, too.

Resources and Links:

Erik’s Book Beyond The To Do List: Goals

Erik’s Podcast: Beyond The To Do List

Beyond The To Do List Website

Podcast Answerman Podcast

GTD by David Allen: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

Elms marketing VA Services

As always, you can help support SimpleLifeTogether.com by using our Amazon Affiliate Link for any purchases you must make. Thanks!

If you haven’t already, please be sure to go to iTunes to subscribe to the show. Don’t forget to leave us a rating & review! Thanks!

Photo Credit: Courtney Dirks

The post SLT048: To Do Lists In Four Easy Steps, & an Interview with Erik Fisher appeared first on Simple Life Together.

We were thrilled to have the opportunity to interview Cathi Nelson, Founder and President of the Association of Personal Photo Organizers (APPO) to help answer one of the most asked questions here on Simple Life Together: “How do I organize my photos?”

The interview was fantastic! Cathi offered up a wealth of information on how to organize your photos, both your physical and digital photos. We highly, highly recommend listening to the interview!  Before you do, here is little more information about Cathi and some of the questions we asked her on the show: Continue reading…

How To Organize Your Photos: An Interview With Cathi Nelson:

About Cathi Nelson:

Cathi Nelson is the founder and president of the Association of Personal Photo Organizers (APPO), and her own photo organizing business, Photo Simplified. Cathi Nelson has been helping people organize their photos for over 17 years. Through Appo, Cathi is now teaching others to do the same. Appo provides support and education for entrepreneurs looking to build a photo organizing business, and educates the public on the need for photo organizing services. Cathi is also member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO).  She was a speaker at the 2011 NAPO annual conference and the Independent Photo Imagers Annual Conference, and frequently speaks on photo organizing at libraries, continuing adult education classes, and photo organizing retreats. If you want to know how to organize your photos, you won’t find better answers than from Cathi Nelson!

Interview Questions:

1. Tell us a little more about who you are and how you make people’s lives simpler.

2. What is the biggest challenge you see with folks and organizing their photos? (Lack of routines…taking too many pictures…not letting go or deleting bad ones…unclear idea of how you want to store and enjoy them?)

3. Organizing hard copy photos can be a daunting task.  For those with hundreds or even thousands of physical/hard copy photos, do you have a recommended process of how they can organize them?

4. How do you recommend people categorize their photos?  Chronologically or by person, place, event?

5. What are some ways and products people can use to store their printed photos and negatives? Any special considerations for storing old, fragile, sentimental, or historical photos?

6. With mobile devices, it’s so easy to take hundreds and even thousands of photos before we even think to download them. Do you have any recommended strategies for managing our mobile device photos?

7. I heard you say on one of your tutorials: “Don’t let your kids grow up to be JPEGS.” Can you explain what you meant when you said this?

8. Do you have any preferred software to organize digital photos? What about creating photo books?

9. How can one alleviate their fears of losing hard copy or digital photos?

10. What types of habits or routines can people adopt to manage and keep their photos organized and prevent it from becoming a big task in the future?

11. For the do-it-yourselfers or those looking for help, what are some online resources to help people learn about organizing their photos?

Additional Photo Organizing Resources and Information:

Other popular services:

• Picasa/Google+ auto backup on iPhone
• Flickr
• Snapfish
• Photobucket
• Shutterfly

There is a great comparison of these services on CNET

Main things to consider:

• Pricing
• Storage capacity
• File types
• File size
• Bandwidth limits
• Resolution of pictures

Announcements:

Michael Hyatts’ Platform Conference 3 – 5 November 2013, in Dallas TX at the Omni Dallas Hotel at Park West:

• We’re both attending this top-notch conference to help you build your online presence/platform.
• Michael and his team have given us a discount code just for Simple Life Together listeners that you can even use on top of the special Early Bird Pricing.
• To register for the event or to just learn more, go to SimpleLifeTogether.com/Platform, use Coupon Code SIMPLE to save $100 off your registration!

Starting your own podcast:

• If you’re interested in starting your own podcast, you can get started the same way Dan did.
• Go to SimpleLifeTogether.com/Cliff and watch the video at the top of the page to find out what the course is all about.
• If you’re interested, Cliff has given us a discount code for $500 off of the course for Simple Life Together listeners.
• Use the discount code SIMPLE in the shopping cart, pocket your $500, and get signed up for the world of podcasting.

