9 April 2012 by 4 Comments

Have you heard about the 40 bags challenge?

On a couple of the blogs I read, the bloggers did a 40-day challenge.

It’s linked to Lent and the idea is they declutter 40 spaces in their home and get rid of 40 bags.

I love the idea of it but it wouldn’t work exactly as intended for me since my house is already relatively clutter-free.

Although I could easily do about 3 – 4 bags 🙂

Nevertheless, I thought I’d link to this excellent wrap-up post. Katie shares what she leart, what worked well for her and what she recommends for future challenges of this nature.

Katie, here’s your “featured at Organising Queen” button.

Code

<a href=”http://marciafrancois.com/blog/” target=”_blank”><img border=”0″ src=”http://marciafrancois.com/blogjjd/Organising%20Queen%20Button4.png” /></a>

 

When you do any large-scale organising project, it’s important to:

1) have a plan of attack

2) create the time to do it (schedule it in your diary)

3) use small steps to produce huge results over time

4) have some accountability, both to motivate you and to help you celebrate your victories

 

The last big organising project in my house was when we went from this…

to this…

I had to get really honest about what I was keeping and why 🙂

If you need to tackle some areas of your home this month, Organise your home will help you. It’s a step-by-step system using only 4 days a week for 30 minutes at a time.

What was the last big organising project you did?

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12 September 2011 by 7 Comments

Inspiring spaces #13 – decluttering clothes

Two quick reminders for you:

  1. Have you registered for Spring into Organising yet?
  2. My talk next week Monday at the church is on the 3 Ps of time management – perfectionism, procrastination and people-pleasing.

What are your questions about the 3 Ps? Share in the comments so I can address them.

 ******************************************************

This week’s inspiring space is from our favourite organising junkie, Laura.

Laura recently posted how she got ruthless and got rid of three HUGE bags of clothes.

 Pic from Laura’s post

I am inspired because:

  • she’s already organised so this took some doing and
  • I love how she did the first round and decluttered one bag … and then went at it again and decluttered another two bags.

 

Now that’s inspiration.

 

I’m quite good about decluttering my clothes but there are still one or two pants and skirt suits I’m hanging onto once I lose my last 3 kgs 🙂

How easy is it for you to declutter your clothes?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Time management Tagged With: ,
22 August 2011 by

Clutter Rehab giveaway & Inspiring spaces #12

I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that the second person who was selected to win Clutter Rehab has also not contacted me.

I think both of the winners just saw the giveaway and came over to enter but don’t actually follow my blog.

The good news is that YOU have another chance to win this fabulous book.

Let’s try again.

Here are the rules:

  1. You must be a follower of this blog either in your Google Reader or by email so that you can see if you win!
  2. Leave a comment on this post telling me your favourite organising question or what you want to know about how I organise things. (These will be answered in October as part of my 31 days series)
  3. If you tweet or share this on FB, you have to come back to leave a new comment.
  4. I can’t accept email entries so if you read through Feedburner, please click through and comment.
  5. I will leave this open for 48 hours only and the winner MUST contact me within 48 hours.

Fair?

 

Inspiring (head) spaces

Now on another note, I was SO inspired the other day when I read this post by Chloe.

If you’ve ever bought any of my products or coached with me, you’ll know how much I emphasise that we are all unique individuals and our organising or time management solutions need to reflect that.

And something I posted recently resonated with Chloe so much that she wrote a truly inspiring post.

Why I loved it so much

  • she’s accepted who she is and who she’s not (the type of scrapper she is)
  • As a result, she can let go not only of physical stuff (and already she lives very minimally) but more importantly of expectations of herself.
  • she is very clear on her goals and going after them (you know how much I love a person who pursues things passionately)

Chloe gets a big thumbs up from me and no, I don’t have a pretty picture this week (aside from her header) but in this case, her changed expectations of herself are worth far more and are priceless.

Go read her post and tell me what resonated with you.

And of course, don’t forget to enter the giveaway.

Filed Under: Time management Tagged With: , ,
8 August 2011 by 4 Comments

Inspiring spaces #11 – real people’s spaces

Hmm, bear with me for a moment.

I’ve noticed a trend on a lot of blogs. Or maybe it’s not a trend but is the new way to blog?

I’ve been blogging for 5.5 years and in “the good old days” (I am sooo dating myself), we would just put up pics of our spaces and that was that.

These days everything is so perfect and drool-worthy that it can inspire us, yes, but it can also make us feel less than and unsatisfied with what we have or don’t have.

