Foot spa anyone?

This is another fabulous article from ZenHabits.net – he really does hit the nail on the head with this topic don’t you think?

You often see holiday gift guides and the like, but not often enough do we see guides on dealing with clutter during this most cluttered of seasons.

From gifts to wrapping to decorations to cardboard boxes from Amazon and more, the holidays can see more accumulation of clutter than any other time of the year.

How do we deal with it? It takes a multi-pronged approach.

Let’s dive in.

Clearing Existing Clutter

If your house isn’t free of clutter at this point, you can start to make a dent, even with a busier holiday schedule.

Some ideas:

1. Spend just 2-5 minutes at a time. Get a cardboard box for donations. When you’re in your bedroom, spend 2-5 minutes picking off a few things you definitely don’t need, and put them in the box. Later, when you’re in the kitchen, spend 2-5 minutes doing the same on your countertop. And on your dining table, on shelves when you walk past them, on your closet floor, all at various times as you’re walking through an area. Not all in one day, but in bits each day.
2. Carve out 30 minutes a few times a week. Put it on your calendar. Spend that time clearing out a closet — just take out as many things that you don’t need as you can in 30 minutes. Put them in the donate box or the trash.

You probably won’t have time to declutter your entire house during the holidays, but that’s OK. Just get the ball rolling, and tackle the rest in January.

Gift Expectations

Probably the biggest clutter problem during the holidays, for many people, is getting gifts you don’t need that will just clutter up your house.

The key here is to manage expectations:

1. Talk to your friends and family, or send out an email or Facebook post. Tell them you’d prefer not to get any gifts because you’re trying to reduce clutter.

Read more here: http://zenhabits.net/clutterfree-holiday/

A big toy box makes it easy...

This is such a common complaint amongst many of my working mum clients – how can I get my kids to pick up after themselves so I don’t have to do it all the time?

This post from Unclutter gives 6 great tips on how you can do just that – and watch them grow up to be organising geniuses!

The following are a handful of suggestions for responsibilities that are appropriate for toddlers and some recommendations for teaching these skills:

• Hanging up her coat. Put a couple of hooks on the back of the coat closet door at a low enough height that your daughter can reach the hook but high enough so her coat won’t drag on the ground. When your daughter comes inside the house, let her be responsible for putting her coat on her hook.
• Wiping down the bathroom countertop. Get a small stool for your child to use in the bathroom when he is brushing his teeth, combing his hair, and washing his hands. Have a stack of wash cloths or hand towels within reach that he can use to wipe his face, dry his hands, and then wipe up any spilled and splashed water from the counter top.
• Making her bed each morning. Pulling up the sheet and pulling up the comforter are tasks that most kids can handle by two and a half.
• Putting dirty clothes in the hamper. Have a hamper that your child can easily put clothes into and see the clothes inside the basket. After you assist your child in getting out of his clothes and into his pajamas, hand him his clothes and ask him to put them in the hamper. As your child gets older and can dress himself, simply monitor him to ensure that he continues with this responsibility. (Hampers without lids are best, it doesn’t encourage leaving clothes on top).
• Setting the table. By age three, most children will be able to set a table with minimum supervision. Having placemats is a terrific way for helping children learn where cups, plates, silverware, and napkins typically go on a table.
• Returning toys to their storage locations. After playing with toys, toddlers should return them to their proper storage bins or shelves. As a result, storage shelves and bins need to be within your child’s reach. Label bins and shelves with pictures of what belongs in each space. Programs like Microsoft Word that include clip art are great for finding toy illustrations. It takes younger children significantly more time to pick up toys than older children, so be sure to leave time in your schedule for your child to pick up her toys before needing to move on to another activity.

Read the entire article here: http://unclutterer.com/2011/04/07/teaching-toddlers-about-organizing/

Why won't they stop???

This recent post from Unclutterer is so relevant for me at the moment and I am sure many of my readers will find it interesting too. Here are 9 tips that may help you to stay on top of the plethora of emails that don’t stop when you are travelling:

