7 ORGANISED SECRETS OF PEOPLE
1 LEARN TO PRIORITISE A daily action plan is key, says Linda. ‘Your list will be too long, so prioritise the three things that are most important, and concentrate on those.’
2 BE PREPARED Compiling your to-do list the night before helps you to de-stress before bed, plus it means you won’t waste time in the morning when you could be cracking on.
3 HOME SWEET HOME Give everything a home – from keys to gadgets – and always use it.
4 DOUBLE UP Have duplicates of items you use often. ‘I suggest scissors in the kitchen, as well as in the bathroom, but keep them in a designated place,’ says Vicky.
5 LOW-MAINTENANCE Keep it simple – complicated filing systems won’t work long-term because they’re too time-consuming to maintain.
6 TWO-MINUTE WONDERS Do barely noticeable twominute jobs as you go: clean the basin after cleaning your teeth; plump up cushions at the end of the evening; sweep the floor after dinner. And encourage everyone to do the same.
7 TUNE IN Go with your natural body clock to make the most of your energy levels. ‘A lark will be productive during an earlymorning organising session, while a night owl will find it easier to do when the day is almost done,’ says Linda.
approach with my dinner service, I can confirm it works.) Be decisive. ‘If something needs to go, don’t prevaricate,’ says Vicky. Set aside what you want to keep (store out-of-season clothes in vacuum bags and shoes in boxes). Bag up items to ‘donate’ or ‘junk’. The most important thing is to literally take them out of the house to where they need to go.
Wardrobe wobbles
Here’s a shocker… a study concluded that women in the UK don’t wear 73% of the clothes they own *** – yet still complain of having nothing to wear. We hang on to an item for so many reasons: we imagine wearing it again when we’ve lost weight; it’ll be perfect for a certain occasion (that may never happen); it’s too ‘good’ to let go of, despite it being totally off trend… the list goes on. Be brave and let it go!
The spin on admin
Tackling official paperwork, particularly finances, can feel very stressful, but it can’t be ignored, so face it square on with these tips.
✢ Give yourself enough time to go through important documents when you have no interruptions, such as early morning when the house is quiet. Give the task your full attention and, afterwards, reward yourself with a treat.
✢ Knock the habit of letting unrelated paperwork pile up by investing in a simple slimline filling unit, so that absolutely everything is kept in a safe, orderly place. Label each drawer: mortgage, car, insurance, health, utilities and so on. Put paperwork in its correctly assigned drawer as soon as it arrives. Have one marked ‘Action’ for anything urgent, and deal with that once a week. Go through the rest when you can.
✢ Approach official emails the same way, creating folders and renaming documents, if necessary, so they are instantly recognisable. If you want an easy record, you can create a simple online spreadsheet.