The Google Drive/Google Docs tutorial is now FREE!

• Why?  We just want to put out good content that’s helpful.
• You can get the tutorial by clicking the Tutorials tab above.
• If you feel compelled to contribute there’s a “Buy Us a Coffee” button when you click on the link!
• Thanks and we hope it helps.

And the Side Gig Website Guide is now open without passwords, sign-ups or anything!

THING Segment:

Dan’s Thing: An article by Ally Vesterfelt on her blog at allisonvesterfelt.com called Is There Room for Sentimental Attachment In Packing Light?

Vanessa’s Thing: Simple fun on the Slip’n Slide! Sometimes just being “present” with your kids is all you need!

Resources and Links:

Picture Keeper Photo Backup

APPO video: explains what personal photo organizers can do…or how to become one!

APPO website

Photo Simplified: Cathi Nelson

Cathi on LinkedIn

Cathi on Twitter

Reach Cathi by phone: (United States) 1-860-904-5365

Photo Keeper: simple and small photo backup device

NY Times Article with Cathi

Linea App:  photo sharing program that syncs across your devices: iPad, iPhone, or desktop

Archival Methods storage and presentation products

CNET comparison of online photo services

Map iPhoto Library to External Drive

Charity:  SLT donated $50 to Women to Women International on behalf of Cathi Nelson for spending  time with us on our show and sharing her expertise

Ally Vesterfelt’s post Is There Room for Sentimental Attachment In Packing Light?

Ally Vesterfelt’s book Packing Light and her accompanying blog for the book at PackingLightBook.com/blog.

Platform Conference: Coupon Code for $100 Off: SIMPLE

The Book: Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World

Podcasting A to Z course Discount Code : SIMPLE for $500 off!

If you haven’t already, please be sure to go to iTunes to subscribe to the show. Don’t forget to leave us a rating & review! Thanks!

Photo Credit: ohsohappytogether

The post SLT040: How To Organize Your Photos appeared first on Simple Life Together.

Whether we like it or not, many things in life boil down to relationships.  We all have a relationships with money and we all have relationships with the “stuff” in our lives. Again, just like many other things in life, our relationships can be positive or negative experiences. But often it just depends on how we frame them.

So, let’s take a look at our relationship with money and our relationship with “stuff”. To help us look at money, we’re going to discuss a recent article by Seth Godin, one of our favorite bloggers. To help us look at the things we surround ourselves with in life, we’ll talk to Bonnie Dewkett, Certified Professional Organizer from The Joy of Organizing podcast. Read more…

Combined Topic: Let’s Talk Money With Seth Godin    

In this episode, we talk about an article by Seth Godin.  If you haven’t heard of Seth Godin, he’s written fourteen books that have been translated into more than thirty languages. And every single one has been a bestseller. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything. Candidly, his blog post is typically the first thing in my Inbox in the morning. Seth is also a fellow Buffalo boy, like me.

So, Seth recently wrote a post titled Thinking About Money. He said, “Many marketers work overtime to confuse us about money. They take advantage of our misunderstanding of the time value of money, of our aversion to reading the fine print, of our childish need for instant gratification and most of all, our conflicted emotional connection to money. Confusing customers about money can be quite profitable if that’s the sort of work you’re willing to do”

He makes a few interesting observations about money that we thought was interesting and so we picked a few of them and discussed our thoughts:

1. The amount of money you have has nothing to do with whether or not you’re a good person. Being good with money is a little like being good with cards. People who are good at playing cards aren’t better or worse than anyone else, they’re just better at playing crazy eights.

2. Money spent on one thing is still the same as money spent on something else. A $500 needless fee on a million-dollar mortgage closing is just as much money as a $500 tip at McDonalds.

3. If you borrow money to make money, you’ve done something magical. On the other hand, if you go into debt to pay your bills or buy something you want but don’t need, you’ve done something stupid. Stupid and short-sighted and ultimately life-changing for the worse.

4. To go along with #3: getting out of debt as fast as you possibly can is the smartest thing you can do with your money. If you need proof to confirm this, ask anyone with money to show you the math. Hint: credit card companies make more profit than just about any other companies in the world.

5. There’s no difference (in terms of the money you have) between spending money and not earning money, no difference between not-spending money and getting a raise (actually, because of taxes, you’re even better off not-spending). If you’ve got cable TV and a cell phone, you’re spending $4,000 a year. $6,000 before taxes.

