by Natalie Morey | Sep 30, 2012 | Declutter tips, Home Office, Home Organisation, Tips
Find a Place for Every Item – It helps keep you organised
How often do you come inside and just dump your bag and “stuff” on the bench or dining room table. The mail, handbag, the kids’ stuff. It all just goes on the bench. Before long, it becomes known as the “official dumping ground”, full of clutter and stuff. It then becomes habit for everyone else to put their stuff their too. You need to have a place for every item and you need to get into the habit of putting the items in their correct place straight away. Don’t double handle items.
Get Some Home Organisation “Containers”
Buy some small clear plastic containers (with lids), and use them to create kits where you can store all the items you need for a particular task. For instance, you could create a shoeshine kit, a bill-paying kit (think In-tray) and a container for all your batteries and so on. That way, you can easily find the things you need to accomplish your everyday tasks. By keeping things grouped together and organised it will save you time as you won’t need to spend time searching for missing items.
Dump Duplicates – and rid yourself of clutter
Why have two nonstick spatulas when one is enough? Why have three hairbrushes or 3 colanders. Throwing out duplicates is one of the easiest ways to stop clutter. A good rule to apply is “one in, one out”. When you get something new, it’s the perfect opportunity to get rid of something old. Before you bring home that big new flat-screen TV, figure out what you’re going to do with the current TV you already have. Having done this recently, I was surprised at just how hard it was to donate my old TV. It worked perfectly and I really didn’t want to put it into land fill. Often finding an organisation that can benefit from your items is good for two reasons. Firstly, you know it’s going to a good home and secondly it’s not going into land fill so it’s easier to get rid of things knowing this. So if you want to be organised you need to clear the clutter first.
Lost Keys
Are you always wasting time looking for your keys. I have done this for lots of clients and they love it. Put a hook right inside your front door. Every time you come home you hang your keys on the hook. It might take you a bit to remember to put the keys there every time you come in, but in no time it will become habit and best of all, you will always know where your keys are. You can also get some lovely hooks, so it does not have to become an eye sore.
Write a “to- do- list”
In a recent blog article, I wrote about the benefits of writing a to-do list.
They help us stay organized, get the most out of our day and ensure we complete everything that needs to be done. Here are the key tips that I mentioned:
- Write a “to–do” list the night before.
- Once on paper, you can plan, prioritise and get a system in place for managing your day.
- Make it achievable.
- Stick to your list.
- Tick off tasks when they are completed.
- Don’t procrastinate and allow yourself to get side tracked.
- Be time specific when you are writing your list and make sure you have a time frame as to when your tasks must be completed by.
- Get into the habit of writing a list every day. Once you are in the habit, you are half way there.
Until next time, happy organising.
Natalie Morey, Professional Organiser.
by Natalie Morey | Sep 29, 2012 | Tips
Is Your Clutter Stressing You Out?
So often when I speak with clients they feel embarrassed about their home, their lounge room, their bedroom or their home office. No matter which room it is the comments are the same. Too often clients tell me that they don’t have friends over anymore as they are embarrassed about the state of their home.
It does not take long for clutter to build up on your kitchen bench tops, in the kid’s rooms and on your desk. But what causes clutter. Obviously, it is piles of things that are sitting around that should not be there. But there are some other reasons why clutter starts to build up.
What is Causing Your Clutter?
- You keep things around “just in case.” Our fear is that as soon as we get rid of something, the situation will arise where we need it.
- You don’t want to declutter because you feel guilty about getting rid of something that was given to you. Perhaps it was a gift, it was expensive or it was part of an inheritance.
- You continue to keep supplies or unfinished projects that were once important to you in the past, but they now do not have the same importance to you.
- Some people are visual people and they like to see things. They think that if it is out of sight it will be out of mind. They keep bills and invitations lying on surfaces or in a “safe” place. Soon these are covered by the next layer of items too important to put away. Does this sound familiar to you?
- Now, I see this one all the time when I am assisting clients to declutter their homes. Clients are waiting for an object to come back in fashion or they think it will become a valuable heirloom and they think that they could make some money. So instead of decluttering and clearing the space they keep the items. Then the clutter starts to build up again.
Do any of these clutter causing tips sound familiar to you?
I am here to assure you that you are not alone. In fact, there are many, many people just like you that have the same issue. Clients just don’t realise it.
