The Best Blog Format

A lot of the blogs that I follow seem to have a regular flow of blog posts and some of them seem to have set days when they have a particular type of post (like "must try Monday" - a post about recipes, and Pinterest Tuesday or something like that, where the blogger shares photos that they have found particularly interesting that week.

Being new to blogging I'm not sure if I should try that format. I'm worried that if I start, due to my hectic lifestyle at the moment I would not be able to keep it up. I have a few things that I have been working on and not yet got around to blogging about and I have tonnes of ideas and to be honest I feel quite overloaded as it is right now. I wish I could spend more time on my blog as I really love doing it. And I definitely want to grow the business that I'm hoping to build up (an idea that came almost directly out of the blog and feedback that I received).

Am I too self-critical? Maybe one quality blog post a week is better than 3 a week (two of which are filler - or could be if I feel pressured into producing something just because it is Storage Saturday or whatever).

Are you a blog reader? Do you prefer blogs you read to have a particular format? A you a blog writer? What sort of format, schedule etc do you use for your blog.

Comments most welcome.

My problem areas

With all the thought that I've been giving to becoming a professional organiser and all the research that I've been doing into organising, its made me think some more about my trouble spots. Those things that just keep biting me on the bum (no I'm not talking about my husband). The things that I just keep failing to make work in my house. 

According to a lot of the things I've been reading and podcasts I've been listening to (btw I'm currently totally addicted to the podcast Take Control with Nicki Kinzer), the general consensus is that if you are continually running into problems with something then you need to improve the system or put a better system (or just a system!!!) in place to resolve it. 

I have identified my 3 main areas where I struggle time and time again:

1. Planning ahead
2. Bedroom/wardrobe issues
3. Laundry

1. Planning ahead

By planning ahead I'm talking about things like packing the kids bags back up with nappies, pants ahead of time. I did try to do it the night before but I just found that as soon as they are in bed I flop and find myself unable to do much else. And packing the bags, while I would LIKE it to be top of my list, by that time of the evening, it just ISN'T! 

So I've decided that rather than trying to do it the night before after the kids are in bed, I'm going to start doing it as soon as they walk in the door. I work (and they go to childcare) on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And unless we are going out for a long period on my days off or the weekends, their bags are left untouched until the morning of the next working day. While it is always a little bit hectic when they walk in the door - they are always demanding toast or biscuits or TV the minute they come in (and I'm keen to just give them whatever it is they want so I can have a nice cup of tea - I know, bad parent that I am) but I figure that its just one more thing to do and I'm already still on my feet at that point. Its AFTER I've sat down that the impetus to get up and do anything is really an issue. 

I am in the middle of drafting another post which is a review of the iPhone/iPad app HomeRoutines and I'm updating this as a kind of diary of how I get on with it (how I find it helps me - or doesn't - with managing these tasks). I will upload this blog post when I have more to put in it. I'm slowly building up routines for it but I don't want to overwhelm myself and then give up which is what I've done before. 

2. Bedroom/wardrobe issues

This morning, and in fact every morning that I'm getting dressed for work (I work in an office), I get extremely frustrated by my wardrobe. I hate it. I have several issues with it. I will list them now:

1. Its too small. I hate having to share with my husband. I wouldn't be so bad if we had one side each but because of the layout of it we have half of a rail on the right side of it and one rail each on the left side (which is divided vertically). He has the lower half for his shirts and I have the top half for my things (except his ties are at the left of my rail and a couple of his jackets are on the very right of my rail. It just drives me CRAZY!!!! I DON'T WANNA SHARE!!!!! (sobs hysterically and kicks feet like 2 year old child). 
2. The clothes are outdated and old and I don't even like a lot of them anymore. I've been doing Weight Watchers since December 2010 and lost nearly 3 stone but in the last year or so I've been yo-yo-ing a bit and have struggled to keep the momentum but I won't go buy any new clothes (apart from when I'm in desperate need - although its getting that way now) until I've got to my goal of 11 stone. I really want to have a good old chuck out but I'm holding back because a) I need to save some money to buy new things with and b) I want to wait until I reach the size that I want to be (a UK size 12). I'm currently a 12 on top (mostly) and a 14-16 on the bottom. But I would like to comfortably be a size 12 all round (even a 10-12 on top). 
3. Because of the layout of the wardrobe nothing is very well organised and, even after I've tried to organise it, it gets messy again very quickly which tells me that the system I've put in place when I've previously organised it is simply not working! 

