New Year, New You!  Isn't that what we are all working towards?  This year I am striving to be happier.  I am doing more things for me and learning to say no.  I am also working to reduce my stress.  One of my biggest stressors is keeping my home clean and organized.  If you too struggle with the stress of cleaning and organizing, I have five simple strategies to make it less stressful and increase your happiness.

 This post contains affiliate links.  Should you choose to join, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.  I received my set at 50% off regular price in exchange for this post, but all words and opinions are 100% my own.

Make Your Own Wrinkle Release Spray

As a teacher, I have to be well-dressed most days when I head to work (Fridays are jean day and less formal). To reduce my stress, I set my clothes out the night before.  However, since my clean laundry tends to sit in baskets for several days, my clothes are usually in less than pristine condition.  

Just to be clear: I DO NOT iron anything.  I own just one piece of clothing that MUST be iron, and my husband is kind enough to iron my linen pants for me several times a year.

This is why I have a beautiful relationship with wrinkle release spray; it allows me not stress about my clean laundry sitting in baskets for days and makes prepping my clothes for work stressful.

Less stress=More happiness in my house

However, this spray can be pricey, so I make my own.  It is simple and quick.

1/4 Cup of Fabric Softener

1 1/2 Cups of Water

Shake to Mix

Spray on Clothes and Pull out Wrinkles

Hang to Dry

I keep in a glass spray bottle that I got from Grove Collaborative.

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Pitch It

As we have established, happiness for me come when I am less stressed.  Clutter in my house is a major stressor for three of the four of us.  Our youngest has not yet gotten on board with a clutter-free room.  This is why pitching the clutter is a happiness maker in our house.

If we no longer need it or use it, we get rid of it.  The items end up either in the trash or in our donation box.  The fewer stray items and more empty space in my home make me happy.

The current focus of my Pitch It campaign is the magazine baskets, yes we have multiple, that are overflowing.  Wish me luck.

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Create a Cleaning Calendar

Several years ago I read a book called The Together Teacher, which talked about using a brain dump and master to-do list, so you have less to remember.  I found that this is not just good teacher advice, but it is great life advice. 

This is where my Google Calendar comes in.  I actually schedule my cleaning tasks on my calendar.  I love that I can set up cleaning tasks for certain days and have them repeat.

Some of my cleaning tasks on my calendar include:

Clean Downstairs Bathroom

Wash Mattress Pads

Vacuum Off Sofa

Dust Living Room

Declutter Bathroom Cabinets

Now I no longer have to remember when I last dusted, washed the windows, or laundered the curtains because my calendar lets me search if I want, but it reminds me if I don't.

The Google Calendar Mobile App also has a fabulous goal-setting feature, which is perfect for large projects.  I currently have my magazine project and cleaning out our junk room basement bedroom as goals.  My phone finds time in my schedule every week for me to work on these tasks.

Not only can I not worry about forgetting a cleaning task, but I can enjoy my time knowing that I have sections of time blocked out for my larger home projects.

Try a cleaning calendar, it is a stress-relief to just create it.

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Enlist the Help of Others

If you family is anything like mine, they don't see cleaning or organizing projects that need to be done around the house.  However, this does NOT exempt them from having to help out.

I DO NOT consider my family helping out around the house the same thing as chores.  Chores are special projects that my kids can do for extra money (cleaning out the car is an example of a chore).  I have been telling them and my husband for years that helping out around the house is just part of being a family.

But how do I get them to help out if they don't see the projects?

I simply give them all tasks they can handle and no more than two at a time.

The 9-year-old is responsible for:

Unloading the Dishwasher

Feeding and Watering the Cat

Emptying Trash Baskets

The 16-year-old is responsible for:

Washing Laundry

Vacuuming the Upstairs

Matching Socks

Helping Fold Laundry

The Husband is responsible for:

Changing the Cat Litter

Meal Prep

Anything Involving Powertools

Heavy Lifting

Watering the Plants

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Do you know what else makes me happier?  Not having to EVER shop for cleaning supplies, NEVER running out of my favorite products, and ALWAYS using effective natural cleaners.

I bet you want to know how I make this magic happen.

Subscribe to Grove Collaborative

All my home cleaning products I order online from Grove or make myself. 

Grove carries only the best natural cleaning products, which they ship right to your door.  The prices are better than in my small town grocery store, and they are always adding new products.  Every month I get my dishwasher tabs, toilet cleaner, face scrub, and drier sheets delivered right to my door.  They also have fabulous items for the home.

Grove is where I ordered this adorable Bubble Up Dish Scrubber.  (Currently $12.95)

How could you not be happy doing dishes with this?

This week my readers are eligible for a fabulous offer when the sign up for Grove Collaborative.

*Please note that they currently do not ship to Canada, Hawaii, or Alaska

I recently got out my Mrs. Meyer's peppermint dish and hand soap set.  It really does make me happier when I in the kitchen scrubbing the pans.

You too can save your sanity this new year by not worrying about running out of drier sheets.  You too can be happier this year by knowing that you are making healthy choices for your family and the environment.

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 I hope you can add at least one of these strategies to your New Year routine.