1. Tie yourself to a smartphone. If you want to stay on top of email, you have to keep a smartphone on you. Keep the ringer off and the message alerts set to vibrate.
2. Enable automatic sorting and color coding in your smartphone’s email program. Have a filter that automatically routes all messages out of your inbox and into separate folders where you are copied instead of listed as the main recipient, all newsletters or read-only emails you subscribe to, and all emails from sources you know are not going to be must-respond-now messages. Have your system color code messages from your boss and/or other very important folks so these messages will catch your attention when they come into your main inbox. (If you’re on a Windows-based phone, there are macros and add-ins for Outlook you can install. If you can legally route your work email through Gmail, you can also do this. I was unable to find an app for the iPhone that enables these features.)
3. Check messages during lulls in your schedule. As you wait in the line at the airport, switch between sessions at a conference, or grab a snack, process your priority emails then.
4. Only check work email. If someone needs to contact you about an important personal matter, he/she will text or call you. Check your personal email account on weekends or after you get home from traveling.
5. Only respond to items that can be handled in less than one minute. Delegate as much as possible, delete or archive anything that doesn’t need a response, and only send short messages of less than a paragraph to the priority emails you respond to.
6. Manage expectations. Have an automated out-of-office message enabled on your account that says you will have limited access to emails and no one should expect a response until you are back in the office (be sure to list that specific date). Provide detailed contact information for someone in the office who may be able to handle emergencies, and give that person in the office your cell number so he/she can call you if there is a major event. Also, let your office contact know when you expect to be on flights and/or completely out of connection.
7. Manage more expectations. When you reply to someone from your smartphone, have a “Sent from mobile device, please excuse typos and brevity” signature on the bottom of every message. You might also want to consider posting your return date on your out-of-office message as the day after you return so you have a full day to gather your bearings once you’re back in the office. Under promise, over deliver.
8. Have access to cloud file storage. Not all smartphones allow you to attach documents, so you’ll need to be able to send links to documents stored online with services like Dropbox. If your employer doesn’t allow file posting online and attaching documents to emails is essential to your job, you’ll want to get the smallest, lightest laptop you can because you’re going to have to carry it with you instead of a smartphone.
9. Work on email every night when you get to your hotel room. It will add to your workday, but taking 30 minutes or an hour every night to process the entirety of all your email inboxes and folders will guarantee you don’t have an avalanche of messages when you get back to your office.

Read more here: http://unclutterer.com/2012/04/03/how-to-manage-email-when-traveling-for-work/

So many books - so little time to read!

Do you have a book fetish?

Read the remaining tips here: http://www.atcbiz.com.au/ems/archives.php?n=edru7syrbw&c=3tgsczjemf

A rainbow of colour may not work for you...

Yesterday I was with a client who despaired at ever finding something to wear – and it all came down to the fact her wardrobe was organised in a way that didn’t work with her organising style. The secret is you don’t have to have your clothes organised in colours and looking pretty – it is all about organising for your individual dressing system, whatever that is.

Kathryn Weber wrote an article recently in her column Living Space for  Tribune Media Services which outlines exactly what I am talking about:

If you’ve ever wandered into the closet and couldn’t find something to wear, the problem might not be your wardrobe. When your closet is disorganized, it’s easy to lose clothes or have difficulty finding items that work together. Investing just a small amount of time in re-ordering your clothes and accessories will pay off every morning!

1. LIKE WITH LIKE
Tempting as it may be to organize by color, grouping like items by style and use is more efficient. While it might seem logical to hang all pants together, it’s best to group the pants you wear most, and move those you wear least to another part of the closet. Grouping clothing by the way its worn, such as casual or work, can also help you get dressed faster in the morning. This technique also makes putting clothes away faster. It’s especially useful for seasonal clothing; stashing all your big chunky sweaters together means the one you’re looking for won’t get pushed back out of sight.

2. SHELVE IT
Closet shelves are seldom used for clothing, but if you wear jeans and T-shirts a lot, why not take advantage of shelves to stack both in plain view? This will help you find a pair of jeans faster and put them away more easily, too. And if items of clothing keep getting lost in your dresser drawers, turn your closet shelves mini-drawers. Line them with baskets or clear bins so you can see everything easily. Another option is to install shallow drawers on closet shelves that pull all the way out.

Read the next 2 steps here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/sns-201202140000–tms–livspacectnls-a20120214feb14,0,2792121.story

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 24,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 9 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Unclutterer.com had an interesting post today about making (and more importantly keeping) your New Year’s resolutions – especially when it comes to becoming organised:

According to the National Association of Professional Organizers in theUS, the phrase “get organized” is one of the top 10 resolutions people make every year.  If you add uncluttering into the “get organized” category, it’s likely a top 5 resolution.

If you fall into the group of resolution makers who wants to be better organized in 2012, the first thing to do is specifically identify why you want to be organized. Being organized isn’t usually a goal. Being organized is merely a path to achieving another goal.

For instance, you might want to be better organized with your time after work so you finally get your business idea off the ground. You might want to be more organized with meal planning so you have less stress surrounding mealtimes with your family.

Knowing why you want to be organized will help you with the remaining steps of the resolution-making process and with ultimately achieving your goals.

After you have identified why you want to be more organized and have a rough idea of the resolutions you wish to achieve, your next step is to create a detailed plan of action.

Read the entire article here: http://unclutterer.com/2011/12/29/making-resolutions-and-creating-a-2012-resolution-action-plan/

...and if one Christmas present should accidently fall...

Are you stressing out about Christmas? Do you have 1001 things to buy, cook, clean, organise before the big day? I gave a talk last week to a networking group here in Brisbane on “How to get balanced and organised for Christmas” and thought I would share my top tips with all my readers:

1. Lower your standards
Make peace with imperfection. You are not Martha Stewart in the kitchen or Clark W Griswold from the movie “Christmas Vacation” when it comes to putting up the Christmas lights. Give yourself permission to buy a Christmas cake rather than making one. Trying to do every task perfectly is the easiest way to get bogged down and super stressed.

