Your goals form for Feb is ready over at my site. If you’re already signed up, you will have received the form this morning. Otherwise, when you sign up, it will be delivered to you in the welcome pack.

Happy planning

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On Saturday morning I tried to squeeze something into a cupboard and when it wouldn’t fit, I  just lost it.

I then chucked out stuff like crazy.

Why do I have four huge plastic salad bowls when I only ever use at most two at a time?

I use these ones for baking when it’s a 3 cups of flour or more recipe too, and of late, for my sweet and savoury snack mixes.

And that’s how it went.

 

I had a pile big enough for two grocery carrier bags on my table and told Nester (our cleaning lady) to please help herself to it all. Or otherwise, to toss!

I’ve been seriously decluttering and organising for just over 6 years now, as long as we’ve been in this house and it was my stinginess that started it.

I actually considered getting a kitchen cupboard built to house all my extra stuff and when they quoted me R5000-odd in those days, I nearly fainted.

But I did have an aha – those things I wanted stored weren’t nearly worth R5000 so why would I pay for storage to house rubbish that I probably wasn’t using anyway.

Let that be some inspiration for you!

What do you need to clear out this week?

 

PS Organise your home will help kick-start your decluttering journey.

I only bought my 2012 diary (planner) on 1 December!

I do believe this is the latest I’ve bought my diary in about 5 years.

It’s a combination of not getting to the shops with enough time to have a good old browse and just not seeing something that jumped out at me and said, “YES!”

While I liked the A5 size I had this year, I found half of it went unused because I just don’t have as many appointments as I did in years past.

Effectively I was only using the notes section and a tiny portion of the week-at-a-glance.

So for next year I’ve gone even smaller (A6) in a gorgeous teal Italian leather. I’m super-tactile so I already can’t stop touching it.

It’s still a week-at-a-glance format with notes paper on the right but it somehow feels less overwhelming to me.

It’s from Legami, by the way.

And whenever I write a post like this, all of you very helpful readers tell me I should use online tools.

People, I’m a paper gal – years ago I kept trying to be an electronic person (and I’d stop being effective because of trying to use various online tools that didn’t work for me). Now I’ve fully embraced that I need to organise my life on paper.

If this is speaking to someone out there, embrace your paper-loving self.

 

Have you bought your diary yet?

 

 

I’ve just come back home after having been out with some girlfriends and realised I still needed to post for today

Kim says:

I really need to figure out an easy way to STAY organized…apparently all the different ways haven’t worked for me, or I would be organized, right???? I’ve tried, but can’t seem to stay upon it. Not sure what is really going wrong.

Today, I’m taking the easy way out.

If Kim asked you this question, what would you say are your best tips to help her stay organised

When you sign up to my weekly newsletter, you get my free Time Management Purpose Pack and an email that asks you if you have any questions for me.

Mostly I just refer people to specific posts on the blog (as I seem to have covered most of them) but I liked this question I got recently so I thought I’d answer it here.

Kimberley said

I seem to not be able to get rid of things! I often feel emotionally attached to objects/ stuff may need them again!

I love questions that talk to the mindset about organising. I think I spent about half the workshop talking mindset because it is that important.

Remember my definition of clutter is things you don’t love or use (and I think I saw this on Laura’s blog, “that you don’t have the storage for”).

So if you know you should get rid of things and you feel emotionally attached, start asking yourself why you feel that way.

Sit with the question for a couple of days if you must because this is very important and you’re going to breeze through the rest of the organising process if you spend time upfront thinking about these things.

I also want to add that if you feel like rushing through thinking about this, that might be all the more reason for you to really think about your motives…

 

1. Maybe you have some hoarding tendencies because you didn’t have much money at some point in your life?

Ask yourself if you really, honestly couldn’t get x again if you needed it.

2. Maybe you’re hanging onto things because they’re from special people in your life?

Remind yourself that the thing does not define the special person. They don’t love you more because you hung onto the ugly vase

3. Maybe you’re hanging onto things because they remind you of special times?

I wrote about sentimental organising here. So… take a pic and let the item go.

Two questions for my readers:

Do you have hoarding tendencies?
How do you make it easier to let go?

Sherry Smith says:

I need help figuring out a home for things.

I look at something, don’t have a clue where it should go, so I end up leaving it where it sat and in my best Scarlett O’Hara say “I will worry about that tomorrow.”.

 

Sherry, I love your question!

My good friend, Suzanne, used to say something I love, love, LOVE.

“Don’t put it down; put it away”

I have another saying which is indecision = clutter.

I honestly believe it takes about 10 seconds longer to put something away than to just dump it but the benefits are immeasurable.

These are my ideas for you:

For things you don’t yet have in your home, first think about where you will put them before you even allow them access.

Yes, things need to earn the privilege of remaining in your home.

In the store or if someone wants to pass on things to you, if you can’t think of a place where they will go, don’t buy or accept those things.

It’s hard the first couple of times but then becomes easier as you realise that there’s less to clean and organise

For current things, I like to store them where I use them.

• children’s toys in our sun room – that’s where they play
• children’s books in their bedroom – that’s where they read
• phone chargers in a container in the kitchen – I charge phones while cooking
• and so on

Of course ALL of this “finding a home” business is a lot easier if you don’t have an overflow of stuff to start off with.

So if you feel overwhelmed, then step one is to declutter.

Readers, do you agree? Disagree? Any other suggestions for Sherry?

  Alicia Motyka says:

Why do you think it is easier for some to organize more than others? I LOVE organizing and thrive on the sense of accomplishment when I’m finished. But I have a number of friends who always say they want to be more organized and ask how I do it. What do you say to others that wonder why they’re not organized? Is it their personality, habits or something else?

