how to organise

17 Feb 2023 by Marcia Francois 1 Comment

15-minute Fridays: organising your to-do list

I want to try sharing really short, quick tips here. The idea is that they will be quick and easy inspiration for your weekend.

I typically break up my weekend to-do list into errands (out and about), house stuff and relax.

Under the house section, I have things that are always on there (laundry, menu plan, etc.) and then I add one or two quick things – like declutter my nail polish or tidy the storeroom. In my head, these things are about 15 minutes (if they’re not, don’t tell my brain because that’s how I trick myself to actually go do them)

For this weekend, grab a notebook or your phone’s notes app and walk around your house. That’s it.

Walk into each of the rooms and note what needs sorting out. As an example…

Bedroom – declutter sock drawer, tidy nail polish, clean gym shoes, declutter t-shirts.

When you’re done with your list, you’re done.

But…. if you do feel motivated, please pick the one thing that will feel most satisfying to have done, and do it.

Filed Under: Organising, Productivity, Time management Tagged With: 15 minute Fridays, goals, how to organise, Konmari, organising

12 Sep 2022 by Marcia Francois Leave a Comment

Spring clean your workspace with desk-clearing bingo

It’s September so it’s time to spring clean, at least in the Southern Hemisphere.

This is a fun way to sort out your desk in 24 miniscule steps.

(you could even save this image on your phone, and post to Instagram for accountability every day when you do a few of these items)

Does this sound like fun?

I do a couple of these items daily, like clearing any dishes, weekly, like emptying the bin and sweeping under the desk but it felt good to do a thorough sort and clean.

Filed Under: Decluttering, Organising Tagged With: how to organise, organising, spring cleaning

17 Feb 2014 by Marcia Francois

The bookshelf – before pics

I had big plans to reorganise this bookshelf on Sunday afternoon but I made a mistake.

I opened the kids’ wardrobe to take out their clothes for the week and……things were out of order.

Before I knew it, baskets were out, containers were open and clothes were everywhere.

I’m happy to tell you the kids’ clothes are sorted again, labels abound and this is on my agenda for the weekend 🙂

bookshelf front

bookshelf – side

Filed Under: Organising Tagged With: how to organise

27 Dec 2013 by Marcia Francois 4 Comments

You ask, I’ll answer – storing Christmas decorations

Nicola once asked…

Christmas stuff……when the holidays come round there are always bits and bobs in terms of decoration, home decor and then kitchen napkins, candles, etc, etc…..do you keep the separate items with the same other items (ie: candles with candles, etc) or is there one place where Christmas get stored the other 11 months?

Well, I think in broad categories so in my house, everything Christmas is stored together with the exception of my red hand towels for the bathroom 🙂

That said, I don’t buy special tablecloths, serviettes, etc. I just use a green tablecloth with red placemats but those are used throughout the year with other colour accents to not look Christmassy.

I do store the Christmas tree decorations all together

here are some Christmas posts.

Gift wrap and cards

How we decorate

Where do you store your decorations?

Filed Under: Organising Tagged With: Christmas, how to organise

20 Nov 2013 by Marcia Francois 2 Comments

Medical organising

Years and years ago, my friend Suzanne gave me this awesome idea which I’ve used ever since I heard about it.

Write your medical issues in a separate little daily planner so that you know exactly what happened when.

Great for gynae appointments, regular monthly happenings, when you get a cold, stomach flu, etc.

The best is when you go to the doctor and they ask you questions you can just page through your little diary and all the answers are at your fingertips.

I have a similar one for the kids too. I can tell exactly when they’ve been sick, how long it’s all lasted, instead of having to rely on my memory.

Filed Under: Organising Tagged With: how to organise, medical organising

23 Oct 2013 by Marcia Francois Leave a Comment

Are you drowning in email?

While the majority of people mention paper as their biggest organising challenge, a close second is email.

Did you know that for every email you send, you get two back?

(that was accurate a few years ago; it may have changed since then)

The revamped Organise your office product bundle has some new thoughts and techniques on managing emails and information, e.g notifications from social media sites.

Of course in addition to the email, paper and the computer also need to be organised, both of which are tackled in this product.

If your office is less than what your dream looks like, then please take a look and see what you think.

I know this will help you!

For fun, tell me what the worst part of organising any office space (whether physical or digital) is for you..

Filed Under: Organising Tagged With: how to organise, organise, organise email, organise your home office, organise your office

21 Aug 2013 by Marcia Francois 1 Comment

The best way to organise your home

We are so excited in Johannesburg as the weather gradually starts warming up.

Spring is nearly here.

I find the change of seasons to be so energising, don’t you? Both the going into and out of the cooler seasons.

It’s pure nesting time for me.

And also the perfect time to get your home organised. There’s a good reason why they call it spring cleaning.

The absolute best way to organise your home is the same way you eat an elephant – one bite at a time.

In the Organise your Home system I broke down the entire home into itsy-bitsy sections so you won’t feel overwhelmed.

Best of all, it’s a step-by-step way to organise your home in a few hours every week. Not every day but every week.

Take a look and see what you think.

http://www.marciafrancois.com/products/organise-your-home-2/

Filed Under: Organising Tagged With: how to organise, organise your home, organising

14 Jun 2013 by Marcia Francois Leave a Comment

Go vertical for storage

I used to keep all the healthy snacks in this pink metal basket. There was nothing really wrong with it as it looked cute and the snacks were easily accessible but it did take up more space than I liked.

So when I got my jars from Consol, I decided to put one of them to use since they take up less horizontal space on a shelf.

The jars come with a stick of chalk but some of you might remember how I’m not really a chalk person. However, in a moment of madness sometime last year, I threw some chalk markers into my Amazon shopping cart and those are working really well.

Back to my healthy snacks jar…

From the top…

I love it – looks so pretty and yet you can see exactly how much you’ve got.

If you’re battling with storage anywhere really, look at going vertical – either taller storage containers, or use your walls.

Where in your home do you use vertical storage?

PS By the way, I define healthy snacks as prunes, raisins, fruit flakes, fruit rolls (I think this is what you call fruit leather in the US?), fruit sticks, etc.

Filed Under: Organising Tagged With: how to organise, organising using jars

17 Apr 2013 by Marcia Francois 2 Comments

Which is more Important? Time or Mo.ney?

I’ve said this before but I honestly feel time is much more important than mo.ney.

You can always make more mo.ney (in theory) but you can never recover lost time.

Last year when I flew to the USA, I was a bit conflicted between spending R3 500 extra for a direct flight to NYC or doing an extra leg via Heathrow, therefore taking longer but saving the mo.ney.

I eventually decided to fly direct because I wanted the extra two days with my kids.

Most time/ mo.ney decisions have a payoff – I realise that – but it’s up to us to decide which we value more.

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This month’s resource

Organise your time

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The Organise your time system will walk you through a mindset change on time/ mo.ney, but also on which activities are actually worth spending your time doing.

Contrary to most time management experts, I don’t believe in multi-tasking and trying to cram as much as you can into your time; however, I do believe in choosing which activities are right for your life and making the time for those ones.

http://www.marciafrancois.com/products/i-need-more-time-e-course/

Of course there are tons of tips and tricks on how to maximise your time in all the important areas of life 🙂

If you could use a time makeover, then please take a look at the information page and see what you think.

http://www.marciafrancois.com/products/i-need-more-time-e-course/

I know this will help you!

Filed Under: Intentional living, Time management Tagged With: how to organise, organise, organise your time, time management, time or money

20 Feb 2013 by Marcia Francois Leave a Comment