This week, let’s tackle some of those tasks around the home and office that we don’t get around to doing.

I’m specifically choosing Quick and Easy tasks so that you can build up some momentum and feel good about getting things done.

What gets you motivated?

Is it MUSIC? Then put on some 80′s tunes to get yourself energised.

Is it COMPETITION? Then challenge yourself and see how many of the tasks you can accomplish in an hour.

Is it being ACCOUNTABLE? Then post a comment telling me what you’re going to do and come back to tell me when it’s done!

Is it SOCIAL INTERACTION? Then make a coffee date with a friend, but ONLY once you’ve done an hour’s organising.

Is it reaching a GOAL? Then reward yourself once you’ve done all the tasks.

Right! So now that we know what motivates you, let’s get to it!

In the home

1. Declutter and sort through all the old magazines. Tear out the articles and toss the rest.
2. Organise your launch pad – that place in your home where you DUMP things when you walk in the door.
3. Collect all the clothes you need to dry-clean, declutter or get mended.
4. Clear off the front of your fridge. Toss the magnets and recipes you’re never going to use.
5. Throw away any old food in your fridge and freezer, and give the surfaces a good wipe down.

And now for some…

Office organising

1. Do your filing.
2. Collect all the bills and invoices from around the home and schedule the payment dates in your planner.
3. Shred any junk mail with your name on it.
4. Organise your desk.
5. Delete 100 emails from your Inbox and Sent Items. There are lots of tips and tricks in 7 easy steps to organise your office

Whatever you manage to do, give yourself a pat on the back!

The best-selling Organise your home ecourse has literally helped people ALL over the world. Are you next?

I really need some motivation – in your opinion, which is the easiest room to start organizing?

Lisa from Alabaster, Alabama (USA)

I wonder if you’ll agree with my answer:

I say start with the room that bothers you the most.

Why?

• most people have higher motivation for this room than for any other
• you’ll instantly feel better when that room is done
• you’ll have momentum to organise the rest of your home

With the Organise your Home ecourse, we do just that – tackle one room at a time until your whole home is organised and you’re a happy camper again.

Usually people see big results even after week 1.

Just one of your ideas has been worth the price of the e-course alone! Everyone in the family is so excited by it.

Thank you so much – this has really been money well spent, and I really look forward to the rest of your emails every week!

Fran Kerrigan
Hartford, WI

I’ve been posting some tiny little organising projects that I’ve done in my home over the last couple of weeks.

I had a few (very polite ) comments and emails about how people couldn’t see much difference in the two pictures, which actually warmed my heart.

Because it means my house IS still running like a well-oiled machine, despite the madness that is the twins!

So I thought I’d write about the most important organising step ever – maintenance.

This is how you know if you have a problem with maintenance:

• you can get a place looking nice and orderly but within days (or weeks) it’s a big mess again
• your space is organised but you can’t remember what’s actually in there so your stuff starts piling up in other areas
• you’re too scared to use the organised space in case it gets messy again
• etc
• etc

Coming back to the posts, actual organising of a space should really only happen once, maybe twice a year, or if circumstances change. Like when we had to convert our guest bedroom to the twins’ bedroom. (Now I actually think they need their own bedrooms but that’s another story altogether!)

But maintenance of a space happens all the time.

And it should happen more often the more people use the space.

Something like my bookshelf is only used by me so really shouldn’t get that disorganised if I’m disciplined enough to keep putting books back where they belong.

And therefore only 5 books were decluttered

But a space like my Tupperware cupboard gets small tweaks of about 10 – 20 seconds a time a couple of times a week because 5 people use that space regularly.

Do you see the difference?

I said all that to say this: your system hasn’t failed if you have to constantly make small tweaks to your organising.

This week’s organising challenge

1. Choose one or two already organised areas in your home (a drawer, surface space, shelf, etc.) and go maintain.
2. It shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes each.

Which areas are you going to work on?

P.S. Remember I was looking for someone to do a button for me? Check out my gorgeous new Organise your Home button here.

Do you remember my three desks?

I decided to get rid of the white metal one to make more space in the guest bedroom/ study.

Which meant I had to declutter some of my books yet again.

After
front

and side views

this bag with 5 books is all that was actually decluttered – the rest is pure organising which goes to show

you don’t have to be scared that you have to get rid of your stuff if you want to
organise your home

Leave a comment and let me know how you did this week.

The Organise your Home ecourse is a step-by-step system delivered in bite-sized pieces so you will NEVER feel overwhelmed. You even get an audio of me teaching you how to organise your space.

Tons of people have been through this system; are you next?

This is the entry I received from Jenny’s clutter

Isn’t that great? Read amongst the fun and you’ll see the serious effects of the clutter…

So without any further ado, here’s Jenny’s first post.

As soon as I saw Marcia’s contest for her 12-week Organise Your Home E-course, I knew I had to win.

