Menu plan Monday - 7 May 2007

I have 12 blogs left to look at in the Organising Challenge and then I’m done with round 1. Then the judges “deliberate” as they say in the beauty pageants or as I say, the real fun begins.

I am still speechless (for me) at the amount of work that went on in 58 homes all over the world. Isn’t this blogging world amazing?!

Anyway, here is my menu for the week. Tomorrow I’m tackling photos – gotta get some holiday blogging done!

Monday
Stirfried beef, veggies and basmati rice

Tuesday
Supper with friends. But I have a back-up in case we get stood up.

Wednesday
Bolognaise sauce on roasted sweet potatoes

Thursday
Italian chicken, baked potatoes and pumpkin

Friday
Chili chicken pasta

For more Menu Plan Monday participants, go on over to Laura's blog.

Org challenge - the big reveal

I'm back from holiday - landed at 10.25 am and straight to work. Will post more later this week (with pics) but will say we had a wonderful time. I always LOVE being with Dion for extended periods of time.

I really had to prioritise tonight so these were the 6 things on my list. The numbers are the order in which I tackled them.

2. Download photos (while typing answers)
1. Download email
2. Reply to email interview (journalist contacted me while on holiday and this is due tomorrow)
5. Post Org Challenge (while hair dries)
4. Wash hair (the coast wrecks my curly hair and turns it to pure frizz - not a pretty sight)
3. Unpack (change of pace from computer work)

Okay, now onto the challenge...bear in mind that I didn't do this for the prizes but for the accountability. And my personal goal was to declutter paper from my old files.

As for the hubby, I am off-limits from his stuff. Which I can respect without understanding. He wants his space to be his space. I asked him if he'd like me to help him and you know what he said? No thank you; I don't want people messing with my stuff! So there you have it

1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it?
Motivating Dion. Also, underestimating the speed at which he declutters and organises his stuff. Yes and no. I told you at the beginning that a lot of this stuff belongs to D. He is not as ruthless with paper as I am. And I realised that I am incredibly good at throwing paper away (hey, it's less to file, right?!).

He has been through boxes and boxes of stuff but there is still a small pile where I wanted...nothing. And he didn't even start on the shelves. BUT I am so happy that things are moving in here.

For me, the hardest part of any project is just starting. I have perfected tricking myself over the years though. I tell myself "just 15 minutes" and using this method, have written lots of e-books, e-courses, workshop materials and so on (have a look here if you're interested). I think it's the same with anybody.

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order?
I am not just dumping tote bags in the bag corner. I am working more with project folders and once the project is done, I carefully consider which pieces of paper I really want to keep before filing.

3. What did you do with the "stuff" you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?
I donated an old radio and lots of files to Bea (our cleaning lady). And everything else was paper and magazines, so those were recycled.

The Fitness Flyer is on a few websites and we're waiting for buyers. If not, we will take it to Cash Converters (2nd hand store) with the film projector.

4. What was the biggest lesson you learned from this experience?
Accountability is key to get you moving! Don't print or keep anything you can get online.

5. Now that you have completed the process, do you think having and keeping your space organized will make a difference in your life?
It already does make a huge difference in my life.

This is why I do what I do - I want everybody to have that same feeling of peace that an organised and uncluttered space gives you.


Now for the fun bits - the photos...
Edited to add - I see that my before pictures are under my after pictures. I am too tired to spend another hour fixing it so enjoy anyway.


The back of the room (look in the right corner!)















The bag corner (used to be a real dumping ground)


























Files decluttered and lots of paper thrown away. There was a lot more - I just like this picture.

























Shelving in wardrobes

Menu Plan Monday - 23 April 2007

On Friday we have a public holiday here in SA. It is Freedom Day, the anniversary of when the whole country could vote for the first time.

Dion and I got married in 1995, 12 years ago this Sunday 29th April. Due to our good timing, we now always have a public holiday two days before our anniversary and we always make a holiday out of it by taking off the working days around the public holiday.

