1. Do you know how many blogs I have in my Google Reader? 61!

I know this might not seem like much to some of you but I was most comfortable around the 40 mark so 61 is hectic for me. Even though I’ve decluttered 5 this week already.

Remember I work a full-time job, run a very busy part-time business and I’m married and run a household. Add to that cooking, baking and cleaning!

Now I will admit that I do have excellent time management skills but when Beth Dargis told me she cut down from 100 to 50 and her goal is 30, well…that just spurred me into action.

So that’s my tackle for this weekend! Getting my feeds down to 50.

2. Also, a reminder that Beth’s declutter group starts on Monday.

Quit waiting for your home to get decluttered on its own. Get a handle on the clutter in your house by working together, breaking it down and following a simple guide.

Join Certified Family Manager Coach, Beth Dargis of My Simpler Life as she coaches you to enjoy a more serene home.

LIMITED SPACES – Starts Oct 1, 2007

http://www.encouragingcoach.com/programs-decluttergroup.htm

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Tell me, how many feeds do you have in your Google Reader or Bloglines? Do you have a regular maintenance plan?

This is what works for me!

With cereal boxes

With more cereal boxes and cardboard dividers for glasses

The box on the left was a set of fancy teas I received as a gift

And this is my favourite – muffin cases from Woolworths (and ice-cream containers)

I’m so excited – I’ve started selling my beaded bookmarks over here. At the moment, they are all R40 each ($5.70) which includes shipping and handling. (South Africans pay R35 each)

They make great gifts that you can use in books, journals, planners, etc.

Here are a couple of examples but go here for the list as it now stands. I have to finish taking photos and uploading!

Woohoo!

I love decluttering paper. Seriously, it is very satisfying for me to throw paper away. And let’s face it – the less paper you have, the less you have to file.

I don’t believe in expanding to a bigger storage solution unless absolutely necessary. And in most cases, we’re simply too lazy to declutter (because that involves making decisions) so we just get another file, another storage box, another bookshelf for all our clutter.

No, thanks, not for me!

I limit myself to a file binder and when it gets full, I take 15 – 30 minutes to go through and declutter it.

Because I contain the paper, I don’t get overwhelmed with piles and piles of paper and files.

I have a gorgeous pink file where I keep my Business Control Journal and other business stuff (I won’t bore you with all the detail).

When I had to file some paper recently, I noticed that the file was a bit snug (rather like my jeans at the moment ) so I took it and while I was watching TV, I went through the papers quickly and this is all the paper I decluttered. Lovely, isn’t it?

Edited to add: I do recycle the paper when I’m done decluttering

Our church is having a celebration this whole week and we are going every evening (well, I’m skipping one because I have two coaching appointments) so this week is going to be very busy.

So how do I organise things so we still eat a healthy meal? I

1. checked my freezer to see what I had ready
2. worked out how much time I had to do any actual meal preparation
3. did additional shopping
4. cooked some extra meals
5. made up my menu planner (download your menu planner and shopping list here)
6. relaxed my standards in terms of meal fanciness!

So here is my menu for the week:

Monday
Stirfried chicken, rice and veggies

Tuesday
Pasta, salad and focaccia

Wednesday
Baked potatoes with spicy lentil sauce

Thursday
Mince (ground beef) curry, rice and pumpkin

Friday

Pasta salad

How do you organise your business so you can make more money?
Why, you get the Organise your Business system, of course

• 18-page Business Control Journal
• 50-page Organise your Business e-book with templates, forms, everything!

Get organised now!

I publish a weekly tips newsletter and this Wed, I wrote an article on decluttering your clothes.

This is one of the emails I received after I sent it out.

Good morning Marcia,

Thank you for this week’s tips.

I have started with my clothes and I must say, it has been one of the best exercises. I realised how much old clothes I have that I don’t even need, let alone wear.

I feel like the weight on my shoulders has decreased tremendously. I am
very happy because I can see what’s going on in my cupboards.

I also did the kids and Hendrick’s clothes too and he is happy because we can identify stuff that’s missing, if there is any.

Another thing, this exercise has opened a new door. The clothes we did not like, and do not fit us anymore (of course, in good condition), we took to a local orphanage, and the experience was extremely overwhelming….

thanks
Claudia

I’ve always said that I don’t believe in organising just for the sake of things looking pretty (although that helps), but it’s the feeling of peace that being organised brings you.

