I read a post some time ago about a lady who had just returned from her holidays.

She said that’s the first thing she does – download pics from her camera and do a holiday (vacation) post on her blog.

Which got me thinking – what are the things that I do first when I’ve been travelling?

My to-do list goes like this:

1. laundry (I pack a separate bag for dirty laundry so I can toss that in the machine immediately)
2. unpack kitchen stuff and make tea
3. proper unpacking of clothes, etc.
4. kids fed and in bed
5. download and process emails
6. blog
7. photos about 3 months later

What are the things you do first when you get back home after a holiday?

P.S. The giveaway is still open for the Clutter Rehab book.

Would it surprise you that I’ve already started working on my goals for 2011?

I’m not ashamed to say I’m a passionate goal-getter.

I’m the type of person who’s happier taking charge of my life than letting life happen to me.

So I set and achieve goals. I would never have managed to travel as much as I have if I hadn’t consciously set those things as goals.

This is me at Victoria Station in London – I love this pic Dion took of me. What does it say to you?

Here’s how I do my goal-setting, very, very briefly:

1.       I think back over the year that’s been and write down what went well and what didn’t. This could take up to an hour or longer, depending on how the year went.

2.      I then look forward and think about what I want for the year ahead. I really spend time getting clear on my vision, fleshing it out fully. This is also when I think about my ONE word for the year.

3.      Then I take my goals form (in the Time Management Purpose Pack) and in each of the areas of my life, like Family, Health, Spiritual, Business, I write down 1 – 3 broad goals.

4.      I then check each of those goals and make sure they align with my One Word or theme and more importantly, that I’m excited by them and that they feel authentic with who I am. E.g. One of my values is Balance so if I have too many goals, I start to feel out of control and therefore, inauthentic with who I am. So if this happens, I go back to the drawing board to simplify some more.

5.      I also make sure that they are within my control. E.g. with my business, I can only control my actions. Yes, I do set the intention to have x clients bringing in y mo.ney but the things I can control is how much marketing to do, in which ways, how often, etc. I can’t actually control the clients’ behaviour and whether they choose to coach with me or not. Does this make sense?

6.      I then choose 3 – 5 goalsvto work on for the first 90 days, schedule the work and get to it.

7.      I like to add one or two quick wins to get started so that when I achieve those goals, I’m motivated to persevere with the harder ones.

I’ve had the privilege (because I do count it a privilege to work with the wonderful people who coach with me) to work with some women recently and we’ve already been touching on their goals for next year.

I wanted to do something spec.ial for all of you so I’m giving you a 33% disc.ount cou.pon off a 30-minute goal-setting session for the next 72 hours only. Use the disc.ount code GOALS in the shopping cart.

All that means is this – you have to book and pay for your Success Strategy Session by Sat 11^th 12pm EST/ 7pm South African time but the session can be scheduled all the way up to 31 January 2011.

That said, if there’s areally good reason why you can’t have your session by 31 Jan, tell me – we’ll work something out

Are you a goal setter? Have you started for next year? Tell me I’m not the only one!

Two weeks ago I flew to Cape Town and Durban to speak at some Discovery award functions.

I flew in and out the same day which meant lots of time in airports and lots of time on aeroplanes.

Even though my main goal for the day was simply to show up and do an inspiring talk, I found that I actually had exceptionally productive days aside from the talks.

Let me show you what I got done:

On flight

1. Wrote out thank-you cards for the babies’ birthday presents
2. Read 3 ebooks I’d downloaded
3. Reviewed my notes for the talks
4. Planned out my How to say no without feeling guilty teleseminar (If you missed it, I now coach on this topic in 30 and 60-minute segments)

At the airport

1. Responded to all emails
2. Completed this expert interview
3. Returned and made telephone calls
4. Chatted to fellow passengers and tourists still in the country from the Soccer World Cup

The one thing which saved me such a lot of time and energy was using Platinum Parking at OR Tambo airport. Their service truly was fantastic and I will definitely be using them again. No question!

P.S. I’m not being paid to write about Platinum Parking

You know how, when you travel, things aren’t the same as at home???

Well, this is what I did to create some order when we were in Ireland.

I hung a plastic bag on the key to create a wastepaper basket and used this lightweight travel backpack for my socks and underwear.

What do you do to make your stay in other people’s homes easier?

Is it just me or do you do this too?

I used to always look at people and think, “wow! I wish I could be like that”

Not at prettier, skinnier, cleverer people, mind you.

But at people that could travel with just one piece of luggage. I’d stand behind them in the checking in queue at the airport and literally be jealous that they could go on a holiday… to a foreign place….not their home…. with so little!

You might not know this about me but I’m (naturally) a very heavy traveller – I like to be prepared for every eventuality!

When I’d go home from university and my dad collected me, he’d joke and say things like, “only 3 bags?” yet it wasn’t really a joke because that was me!

But now I am FINALLY that person.

Check this out!

A mere 9,8kg of luggage taken all the way to Dublin, Ireland on our recent holiday. No hand luggage except for my handbag.

It did help that I’m pregnant and have 3 pairs of maternity pants and only so many tops but now that I’ve tasted the freedom of easy travel, I’m hooked!

So what kind of person are you? Do you travel light or were you like the old me?

This is how I usually travel for 4 – 5 days within South Africa. This is an actual picture of my luggage when we flew to PE for our anniversary last year.

(when I wrote those two sentences, it reminded me of the lady’s voice on the London Underground. This is West Ham. This is a district line train to Upminster. If you haven’t been on the Tube, you’ll think I’m crazy).

Anywayyyy, and this is how we travelled to the UK and Ireland for 22 days in May 2008. The blue and grey bags are mine and the lime-green and red ones belong to Dion.

