and for those who haven’t been in front of their TV last Tuesday – click anywhere on the image below

Here is an organising idea that should be crucial to implement this time of the year!
(Posted on November 01, 2011 in Bed, Bath & Kitchen,
Decor & Furniture, Organize & Personalize by Simone.)

Look Up
Use wire to make a space to store gift wrap rolls against the ceiling, rather than
cluttering up the floor.

It’s a German superstition, that it’s bad luck to do any washing between Christmas and New Year. It comes from a time, when washing clothes after every wear wasn’t the thing to do anyway, so not washing for a week was nothing unusual.
A lot of my German friends still follow that rule – not because of superstition, but to give themselves a break from housework and make that week special. We should be celebrating not getting bogged down with boring household chores.
Why not trial this idea next week. Most people I know wash every or at least every other day. I challenge my customers when I see the amount of socks a family owns by saying: “so you wash every three weeks, because that’s how long your sock supply would last!” Most people don’t know where I am heading with this, but I want to create new possibilities to get through a day. If the old ways are not working – and too much laundry, clean and dirty around the house, is a very common problem- why not try something new. So, this year, don’t wash between Christmas and New Year. It is the same amount of work to put 7 pairs of undies away than one pair!!!

I do like maths -and love statistics. This week’s ‘Good Weekend’ had another interesting one.

Which leads me to this year’s Christmas gift giving tip:
Give sensible, give things people need – even for children, ask what they want, accept if someone says “I don’t want anything”.
Because if you keep on giving, it can get  too much. People find the task of putting all the gifts away after Christmas overwhelming. You don’t want to be the one tipping someone from ‘a bit too much stuff’ to “I have so much clutter around, I don’t know where to start!”
Did you know, that most of us find it harder to let go of an unwanted gift than something we bought ourselves for a lot of money? So be mindful this year – and if you think potatoes are a bit too ‘down to earth, think of something slightly more pretty, but still useful.

This is the LessMess Christmas checklist. I know, that some of you have already seen it last year – but there a re so many new subscribers, I wanted to share this again: Just amend the details to suit your family’s needs. Hang it up in a prominent place around your house and keep working on it, adding things and most importantly crossing things off.

3 weeks to go Entertainment and food

• Decide on activities, events. Theme it (colours) even if you don’t make that official. It makes decision making and shopping easier
• Invite guests to Christmas activities & events
• Order food (ham, pork, turkey)
• Make Christmas cake, pudding biscuits
• Eat through your freezer

Gift giving

• Draw up a gift list of people for whom you need to buy presents
• Start writing down present ideas
• Start buying presents
• Check supply of wrapping paper, cards, ribbons
• Post overseas presents and cards

General

• Take last year’s received X-Mass cards to produce list for this year – throw last year’s out
• Purchase Christmas Cards (unless you have enough to last you a lifetime)
• Purchase Christmas stamps
• Check Christmas decoration & lights – buy new ones if necessary

2 weeks to go Entertainment and food

• Clean your freezer
• Clean your fridge and oven
• Plan Christmas food menu. Plan something you can prepare as far ahead as possible or at least parts of it  – even better something that freezes well
• Decide who brings what (entree, desert, and alcohol, soft drinks) asks for help!!!
• Write up additional items list (bon bons, serviettes, glasses, chairs, table deco…)
• Buy non perishable food and drinks
• Prepare  whatever possible: chop onions, cheese, herbs,… and freeze

Gift giving

• continue purchasing presents
• make notes of what you bought for whom and where you hid it
  (my mum always forgot at least one present – I actually loved it; getting just one more the next day!!)
• Wrap presents
• Check list for outstanding presents
• Check whether any toys require batteries & if necessary buy them now

General

• Post Christmas cards
• Put up Christmas tree & start with other decorations. With children: do something every day

1 week to go Entertainment and food

• Draw up timetable for Christmas lunch. From when to start defrosting the turkey to serving coffee & mints.
• Remind friends and family about their contributions

General

• Check camera/video for batteries and recharge if necessary

2 days to go Entertainment and food

• Buy perishable food
• Prepare what’s possible

Gift giving

• Wrap remaining presents

December 24th enjoy Christmas

Most people who ask me for help have tried to get organised before. It might have been through books, TV shows, courses or help from family and friends.
I personally I am not a great believer in ‘self-help books’. They are mostly from the US, and let’s face it, Americans have a completely different lifestyle to us. Or does anybody have a basement and a TV in the kitchen?
Books give good advice, but not tailored to your situation. TV shows would do the same, can sometimes get people going and motivated.
Friends and family – you love them too much to take their advice with the necessary distance and professionalism.
Here is what is different when you work with a professional

1. a PO studies systems for a living. We don’t know just one system or ‘our system’ – we know many. And we know the best situations to apply them.
2. We are not intimidated or overwhelmed by the volume of ‘stuff’, nor the size of the project. We have the tools and resources to get the job done, with your dignity well and truly intact.
3. We do not pass judgement. At all.
4. We are objective. This is a high value characteristic. We do not have the weight of emotion holding us down.
5. We are there for YOU. We have no hidden agendas. We are the client advocate first and foremost. We’re there with your wellbeing in mind and nothing else.
6. We organise people, not things. We deal with you and what’s going on in your life. The stuff gets organised as a result of that.