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How do you make yourself happier?

Christmas Vacation for teachers means rest, relaxation, and reading.  I always look forward to being able to pick up some books to read for pleasure without that teacher guilt.  This short break allowed me to devour The Wish by Beverly Lewis, The Addicted Trilogy by S. Nelson, Amelia Earhart: Beyond the Grave by W.C. Jameson, and Unshakable by Angela Watson.

This post contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated by the company at no cost to you if you purchase through my links.

I covered the breadth of genres covering fiction, biography, self-help, and non-fiction texts.

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The Wish by Beverly Lewis

As a long-time fan of Beverly Lewis, I had to try The Wish.  I appreciate this new novel because I really wasn't sure what direction it was going or how it was going to end when I started it. Leona and Gloria are two characters with depth and a dynamic relationship.  I was so anxious to see how the tale would turn out that I couldn't put it down.

Two days ago I was offered a different teaching position at a neighboring school district. I have been at my current job since 2009. Before that, I was unemployed after being laid off in 2008 due to budget cuts after five years at that district. I began my teaching career at a small, rural charter school for arts and technology.

Twice in my career, I have had a job that I was comfortable with and been offered another position. These decisions are the hardest to make because you are comfortable and know the position you are in, and while the new job may be more money, better benefits, or some other wonderful offer, there is a lot to consider before leaving what you know to jump into the unknown.

I have interviewed for seven full-time teaching jobs in my career and been offered four of them. In addition, I have interviewed for a part-time teaching position and a full-time administrative position.

The end of 2016 is upon us, and I am taking some time to reflect back on all my little blog has accomplished this year.  I bought my domain, gave my template a big make-over, and have grown as a writer.  In honor of that, I wanted to share with you Kovescence of the Mind's top 6 posts of 2016 in hopes that you will find some useful teaching tips to take you into 2017.

The Best Shoes and Socks for Teachers

Since teachers spend such a large part of their day on their feet, we need to take care of them.  Don't undervalue the importance of great socks and shoes in 2017.

The Best Teacher Advice I was Ever Given

Everyone loves to give education advice, and being able to weed out what is useful and what is not useful is an important skill.  Here I share the MOST useful advice I have ever received on teaching.

The Ten-Minute Inservice Book Study

All teachers need quick tips to improve their classroom and instruction.  This book study reviews a book full of those kinds of tips and tricks.

School Counselor Takes on the Marine Educator's Workshop

Our school counselor wrote this guest post for us after he returned from a week-long professional development experience with the Marine Corps.  This is a program they run every year.

10 Items to Teach Shakespeare Like a Pirate

Now that I am teaching English 9, I will get to do Shakespeare twice this year.  See how I channel my inner pirate and Dave Burgess (who shared and commented on this post) to teach A Midsummer Night's Dream.

5 Back to School Tips for the Secondary Classroom

While this isn't August/September back-to-school time, we are headed back for a new semester.  Each of my five tips is perfect for January Back-to-School season.

I was recently looking back at my goals for the 2015-2016 school year, and one was to embrace some elementary teaching methods in my secondary classroom.  One of the ways I did this was with anchor charts.  I had a few in 2014 and even fewer the year before.  Now my classroom walls are as useful to my students as the furniture and supply bins.

I have made, re-made, thrown out, moved and crafted many anchor charts over the years, but here I have seven of my favorites for you.

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Real Reading vs. Fake Reading

Some would argue that by high school, especially by 11th and 12 grade, students should not nee to be told what real reading is.  However, I find that is not the case.  I post this visual reminder and review it regularly; redirection is also as easy as pointing at the chart.

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Revision vs. Editing

This is my most often referenced anchor chart; it has a prominent place located at the top right of my front whiteboard.  As part of our weekly journal writing, we spend one day revising our writing from the week.  Just last week I asked students to explain the differences on their midterm exam.

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Daily Journal Expectations

I am not really sure why it took me so long to make this anchor chart because every year I get question after question about our daily writing.  I am thinking about actually making this a little sticker and having them put it in their notebooks, so they have the directions right in front of them. 

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Lay vs. Lie

To be totally honest, this anchor chart started out to be for my own benefit, but the students use it just as often as I do.  I have debated recreating it to add: Lie- meaning to fib.

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Literature Discussion

I haven't held as many literature discussions this year as I had hoped, but here is to second semester being better than first semester.  Having a visual for students when they are participating in graded discussion is helpful.  In addition, my less outgoing students benefit from having sentence starters to help them form contributions to the discussion.

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Literature Annotation

Annotation of both fiction and nonfiction texts has been a movement of my buildings for the last year or so.  There are lots of annotation charts out there, but I felt they weren't ever exactly what I wanted, so I created my own.  We will keep practicing to get this where it needs to be.

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A Lot

The last one is probably the most simple.  It is also a nod to my seventh-grade English teacher, Mrs. Lieblier, who passed away too young.  She was the person who taught me that 'a lot' is two words; she had 'a' on one side of her board and 'lot' on the other.  Simple but effective.  Just the constant visual reminder and large space in between were enough to help me remember, so I use it myself now.

I would love to know what anchor charts you have in your classroom.