Ep 16 | Stress Free Holiday Joy with Amanda Jefferson

Amanda Jefferson, KonMari Consultant, shows us how to Delegate, Defer, Diminish, and Delete our way to a stress free holiday season.

Our guest, Amanda Jefferson, is a certified KonMari Consultant who serves the western suburbs of Philadelphia. After a successful 20 year career in academia, corporations, and non-profit leadership, Amanda now channels her passion for helping others by creating homes that are peaceful, stress-free and efficient.

In this episode, you'll learn how to navigate the holidays using the 4 Ds. Amanda also shares tips on how to manage paper organization with three simple tools. This episode is less about getting more done and more about having less to do!

To connect with Amanda, visit www.indigoorganizing.com and follow her on Instagram @indigo_organizing.

Spark Joy wants to hear from you! Tell us your burning tidying questions or share stories about how KonMari has impacted your life. Find us at www.sparkjoypodcast.com and email us at [email protected] to leave a question or comment for a chance to be featured on next week’s show. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter via @sparkjoypodcast.

In this episode, you’ll enjoy:

• How a mid-life crisis that Amanda lovingly named a "Creative Renaissance" led Amanda to shift gears to professional organizing

• How tackling the "Paper" KonMari category made Amanda want to run and hide

• How career threads such as helping people, making operations more efficient, and an interest in positive social psychology and energy/time management tie into her KonMari practice

• How to apply the Four Ds to declutter your holiday experience and fill it with joy: Delegate, Defer, Diminish, and Delete

• Amanda's Worksheet: Getting from Stress to Joy with the 4Ds

• Ways you can spark conversations that change traditions and shift attention to fewer better things and more experiences

• The three tools you need to manage all of your paper

• Apps that incorporate a scan feature: Google Drive , Evernote , Dropbox

• How to make paper management fun by finding office supplies that spark joy

• Independent scanner apps: Tiny Scan , Genius Scan , CamScanner

Amanda's favorite tidying tip: Keeping things bite-sized. Set a timer for 1 hour and dive into one category (or subcategory)

What sparks the most joy for Amanda: Making Chatbooks - Photo books for people that don't have time to do photo books

Gems:

"Having a home that runs efficiently is really the difference between sanity and total burn out."

"If your friends think you're crazy, you're doing something right."

Delegate: "Make all of your holiday meals potluck."

Defer: "Send New Years cards instead of holiday cards."

Diminish: "Don't go all out with holiday decor. Buy a simple wreath and set white lights on a timer."

Delete: "Don't exchange gifts as adults. Only exchange gifts for the children."

"There should be a very, very high bar for an actual sheet of paper that stays in your home."

"What is the action associated with this piece of paper?"

"When in doubt, scan."

You can find Karin Socci at The Serene Home
You can find Kristyn Ivey at For the Love of Tidy

Special Guest: Amanda Jefferson.