Organising systems to help you organise your home and live a low impact life
You can throw clothes into your landfill bin but there is no need to when there are so many options to reuse, repurpose or recycle clothing. And do not throw clothes into your recycling bin – clothes need to be sent elsewhere for recycling. And you could throw clothes into charity bins, but it is not advised.
The best way to keep your pantry organised and prevent food waste is to keep a minimal pantry with essential staples. Essential staples are generally spices, condiments, sauces, sugars and flours that you use on a regular/ semi-regular basis. All non-essential items belong on dedicated shelf space – let’s call it the “Use Up Soon” space – so the items are used up in the next couple of meals to be made. Along with some effective storage solutions, your pantry should stay organised, ensuring no item is forgotten or wasted.
In this blog post, I share 5 eco-friendly storage solutions that helped me get my wires, chargers and cables organised. These are:
(1) Toilet rolls – perfect for containing wires and labelling them
(2) Wire ties – to tie together cables that do not fit into toilet rolls
(3) Take-away containers – the best clear storage solutions for smaller items
(4) Shoe boxes/ tissue boxes – to store items for easy access
(5) Sharpie/ permanent marker – for all your labelling needs
The process I went through to declutter and organise wires and cabling is similar to how I tackle any organising project – first I start with pulling everything out into one space. Then I group like items together. Then I sort out what we need to keep, what can be given away and what needs to be recycled. For things in working order that I no longer need, I ensure they go to someone who can make use of it. For those not in working order, I dropped them off at an e-waste drop off point. There are several places around that collect this type of e-waste, ensuring the plastic and precious metals in these products are recycled.
So how to organise receipts? Well, my method is very similar to the process I use for organising paperwork – I let receipts accumulate in a designated area and when the area gets near to being full, only then do I take the time out to sort out what I need to keep and what I can discard. For those that I decide to keep, I scan them electronically and then dispose of them responsibly. It’s a super simple process I go through every 3 months or so – to keep on top of something that could easily become out of hand.
The best way to keep your sanity when dealing with paperwork is to have a system in place that takes away any guesswork. My system is to have four places set up to organise paperwork – a place for short-term items, transient items, long-term items, and permanent items. Then it’s a case of adopting some simple habits to maintain this system. This doesn’t involve much other than making sure papers go into one of the storage areas straight away – if it is set up right, this should be a quick and easy task. Anything that needs to be scanned and filed in a particular way goes into the “transient” storage space to deal with later. Then once or twice a year, you will need to go through the transient storage space to scan the items for electronic storage. I find it doesn’t take much effort to scan and electronically file paperwork away. I personally can get away with doing it once, maybe twice a year, and it takes maybe half an hour at the most to get my yearly paperwork in order.
Ever want to simplify your cleaning routine? Well, I’m a lazy clean freak and I think the combination of these two traits has helped me hit upon a simplified routine that works.
Organising Strategies Aligned With What You Want to Achieve In a previous blog post, I mentioned 5 reasons why you need to get organised. A lot of the reasons mentioned connect to your pain points, caused by having a disorganised home. This being: High levels of stress Losing time looking for or maintaining possessions Wasting money shopping …
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5 Reasons to Start Organising Now! Look I understand. Mess, spontaneity = fun. Tidying up, organising = work. I hear you. I even agree with you. However, if you are reading this you probably have an inkling that being disorganised is no fun either. And that really provides the main motivation for …
If you want to start a capsule wardrobe for the first time, I recommend the following steps:
1. Rationalise what you own by removing items you are unlikely to wear
2. Use storage boxes to store away items likely to be worn in other seasons
3. Put all other items back into your wardrobe
4. Keep track of what you wear during the current season
5. Repeat the process for all other seasons
Capsule Wardrobes – Don’t Make These 5 Mistakes!! For the past 5 years now I have had a seasonal capsule wardrobe that I rotate out around each time the weather shifts. I went through SO MUCH trial and error to get my capsule wardrobe going. It was probably about 3 years of fussing around until …
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Capsule Wardrobe – 5 Reasons Why You Should Have One Oh, capsule wardrobe how I love thee… Let me count the ways… 1. You have helped me save so much money Once my wardrobe was established, the desire to purchase new items reduced. I will struggle to explain this but weirdly enough, by getting rid …
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Capsule Wardrobe – What Does Google Say? The term “capsule wardrobe” typically refers to a collection of clothing this is made up of interchangeable items that allow you to maximise the number of outfits that can be created. The aim is to have an outfit suitable for any occasion without owning excessive items of clothing. …
The Three Step Organising Method Without a doubt organising is hard. It’s a skill that does not come naturally. Like writing this first blog post. So hard. But like anything, having a good process in place that underpins the work helps. I want to share the process I apply in the home organisation services I …