2. Make a list like Santa (& do a bit each day)
Rather than wait until Christmas Eve or when we have a “spare minute” have a schedule in place each day leading up to Christmas tackling tasks that need doing, and make sure you assign tasks to all members of the family – not just you! Kids are very good at cleaning silverware, putting up Christmas decorations (it doesn’t matter if they aren’t perfect – refer to point 1) or helping to make/write the Christmas cards.

3. Walk away from “bargains” at Christmas
Just because you can buy a new pair of jeans for $20 or 50 rolls of toilet paper for the price of ten doesn’t mean you should. Ask yourself “Where am I going to store it?” before making a purchase.

4. Ask for help. 
The organised person is willing to expose herself to short-term embarrassment and call for backup. Instead of that elaborate four course Christmas lunch, change it to “everyone please bring a dish to share.”

5. Declutter unnecessary items before buying new gifts
Help the kids to go through their toy boxes and wardrobes and let go of items that they have outgrown or no longer play with. Tell them about other children whose parents can’t afford presents or those who have been through hardships like the floods in January.

And this tips isn’t just for the kids – it applies to adults too! It is healthy to be attached to certain items: a vase you picked up in Paris, or your grandmother’s pearls. However are you still holding on to that holey concert t-shirt or scuffed shoes you wore to your first job interview? It’s time to let them go. This opens up space for more meaningful gifts to enter your life. New shoes anyone?

Read the rest of the Christmas issue of the Innovative Organising Ideas newsletter here: http://www.atcbiz.com.au/ems/archives.php?n=my1m5jfnr2&c=3tgsczjemf

Just like a Babushka doll...

I am so chuffed to have been asked to contribute to a story that ran today on BrisbaneTimes.com.au about downsizing for retirees. Written by Mary Costello, the article outlines how retirees can best tackle the life changing process of downsizing:

Advice for Mature Downsizers

My brother rang recently to ask whether I wanted my secondary school essays that he’d found boxed in the roof space of the family home. I told him to leave them just where they were.

It might have been a lifetime ago, but I know that when I was in Upper 6th I wrote a fabulous essay on George Orwell and the English language – and would read again. Surely a few kilos of paper plus some old shoes, handbags and now retro fashion items couldn’t be taking up too much room.

I suppose it would have been a different story if my brother, or my parents before him, had decided to move house. You just can’t take other people’s personal heirlooms with you.

Kerri Rodley of Queensland-based Domestic Downsizing advises says mature householders who are planning to downsize to get their kids to clear out their own rubbish/treasures.

Move My Home spoke to Kerri the day after she’d helped a still-active client in her eighties downsize from a 4-bedroom home to a 2-bedroom retirement unit.

“She was moving from huge to tiny, and she wanted to take all her family heirlooms and the things she loved, liked her giant dining table,” Kerri said.

“Unfortunately it won’t fit. I had to say, “How can you live and move around in the new space? You’re getting older and you must be able to get around quite easily without things getting in your way. You must be realistic about your new lifestyle.”

It hit home and we sat down and did a plan about how she would walk around the house. It made her rethink her whole strategy, otherwise we’d have taken everything to the new place and not have had anywhere to put it.

“Next week we’ll go to the unit and put sticky-tape on the floor where the furniture will be, rather than bring the furniture and having to move it all around again. I find that works quite well.”

In Kerri’s experience people often fail to consider the practicality of having a large flat-screen TV in a small space.

“That was a big thing for this lady, who watches a lot of TV,” she said. “You must sit well back from it. You need a giant space between the chair and the TV, downsizers don’t often have that space.”

And it’s not just the furniture that must be considered when it comes to sorting belongings.

“Things that are hidden must also be thought about,” Kerri said. “My client loves to cook, and had a fantastic big kitchen in her old home. But the kitchen in the unit is tiny, and all her cooking things, even her cook books, wouldn’t fit in the new space.”

Displaying cherished antiques, artwork and family photos can also pose problems in a smaller home, Kerri said.

“The walls in this lady’s old house were all plastered, but in her new unit there’s a lot of exposed brick and you can’t easily place things on the walls. I’ve said we’ll make a feature wall from her favourite photos and paintings.”

“Then she can keep some others in a box and change them in six months time. It’ll be like a moving art wall. It’s a concept that worked well for her.

“This client was quite a realist. She has some fantastic antique cabinets andChinafrom her mother. I suggested that she pass them on to her children now. Then she can tell the stories about the different items and explain the meanings behind them”

“She thought that was a good idea. This a whole new phase of life, but you can’t just cut off the past – you must incorporate it and blend past and future.”

Kerri Rodley’s Top Tips for Mature Downsizers:

• Go through everything in your home and ask yourself – is this part of my new life? Do I really love it? Will it be useful in the new home? Do I really need it any more?

• Be ruthless – you won’t have time in your new active lifestyle to be decluttering, cleaning, and dealing with the past – you will be enjoying the present and planning for the future.

• Don’t try to do the decluttering, sorting and moving all at once – this will be very stressful, and the whole idea of downsizing is to reduce stress. Take it one room at a time, and have the decluttering and sorting done way before you start collecting moving boxes!

Read the rest of the story here: http://domesticdownsizing.com/media.htm