So this year we are flying down to Port Elizabeth (the Friendly City), where I was born, and where my entire family still lives. We will then drive 3 hours to Knysna, stay there for 3 days, drive back to PE, sleep over one night and fly back to Jhb. Lovely – we can’t wait.

I will be doing no blogging, lots of reading, shopping and taking photos. Can you guess what my Tackle will be when we get back? That’s right – photos! After I finish helping Laura judge the organising challenge, of course.

As I finish preparing, I will note down any new travel tips and post them.

Good news! We got chicken today so tomorrow night it’s chicken.

(you can download a free menu planner here)

Monday
Stirfried chicken, veggies and noodles

Tuesday
Baked potatoes with a bolognaise sauce – yes, it is a repeat from last week because I spontaneously decided to go see a movie (I know – me spontaneous!) so we got KFC.

Wednesday
Kidney bean soup and garlic rolls (South Africans – don’t you agree that Pick & Pay make the best garlic rolls?).

Thursday
Mince curry, rice and pumpkin

Friday
We’re on holiday!!!
Supper at my mother’s house in PE

For more Menu Plan Monday participants, go on over to Laura's blog.

By the way, how are you guys doing on the Organising Challenge?

Tackle-it Tuesday - Business Binder

This week I tackled something that has been nagging at me for a while.

And because my part of the organising challenge is done (and I am not allowed to touch the hubby clutter), I’ve been “working alongside him” but doing my own stuff. So I’ve been on a real decluttering binge and throwing away papers, seeing how I can have more effective systems, and so on.

For my tackle, I decided to make a business binder. (This was inspired by Kim - scroll down to 19 March). I had quite a few files and flipfiles and now I’ve compressed all of those into this one file folder. I can’t really post any before pics because I brought things from all over.

I’m not really a paper girl – almost everything that I would classify as reference is on computer/ flash drive. But I do like writing lists on paper with a lovely thick gel pen. There is something so satisfying about ticking things off, isn’t there?

So back to the binder – right in front, I have a master list (all of that is just from one 5-minute session) and then my goals (of course) and a monthly planner.

After that are my individual categories, like computer work, projects, marketing, website and so on.

I like this idea because I’m quite ruthless with paper, and everything must fit in here or else a huge declutter is due. I will NOT move to a bigger file or a second one! I do the same with my household filing so when it starts filling up, I grab the file and weed through it in front of the TV.

Go visit 5 minutes for mom for more great tackles.

Update on the challenge

I thought it would be interesting to post everytime I finished some tasks so that you can see I'm working step-by-step.


I always tell clients, "your _________ (fill in whichever area you need to sort out) didn't get disorganised overnight so it will take time to get it working for you again".


Well, I posted on the library book corner and I’m pleased to announce that it still looks the same. Except more books are now in the library bag than on the table, due to the Spring Reading Thing. Are you participating? Let me know in the comments so I can come visit you!

In other news, I bought not 1, not 2 but 10 books today. I couldn’t resist – they were just R24,99 (US $3,33) each and I do take them to the second-hand bookstore when I’m done.

The desks are also all done.

On Thursday night I started decluttering all these files from shelves 1 & 4 and this is the result from when I finished the first box on Friday!

And I managed to reduce these two boxes to just the one. We are watching the World Cup Cricket so we've been decluttering in front of the TV. It's quite cute - both of us with a box and a wastepaper bin.

I found lots of treasures amidst all the decluttering and if you're on my mailing list (go to the purplish box on the right, I'll tell you about them soon because I'm going to use sell them).

Happy Easter everybody!


We went to church this morning and then to a couple of shops and to have lunch (Ocean Basket, in case you're interested). And, of course, then back home to the decluttering!


What did you do?

Show your desk challenge

I recently subscribed to Ariane's blog and added her to my Google reader (honestly, they should pay me commission because I promote it to anyone who will stand still long enough).