My ideal solution would be to move house, to somewhere with either an entire wall of wardrobe space or even a walk-in wardrobe with plenty of shoe storage. Sadly, that ain't gonna happen for a few more years! But in the meantime I am just not sure what to do. I feel like until I can purge a lot of the unwanted items from my wardrobe, I'm not going to feel happy about it. I don't like the cupboard space where I keep my tops. I reorganised the top shelf a few months back and I LOVE the boxes that I used in that space, but what do I do about the bottom space. Its too deep a cupboard for what I use it for now which is - pajamas on one side and tops on the other. However, I don't like to stack all my tops in one place as I have different kinds: work ones, going out ones, t-shirts for days at home, vest tops.... I can really only put 3 piles side by side and there is so much unused space that it feels such a waste - in fact, as a whole it feels like I barely use 20% of my wardrobe right now. Ideally I'd like to hang most tops on hangers (I bought some beautiful fuscia hangers a couple of months back) but I'm not sure if I have enough space to hang up those items. 

Anyway, I think I could go on and on about what my IDEAL solution would be and how much better my wardrobe could be if... well, if it was a completely different wardrobe and different room in fact. But I don't have that option right now. And I'm not sure waiting until I've lost weight (in 2-3 months) is going to help. I need something NOW!!! I need a system that works for me. So I am going to do the following: as soon as I have a space of about 2 hours I'm going to lock myself in my room. With a pack of bin bags and plastic boxes and be utterly ruthless with my wardrobe. Then make a list of what I need - clothes and storage solutions. I'll write more about that when I get around to doing it. 

Laundry

Laundry. Where do I start? In my house Laundry is probably my biggest issue. I usually try to keep on top of it on my two days off at home but notoriously I only manage to do some on ONE of my days off which means I'm really only tackling it once a week which means that on one day a week I'm trying to get through 4 or so washes a day. I don't have a tumble dryer (much to my sadness) so really after about 2 washes we run out of dryer/radiator space and we can only really get this many washes hung up and dried in a day if its sunny outside. And even then that's assuming I'm there to keep checking if the clothes are dry and replacing the dry stuff with wet stuff. 


The other issue is that once I've done the monster (how it feels to me anyway) task of washing and hanging 4 or so loads of washing, I have no energy left to actually put stuff away so that gets left to another day when we have time and so we end up with either a massive pile of dry laundry, or a massive pile of wet laundry waiting to be hung up. Basically laundry is my biggest housework nightmare at the moment. 


The solution is probably to keep up to date with laundry. Do a load or so a day. As soon as there is dry laundry, fold it and put it away. I'm going to try to do this. 






I am going to post this blog post now. Apologies if its a bit rough around the edges. I start writing it about a week ago. I've been feeling a bit harrassed due to trying to juggle too many balls at the same time and I just want to post it or it will sit around for another week or more!

Have you ever felt like you're a human multi-directional tug of war?

I do. Right now. 

I have been wanting to write a blog post for about a week now and I have started writing a few of them but I find myself unable to finish them. I just feel like I'm being pulled in so many different directions right now I'm finding it hard to focus on one thing at once. These are my different things that I feel are pulling me:

• work (just darn gets in the way, doesn't it!)
• studies (I've been so focussed on other things I've been completely neglecting my java course but its a horrible nagging feeling at the back of my mind)
• business/blog (I'm feeling so enthusiastic about my business that I just want to spend ALL my time doing that but my other commitments prevent me from doing so and hence why I seem to be unable to finish a blog post right now)
• family/kids (I love them to bits but I sometimes wish I had a nanny)
• housework (just doesn't go away, does it?)
• personal organising projects (I managed to work on my wardrobe a little last night but again I get so frustrated that I never seem to have time - time during the day I mean while I still have some energy left - to spend some proper time focussing on them)
• social media (am currently having lessons in Twitter via my friend Becky but man its overwhelming). I'm pretty much an expert when it comes to Facebook. I use it mainly for personal stuff (apart from the Facebook page for Organising the Chaos) but I'm a COMPLETE novice at Twitter and Google Plus.... its all a bit overwhelming. 

I just wish I could step back, turn all devices off, and escape to a desert island for 10 minutes! Or maybe a day! 

Why do I want to become a professional organiser?

I recently ran into an old acquaintance who, when I mentioned that I was starting up my own business as a professional organiser, basically laughed in my face. I came away from this chance meeting feeling quite hurt and wondering if I have what it takes.