My name is Jenny. I am a stay-at-home-mom with a wonderful husband. I live in Colorado. I love Jesus. And I am the most unorganized person I know.

I seem to be in a perpetual state of overwhelm. When I was growing up I had to share a bedroom with my very organized sister. We nearly killed each other! Now that we are adults and friends she sometimes offers to help me organize my house.

We currently have five children living in our home. Our biological son is 6 years old. We adopted two little boys, 8 and 7, just this week. We are also taking care of two foster children; an 8 year old boy and a 2 year old girl. Within the past two years we have had 13 children in our family.

Thankfully not at the same time. I could not even imagine the laundry pile I would have.

1. We have to do a mad dash of cleaning every time company is expected.
2. For those surprise visitors we offer a myriad of excuses for why our living room looks the way it does.
3. We lose things on a regular basis.
4. I often enter a room with the expectation of conquering the clutter, only to become so discouraged that I do an about face and head straight for Facebook or comfort food.

I have learned a lot from Marcia during the past couple of years and this opportunity to go through her Organise Your Home E-course will be life changing.

I am thrilled that I get to be a guest writer on her blog. Not only do I welcome the accountability, but I get to share this experience with all of you!

What would an improvement blog be without a couple of humiliating before pictures?



Is anyone else going through this 12-week course? I’d love to hear how you are doing!

Are you in?

Remember this contest for the Organise your Home system?

Well, it’s finally here.

Our guest blogger starts sharing her journey with us tomorrow and will continue for at least 6 posts

Aren’t you excited?

I know I am – I’m that person at the airport who LOVES people watching. And it’s just the same with homes – I love seeing how other people organise their stuff and which systems they have that could work for me.

So I can’t wait to be a virtual voyeur in Jenny’s home and watch her get her home organised over the next 6 weeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***NB***

I’m going to revive the Friday Declutter Challenge while Jenny’s doing the guest blogging thing so that you can all play along.

Start thinking about a small area you can declutter or organise in your own home and post your intention in the comments to keep you accountable.

I’m also participating so check the comments for my intention!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P.S. The Organise your Home ecourse will only remain at this price up to the end of August. if you were on the fence about this, don’t say I didn’t warn you

Hi everybody

Thanks so much to all 14 of you who entered my competition – I absolutely loved reading your entries and seriously wish I could have all of you guest blog for me.

It was hard, hard work just choosing one winner so I did a little something special for the rest who didn’t win.

If you have not yet received an email from me (with your special something) and you entered, then it means I wasn’t able to find an email address for you either in your comment or on your blog (invited readers only). If this is the case, please email me and I’ll respond

Now, the winner is……Jenny from Shoe Momma.

I’m not going to say too much about Jenny at this point because I want her to introduce herself to my readers in her first post

***************************

Here’s a bit more about the Organise your Home ecourse.

• It’s set out in 12 parts with a 13th bonus one thrown in for free
• covers every section of your home. You work through it section by section in manageable bits so you don’t get overwhelmed.
• you also get the Household Organising File and instructions on how to set yours up
• free email support for the 12 weeks
• and much more

I’ll be posting the winner in about 24 hours’ time. It’s so difficult because everybody wrote such compelling entries *sigh*

It’s been 6 months since I held this type of contest and I think it’s about time we did one again. Don’t you agree?

So who has a disorganised home?

I’m looking for someone who would like and could use my Organise your Home e-course.

If you’re chosen, I’ll give you one for free and in turn, I’ll need you to be my guest blogger and do at least 6 posts – one post before, at least 4 room posts, and 1 post after to say how you’ve changed, etc… – which I will use for the 4 weeks in August and 2 in September when the babies are born.

See? Win-win

I did the same thing at the beginnning of the year and chose Anne as my guest blogger for the Office Organising Makeover which worked out really well because then I was in the throes of extreme pregnancy fatigue!

Let me tell you a little bit about the e-course… in case you don’t feel like clicking the picture to go read about the great results others have and are getting.

• It’s set out in 12 parts with a 13th bonus one thrown in for free
• covers every section of your home. You work through it section by section in manageable bits so you don’t get overwhelmed.
• you also get the Household Organising File and instructions on how to set yours up
• free email support for the 12 weeks
• and much more

This is how you enter

Send an email to marcia AT takechargesolutions.org or leave a comment telling me

• a little bit about yourself – married/not, children, what you do (SAHM/ WAHM/ works full-time), etc. (just because I’m nosy )
• which areas of your house need the most help
• if you have your own blog (this is not a requirement)
• why you want to do this

Entries close at midnight EST on Saturday 4th July.

Let the games begin!

And the winner of the Organise your home e-course is….

Amanda

who said…

I’d choose the organizing your home one. i’ve been trying to declutter my house since your declutter challenge last summer

The Organise your Home e-course will help you get your entire home organised in just 12 weeks.

The price is going up tomorrow – this is the last day to get it at the current price of $27.