Great question, Alicia.

I do think there are some of us who naturally crave a more organised space than others due to our personalities.

Those would be the J’s on Myers Briggs.

I’m an ESTJ and I know I need to have order in my surroundings in order to function effectively.

BUT…. and this is a big but…

I personally know TONS of people who are not “naturally” organised but have learnt over the years to set up and maintain systems that work for them, and are now quite happily organised.

You see, organising is a skill set and anyone can learn how to get organised.

I explain the process in detail in the Organise your home system. Please DON’T pay full price if you click through – use your discount code that you get when you signed up for the TMPP.

I also think that people need 3 things to get and stay organised:

1. motivation
2. know-how
3. accountability and support

Maybe your friends are lacking one or more of these 3 components.

Readers, what do you think?

Are you naturally organised? What is your MBTI? (that’s just to satisfy my curiosity!) Do you agree with my 3 parts to getting organised?

I’ve had some queries about the next organising workshop.

Well, last night’s one was the last for this year.

If you’d like to get access to the handbook and recordings, you can still do so here.

Thanks, as always, for your support.

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I used to think there was no such thing as too organised.

I was wrong – I have met Over-Organised and it is not a pretty sight!

Before I get ahead of myself, let me ask you, “Why do you organise?”

Generally, people organise their lives to save time, save money, for a feeling of peace and harmony in their homes, etc.

So if your organising is costing you these things, especially peace and harmony, then I say you’re over-organising.

Let me give you some examples:
1. If your stuff has to be just so and your husband and kids can’t leave a thing out of place otherwise the Mommy Monster comes out, then you’re over-organising.

2. If you spend hours categorising and making folders and sub-folders in your inbox, and it takes you 15 minutes to find anything because you have to remember exactly how you filed it, then you’re definitely over-organising!

Remember, the point of being organised is to save time.

So avoid complicated systems that you and your family can’t use easily.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Are you over-organised? Even in just one or two areas…

What are you going to do about it?

When you write a blog like this one, it’s very much a labour of love.

And when you get very little feedback from people you sometimes think you’re not impacting anyone.

After all, there are so many blogs with more perfect pics, tons of comments, better this and that, and whatnot.

(okay, that’s not all hypothetical – that’s all me)

So imagine my sheer pleasure when I received a lovely email today about how a post I wrote last week is making a difference in this lady’s life.

Here is her email:

I want to thank you today for all the inspirational blog posts you do. And not even just those, just being inspirational yourself.

(I considered editing this first paragraph out but darn it, I need some encouragement so in it stays!)

Last night I came home and cracked. I cracked because of how cluttered my home is. I am the only one at home who tries to keep everything organized all the time. When everyone comes home, everyone is always too tired for anything and I have to pick up everything and tidy up. So I cracked.

I realized that the only way to make life simpler for myself at home, is to declutter. The post you did about magazine boundaries came to mind immediately.

“When things get too much, I need to declutter” You said this in that post

So I knew right there and then what I needed to do. I took a number of refuse bags and started with the children’s rooms. Every little toy that was broken was thrown into that bag. Every toy they don’t play with was thrown in another one which I delivered this morning to the nursery school.

I also went through every cabinet in my home and threw away so much stuff that was either broken or things we never used. It felt so great, Marcia. It felt as if a huge stone was rolled off my shoulders. I can breathe again.

This morning my house was so much more organized, clean and calm.

Thanks for being inspirational.

Blackhuff
Jhb, South Africa

She is TOTAL inspiration in the way she just went for it, isn’t she?

And I love the way she describes how she can breathe now that her house is more organised.

Which feelings does an organised space evoke in you?

I thought I’d share a quick tip with you that will help you to keep your organised space…well, organised.

Boundaries.

For me, this is one of the best ways to keep things under control.

I have one lever arch file folder for my household filing (phone, bond, water and electricity, insurance, credit card, etc.).

When things get too much, I need to declutter as I’m not prepared to create any more space than just that one file.

As for magazines, this is the container I use.

I allow myself just this one basket for any reading material. Ignore the tangled phone extension cord.

If this basket ever becomes too full, I have to go through and declutter it.

Two questions for you:

Do you have organising boundaries like these in your home?

How many magazines do you allow to flow in before they have to flow out?

 

This is just a sample of the tips you’ll receive on the virtual Spring into Organising workshop.

Hmm, bear with me for a moment.

I’ve noticed a trend on a lot of blogs. Or maybe it’s not a trend but is the new way to blog?

I’ve been blogging for 5.5 years and in “the good old days” (I am sooo dating myself), we would just put up pics of our spaces and that was that.

These days everything is so perfect and drool-worthy that it can inspire us, yes, but it can also make us feel less than and unsatisfied with what we have or don’t have.

We always knew there was Martha Stewart but she was Martha, after all. We didn’t have to try and live up to that facade of perfection.

But when real women who stay at home/ work full-time/ etc. have these perfect houses then it feels like there’s no hope.

Yes, they are our issues if we let the comparisons overtake us but I do love it when people are gloriously imperfect and share those parts of their lives with us too.

…….

Remember I featured Allison’s craft room a few months ago.

It is all that I said and more. It always felt real to me, like someone actually lived there.

The other day Allison posted some other pics of her craft room. Let’s just call it life on the other side.

I still think that her space is inspiring because it is still organised (everything has a place, zones, etc.) but go have a look at how a REAL person gets to explore her passions while living life.

My take-out from this space is that you don’t have to wait for conditions to be “perfect” before you start taking action on your dreams and passions.

What’s your biggest take-out?

PS I’m purposefully not posting pics because I want you to click over and read her words.