I have to say its well known among my family and friends that my house is often messy. However, I really feel that those who know me that mostly its not because I don't care about the state of my house but more that I'm often in the middle of some creative endeavors or me and the kids are having fun with paints and pens. Some days I will tidy up the sitting room of toys and then 10 minutes later its as bad as it was before I started. I JUST don't see the point. Not when the kids are constantly getting things out again, unless its so messy that its actually hazardous to walk through... then I pick things up! Or make Joshua do it. I'm getting better and better at trying to teach Joshua about being organised and tidying up. Its a learning experience for him as much as me.

So why the obsession with organising if you're actually inherently messy, I hear you asking.... Well, good question, I say (notice how I'm talking to myself now... first sign of madness, isn't it?). I think the issue is that my creative streak doesn't like to be nailed down by habits like putting things away after you've used them and HAVING to make the bed first thing in the morning. No matter how I would LOVE to be the kind of person who does that. But I DO LOVE the effect of my surroundings being tidy all the time. OK, for as long as it takes to UNtidy it again. So my only solution over the years has been to make it EASIER for myself, as I can't afford the live-in cleaner that I sooooo desire and DESERVE!!! The only way to make tidying and putting away easier if you are inherently messy, is to have a place for everything. I also always envied other people that had beautiful (and tidy, I have to say) homes. They always seemed to manage to have nice flowers on a windowsill or a little chinese sand/water thing... the little touches that make it look like an interior designer may have passed through. I envy that. Its only now that I'm really foraging into my organising capacities that I've been considering stuff like that for my OWN surroundings. I have to say its becoming a bit of an obsession, but I'm loving every minute of it!

Why do I want to do this professionally? I actually have some really great ideas. I've been doing masses of research (other blogs, websites, tv shows) and getting some great inspiration (from pintrest as well) and I have always loved the feeling of being able to help other people. I get such a buzz from organising a messy space. What better way to make a living?

So in conclusion, I'm mentally sticking two fingers up at people who (whether they know me or not) laugh at my ideas, goals and dreams.

I'm going to make it happen!

Organising and decluttering the toys and tidying up kitchen/craft table

On saturday I am going to be helping a friend out with her kids play room. I thought before I go and do that (my first organising job in someone else's house) I should probably have a go at my own kid's toys.

While it wasn't that long ago that we bought a new toy storage unit and re-organised everything to fit, somehow (as always happens) toys have managed to get out of control again. In addition to all the toys in the unit itself, we also now have a big box of blocks and a toy garage that they regularly play with. I decided that (in preparation for my job on saturday) it would be a good idea to have a practice run at home. I also wanted to test out on Joshua the idea of getting your kids involved in purging their toys.

I explained to him that there are too many toys to fit in the toy drawers and that we need to get rid of some (or move them to his bedroom). We started going through the toys, drawer by drawer. He agreed to throw away any broken toys (that he didn't LOVE enough to want us to fix - or that weren't fixable - or that we were NEVER going to get around to fixing). I was really impressed with him.

I don't really have a picture of what it was like before as it didn't really look that bad but there were a few things that wouldn't fit in the drawers and a few things that just seemed to "hang around".

I had also wanted to label the toy bins since we got the unit. At the time I started this my labels hadn't arrived and I wasn't sure if they would be right there so I'd drawn labels (pictures of what should go in each bin) directly onto the plastic bins. You can see what that looked like as I don't yet have labels for the top bins. I think the black labels look much nicer (bought on ebay).

This is what it looked like before (although it didn't stay that tidy and the tray/tidy thing on the top ended up just collecting clutter and became a bit of a dumping ground - I SOOOO wish I'd taken a BEFORE photo!).

 This is what it looks like after my labelling frenzy:

Because of all the things that we either chucked out or relocated to the kids' bedroom I've actually GAINED a drawer that has NOTHING in it (the blue bottom right one that has no label on it).

I moved the tray thing so that I could use the top of the toy storage unit to keep bigger toys and some of the larger cars that either wouldn't fit in the drawers or ended up having a single drawer to themselves. I quite like having these bigger toys "on display" like that. I'm also trying to get Joshua (Lala is a bit young at the moment) to get used to playing with one thing and then putting it away when he's done. The same with the craft table. He'll play with paints and then the paints will stay out and the paper will go all over the floor..... I'll get to how I reorganised that area though in a minute.

 

Now, from the top we have:

Food, Blocks (previously in a separate box in the corner of the room - I filled this bin and then bagged up what was left to give away)....

  

Little people/figures/animals

Books (previously didn't really have a place for books - not downstairs anyway)...

Tools, cars (this hasn't really changed although I did get rid of quite a few cars that were either never played with or broken)

And the bottom two bins contain:

Electronic or noisy toys (drums, laptops, piano toys etc)
Lala's toys (dolls, balls, more baby type toys).