6. If money is an emotional issue for you, you’ve just put your finger on a big part of the problem. No one who is good at building houses has an emotional problem with hammers. Place your emotional problems where they belong, and focus on seeing money as a tool.

7. Like many important, professional endeavors, money has its own vocabulary. It won’t take you long to learn what opportunity cost, investment, debt, leverage, basis points and sunk costs mean, but it’ll be worth your time.

8. Never sign a contract or make an investment that you don’t understand at least as well as the person on the other side of the transaction.

9. If you’ve got a job, a steady day job, now’s the time to figure out a way to earn extra income in your spare time. Freelancing, selling items on Etsy, building a side business–two hundred extra dollars every week for the next twenty years can create peace of mind for a lifetime.

10. The way you feel about giving money to good causes has a lot to do with the way you feel about money.

11. Don’t get caught confusing money with security. There are lots of ways to build a life that’s more secure, starting with the stories you tell yourself, the people you surround yourself with and the cost of living you embrace. Money is one way to feel more secure, but money alone won’t deliver this.

12. Within very wide bands, more money doesn’t make people happier. Learning how to think about money, though, usually does.

13. In the long run, doing work that’s important leads to more happiness than doing work that’s merely profitable.

Interview with Bonnie Dewkett, The Joyful Organizer

We had an amazing interview with Bonnie Dewkett of the Joyful Organizer and the Joy of Organizing Podcast. Here are the questions we asked during the interview:

– So Bonnie, who are you and how do you make lives simpler?

– We’ve found, and I’m sure you have too, that when someone “discovers” simplicity and really works to attain a higher level of simplicity, it can have a tremendous impact on their life. Can you share an example of two of how you’ve witnessed that impact or help enable that change in someone’s life?

– In one of your recent blog posts titled “Why Do We Own” you touch on a couple of reasons why we tend to own things and want more.  Can yo0u tap about what those reasons are and how knowing “why we own” we might be better able to control the clutter we let into our lives?

– One of your specialty services is photo management. that is one area where we’re working on developing a good Standing Operating Procedure (SOP) for ourselves and it’s also an area we’re often asked about from our listeners.  What tips can you share for others who’d like to “rein in the horses” and get control of their photo memories?  Maybe some tips for digital and physical photos?

– Another very popular question we get from our listeners is, how do you get others in your life, let’s say a spouse or loved one, to jump on  the simplicity or clutter-free bandwagon?  It can be a sticky situation…can you share some tips on how folks can work together towards living a simple life?

– So Bonnie, like us, you and your husband Matt work together, and you transitioned from the corporate world to start your own business together.  How has that changed your life together?

– Can you tell us a little bit more about your coaching services?

Thing Segment:

OK…for the first time every we have a “combined thing” which was spending time with old friends and new friends at the World Domination Summit over the 4th of July holiday weekend in Portland. Chris Guillebeau and his crew put on a fantastic event once again, and I think they did a pretty good job of scaling from 1000 people to 3000. So, we’ll see what next year holds in store.

Links:

Support Charity Water Through Your Amazon.com Purchases

The Joyful Organizer

The Joy of Organizing Podcast in iTunes

Bonnie’s Books on Amazon

Thinking About Money

If you haven’t already, please be sure to go to iTunes to subscribe to the show. Don’t forget to leave us a rating & review! Thanks!

The post SLT034: Let’s Talk Money, & An Interview with Bonnie Dewkett appeared first on Simple Life Together.

Well, we’re a little over 6 months into this “whole blog/podcast thing” and we figured it was time for an update. Actually, we’re probably way overdue for an update! There are some things upcoming that you may be interested in and we’ll also be taking a little bit of a break as we head into our summertime family working vacation.

But the highlight of this week’s episode is an interview with a good friend of ours, and fellow simplicity aficionado, Joel Zaslofsky of the Value of Simplicity blog and the amazing Smart and Simple Matters podcast!

Simple Life Together Update:    

We wanted to let you know some things that are going on with us and the show:

Photo organization: We’ve talked about this in the past and it’s probably one of the most requested topics we get. We’re still researching and asking the pro’s for some tips, so you can look forward to that in the next couple of months.

Dan will be doing an Evernote tutorial, too, at some point. He’s been waiting for the dust to settle and now is ready to start working on it.  If you have any special requests regarding Evernote, drop Dan a note at Dan@SimpleLifeTogether.com.

