Tuesday's tag - Marcia & organising

Megan from Disorder2order tagged me to talk about ME!

Here are your questions... feel free to pass on and/or "tag" a new friend!

1. What is your most difficult org. challenge?
Paper - it's never-ending and as much as we try to live in a paperless world, it's not paperless enough for me! Add to that the fact that I'm a visual person and I need to see my to-do lists and mark things off means I have a lot. But on the bright side, I declutter ruthlessly :)

2. Who inspires you?
Hmm, difficult to say. Anyone who has done something before me! I always think, "if he/she has done it, then so can I" and I have quite a strong will so I usually do achieve what I set out to do.

I also love when people tell me that I've inspired them. Love it - that's my mission in life, people.

3. How did you start organizing?
I was encouraging a friend to start something she would be really good at and instead, I got hooked :-)

I've been organised for my whole life (thus far) and have organised systems, work flow, people, etc. in Corporate SA for the last 10 years.

4. What do you love about organizing?
Sorting, categorising and labelling. And maintaining. And decluttering.

No, definitely categorising!

5. What is your guilty pleasure?
Only one, Megan?

Handbags. I say that unashamedly :)

I'm tagging
Corrie Haffly (Corrie, I love your new site)
Suzanne McLoone
Tina (Mummified X5)

Organising my sideboard

Take a deep breath.

Can you smell that lovely "new wood" smell of our new sideboard? :)

I was so excited to finally get this that I skipped gym to organise it. Wasn't a hard sell, trust me. But I can't live with a mess and all my stuff was on the dining room table while this beauty got moved into her new home.

We chose a very dark wood to match our dining room table. I like simple, practical furniture - no fuss!

There are four drawers on top with four cupboards underneath each drawer.

Drawer 1 - serviettes, serviette rings and coasters.

Drawer 2 - table runners and spare oven mitts

Drawer 3 - "good" cutlery and serving spoons

Drawer 4 - placemats (these are the ones I use when I set a proper table). The other everyday ones are in the kitchen. (store things where you use them)

Left side of cupboard - more mugs and entertainment stuff at the bottom



Right side of cupboard - two crockery sets and tablecloths

Menu Plan Monday - 13 August 2007

Thank you to all of you who have been visiting me over at the new Clutter Control Freaks blog.

And if you haven’t been over there yet, click the button over on the top of the sidebar --- > >

I had such a hectic week last week – my Google Reader was showing 100+ items by Wednesday but I’m pleased to say I’m all caught up. And I read everything. Of course I didn’t click through on the partial feeds but at least I have an idea of what’s been happening in the blogosphere.

Monday
Stirfried chicken, veggies and noodles

Tuesday
Chilli con carne, rice and carrots.

Wednesday
Pasta with chicken, tomato and mushrooms

Thursday
Sweet and sour chicken, carrots and rice

Friday
Homemade soup; toasted cheese & tomato sandwiches

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

Have you been following along with my favourite organising tools? Check on the main blog page for the post below this one!

My favourite organising tools #3 - Post-It notes

I love post-it notes to help me get organised.

And if you get the proper ones, they stick on everything and last forever. Don't waste your time with the cheap stuff. I use them in the fridge and they just don't lose their stickiness - ever!

The reason why they work is that they are quick and easy labels so you don't need to guess what's in a particular box.

My uses

1. in my fridge
2. on storage boxes
3. on shelves
4. magazine holders
5. planner
6. Bible
7. books
8. videos

See all those purple pieces of paper sticking out of this book? Those are all the good bits in the book I will reference again

That orange sticky marks the chapter I'm reading in my Bible (cool Bible, hey?)

This big, blue-grey post-it is where I write down what I've taped.

Sorry, this is a bad picture but see those yellow post-it flags sticking out? Monthly events and blogging notes!

Where else do you use post-its?

I've just been catching up on Google Reader and I saw all these other uses for sticky notes on Scott's blog.

Other posts in this series

Notebook and pen
Flipfiles/ display folders

Menu Plan Monday - 6 August 2007

Here in South Africa, it is National Women's Day on Thursday (and Annie's birthday, by the way) and a public holiday.

I have a really busy week until Wednesday evening. A meeting for half the day on Monday, then catch-up before being out of the office on Tues and half of Wed for a strategy conference. Then ... I have the privilege of talking to the women at one of our big banks on Wednesday afternoon.

And then only can I relax! So I'm practising my own coaching advice and taking a day off on Friday to make it a 4-day weekend :-)

My menu for the week...

Monday

Out for supper - it's my birthday

Tuesday

M - out (work function)

D - takeaways

Wednesday

Stirfried chicken, veggies and rice

Thursday

Chicken & spinach pasta

Friday

Hot dogs and chips (carried over from last week)

Have a great week!

By the way, please tell me if my blog is loading faster - I removed Google Adsense because I'd only made about $5 in two months! Crazy!

My favourite organising tools #2 - flipfiles

What are flipfiles?

Handy clear plastic files, neatly bound in book format. Slim and light for easy handling, storage and carrying. Anti-static-allows quick insertion and withdrawal of documents. Will not lift ink from photocopies.
Outer-cover insert replaceable with users own title page.