She sent out a challenge to post pictures of your desk. I don't know what this means in connection to my ESTJ-ness - if you can help, go ahead. The comments are all yours.

8 confessions about the desks:

1. I have 3. Yes, 3.
2. One for the computer (the main desk). That pad to the right is helping me get the blogging thing under control (I will post about this soon).
3. One for wrapping gifts, writing cards and doing household stuff.
4. 2 of the desks have pens & pencils, punch, stapler and scissors. Because I hate walking around looking for stuff.
5. And one for my business stuff. I won't bore you but I have folders for each workshop I run, coaching folders, speaking folders, organising folders, etc.
6. No, they don't always look like this.
7. I do like at least 2 very neat desks at all time. I think it's because I like to feel I have a measure of control.
8. The desks are all clean at the moment because of the Organisational Challenge. I decided to start with the easier stuff to build momentum. Always a good thing to do for occasional procrastinators like me.

Beth, Suzanne, Aby, Terri, Rae, Annie and Multi-Tasking Mommy, I'm tagging you.

30-day organisational challenge

It's finally here - Laura over at I'm an organising junkie is hosting the 30-day organisational challenge. If you've not already signed up, then please do. It's going to be lots of fun.

You can choose to organise just one area (like your wardrobe, kitchen cupboard, corner of room) or an entire room. And she's got prizes!!!



I've decided to sort through our study/ home office area.

I took lots of pictures but I won't bore/ frighten you so I only posted the 3 worst ones.

Most of this area is sorted but I made a list (you know how I like my lists) of things I want to tackle here.

1. Sell the Fitness Flyer - that white piece of exercise equipment.


2. Sort out those boxes. Most of them belong to Dion although I have one memory box. I will be very happy if they could all be thrown out but since realistically, that won't be possible, they must at least move to our garage.


3. Sell the film projector - my husband was a TV & Film major yonks ago.


4. Sort out the boxes of teaching & audio tapes. I would just throw them out but my husband is a tad sentimental.


5. Tidy and declutter this cupboard. The shelf right at the bottom is where I store spare gifts. I need to sort out shelves 1 and 4 (household stuff). I'm not allowed to touch the middle two shelves because they're his. But maybe I can leave it disorganised but make it look prettier.


6. I have to declutter 3 boxes of files that are very neat and organised (I can find anything I want within a minute) but I haven't looked at them for 18 months so they can probably go. It's all my research on time management, goal-setting and so on.


7. Declutter the bookshelf above my one desk. It is neat enough but there are a lot of books I could donate to the library, sell or give away.

all the boxes

Fitness Flyer

Shelves 1 & 4

You'll notice that a lot of things has to do with my husband! So I have negotiated a reward for us. Aside from that wonderful feeling of peace we'll have, that is. And if you've coached with me, you know I'm a BIG believer in rewards!

When we get this place sorted out, we will be treating ourselves to a beautiful oregon pine bookshelf. Then we can throw the old one out!

Are you joining in the challenge? Let me know in the comments!

And even if you don't have a blog, there is nothing stopping you from taking your before and after posts and emailing them to me. I would be very happy to post the best ones here.

Tackle-it Tuesday - bag corner in study

This is a corner of my study/ home office. We each keep a bag of library books there. The box is full of containers like baskets, etc. that we don’t need yet. The black box has a lot of spare tote bags in case I need one of a different size.

So here’s the before.

And here’s the after.

The big box has moved to a cupboard. There we now have our two library bags and on the table, Dion's Bible and notebook (he has his quiet time in here) on the right and two books I have to read before returning all the library books.

I moved all the extra tote bags to a cupboard and now only have this denim one (by the way, I bought it in Melbourne, Australia on Brunswick Street) with 2 other sizes folded inside.

BTW, this tackle is part of my Organising Challenge over at Laura’s place. I will post another post later today with the rest of the before pictures.