How To Organise Everything ... ish

Do you think there's a messy gene?

I think there's a messy gene. In fact, I will even offer myself up to medical science to prove it!

I am utterly incapable of entering - or indeed leaving - a room without depositing a trail of stuff - small and large - behind me. Bags, coats, keys, books, hair brushes, coffee cups.

And yes I know, I know ...

... if I just had a place for everything. And did one thing at a time rather than 50. And finished what I started. And put stuff away, folded and ever so, ever so neat. All would be OK.

The house would not be a mess.

And I would not run round - when already 5 hours late - shrieking, where are my keys? Where's my purse? Glasses? Bag? Incredibly important papers I neeeeed now!!!??

Whilst tripping over toys and embedding small pieces of lego deep into my foot ...


... because of course, I have bred messiness.And no one else knows where their stuff is either.

Sound familiar?

Yep? So what on earth are we to do?

Well of course we all need to declutter. And I love this new approach to decluttering.

It's really working for me.

BUT it's a marathon not a sprint and in the mean time, I have one mess taming trick that makes a huge difference.

AND you can use it organise just about everything.

AND it's simple. Hurrah!

How To Organise Important Stuff

All you do, is get a bunch of those clear, plastic zip wallets. You can get them on Amazon (UK).

And sort, first off, all those ever so tiny, "aargh, where on earth is it?" type things into them.

For me it's stuff like car permits, party invites - anyone else good at turning up at the wrong place at the wrong time? - stamps, that pesky-little online banking thingie, school letters.

Just pop like-with-like in a wallet. And shove all the wallets in an easy access basket or drawer.

And somehow, this works. I can easily see where the "I really musn't lose this" things are. And mostly, stuff makes it back home to the wallet safe from the mess monster.

OK. So, then it's on to the rest of our junk ...

How To Organise All Those Really Annoying Little Things

I do suspect future species will put down the demise of the human race to clutter.

We're all just disappear one day under a mountain of small plastic tat. And lego.

Meanwhile, I am hiding all the tat - and the lego - and some good stuff in plastic wallets.

All those random craft supplies and leftover kits it seems wrong to throw away. In a wallet.

All those board games with long since broken boxes - (anyone remember Sorry?). In a wallet.

Plus all the jigsaws ... and puzzles ... and infant artwork you can't quite bring yourself to throw away ... and product guarantees you might possibly never need ... just about anything ...

... including the lego. It all goes in a wallet.

And how exactly does this help, you rightly ask?

Well, firstly it saves space. Huge lots of it.

Secondly, it makes putting away simpler. And if your family - like mine - have got the messy gene, we gotta make it simple.

Thirdly - AND THIS IS A BIGGIE! - it lets you see what you've got. Easily.

Both the stuff you're looking for.

And the stuff you realise - when it's actually staring you in the face - you just DO NEED need.

Which makes it easier and easier to pop stuff in your charity bag or the recycling or the trash.

AND let it go!

Even if you're super short on space - like me - you can use this trick to organize everything from:

• Paperwork
• Stationary
• School letters
• Parking permits
• Your birthday card stash
• Spare keys
• Board games and jigsaws
• Lego
• Kids craft supplies
• Baby clothes you're storing - put stuff for each age group in a wallet and label it, so you can find it when you need it and pass it on when you're done
• Kids art work
• Crayons, coloured pencils and felt tips
• Hair bobbles and clips
• etc etc etc ...

I do hope this helps. Let me know. And do check out my simple tip for organising big toys.

And for more ideas on living with less don't forget to sign up for my newsletter.