Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Staying organized can be hard. Whether you hate cleaning, get too busy with work or family obligations to prioritize it, or simply struggle with clutter, being more organized and maintaining a tidy home is easier than ever thanks to lifestyle influencer Holly Blakely.

She shared her super simple trick to stay organized called the 1-Percent Rule. "The 1% rule is especially helpful this time of year when it’s easier to feel overwhelmed with lists to check off. Put aside the list and JUST do ONE small thing to make your home (and head) 1% better," she wrote in the caption of the Instagram post.


In the video, Blakely organizes a number of things in her home: putting away shoes in her closet, going through paperwork and office supplies, creating labels for storage bags, picking up her kids' toys, and even arranging flowers. Essentially, the 1-Percent Rule is all about avoiding feeling overwhelmed by putting too many actual tasks or too much expectation on yourself to get a long list of things done. Instead, it's all about keeping things simple–and making realistic goals that will spur you into action rather than freeze mode.

Besides having an organized home, your nervous system will also be calmer thanks to your organized surroundings, Blakely adds. "That might mean simply making your bed, or recycling a mail pile…Maybe emptying the dishwasher or hanging 1 jacket. Maybe putting a flower in a vase or wiping down the counter. Maybe simply tossing a pair of socks with holes or untangling a cord. But it just has to be one thing each day," she writes in the post's caption.

Blakely's 1-Percent Rule is also backed up by science. By breaking down 'big' goals into smaller ones, it increases motivation and enhances momentum to get things done once you actually accomplish small things. "At first glance, breaking down a bigger goal into smaller pieces might seem like a superficial ‘reframing trick.’ In actuality, it is a versatile goal-setting strategy that you can apply to almost any target,” an article by five leading behavioral scientists in Scientific American explained.

She ends her caption essentially explaining the same theory. "It’s a simple action that triggers a change in your head. It’s a simple action that makes your home 1% better. I used to use this rule years and years ago when working with children on the spectrum. Simplifying into small victories creates a big internal shift. So especially this time of year, go easy, give yourself some grace and remember that it just takes one little action."

And the video got lots of positive responses from her followers. "I love this!!! I've been learning I don't have to get everything done in one day and to just breath 🫶🏽💕," one wrote. Another commented, "Yes!! I am here for this and practice this. It makes such a difference. It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing approach. This is a great reminder 🤍✨." One more viewer added, "True, this 1% approach helps in many aspects of life 😍."

More For You

Adele invites two random girls on stage and is stunned when she sees them
Cover Image Source: Reddit

Adele invites two random girls on stage and is stunned when she sees them

Adele has a reputation for creating unforgettable moments on stage, but even she wasn't prepared for this one. During a concert in 2016, the British singer-songwriter invited two young girls from the audience to join her. What started as a sweet interaction quickly turned into a jaw-dropping surprise when she suddenly realized who they were.

In a fan-recorded video shared on YouTube by Fabianvdw, Adele is seen greeting the two girls with warm hugs before asking their names and where they were from. But when she looked out into the crowd and spotted their father, everything fell into place. In complete disbelief, she gasped, "Oh, my god! No way! I knew you when you were babies!" Turning to the audience, she exclaimed, "Her mum plays for me; she plays the cello. You were like two weeks old when I first saw you."

Keep ReadingShow less
group of kids dancing in black shirts and jeans

Never say never.

Photo by Rainier Ridao on Unsplash

Dance teacher gives encouraging speech to young girl who was told she'd never be a professional dancer

Encouraging kids to pursue their dreams and goals is a powerful catalyst to see them go for it. With the right people in your corner, anything can seem possible. Without them or the encouragement, though, it can be dream crushing. And if kids are explicitly told they will never accomplish those dreams, it can be a nail in the coffin.

For Kim McSwain, owner of KM Agency Dance School, she turned one of her own mistakes from the past into a moment to help one of her students, Zoe, go for her dance dream. McSwain shared an emotional video of her encouraging one of her dancers to pursue her dream of becoming a professional after she was told she would never be one. In the caption, she wrote, "We want all of our kids to grow up and be what they want to be 💕."

Keep ReadingShow less
United States Post Office at night

Sweet story delivery!

Photo by Joe Han on Unsplash

Woman with Down syndrome named Grace, 26, befriends favorite postman named Will

The most unlikely friendships can develop in the most unlikely places. For best friends Will and Grace (yep, just like the namesake NBC sitcom, Will & Grace), that place was their local post office.

Grace, a 26-year-old with Down syndrome, is an artist and entrepreneur who owns a small business called Candidly Kind. She started in March 2018 when she was a senior in high school after she was mistreated and turned down for a job. "Her mission since day one has been to spread light, love, and acceptance, and to give back to help people with disabilities," her mom Carrie explains in an Instagram video. With frequent packages to mail to her customers, Grace began making trips to her local post office, where she met Will, a postman working there who quickly became her favorite.

Keep ReadingShow less
Cybersecurity experts now say complex passwords do more harm than good
Representative Cover Image Source: Pexels | Antoni Shkraba

Cybersecurity experts now say complex passwords do more harm than good

For years, we've been told that long, complicated passwords—filled with random letters, numbers, and special characters—are the key to keeping our accounts secure. But new guidelines from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) suggest that this approach is outdated—and may actually make you less safe.

Instead of hard-to-remember combinations, experts now recommend using simpler, more memorable passwords that don’t require frequent changes, according to QBE European Operations.

Keep ReadingShow less
buzz lightyear, asl, sign language

Buzz Lightyear surprises Deaf and hard of hearing kids with sign language at Disney Land.

Wikipedia

Buzz Lightyear surprises deaf boy at Disneyland by communicating in sign language

When Estefani and Oscar (@thatdeaffamily), Deaf first generation Mexican-Americans, recently took their two children (their Deaf daughter, Everlyn, and Hard of Hearing son, Jabez) to Disneyland, they got the surprise of a lifetime. While saying hi to Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story, he recognized that they were communicating with each other with American Sign Language (ASL).

To their delight, he stopped them and began to communicate in sign language. "Buzz Lightyear having a 'wait, they can sign?' moment 😆🥰," she captioned the post.

Keep ReadingShow less