We have been helping people since 2005 and now have a team of lovely professional organisers who specialise in specific areas including:
- Home office organising and decluttering
- Wardrobe and cupboard organising
- Kitchen organising
- Decluttering and home organising
- Interior design
- Decluttering and preparing houses for sale, and
- Garage organising.
So I would really love to reinforce to clients that you are not alone and that help is just a phone call away. Now is the time to get started and motivated and start decluttering and culling.
Perhaps it is time to write a “to-do” list and detail what areas of your home you want to start decluttering. I wrote about that in a previous blog: Get Organized: Write a To-Do List. Hopefully this might give you some tips on how to get started with your decluttering.
Remember, if you continue to do the same thing, you will continue to get the same result.
Until next time, happy organising.
Natalie Morey, Professional Organiser.
by Natalie Morey | Sep 28, 2012 | Declutter tips, Tips
How to Become Organized
As professional organisers, we love lists. They help us stay organized, get the most out of our day and ensure we complete everything that needs to be done. Here are a few handy tips to help you when organizing your “to-do list”.
Tips to Help You Get Organized
1. Write a “to–do” list the night before. The last job you should do before you finish for the day is to write your list for tomorrow. As soon as you clear the clutter in your head, you automatically feel more organised and less stressed. There is also nothing better than knowing that you are prepared for the next day. It saves you time in the morning and you can start off feeling organised. Best of all, you won’t wake up in the night, worrying about something. Remember, decluttering your mind is just as important as decluttering your physical space.
2. Once on paper, you can plan, prioritise and get a system in place for managing your day. Prioritising your list and working out which are the most important tasks to be done first, is really important because, let’s face it, often you won’t be able to tackle everything on your list at once.
Get organised. Write a “to-do” list as it really helps you plan your day.
Make Your List Achievable
3. Make it achievable – don’t put too many tasks on your list which you know you will never get through. It becomes disheartening and you will start to feel unmotivated. There is nothing more rewarding when you can tick something off your list.
Stick To Your List
4. Stick to your list. Achieving everything on your list takes discipline. It is really important to stick to your list and make sure you complete what is on there before you start adding other things onto it. If something pops up, ask yourself is it a priority and does it need to be done today, and then decide if it goes on the list for today or tomorrow and also what priority it should have.
Completing Tasks On Your To-Do List
5. Tick off the tasks when they are completed. As I mentioned, there is nothing better and more rewarding when you look back at the end of the day and see everything is ticked off.
6. Don’t procrastinate and allow yourself to get side tracked. If you want a coffee, tell yourself that you can have one, once you have completed a task (or perhaps two) off your list.
7. Be time specific when you are writing your list and make sure you have a timeframe as to when your tasks must be completed by.
Getting organised and staying organised is all about changing your habits and carefully planning your day.
Until next time, happy organising.
Natalie Morey, Professional Organiser
by Natalie Morey | Sep 27, 2012 | Declutter tips, Home Office, Home Organisation, Tips
My life working as a Professional Organiser
I love working as a professional organiser because I have such a sense of achievement when I look around and see the space or area that I have decluttered and seeing that it’s organised and sorted. Perhaps it’s a room that was once cluttered and full of junk and you couldn’t see the floor and now it’s the guest’s bedroom. I get such pleasure working with clients and helping them with areas of their life that they are struggling with, whether that be there home, home office, garage or office. So that’s why I love working as a professional organiser.
However, working as a professional organising its not just about coming in and creating a perfectly organised bookshelves or cupboard. Some clients don’t want that. Some of our home organising assistance may simply involve clearing the clutter in the hallways and on the floors, so you can get through. Perhaps it involves making the space more functional or creating more room. Its also not about coming in and making clients throw out their precious items. Each client is different, as is each space and we customise our services to meet the exact needs of the client.
A Professional Organiser will help you order, sort, cull and organise your space, whatever the area.
Working as a Professional Organiser allows me to problem solve
Working as a professional organiser allows me to teach new ideas to people. It also helps me to develop my “problem-solving” skills, because every space and every home is different and you need to constantly create solutions for different spaces. Not only do I help organise people’s lives and living spaces, but I get to use lots of different storage product. I love anything organising related, especially organising product. And, as part of my job, working as a professional organiser I need to “road test” different storage products. (Well, that’s how I justify it anyway).
As a professional organiser, you are not emotionally connected to the items, so it makes it easier to be objective when helping clients to try and decide what to keep and what to get rid of.