We always knew there was Martha Stewart but she was Martha, after all. We didn’t have to try and live up to that facade of perfection.

But when real women who stay at home/ work full-time/ etc. have these perfect houses then it feels like there’s no hope.

Yes, they are our issues if we let the comparisons overtake us but I do love it when people are gloriously imperfect and share those parts of their lives with us too.

…….

Remember I featured Allison’s craft room a few months ago.

It is all that I said and more. It always felt real to me, like someone actually lived there.


The other day Allison posted some other pics of her craft room. Let’s just call it life on the other side.

I still think that her space is inspiring because it is still organised (everything has a place, zones, etc.) but go have a look at how a REAL person gets to explore her passions while living life.

My take-out from this space is that you don’t have to wait for conditions to be “perfect” before you start taking action on your dreams and passions.

What’s your biggest take-out?

PS I’m purposefully not posting pics because I want you to click over and read her words. 🙂

Filed Under: Time management Tagged With: , ,
1 August 2011 by 5 Comments

Inspiring spaces #10 – Pinterest

EDITED TO ADD
I have 5 invites left besides Ginny’s one- if you want one, let me know in the comments.

I’d seen Pinterest mentioned on a number of blogs but I didn’t like that it was “by invitation only” and all “exclusive”.

That kind of thing doesn’t encourage me; I feel incensed at the injustice of it all 🙂

Yes, I’m a tad dramatic.

Anyway, eventually I had an aha moment that if I signed up, I could organise all my bookmarks currently stored on the computer and have ONE place to refer people to.

My current bookmarks were organised in folders, mostly, but you couldn’t see what was so special about bookmarking something. It lacked the visual impact.

I signed up exactly 3 months ago and it’s been great.

If you don’t know about pinterest, it’s like a giant filing system of things on the internet.

Boards are broad categories – you can use their suggested boards or create your own.

Then you pin your individial items on the board.

E.g. On a board called home you could have kitchen, bathroom, bedroom ideas.

You can also tag your pins so that they’re easy for you to find afterwards.

These days I find myself saying, “oh, you should see my Pinterest – I have a recipe for that” 🙂

And the other day my boss and I were discussing offices in cupboards (I am currently obsessed with these) and I sent him my pin to show him what I meant.

As with anything (facebook/ Twitter/ blogs, etc), if you allow it to be so, it can be a huge time suck.

Confession – last night I spent about two hours on Pinterest but on a daily basis, I typically just pin and if I’m in a dreamy sort of state, then I’ll indulge a little.

Here is my for the home board and here is a pin on that board.

Follow me if you want and see all the things that make me happy. And things I would do if only I could sew.

Leave comments on my pins and tell me if you like them and what you like about them – I love hearing from you. It truly makes my day.

Are you on Pinterest?

How much time are you spending there in a week?

Which is your favourite board?

Filed Under: Time management Tagged With: , , ,
27 June 2011 by 5 Comments

Inspiring spaces #9 – organise with labels

I’ve got to take a moment here to give a shout-out to Kierste (don’t you love her name?)

Her blog is one of the most organised blogs out there and has such a fresh, uncluttered feel.

I sigh with pleasure when I go visit.

And this is the makeover version – the previous one was just as organised and gorgeous.

I saw this post on Kierste’s blog a few weeks ago and I so, so love it.

Why?

  • Everything is labelled.
  • The labels are big and clear so no squinting to read.
  • Those storage boxes happen to be some of my favourites (I store my baking pans in one of them) and I love how uniform everything looks. (you don’t need cute to be organised but it does help keep it that way)

Have a look at another pic

Click to see even more pictures of all the labelling goodness.

As an aside which is not really an aside, Kierste has TWO sets of twins plus a singleton, AND she has a pre-school at home!

Being organised has freed her up to do all that and add in some crafty goodness too.

Kierste, here’s a button for your blog!

Copy and paste code

<a href=”http://marciafrancois.com/blog/” target=”_blank”><img border=”0″ src=”http://marciafrancois.com/blogjjd/Organising%20Queen%20Button4.png” /></a>

What do you most love about Kierste’s space?

Filed Under: Time management Tagged With: , ,
20 June 2011 by 11 Comments

Inspiring spaces #8 – craft room

I came across a craft room while blog-surfing a few months ago and somehow lost it when click, click, clicking through.