I am very pleased with how nice my labels look. And Joshua was very excited watching me drawing the pictures. Hopefully it will help him know where to put things when he's finished playing with them. Although I have to keep reminding him not to just dump things all over the floor and then wander off and play with something else!

Sometimes I think that even if your house is generally a mess, you have to ignore the day to day mess and do something that you have been meaning to do for ages. I tried all day to get the kitchen under control but I couldn't concentrate. I think my brain needed to feel that I was achieving something that was not just going to be undone in an hour! So in the end I gave up on the kitchen and washing up and tackled the toys, as above. And once, I'd mostly finished with that, I moved onto the kitchen/craft table which was an utter mess. It wasn't just the table that was a mess. There was paper and craft bits all over the floor. It was horrendous:

 

I first of all cleared the windowsill (I didn't take a picture of this but it was dirty and needed cleaning) and wiped it down. Then I started clearing the table. Anything that needed washing I dumped in the sink, I got a binbag and got rid of any dried paint, used paper (non-masterpieces), "sticking" bits and bobs that were not in good condition and basically anything that looked like rubbish and gave the table a really good clean.

I relocated the paints from the top of the fridge to on top of the drawer unit and labelled the drawers:

 

I found an unused tin that had previously had sugar in it (before I moved all that stuff into glass jars during my larder rejig) and put pens and pencils in it. 

As you can see, the kids are enjoying having a nice clean table to play at! This was also the first time Lala had sat at the table to do drawing. She sat there for AGES happy as a happy happy thing (can't think of any clever comparisons right now, but she was QUIET and sat still so that shows how HAPPY she was! lol). 

 

In other news I got myself a new kitchen bin! Woopee!!! No more plastic bags hanging on the bottle opener for the dog to tear a hole in and empty all over the floor!

 

Wording for Website, Posters etc

Hi. I need a bit of a hand with this so please feel free to give me your opinion in the comments.

As you know I am trying to promote my new business as a professional organiser through this blog.

I do have a website that a friend is working on on my behalf. The address is www.organisingthechaos.co.uk. Its not finished yet but feel free to take a look.

This is a screenshot of what it looks like:

As you can see it matches my business cards and fridge magnets that I had done! They look like this:

I love how its all going to match up.

Obviously, once the website is up and running and I've transitioned the blog over to this site, I'll change the address on the business cards. I'm thinking maybe I can do a little sticker either to cover the web address or to stick to the back, to start with - so I don't have to bin all the business cards I bought.

I have been working on some wording for the website but would really appreciate a fresh set of eyes.

So here is my layout.....

Pages will include:

• Home
• About Abi
• Services
• Products
• Contact me

This is the text for each page:

Home

Organising the Chaos started out as a blog to chart my personal progress organising my own life. The feedback I received from my blog was so positive that I started to think that there might be a career in it. 

So, if you need help decluttering, re-organising and generally bringing order to your house, office or life, give me a call. I can work at your pace, when is convenient to you (no extra charge for working evenings or weekends) so that you can start to enjoy the freedom that order and organisation can bring to your life. 

About Abi

I have to be honest: I am not a tidy person. However, I have always had a passion for organising and the feeling of control and freedom (from clutter) that it gives me in my otherwise chaotic household. 

The fact that keys, hats and sunglasses now have their own (pretty) spaces means that a) I don't have to spend ages searching for those things and b) they don't clutter up surface space any longer. 

I am from a PA and administration background and am a mum of 2 (children). Add a husband, 2 dogs and 3 chickens to the mix and you have a recipe for chaos!! 

I have my work cut out!

 

Services

I can help you in the following areas:

• Decluttering and organising any area of your home or working space
• Finding and buying on your behalf any storage solutions that will fit with your space and your style
• House-move preparation and unpacking
• Assistance in organising finances, paperwork and computer files
• Selling your unwanted items on ebay on your behalf

Products

coming soon

Contact me

If you have any questions regarding my products and services, or indeed about anything you've read about on my blog, please email me (link to abishepherd@gmail.com) or call me on +44 (0) 7545-808845. 

Advert/Flyer/Poster

Do you need help decluttering & organising your home, office, computer, finances.... If so, give me a call. I can help at a pace to suit you, when convenient (no extra charge for evenings/weekends) at a very reasonable price. We will even take away your clutter and sell it on your behalf on ebay if you so wish. 

That's as far as I got. Any ideas or thoughts much appreciated. 