Finally, we’ll be on the road a bit for the next month or so…we’ll be in Portland for Chris Guillebeau’s World Domination Summit for the 3rd year in a row and then we have some mixed business & fun time with family throughout July and early August. We typically release shows every Thursday but for July we’ll have shows on the 4th and 18th and then pick back up in August!

Interview with Joel Zaslofsky of the Value of Simple

We had an amazing interview with Joel Zaslofsky…creator of the awesome Smart and Simple Matters podcast and the Value of Simple blog. He’s incredibly open about his journey from a six-figure corporate job to carving out a niche online, while shaping his simple lifestyle. He offers tons of tips and free resources on his website to help you “liberate your time, money and talent.” 

We were thrilled to be his guests on Episode 15 of the Smart and Simple Matters show back in January and we’ve been dying to have Joel on our show. Well, we finally made that happen and it was fantastic!  You don’t want to miss this interview!  Here are some of the questions and things we talked about:

– So Joel, who are you and how do you make people’s lives simpler?

– So, you talk about your “Personal Renaissance.” Can you describe what that is, what it’s been like for you, and how it has led to a simpler/more focused life?

– Can you tell us a little about the backstory of “liberate your time, money and talent” as it relates to you, your clients and your people who follow your work?

– Tell us about your love for spreadsheets and some ways you use them to simplify your life.

– How would you define curating, what do you curate personally, and how do you think others could benefit from curating?

– Batman has his Batcave, the Super Friends had the Hall of Justice, and you have the Refuge of Simplicity! Can you share what goes on there?

– Can you give us any tips about “keeping it simple” with a family?

– For a lot of people, the whole “investment thing” is complicated. You address simplifying that in your online course “Start Investing with $100.” Can you share a little about that?

– So Joel, what have we left out that is “must know” info for our listeners? What have you got going on these days?

Thing Segment

Dan’s Thing: Our upcoming trip to WDS

Vanessa’s Thing: Passing her BCPO Exam and all the support she got from friends, family, colleagues….and even YOU…our listeners!!!

Links from our Interview with Joel:

Research:

• How Much Information? 2009 Report on American Consumers (this is the 100,000 words a day research)

• Your Memory is Like the Telephone Game (this is the reference to how much our memories suck, even if we think they rock)

Smart and Simple Matters:

• iTunes

Value of Simple Stuff:

• The Value of Simple Declaration

• SASM 015 – The Forces of Order and Simplifying with Dan and Vanessa Hayes

• Spreadsheets and You: How and Why to Put Your Life in Them

• SASM 005 – Curating Part 1: The Awesome Importance and Startling Benefits

• The Continuous Creation Challenge Resource Kit

• My Story

• The Simple Life Together Resource Page on Value of Simple

• The Refuge of Simplicity

• The Personal User Guide

Start Investing with $100

• FAQ Page

Social Media Profiles:

• Twitter

• Facebook

• G+

If you haven’t already, please be sure to go to iTunes to subscribe to the show. Don’t forget to leave us a rating & review! Thanks!

The post SLT033: A Simple Life Together Update, and What’s the Value of Simple?…an Interview with Joel Zaslofsky appeared first on Simple Life Together.

Be sure to subscribe in iTunes and leave a review in the iTunes store! It helps others find the show!  Thanks!

Dan and Vanessa’s Topic: “Someday” Isn’t On The Calendar

As we traditionally do when we have a guest interview on the show, the two of us will do a joint topic.  We’ve hit our 25th episode, and so we thought we’d reflect back on where we started and throw some ideas out to our listeners about where we might be headed with Simple Life Together.  Here are the things we reflected on and discussed:

• Made the decision to simplify our lives and for us that meant somewhere between consumerism and minimalism...not exactly sure how to define it other than “simple”, but now we know it’s not consumerism, not minimalism, not raising our own chickens and sewing our own clothes. Nothing wrong with that…just we’re not at that level!

• We looked for a community but couldn’t find one!

• Dan wanted to start a podcast for years and said he’d do it “someday.” Well, no matter how many times he looked on the calendar, he never found “someday” there.

• We decided that maybe the community we were looking for was looking for us, too. So, Dan floated the idea to Vanessa for a sanity check and she was all for it…and Simple Life Together was born.

