What's New at Organized Charm

If you've been following this blog for a while, you may have noticed it's been inactive (or veeery sparsely active) for quite a while. 

If you've just landed here for the first time, welcome! I'm Kirsten!

I just wanted to give y'all a little update about what's been going on in my normal life, Organized Charm, and a few little changes:

First- Why Organized Charm only had 8 posts last year:

So, I've been teaching Kindergarten for as long as I've been writing OC posts. However, last year was a drastic change for me because I switched from private schools to public school. And wow, what a difference it was!

If you are a public school teacher, I definitely applaud you because it was SO MUCH MORE challenging than I could possibly have imagined! The meetings, the class sizes, the testing... The paperwork alone was exhausting!

Additionally, I was working in a low-income, urban environment so my class roster was constantly changing. Due to unstable living environments, I had students coming in and leaving throughout the year with no warning... which also made it a really emotional year.

As a teacher, it's really hard to invest your time and energy your students and then just have them disappear one day. It's also difficult to never really have your routines and procedures in place because new students are coming in every week. 

I learned SO much from my experience but I'll definitely save it for a different post!

On to the part that impacted Organized Charm- 

Our particular school had an extended day (7:45-4:30). I can probably count on one hand the number of days that I left "on time". 

On an early day, I left between 5:30-6:00. On a meeting night, my team stayed until the janitor kicked us out at 8:30. Luckily, I LOVED my teaching team because we spent a lot of time together. 

So, unfortunately, there wasn't really a lot of extra time/energy left for posting on Organized Charm or any of its social media outlets. 

If you have an unanswered comment, email, question, or requested post... I am SO sorry! I am currently working to catch up on them all!

Second- The "updated" version of Organized Charm

Another thing that's been difficult about writing is that... I'm not in college anymore. 

So, writing about college-related things and study tips can be kind of difficult the further and further into non-academic life that I get. But don't worry, I'm always one step away from going back to school... again :) I'll still write about school, of course, but I also need to throw in some more "grown up" stuff to keep OC relevant to my life! 

Even though I'm not regularly writing about school and studying anymore, there is already SO MUCH of that content on Organized Charm that I think it's still a good resource for college students! 

I rounded up all of those posts and put them together under the "Organized College" tab at the top of the page. If that page is a little too overwhelming for you, I also broke those posts down into 3 smaller categories:

• New Semester
• Study Tips
• Finals Week

If you've been a reader of OC since Day 1, chances are, you're getting pretty close to graduation!

If that's you, then you may want to start checking out the "Organized Career" tab, which will be updated frequently on job search tips, networking, and other fun "grown-up" things! 

I am really excited to say that I finally have my DREAM job in my DREAM school! So, I will definitely be sharing more tips about finding and starting a new job!

Another thing that is different about OC is that I closed my Etsy store and I am no longer accepting sponsorships and/or sponsored blog posts. 

I REALLY appreciate y'all's support of Organized Charm's Etsy store! And for entering the giveaways, checking out the products, etc.

BUT, you've heard that expression "too many irons in the fire"? 

I mean, I've never actually seen an iron in a fire, but I can certainly make up what I think it means. And what I think it means is that, when you try to do too much, you don't really do any of it well. 

That's kind of how I felt about Etsy. I just didn't have the time to invest what needed to be invested into it. Sponsorships were kind of the same thing. 

I have had the chance to work with some great companies and review some incredible products over the past few years. However, it can be really stressful to keep up with all the deadlines, requirements, etc. that come along with sponsorships. 

I just want OC to be a thing that brings me joy, not another obligation in my already busy life. I am excited to say that I feel like it's fun again! 

Third- Organized Charm around the Social Media Universe

Kind of along the same lines of making blogging fun again, I want to make social media fun again... not another obligation. 

Like everyone, I have platforms that I absolutely love and others that aren't particularly my favorite. So, I've decided that, instead of trying to post everywhere, I'll just post on my favorite platforms and not worry so much about the others!

I tend to be a big fan of platforms that are visual-based because I just want to look at pretty pictures (I mean, who doesn't?)! 

If you're looking for OC's social media accounts that will be used the most frequently, become a follower of these:

• Snapchat
• Pinterest
• Tumblr
• Instagram

If you want to be notified about new posts but not be bombarded with endless photos of my planner and closet organization projects, become a follower of these: 

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Bloglovin'

(Welll... they may still have a few photos of my planner.)

And, of course, you can always follow OC via email/RSS feed by entering your email address in the "Join Our List" box to the right!

You can also still request a post via the Request page! 

Reader requests are my absolute favorite and I am working to queue these posts as quickly as possible! :) 

Thank you SO much!

Thanks for making it to the end of this (lengthy) post!

OC readers are literally the best and I am truly excited to restart this blog and make it more post-grad friendly! :)