Our family cycled over the Harbour Bridge, participating in the Sydney Spring Cycle. With 10.000 others, we prepared the bikes and lunches the night before, got up early, took a train to North Sydney – up the first hill –“are we there yet?”
At the starting point we had to find the choir, because on top of cycling 55km we were registered to take part in a Guinness Book of records attempt to be the biggest choir on a bicycle. We rehearsed Waltzing Matilda with the Choir of the Opera House. (The lyrics are actually hard to learn; and explain to a 8 year old why someone wants to die rather than go to jail; and how he can drown in a puddle?!)
“are we starting yet?” when we waited for our choir section to get the go ahead. “can we have morning tea?” as we cycled through the Rocks. “how much further?” every 5 km.
Despite having participated in that event for 7 years, we are never sure of the route. They changed it considerably this year and because we don’t have (working) bike computers, nobody ever knew exactly where we were going and where we where up to.
So we focused on the ‘now’ time, on our instincts as how much further to go, on our knowledge about local bike paths to try to guess where we are heading.
We knew where the finish line was going to be – the kids knew they would get an ice cream, but apart from that, we just took our time and enjoyed the ride.
I think it’s a good analogy how I work with most of my clients: Be prepared. Have a end result in mind. Have a plan that doesn’t’ have to be followed by the letter. Embrace the unexpected.  Have a  clear idea about the reward at the end and willingness to enjoy the journey.
PS: despite the brilliant rehearsal, the singing on the bride was quite disputable – and we haven’t heard back from the organisers yet whether we are indeed the biggest choir on a bicycle.

I found a reference to this tumblr site in the magazine of the SMH a couple of weeks ago.(regular readers might realised, that I spend more time reading the papers on the weekend – the upside of having kids that don’t need me as much in the morning any more!)
If you are a perfectionist – don’t go there. But it illustrates the need for people to have order in their lives. It’s also very tongue in cheek. I think these photos are soothing for the mind – I see them as an art form without aspiring to create something like it. I don’t think it’s very practical
(Source: thisiscolossal.com, via jesusaintdead)
http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/9474025043/3/tumblr_lqlz4dObyQ1qcprm9

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I abviously had to put this one in – it’s from someone travelling my hometown of Muenchen.
“SUBMISSION: Having summarized my first week in Munich, I soon discovered why the German flag is coloured the way it is.”
http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/10555926727/1/tumblr_lp7chhJAkC1qbycdb

Perfectionism is the very close friend of procrastination. The desire to have everything perfect and the reality of not being able to, or not having the time to, is so disproportionate, that a lot of people don’t even start.
But often a job doesn’t have to be perfect – good enough but still meeting needs, budget and delivery date.
I am not suggesting you start out delivering below quality work, but second guess your initial idea of ‘everything has to be perfect’. Not everything has to be perfect! Develop the skill of making these decisions – the skill of being able to judge whether a task needs perfection or not.
I like the attitude “good enough”. For me it started changing when I had my first child. There was so much to do and learn in the early years, that some things just couldn’t be done properly. I think it’s a great skill to realise, that a job is done – despite someone else or your inner self not think so. It’s better to do a quick sweep of the house, than nothing at all. It’s better to sort washing into piles according to household members, than leaving it on the dinner table. My husband is currently looking for a job and I had to convince him, that sending a good enough resume today is better than sending a perfect one tomorrow when the job might not be open any more.
Which sounds like I am an advocate for an untidy house – I am not, but I know there are times and situations that call for unruly solutions. And it doesn’t have to be forever – once the kids have all started school (some 10 years later) you’ll have more time to fold the washing and stick photos into albums (although, I personally will deal with the photos once the kids moved out of the house – in another 10 years!)

I found this one in the weekend magazine of the SMH beginning of last month

Art Hook

Functional object d’art.
At first it looks like a painting but with just a few simple moves, it turns into a wall clothes hanger.
Printed with an image from Australian artist Mary Shackman, the connection between art and functionality is executed
in Australian black wood and an intricate printing technique. 343 W x 240 H

Colour palettes can be selected. Lead time 4-6weeks
http://www.workshopped.com.au
Orders taken only. enquiries to shop 02 9146 4353