Source: http://www.paperpeople.co.uk/flipfiles.html

Why I love them

1. You can have lots of categories
2. They take up very little space
3. They come in 10-page, 20-page and 30-page
4. They are perfect for the lazy organiser - no punching, you just slip the pages inside the plastic sleeves.

My uses
Personal

1. Health
2. Fitness
3. Creativity
4. Passion
5. Financial
6. Personal Control Journal
7. Marcia's organising file

Household

1. Christmas ideas
2. Recipes - one each for biscuits (cookies), main dishes, muffins (I love making muffins - what can I say?!)
3. Household Organising File
4. Appliance manuals (blue file in picture below)

Business

1. Storage solutions
2. Business control journal
3. Workshops - one for each workshop (goal-setting, time management, discover yourself, etc.)

The ones that live in my study

business...
From the kitchen...

appliance manuals - one pocket per manual

personal...

1. What do you call flipfiles?
2. What do you use them for?

Ta da da dum..... and the winner is...

Scroll down for new posts - I'm leaving this up until next Friday 3 August.

Well, I never thought I'd see the day when my comments went over a hundred. Reaching for 20 was a goal in itself :-)

It was terrible for me seeing all the comments knowing that I couldn't just give the Household Organising File to all of you!

So I put on my thinking cap and decided to give everyone (who visits this blog) a 20% discount on this or any of the other 2 organising products in my store.

These 3 downloadable products are featured on the welcome page of the store. You have to enter this product code dogdays to see your discount at checkout. I have tested and it is working perfectly :)

This discount code is only valid for a week until next Friday!

I also have other free forms on my website which you must please go download. And don't forget - I publish free weekly tips every week. The sign-up box is at the top of the sidebar. Over there --- >

However, the winner is...............
Nikki Bonham - congratulations, I really do hope this helps you! It seems Nikki is a fellow Rod Stewart fan. Go Nikki :-)

To those of you who sent me questions, THANKS A LOT. I'm going to answer one question every week on a Thursday for the next couple of months!

Ask the organiser - 7 ideas to organise art projects

I received a question from someone who says.

I need help!!! How can I organize my 5 year old daughter's art projects?!?!

Start by teaching your child valuable organising skills from an early age that will stand them in good stead later in life. A two-year-old can do basic organising like throwing all their dolls into a basket (categorising).

It's important to realise that quantity does not equal quality! Sit with her, go through the projects and let her decide on her favourites. This helps the child to prioritise and learn.

A word of caution - make it easy for your child. There is no point in setting up a complicated system that will be difficult to use and maintain.

Actual organising of the projects

1. Have a folder for each year of school. Your child can choose what she wants to keep and the rest can go.


2. Scan the projects and burn to CD.


3. Take a picture of your child with the projects.


4. Use artwork to wrap gifts for family and friends. WIth children going to parties all the time, you'll be sure to get through all that extra artwork in no time.


5. Fold into an envelope and post to distant relatives. They will love getting mail and your child will love the idea of sending a letter.


6. Laminate favourites and use them as placemats.


7. Have a treasure/ memory box. When the box is full, it's time to go through it and declutter.

Anybody else have some bright ideas?

Special announcement - new blog

Just to let you know that I am now also writing organising posts over at the brand-spanking-new Clutter Control Freak blog.

Please put this URL in your Google Reader so you don't miss out on any of the action!

http://www.cluttercontrolfreak.com/

My first post is called Top Organising Question - where do I start? Go on over, have a read and leave me some comments.

The first 25 commenters on the blog get a $25 gift card from Stacks and Stacks - now off you go!

Thank you - I appreciate your support!

Organise your magazine clippings

I'm a bit of an information junkie so I often find myself buying a magazine because one or two headlines caught my eye.

Sound familiar?

I don't like keeping magazines because all you need are about 5 pages (if that) from each magazine and it's a waste of space! Not to mention a waste of time when you have to look through that whole magazine for that article

So this is how I organise all my clippings:

1. I have a flipfile (can someone please tell me what you call it in other parts of the world?) for each broad category subject, like

1. Organising/ storage ideas
2. Health
3. Fitness
4. Creativity
5. Financial
6. Christmas ideas
7. Passion (largely due to my work at the church)
8. Recipes to try

I like the 20-page ones although most of these are of the 10-page variety. Just because they're more readily available.

2. As I read (and this is key, otherwise you spend MORE time going through the magazine a second time), I pull out the pages I want to keep.

3. I then throw them in my in-tray in my study and when want to organise, I take my flipfiles, scissors and pages with me to do in front of the TV.

4. I then neatly trim the edges of the pages and simply slip them into the plastic sleeves.

5. Every 6 - 12 months, depending on how many magazines I've been reading, I'll quickly flip through the flipfile to see if I can throw anything away. Sometimes our tastes change and you now know without a shadow of doubt that you'll not be doing mosaic art anytime soon :-) (I'm just saying!).

This maintenance stage is critical otherwise you'll just keep hoarding more and more stuff. Sometimes the mere idea of having to prepare another file helps me to get ruthless with the clippings. I know it's not a big deal to write out a label but I actually like the idea of containing my info-addiction.

So how do you organise your magazine clippings?

Don't forget to check my main blog page for the discount on the Household Organising File.