Claudia gets it, do you?

Get your own weekly tips here.

Plastic envelopes must be one of my absolute favourite organising tools of all time.

1. They are transparent so you can see what you have in them.
2. They have a clip (don’t bother getting the ones with the string because they are just ANNOYING).
3. They are roomy so you can throw in any pens, clippings, envelopes, etc. you’re working on.
4. They are portable so you can take them with you to work or read through in the car, at the hairdresser, etc.

I use them mainly for my projects so I have a number of these on my desk, each with a different purpose.

I seem to have lots of ideas for e-books, courses, etc. so when I’m ready to work on something, I’ll prepare a plastic project envelope. I usually use a post-it note to label the project so that when I’m done, I can just throw it away and I still have a nice-looking envelope (like the green one above) without that horrible sticky stuff that most labels leave behind.

In the top one, you’ll see my latest product that I was working on – the Organise your Business system (this one is mainly to organise your home-based business). I have an e-book in the second one (you can just see the edge of the post-it) and some weekly tips ideas in the third one.

I usually only keep the plastic envelope until the project is complete. Then I toss my rough notes because everything is either in the e-book or on my website.

The coloured polypropylene ones come in a pack of two at Pick & Pay (most things I buy at P&P) for R6.99 (US$1).

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Now allow me the chance to rave about my new, best plastic folders.

These ones are called book bags, they’re made by Croxley and I bought mine at Pick & Pay for R12,99. They are lovely soft plastic, attach with velcro and have a little flap for a name tag/ subject insert.

I’ve been testing this one for the last month and it is lovely and durable. You can see there’s plenty of space for my gorgeous gel pens, flash drive and all the stuff I’m reading and working on.

I’m not getting commission for this, nor have I been asked to review them (why not, Croxley?) – I just really, really love them and they definitely make me do the happy dance!

This is a guest post by my friend, Beth Dargis. Please show her some love in the comments

Tomorrow I’ll be talking about plastic envelopes, another of my favourite organising tools.

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I don’t know about you, but I don’t have time to spend 30 minutes every day planning my day. So, I like to plan a week at a time. Weekly planning also allows for better balance in the week.

I usually do my weekly planning on Sunday afternoons. Friday afternoon and Monday mornings are good times as well.

Here is my step by step weekly plan:

1. Look over emails and see what still needs to be actioned and write it down in a notebook.
2. Gather any papers from around the house/office and put into your inbox. Go through your inbox and process the papers. Any actions go into the notebook.
3. Listen to any voicemails and put actions with phone numbers into notebook.
4. Empty head of any other insights, actions and ideas and put into the notebook.
5. Put any actions from the notebook into iScrybe.com or use whatever task system you prefer. Computer or paper. It’s helpful to keep your tasks in categories like home, office, errands, personal, family, etc.
6. Decide which projects or goals to concentrate on for the week. Keep it simple. Don’t have too many projects and goals at once.
7. Open up calendar – paper or computer. I use Google Calendar : http://www.google.com/calendar/
8. Check last week’s calendar and see if anything needs to be put onto this week’s calendar. Add any appointments for the week.
9. Now add in time for your projects and goals on the calendar.
10. Next add your physical exercise time and at least 15 min of relaxation time a day. Make self-care a priority.
11. Put in a date with a significant other or yourself.
12. Add one on one time with your kids or friends.

Now daily planning is a snap. Check your calendar to see the outline of your day. I like to get appointment reminders sent to my email. Then pick out the 3 most important tasks from your action lists. When those tasks are done, you can pick 1-3 more depending on time.

Enjoy your week and doing your highest priorities.

Beth Dargis helps overwhelmed women create saner, simpler lives. Pick up a free Declutter Calendar at: http://www.encouragingcoach.com/

I recently came across this two-in-one dust pan and bathroom bin at Pick & Pay for about R15. They had them in lime-green (pictured), hot pink, yellow and blue.

I love it because when it stands upright (like in the picture), it is a bin and when I want to sweep the bathroom, I just turn it on its side and it scoops up the dust. I also like that it can fit into my small bathroom’s awkward corner so I use less space.

I’ve had this for a few weeks now and it certainly works for me.

Since I tackled my wardrobe in two parts (on the blog, at least), I thought I’d post the final picture.