Share your favourite tip for organising the fridge

A reader, Vickie, sent me her favourite tip and I thought it would be fun if we all shared ours.

Are you game?

Of course, my favourite tip is to label the shelves in my fridge as in the picture above.

Here's Vickie's tip...

I thought that I would tell you one of my favorite organizing tricks:

I use a clear shoebox in the refrigerator for making quick lunches. My family loves it because you can take the whole box out and make a sandwich. We put the cheese, lunchmeat, tomato, onion, lettuce in the box. All we look for is the salad dressing. It saves time.

Thought you would enjoy this.

Yes, I enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing, Vickie.

Now let's hear from the rest of you.

What's your favourite fridge organising tip?

Quick organising project - your bedside table

If I don't watch this area very carefully, it gets like this quickly. Probably because it's just inside my bedroom door and is right there, so I can dump things without much thought.

Fortunately for me, this drives me nuts so I don't leave it like this for very long - a day or two max.

before

after

What's on there now?

• Still a gazillion books
• Post-it notes - when I remember to do things, and I'm already in bed, I just grab a post-it note and jot it down. The next morning I can simply stick it in my diary (planner).
• Basket with hand cream, foot cream, tissue oil (for The Belly), bookmarks and pens

How often do you tidy your bedside table?

Two-minute organising project - decluttering your make-up bag

How are you enjoying the quick, 10-minute clutter busting projects?

Well, this one is for the ladies and is even quicker....unless you really do carry lots of stuff with you!

I like my handbag to be really organised so when there are things that don't have a space, I usually throw it into my make-up bag so at least they're contained.

And that's why I need regular decluttering of my make-up case.

I throw it all out so I can see properly just what's in there....

also called my before pic

Then I eliminate the things that I don't want in there... so that only essentials remain in the pink mesh bag.

after

How often do you declutter your makeup bag?

If you haven't done it for a while, that's your organising challenge for this week.

Quick - organise your desk in 10 minutes

Just for today, here's a quick office organising challenge.

1. Set your timer for 10 minutes
2. Put on some upbeat music ("You can't hurry love" - Phil Collins does it for me)
   
3. Throw away all the stuff that doesn't belong on your desk
4. Sort and make piles of paper - to action, to file, to pay, etc.
5. Label these piles with post-it notes
6. Return errant items to where they belong

That's a really good start - well done!

Now doesn't that feel better?

10-minute organising project - the fridge

Since I was about 6 - 7 weeks' pregnant, I have had NO energy whatsoever.

Which is bad because I'm used to being really productive but it's also good because I know that when I do have a sudden burst of energy, I need to focus and get whatever done.

I decided to sort out the fridge on one of those occasions and thought I'd time myself to see exactly how long it took, so you'd see it's not that overwhelming.

Main section - before

Main section - after

- grotty carrots were thrown away
- everything was put back in its section
- I also moved some things to smaller containers
- I moved food that we have to eat so that it's clearly visible

Fridge door - before

Fridge door - after

- threw away expired medicine
- moved all the spreads to the correct shelf
- moved bigger bottles of water to the door


By the way, the whole organising project took me just 8 minutes.

How often do you have to organise your fridge?

10-minute clutter hacks - COMPUTER

Don't get fooled by the Organising Myth that you have to have a block of 2 - 3 hours to get anything significant done.

Not true!

Here are some tasks that will literally take you only ten minutes. Set your timer for 10 minutes and see how many of each task you can do in the allotted time.

1. Delete emails from your Inbox and Sent Items
   
2. Compress some photos
3. Defrag your computer (do this before you have a break or go out on an errand because the computer takes longer than you will)
4. Back up your computer
5. Declutter your contacts
   
6. Delete bookmarked websites
7. Declutter some inactive blogs
8. Organise your documents into folders
   

And when you're done with a couple, remember to reward yourself.

If you're interested in more 10-minute hacks, click the label to see the whole series.

10-minute clutter hacks - OFFICE

Don't you wish you had more time to finally organise your office?

Sorry to disappoint you but opportunities rarely come along gift-wrapped in HUGE chunks of 2 or 3 hours :)

So what's the next best thing?

Using up the little bits of time you do find!

What are some of the things you can do in your home or work office in 10 minutes?

1. throw away all the dry markers and pens that don't work
2. tidy your desk
3. declutter a pile of paper
4. file a pile of paper
5. conquer your email
6. make a list of office supplies you need to buy
7. pay some bills
8. weed through a file
9. organise your library books
10. declutter your bookshelf

What other tasks can you do in your office in 10 minutes?

10-minute clutter hacks - KITCHEN

Here are some more quick and easy tasks that we can do when we have a spare 10-15 minutes. Or even just during the commercial breaks while watching TV.

Remember you're not going to find big blocks of time to organise a room.

Start using the little bits of time that you DO have.

These are some tasks you can do in the kitchen:

What can you do in 5-10 minutes?

1. load or unload the dishwasher
2. if you do dishes by hand (like we do), pack the dishes away
3. pack lunches for the next day
4. write out your shopping list
5. wipe down your kitchen counters
6. sweep the floor
7. mop the floor
8. prepare the vegetables for supper tomorrow
9. tidy a cupboard
10. organise something

What are some other kitchen tasks you can do in 10 minutes?

Menu for the week - 31 March and MY NEW WEBSITE

Hello everybody

News!

I am so pleased with my new, gorgeous website. I invite you all to come over to my new home and visit online for a few minutes.

Just click the picture above to go there :)

Fitness

I've been walking a little bit every day to get fitter for the UK trip and I've already lost 0.5kg with only 35 minutes walking (I told you it was a little bit) total.

I only managed 5 minutes on Tuesday, Wednesday went to Salsa Dancing, 15 minutes on Thursday and Friday.

10-minute clutter hacks

I've started a new series of posts on this blog.

Here's part 1 - the bedroom.

Look out for part 2 next week

Menu for the week

Monday

Marcia - out with a friend

Dion - macaroni cheese

Tuesday
Sausage and pumpkin bake

Wednesday

Curry and rice

Thursday

Baked potatoes, kidney bean and tomato sauce, topped with cheese

Friday

Out for supper

10-minute clutter hacks - BEDROOM

We all need some quick and easy tasks that we can do when we have a spare 10-15 minutes.

One of the main problems many people make is they wait for a huge time block of 2 - 3 hours to organise a room. The truth is that we'll have to wait a really long time to find such a big block of time.

So use the little bits of time that you DO have.

Let's start in the bedroom.

What can you do in 10 minutes?

1. pick up and sort all the clothes lying around - fold, hang up, throw in laundry basket, etc.


2. clear out your make-up drawer


3. tidy your bedside table


4. declutter all the books and magazines


5. sort through your spare linen

So are you in on the challenge? Post in the comments :)