How to be less busy and enjoy life more





If I had to pick one reason getting organised can be difficult, it’s this:

People are too busy.

Our work lives are busy, our home lives are busy and our social lives are busy - it never ends!

Have you ever:

  • Skipped one household chore in order to free up time to complete another one?
  • Used paper plates at dinner to cut down on doing the dishes?
  • Found yourself awake at 1am, exhausted, but not wanting to go to bed because you just need an hour or two to do something you want to do, not have to do?

You are absolutely not alone..

One thing I see a lot of us struggle with is the feeling that we have way too much to do and not  enough time to do it in.

Now there’s a lot of great advice out there to help with the ‘busy factor’: simplify your life, stop saying yes to social commitments, just leave the housework because it’ll be there tomorrow..

I do think that advice has it’s place, but it’s not always easy to do those things (and often causes more stress and icky feelings when you try to do them).

Want to know the advice I give my clients when they need to cut down on the ‘busy factor’?

I say this:

Look for an easier way.

There is often an easier or faster way to do something than the way you were shown originally. This idea can apply to anything, from asking your butcher to cut your meat for you (saves a good 10 minutes cooking time), to looking at new technology options.

These days, you can rent movies over the internet and save a trip to the DVD shop.You can order your groceries online and have them packed and ready to take home when you swing by the supermarket after work. You can even get them home delivered!

And you can give up vacuuming. Look at this baby by Robomaid. I’m in love:





It doesn’t matter what type of floor you have - tiles, carpet, timber, marble - this robot vacuum cleaner will keep it clean. Plus it has a timer, so while you spend your time running after the kids, putting in a long day at work, or heading out to that birthday party, it automatically starts, vacuums and returns to its docking station. You come home to clean floors without lifting a finger!

Actually, you will need to lift that finger to set the timer or push the start button on the remote. But I’m sure you can cope with that given the time you will save by never vacuuming again.

Doesn’t that sound good? Let’s say it again.

Never vacuum again.

It’s like the Jetsons housekeeper robot (what was her name?!?), but this one is smaller with less attitude ;)

It’s like having a cleaner come in but instead of paying $15 each week (according to my Google search) for a half hr of vacuuming (and the floor is messy again 2 days later), it’s like you only don’t even pay half of that and can have clean floors with no effort.

My floors need vacuuming 3 times a week, so over a year that works out to be just under $2 per vacuum. Every cup of coffee I have ever bought has cost more than that.

So you save time, save money, and save your sanity. Use your old vacuuming time to work on something else, or hey, just relax...

Want to see how it works? 




If you want your own robot vacuum cleaner, this is where to find the one by Robomaid.



The June offer is fantastic: When you purchase your Robomaid you'll get free shipping, a 30 day money back guarantee and a free filter and brush kit valued at $39.95 - all for just $399


OR


When you buy the twin pack (one for upstairs, one for downstairs!), you'll get 2 complete Robomaids, free shipping, a 30 day money back guarantee, 2 free filter and brush kits AND 2 free additional virtual walls - all for just $770


These offers are valid until June 30, 2012.


That's really great value AND less work for you! 


So head over, check them out, then come back and tell me what you would do with your extra time once you take a household chore off your list!


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Credits:

This post has been proudly sponsored by Robomaid after I approached them and told them I love that they’ve come up with a product that makes life easier!


Real life organising - kids rooms


Are you organising your kids bedroom for Neat & Tidy this month?

I'm loving the organising ideas sent in by Julie from NSW - top row is for a boy and bottom row is a girl's room:



I think these ideas are fantastic:
  • Middle of desks lift to show mirror and storage space underneath - great for homework, diary, makeup or electronics
  • Underbed storage with wheels & lids for easy access to most used toys and books - easy for the kids to pack away as well - I hear you can pick these up at Bunnings for under $8 at the moment!
  • Baskets under desks for school socks or hair accessories - no rummaging around in drawers but still easy to access and keep tidy
  • laminated picture chart with morning 'get ready' tasks - keeps the kids moving in the morning, and protects the desk when drinks and food are taken in to the room
Lots of clever ideas here - simple & inexpensive to do and so effective!

Thanks for sending in your pics Julie :)

Want to be featured on the Beautifully Organised blog?

Send your photos to marissa@beautifullyorganised.com! 

Don't forget, if you like these ideas, share them with your friends by clicking on the Facebook button below - you'll be helping them live their own calm, organised life and have more time for things they really love xx



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One of my favourite organising tips for women





I’m going to share with you one of my most effective organising methods for women - and the best part is, it’s not hard work.

It’s actually so enjoyable you’ll have no problem making it a habit and doing it regularly.

What’s my method? Keeping it pretty.

Seems simple, doesn’t it? That’s why it works.

It’s natural to want to spend time around beautiful things. Think about how nice it feels to drink your tea out of a pretty mug. How great you feel after a haircut and colour. How relaxing your bath is when you add candlelight and bubbles..

These may seem like little things, but the positive effect they have is unquestionable. So I like to take the ‘pretty’ factor and use it to get my clients (and myself) organised!