Working as a Professional Organiser allows me to create more time and space
Time and space are precious commodities. You can’t make more of them, but you can manage them better. That is what I like doing most when I work with clients. We create more time, through better systems and processes and create more space by decluttering, culling and using the space in a different way.
Be consistent. You need to dedicate time each day to tackle the problem, declutter and get organised. Set a goal, it might only be 10 minutes a day, but set time aside every day and start decluttering, sorting and culling. Whilst I am a professional organiser based in Melbourne we also provide professional organising assistance in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. So if you need any help, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Until next time, happy organising.
Natalie Morey, Professional Organiser
by Natalie Morey | Sep 26, 2012 | Tips
Get Your Office Organised
People often think that they just don’t have enough time to organize their office, but if they really knew how much time that disorganization was costing them, they would reconsider. An organised desk saves you time, helps you work more productively and allows you to get more done. It also avoids double handling and time wasted looking for documents.
Get More Organised
So, if you want to be more organised and get more done, then having an organised office and desk is a must. Rearranging and moving piles occasionally doesn’t count. Nor does putting the mess into a bin, or a desk drawer.
Organizing your office doesn’t have to take days either. It can be done a little at a time, especially if you have thought about the systems and procedures needed to help you stay organised.
An organised home office, or office is one that has a good filing system and is clutter free.
Great Tips to Organize Your Office Space
- Declutter and purge your Office – Declutter, empty, shred or get rid of everything that you don’t need or want. Look around and see what you haven’t you used in a while? Tackle one area at a time. If it doesn’t work get it repaired or throw it out. If you haven’t used it in months and can’t think of when you’ll actually need it, then do you really need it?
- Does the item really belong on your desk? Collect every item that isn’t where it belongs and put it where it does. (You would be amazed at what we find in offices that just should not be there)
- Establish work “zones” – Decide what type of activity happens in each area of your office. You’ll probably have a main workspace (most likely your desk,) a reference area such as (filing cabinet, shelves, binders,) and a supply area (shelves or drawers.) Place the appropriate equipment and supplies in the correct areas.
- Clear your desk – Remove everything, clean it thoroughly and put back only the items that are essential for daily use.
- Label it. I love my label maker. Take the time to label files, shelves, baskets, drawers etc. Not only will it remind you where things go, but it will also help others who may need to find or put away anything in your workspace.
- Set up an in-tray. Papers need a “home” when they arrive on your desk. Remember to label your in-tray too.
- Set up a filing system. When filing or creating a filing system, remember that you are doing this to make your life easier. Make sure your system makes sense and that anyone coming into your office would be able to find what they need quickly. Don’t forget to label it as well. Lever arch folders also work well when you want to file documents.
- Organise your drawers. Group similar items in each drawer. For example, put all of your office supplies in one drawer, stationery and notepads in another. That way, it’s organised and you won’t waste time trying to find items.
- Archive old files. Review your paperwork and decide which papers you don’t need. There might be other items that you need to keep, but they don’t need to be kept on your desk or in your filing cabinet. Use archive boxes to store old files and get them out of your current filing cabinet or off your desk. If you have the space, they might even be kept in another area, so it does not clutter up your office.
- Clear your piles – Hopefully with your newly organized office, you will no longer need to sort through the old piles. Go through the pile (a little at a time if necessary) and put it in the an appropriate place or throw it out.
- Sort and action your mail – Don’t just stick mail in a pile to deal with later. Sort it as soon as you get it into piles such as– to act, to read, to file or to delegate.
- Reading folder – Designate a file for print articles and documents you want to read that aren’t urgent. Remember to set a time-frame by which they should be read. Otherwise this will be the start of another pile.
- 1 minute desk tidy up – At the end of the day do a quick tidy up, so that when you arrive the next day, its organised and ready for a productive day.
- File weekly – Don’t let your filing pile up. Put your papers in a “To File” folder and file everything once a week. Schedule time in your diary, perhaps 4.45 pm on Friday to do your filing.
- Changing habits. Keeping an organised desk is all about changing habits. Instead of thinking “I will sort that later”, do it now. Make sure you spend time at the end of your week filing documents and organising your desk. If you do that, you will have an organized desk in no time and will be getting more done.
I hope that these office organising tips help you to declutter and get your office organised so that you have less clutter and are more productive.
Until next time, happy organising.
Natalie Morey, Professional Organiser