• Dan brought some tech simplicity and military techniques to the mix while Van brought the organizer background to the mix.

• We’ve been amazed at the number of people who felt just like we did and joined us!

Not that episode 25 is some magical number, but we’re having some pretty strong feelings about the show and the future of the show. We think a lot of people listen to the show and take some positive steps in their lives…not because of anything we say or do, but just because they know they’re not alone in the fight. We’re thinking of some logical next steps and we really need some help and advice from all of you on where we go from here:

• Considering a community site for more interaction, videos, tutorials, forums to share experiences, arranged by topic, etc.

• We’re also considering doing products for the community, too. Dan has already been asked numerous times to do a video screencast to go along with his Evernote Simplified Parts 1 & 2.

• It will be an investment on our part if we do it. If there is enough interest in the community, Dan may stop doing client work or seriously draw down on it to support the community

• In the end, it’s not about what we want, it’s about what you want! If you just want the podcast and that’s it, that’s fine, but if there is an interest on a full community then we’re considering that too.

• Dan create a survey that we ask you to please take 1 minute to click some boxes so we can gauge the level of interest.

• No commitment on your part or our part…yet…but we wanted to ask you what you’d like to see.

So, please go to SimpleLifeTogether.com/survey to take a 1 minute survey to share your thoughts with us.  We won’t make any decisions about the community’s future without your input. Heck you ARE the community!  So please, share your thoughts with us. It’s just 4 Questions, 4 clicks and and one block to share anything else that’s on your mind.  We really need your help on this one! Thanks so much and we look forward to your input, thoughts and ideas as we go forward with SimpleLifeTogether.com!

Guest Interview: Kerry Reifel Of The Simple Year

We were so lucky to have Kerry Reifel here on the show! Kerry is a middle class, working mother of two young girls and wife to an active duty military officer.  One year ago on April 24th 2012, just as her husband took off on a 6 month long deployment overseas, Kerry set out on her own exciting adventure of not buying anything new for one year.

Although her family had the means to buy the things they needed and wanted, she realized much of it they really didn’t need. So in an effort to cut down on the waste (environmentally and financially speaking), she set out to do one thing….live simply.  And so she decided to chronicle her journey, adventures, and challenges on her Blog: The Simple Year.

We first heard about Kerry through Joshua Becker’s Blog Becoming Minimalist and were immediately drawn to her incredibly funny and inspiring story. Kerry’s story resonated so strongly with us and we KNEW it would be a perfect fit for Simple Life Together listeners!

We highly recommend clicking on the “play” button above to hear this fantastic interview! Here is a look at some of the questions we asked:

Questions:

• Who are you and how are you making lives simpler?

• What was the impetus for starting your blog the Simple Year?

• Can you explain your rules for yourself for this challenge? Were there any special considerations for your family…kids and even hubby who was deployed?

• What was the most surprising thing or realization you discovered about yourself during this challenge?

• What about your kids?  How did they adapt?

• Can you share one of your most challenging experiences or close calls you had during this challenge?

• How has this challenge affected the way you live? Any new habits or life-style changes that you’ll keep?

• So you’ve reach the end of your one year adventure…can you sum up your feelings on the consumer society we live in and will your experiences guide you in your future now that you’ve met your goal?

• So what’s the next step for your blog?

We also discovered that Kerry is “handing off” her blog to an aspiring blogger who would like to chronicle a year-long challenge themselves.  She has built up a healthy following of readers and would love to give someone the opportunity to share their experience too.  For more information please check out her Handoff Page on The Simple Year.

Thing Segment

• Dan’s Thing: Google Docs and how useful, functional and sharable this program is!
  

• Vanessa’s Thing: NAPO 2013 Conference in New Orleans and a video titled Dove Real Beauty Sketches that was featured on Storylineblog.com 

Links

Would you like to help us help Charity Water? If you make purchases on Amazon.com through this link it will be applied to  Vanessa’s Charity Water Campaign

PLEASE TAKE ONE MINUTE TO TAKE OUR COMMUNITY SURVEY. THANKS!!!!

Give directly to Charity Water Through Vanessa’s Campaign

The Simple Year

The Simple Year Handoff page

Storyline Blog

Dove Real Beauty Sketches YouTube video

The post SLT 025: “Someday” Isn’t On The Calendar & An Interview With Kerry Reifel appeared first on Simple Life Together.