Vanessa Hayes is a podcast host, public speaker, and professional organizer, but she’s also a busy woman just like the rest of us. In this episode she shares her tips for maintaining margin and living intentionally.
Life is Best Lived with Intention, Focus, and Simplicity
21st-century living seems to be more complicated, fast-paced, and demanding than ever, and it’s easy to get caught up in trying to do everything, be everything–which is exhausting (and impossible). So how do you get off the 21st-century hamster wheel and make the meaningful life you’ve dreamed of?
Vanessa and I talk about how her family builds their life around the “5 pillars”: faith, family, fitness, finances, and freedom. Everything they take on has to fit in with and promote/advance one of those pillars.
We also talk about taking the time to think deeply about what matters most to you, and how to create a life that’s consistent with your priorities. Vanessa urges us to:
Begin with the end in mind: What do you want your life to look like? What do you want your space to look like? And if you are clear on that, it is so much easier to fill in the gaps or edit what doesn’t belong.”
Don’t miss the rest of Vanessa’s thoughtful, smart, practical suggestions for living life intentionally and with focus on the things that really matter.
For more info about some of the topics Vanessa and I discussed, I recommend these episodes of Simple Life Together, the podcast she hosts with her husband Dan:
- 4 Direction Ideation Tool episode
- About Us and our 5 Pillars episode
Resources Vanessa Loves
Books
- Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder
- Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
- The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right
Podcasts and Blogs
- Mike Vardy at The Productivityist – blog and podcast
- Smart and Simple Matters – podcast
- Becoming Minimalist – blog
- Laura Stack, the Productivity Pro – blog and podcast
Tools and Apps
- Evernote
- Dropbox
- the ScanSnap family of scanners, such as: Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 Scanner for PC and Mac (PA03656-B005)
- the Google suite of services — Drive, Calendars, and Gmail
- 1Password password manager to protect your digital identity
- Boomerang for Gmail lets you take control of when send and receive email
Sources for Professional Organizing Help Near You
Vanessa’s Bio:
Vanessa Hayes is a Certified Professional Organizer® and owner of Get Simplifized, a San Antonio, Texas-based professional organizing company. She is 1 of only 3 certified professional organizers in San Antonio (only 370 worldwide). She specializes in helping busy professionals and parents live simpler lives at work and at home by creating organizing systems and streamlining procedures to be more productive.
She also co-hosts Simple Life Together, a podcast dedicated to leading a simple life in the modern world. The show currently has listeners in 154 countries and was a finalist for the 2013 Podcast Awards in the “Education” and “People’s Choice” categories.
Vanessa also hosts a popular YouTube channel and Pinterest page, and has been featured on Lifehacker’s “Ask An Expert” series, Apartment Therapy, HGTV.com, and other leading simplicity blogs and podcasts.
Vanessa and her co-host (in life and on the Simple Life Together podcast) Dan regularly speak together at various conferences and panels sharing their passion for organization and simplicity. Vanessa serves on the Board of Directors for The Board of Certification for Professional Organizers (BCPO) and on the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) Conference Committee.
Aside from simplicity and organizing, Vanessa is passionate about her fitness and camping with her family in their teardrop camper. You can learn more about Vanessa at GetSimplifized.com or SimpleLifeTogether.com.
Pick up a copy of Vanessa’s book!
Connect with Vanessa
- On her website
- Find her social media channels there
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