What to do when its all on top of you and you don't know where to start

I was looking at my blog last night and trying to work out what I was going to write about when my brain and house was in a huge funk. I was in a bit of a depression yesterday. I felt like I had a hangover. I didn't but exhaustion got the better of me and I was in a seriously bad mood and I couldn't bring myself to lift a finger.After a nice long sleep last night and a lie in the morning I've decided that I'm going to be more productive today and I can write about how I'm going to kick myself into shape.

What to do when you're overwhelmed?

Step 1 - Have a shower
It might sound obvious but I always feel fresher after a shower, brushing teeth and getting dressed.

Step 2 - Decide not to make anymore mess
It can seem like a vicous circle when you are trying to tidy up mess that has been hanging around for a while if you are making more mess as you go along. So this morning, I've vowed that I will put away anything I use and if I see something that needs putting away (cups that need to be brought down to the kitchen etc), if I have free hands, I'll deal with them.

Step 3 - Do what you can
If you are like me, you will get stumped by the fact that you can't start with the washing up because there is no hot water cos you had a bath and forgot to put the water back on to heat. So what? Start emptying the dishwasher and filling it back up again. Heat enough water in the kettle so you can wipe a few surfaces.

Step 4 - DON'T PANIC! Do one thing at a time
Don't be put off by the fact that there is so much to do. Decide what area you're going to start on. Either a particular area of the worksurface (this is what works for me) and bit by bit, clear the clutter. Then move onto the next bit.

This is what I've done:

1. Cleared one surface so I could put my laptop in kitchen and write as I tidied
2. Emptied dishwasher
3. Filled dishwasher back up
4. Took all stuff off sink drainer (a lot of it had been there so long it had got dirty again so put it to right of sink)
5. Emptied sink (I can't start until I have an empty and clean sink). 
6. Still not got enough hot water to do a full sink of washing up so filled a little bit with some water from the kettle and wiped down some of the crumb-ladened surfaces down, then sprayed them with cleaning spray, wiped them clean and buffed them with a dry towel (I moved any obstacles out of the way - like the toaster and kettle etc so I could clean under and behind them)
7. Washed a load of bottles (I like to do them before anything else so the water is nice and clean and hot)
8. Put them together and put them away
9. Done another load of washing up

Its not finished yet. I've still not done ALL of the washing up that needs doing. The sitting room is still a mess (even though twice I've tidied it up - not much you can do while the kids are up unless you refuse to allow them to play!). The point is that now the kitchen looks much better than it did and I feel a bit better and I feel like I'm not living in a dump! And I've also had some time to relax.

OK, I've not managed to tidy up my entire house today. Some areas are still pretty messy but I've made a start and I actually (kind of) enjoyed doing it. 

More business card stuff

Some nice pics of my new business cards & fridge magnets & stickers:

 

 

 

I also made a little plastic wallet for the front of one of my boxes so I always have some business cards handy!

Some news and stuff

I'm sorry I've been neglecting you all (and my poor lonely blog) for a while. 


There has been lots going on behind the scenes. I have been very busy on various projects. Some of which I can tell you about now, some of which I may tell you about once I know if its going to pan out or not. 


Organising the Chaos is in Business


Firstly, I am starting up in business. I am here. To organise. YOU!!!


I'm SOOOOO excited that I now have Organising the Chaos business cards!! 

I love how pretty they are. 


I have plans to help various friends get organised (whoever will have me basically) free of charge and hopefully they will let me post it on my blog so I can build up a kind of portfolio. I figure that organising my own stuff is one thing but I need to prove (to myself and generally) that I can organise other people's homes - to fit in with THEIR lives and homes. 


Website


I am also working on a new website to match with the fancy new cards. With the help of a very kind friend. OK, he's actually working on it FOR me. Cos I don't really know my stuff when it comes to websites! Watch this space. 


Organising stuff I've been getting up to lately


I've been making some more of my blackboard clips (have a possible order in the pipeline). 

I organised a place for nappies, wipes and spare pants. There already was a place but it had got cluttered with other spare clothes and was just a mess. So I changed the box and found a few tins that had come with a set of mugs I got for Christmas one year that I could use for dividers. 

It looks neater now. 

I also swapped around our winter hall boxes (see below)

And created some summer hall boxes. One for shoes, one for bags and one for summer hats. I used my chalkboard labels to add a pretty little touch. 

I think I already mentioned how I did this in a previous blog but here you go again!


A place for everything and everything in its place!

Hopefully I'll have some more organisey stuff for you soon. 


(PS sorry if my writing is not top notch tonight. finding True Blood and this bottle of wine rather distracting!)