One of my favourite ways to do this is with gorgeous stationery.

Anyone who feels that little delight in using clean, fresh new notepaper will understand where I’m coming from here. There’s nothing like beautiful paper to encourage you to start planning and writing down everything from your daily To Do list, to those party invitations you’ve been meaning to send for ages ;)

That’s the secret - finding a way to make it pretty will change the things you should be doing, into things you can’t wait to do.

You can use beautiful stationery to get on top of every day things like:

  • your weekly cleaning schedule
  • menu planning
  • grocery lists
  • to do lists
  • your family schedule
  • everything else you come across during the day and think “I need to remember that” - just write it down on pretty paper and I guarantee you’ll be looking at it again and again!




Then there’s the things you “really need to do when you get a chance”, like:
  • letters to family and loved ones - you know, the ones who don’t use Facebook..
  • invitations and thank you notes - for babies, birthdays, weddings & anniversaries..
  • we’ve moved notice cards - something we all want to do but never seem to get to..
  • recipes - take those scrap pieces of paper and write them out on beautiful, easy to access notecards, and they’ll never go missing again!


So stationery will get you organised, but how many of you will take time out of your hectic day to go out shopping and find some pretty stationery just for you, to take home and use every day?

I thought so. Well, lucky you have me ;)

Here’s my favourite, and you don’t have to leave your computer to get it.

I LOVE these notepaper and note card designs from Ellis Benson. Plus, you can up the pretty factor with them - they also do personalised stationery. Beautiful.




Their website is lovely - they even have an ideas page with amazing gift suggestions. This is a big win for me because combining tasks (different from multi-tasking) is something I recommend to my clients - so while you are purchasing for yourself, think about gifts for birthdays & special occasions coming up and cover all of those needs at the same time:

  • beautiful notepaper - for your friend that loves to write
  • baby shower cards - guests can write their ‘new baby’ tips for the mum to be and collect them all in a simple, pretty box as a gift (or bridal shower and marriage tips!)
  • birth announcement cards - ready for you (or a pregnant friend) to write when bub is born
  • recipe cards - share a family recipe as a gift by writing it on a beautiful card and giving it with the ingredients!

Most importantly..

Owning beautiful personalised stationery will be your way of rewarding yourself for working hard at getting  everything in your life running smoothly. Being organised takes time and effort! Treat yourself to something pretty that will also help you in the long run - you’ll be happy you did and motivated to keep living organised :)

Guess What! The lovelies at Ellis Benson are currently offering a 20% discount for Beautifully Organised readers! Just use the code ORGANISE at checkout to apply your discount - it's valid from June 6 to June 13.



Pop over to Ellis Benson and have a play personalising your own stationery - you will love the different pictures, fonts and colours to choose from.

Then come back here and share which ones you liked the most and how you will use it to help get you organised!








Credits:
I came across Ellis Benson a while ago - I was searching for beautiful stationary to purchase online and their designs took my breath away. When I asked if I could share their beautiful products and if they would like to sponsor the post they were happy to do so and have been wonderful to work with :) 
These products are now on my standard gift-giving list for friends, and I have my own wish list of personalised stationary desires from them that I'm sure will grow and grow!

Laundry storage inspiration

Are you organising your laundry for our Neat & Tidy challenge?

I have some laundry storage inspiration for you!

These are some great ideas I found on the net and on Pinterest over the past couple of weeks:

Pinned Image
Lost socks - so cute!

Over the tap sink caddy
Over the tap Sink Caddy
Gorgeous light and lots of folding space!
Lots of  light and so much folding space!
The Hanger Hamper
The Hanger Hamper













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How to organise your laundry sink cupboard


Does your laundry sink look like this?


Would you like it to look more like this?


I've used a couple of great products here and some basic organising tricks to get rid of my laundry sink cupboard clutter and give clear, easy access to everything I need when I'm washing and cleaning.

Products (both from Aldi)

Expandable Under Sink Shelf: This shelf really works for any cupboard you have sitting under a sink because you can adjust the shelving to fit around the sink pipes. As you can see above, I was able to fill the whole area under the sink - there's no wasted space at all and I can access everything easily (which also means its easy to put things away again - so I'm more likely to do it).

Housekeeper's Box: Shelves are great but in my laundry cupboard, there are a lot of little things that won't sit neatly on them - sponges, dust cloths, cleaning wipes, etc. The easiest way to store things like this is to contain them in something that's still easy to access. This housekeeper's box fits all those bits and pieces and has a handle, making it easy to take out and carry with me from room to room when I'm cleaning.

If you're looking for products like these they are pretty easy to find. Aldi only stocks them occasionally but if you keep an eye out in their catalogues on or their iPhone app (Thanks to Blair for telling me about the app!) you can see when they have them in stock.

After a quick Google search I also found an expandable shelf at LifeSpace here and Howards Storage World here, and a Housekeeper's Box at Howards Storage World here.

Now it's your turn! How have YOU organised your laundry sink cupboard? Share your tips and tricks in the comments below!

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