But last week I found this blog again and I must confess, I spent all my blog reading time that night reading her entire blog.

It’s called Little Lovelies and it is really just lovely.

Clean, fresh, uncluttered, simple… I could go on and on.

Her craft room has been causing gasps of wonder and delight all around the internet so let me show you why.

 

and then her sewing area…

(I must admit I’m dreaming of a sewing machine even though I can’t sew and haven’t used a sewing machine since I was about 14 :))

I love all the desk space, the colours are so soothing and my favourite, you really get a sense of who Allison is by the way she’s done it.

It’s beautiful but you still feel like a “real person” lives there.

Click on over to see Allison’s craft room and then come tell me what your favourite part of this space is.

 

Allison, here’s a button for your blog!

Copy and paste code

<a href=”http://marciafrancois.com/blog/” target=”_blank”><img border=”0″ src=”http://marciafrancois.com/blogjjd/Organising%20Queen%20Button4.png” /></a>

Filed Under: Time management Tagged With: ,
13 June 2011 by 6 Comments

Inspiring spaces #7 – home office

This week I’m very proud to feature the organised space of one of my clients, Ricci Jackson, an interior designer.

Ricci and I had a telephone session and she also bought the Organise your Business system.

Since part of having an organised business is having a space to work in that supports and doesn’t sabotage your business goals, one of the components of the system is 7 easy steps to organise your office.

Ricci sent me an email and said this:

Marcia, I just wanted you to know that I am making strides.

I organized my office the first week, bought files, a label maker and even created zones.

I am inspired to work in my office again.

While it was never a mess,  I found myself spending way too much time trying to find where I put this or that.

Now having everything in its prospective zone is deliciously satisfying.

Don’t you love how she described it? Deliciously satisfying!

I LOVE IT!

I always say that organising is not just something you do for organising’s sake; it’s to enable you to live your life to the full.

Without having to search for things, Ricci is now able to use that time to work on her business.

Because her space inspires her, she can better inspire her clients.

That’s what it’s all about!

before she bought Organise your Business
(there is a section on organising your office)

after

she’s used at least 3 different ideas and tips that are clearly visible to me 🙂

and here is the lovely lady herself. Doesn’t that colour look great on her?!

Thanks, Ricci, for letting me feature your inspiring space!

Filed Under: Time management Tagged With: , ,
29 May 2011 by 7 Comments

Inspiring space #6 – dream closet

Today’s inspiring space is an absolute dream.

I think it may even be better than Oprah’s closet 🙂

This is Megan’s custom-designed closet from Honey We’re Home.

Megan has an absolutely beautiful home (how she keeps it so stylish with a toddler I have no idea!) and it’s decorated beautifully.

There are tons more pictures on the blog posts themselves but I want to point out a few things:

This space embodies “a place for everything and everything in its place“.

I’m a little bit jealous at all the colours that suit her! I have about 4 colours in my wardrobe 🙂

Don’t you love how she drapes her (what we call) jerseys over hangers?

look at the shoe storage – beautiful

And look! A touch of pretty with a vase of flowers.

This pic is my favourite. I love the gazillion pairs of jeans all neatly organised. Uniform hangers really make a difference, don’t they?

Now Megan, what I want to know is this, “is that closet neat like this all the time?” 😉

Thanks for sharing your gorgeous closet. Here’s a button for your blog.

Aside from all the eye candy, I LOVE her follow-up post about how she organises that space.

Have a read and catch some tips.

Over to you – what is your favourite part of this space?

Filed Under: Time management Tagged With: ,
22 May 2011 by 5 Comments

Inspiring space #5 – home office

Be prepared to gasp at this thing of beauty!

click the picture to view a full-size one

I told you 🙂

I love, love, LOVE this space because it’s beautiful to look at (don’t you love the splashes of colour?), beautifully organised (where is her paper? :)) and it speaks of her personality.

I had a good dig around her site (almost like looking through your cupboards 😉 and she loves teal.

But the best thing about this is that she visualised her space well before she even moved into this house.

I read an old post where she spoke of exactly what she’d have her office look like one day and this is it!

Fantastic and totally inspiring.

Have a look at all the beautiful pictures on the Katelyn James Blog (she’s a photographer) and be prepared to drool.

Katelyn, it was an honour to feature your inspiring space.

Here’s a button for you to link up your post.

Sigh…

What’s your favourite thing about this space?

P.S. If you want to send me your inspiring space, send me a link or pic to marcia AT organisingqueen.com

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