Aren’t you impressed?

I never thought I’d EVER be able to travel like this. Never.

But wait!

We went on a 3-day trip from Dublin to Cork and surrounding towns (Kinsale, Clonakilty, etc.) and I only took the backpack! I know, I can hardly believe it myself.

Do you remember my super-duper plan to keep within the cabin luggage allowance of 15kg?

It worked.

I threw away decluttered 7 long-sleeved tops, 1 t-shirt, 4 pairs of socks, 2 books and of course, all the presents we took with us.

I was prepared to throw away some more stuff so I packed those right on the top in case they asked us to pay. Fortunately, I was only 0.8kg over so they didn’t charge us anything.

I will definitely do this again when we travel because it worked for me.

How do you make sure you stay within the baggage allowance when you fly? Or do you just pay if your bags are too heavy?

Hi everyone

I arrived back from holiday to an absolutely freezing Johannesburg this morning. When the pilot announced the ground temperature of 6 degrees Celsius (at 6am), I said to the lady next to me, “did he just say 6????”

Of course I do love the cold but I had forgotten that South African houses are not made for cold weather. So after catching up on sleep, Dion and I both had hot showers and I am now in my pajamas Dion is watching TV and I am about to do some internet banking (quite honestly, I’m a little bit surprised every time a transaction goes through because I haven’t transferred money into that card for weeks!

I’ve already done 3 loads of laundry (one while unpacking, one while sleeping, and another one is going right now), my work bag and more importantly, my lunch bag is packed! I have to get back to gym this week because I’ve definitely put on weight…

In a nutshell, we had a really good time connecting with old and new friends, I finally met Suzanne in Stirling, Scotland and Red Wine Gums in Cork, Ireland. We went to church with RWG – isn’t the power of the internet amazing?!

Of course, the UK and Ireland are SOOOOOOOOO expensive – I could hardly believe it. If any of you are thinking of visiting SA, do it! You will have such a wonderful holiday at really, really good prices!!!

And on this week’s menu…

Monday
Curry and rice with pumpkin (all in the freezer)

Tuesday
Baked potatoes with kidney bean and tomato sauce (also in freezer), topped with cheese

Wednesday
Stirfried chicken and veg in a satay sauce

Thursday
Pizzas (also in freezer )

Friday
Eating out

More importantly, how have you guys been doing?

And now, I’m going to phone my UK/ Ireland friends to tell them we’ve arrived safely. We had a really horrible eventful day travelling yesterday but I’ll tell you all about that on our travel blog… and of course, the organised Suzanne has already put her photos on Facebook…

CONTEST time
1. Did you see the contest on my blog?
I’m calling anyone who crafts to come help me with solutions.

2. Suzanne is also holding an Organizational Brilliance contest on her blog and ONE commenter will win a bag of organising goodies from your three favourite organisers – Suzanne (the computer & email whiz), Ariane (the ADD and ADHD specialist) and me (office and paper queen)!

I can’t believe it – another week gone! But the good news is this week I go on holiday so we’re only cooking for 2 days

This is going to look very boring…in fact, I totally forgive you if you think you have deja vu…but I have to empty the fridge and freezer. I hate wasting money and I don’t want the food to go off…

Monday
Stir-fried chicken, veggies and rice

Tuesday
Baked potatoes with lentil sauce (we didn’t have it last week – decided to have takeaways)

Wed
Flying to Port Elizabeth. Still have to pack (and it’s 9 days) but at least everything is planned and you all know that saves you time, right?!

BTW, I now coach on how to become a professional organiser. We can work virtually or in-person – whatever floats your boat Contact me if you’re keen.

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

Do you know Elizabeth Hagen?

Elizabeth is also a professional organiser but she’s based in South Dakota!

She also does a lot of public speaking so I joined her VIP circle earlier this year to learn more from her and I’m loving it!!!

Now, what are you doing on Jan 18th?

Read more about Elizabeth’s virtual organising day and sign up especially if one of your goals is to get organised next year You get bonuses if you sign up on or before 10 Dec!

1. Start making lists ahead of time. These can include lists of things to pack, things to do, see, eat, etc. Download my travel checklist

2. Always take extra plastic bags for dirty laundry, shoes, etc.

3. You don’t have to plan out each and every day but at least if you have a rainy day, you can look on your list and choose an indoor activity.

4. Count on buying things while you’re on holiday so plan for this and take less with you. Our baggage allowance is 25 kg (hold & hand luggage) and I’m planning to take 18kg or less!

5. Decide on a colour scheme and stick to it… well, mostly. For instance, on this trip, I’m going for autumn (fall) colours like brown, yellow and orange, and also taking some clothes in military green.

6. Count the number of days you’ll be away and plan just enough sets of clothes, remembering that you need more tops than bottoms. You won’t use all so make a note of what you didn’t use so that you don’t overpack next time.

7. Pack travel size toiletries or if you have some old hotel toiletries, use those. I actually keep my toiletry bag permanently packed with everything except my Speedstick. Whether we’re away for a long weekend or a long holiday, all I have to do is grab my Speedstick and I’m ready.

8. Take a backpack. There is a reason why these are so popular with tourists – your hands are free to eat, browse, carry your water (okay, that’s for me), etc.

9. If you read the Bible, next time you go away, don’t take the whole Bible. Simply go to a free online Bible site and print out a chapter for each day you’ll be away. You can try a different version of the Bible you usually use for added variety. The added convenience is that you don’t have to bring these pages back with you.

10. Whether you’re flying or driving, take any magazines or ebooks that have piled up around your house. You can catch up on your reading and again, leave the magazine or ebook in the airport lounge. I have about 4 Shape magazines to catch up on and yes, they’re already packed.

Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you’re ready to live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org