Declutter your home, business and life
A couple of the most common places when great ideas will pop into our head are in bed, and in the car. Keep pads and pens on hand to capture those ideas, random thoughts and, of course, to-do lists and shopping lists. It’s a great way to recycle your paper―make scratch pads held together with bulldog clips and leave them everywhere…. [Read more...]
You may know that my company name, Gioia, is an Italian word meaning “joy” and that for me is what it’s all about. I count my joys [and blessings] daily and find them in countless guises. Here are just a few of my joys:
- Wonderful family and friends who enrich my life.
- My business which provides me with the opportunity to meet so many lovely people; it brings me joy and I believe makes a difference.
- I love and appreciate our beautiful city every day.
- And of course, I take joy in my home; it is my haven to come home to each day and the peacefulness and order of my surroundings allows me to relax with a sigh of pleasure.
We all have joys in our lives, such as precious family members, special friends, pets, and the opportunity to enjoy our livelihood. Why wouldn’t we want also the joy of a home which is free of clutter? I know you’re probably thinking – okay she finally got it in there. Yes, I had to say it, because clutter really can cause disruptions, frustration, and in some cases even misery. I can’t stress enough what a difference it makes when you declutter and organise your home, and workplace. [Read more...]
I am a great believer in not cluttering up my mind with things I need to remember to do and I confess I am one of those ‘list makers’. However my idea of fun is not searching through a mass of paper, magazines, newspapers etc to find the reminder note I need. So this month I’m going to purely talk about notebooks. Those practical hard covered little books which fulfill a number of purposes, and are so wonderfully portable if you want to carry one in your bag or briefcase.
There are a number of quite diverse purposes for which you can use notebooks:
You may have heard me say this before, but it bears repeating: the one thing that will make a huge difference to your decluttering efforts in your home is to “clear the surfaces”. Now I know that many do just that moments before visitors arrive, however I also suspect that everything gets shoved into a drawer, under the bed, or in the spare room with the door shut. And then doesn’t get sorted or put away later, and just becomes a jumble of clutter.
Think about how nice the house looks when you have done this rushed, and sometimes desperate, declutter of the surfaces. Wouldn’t it be nice to keep that look and feel. [Read more...]
How many clothes do we really need? Do you really wear everything in your wardrobe? I’m directing these questions to you guys too; it’s not just us ladies who have bulging closets. I’ve even seen couples’ wardrobes where the guy’s clothes outnumber the gal’s – incredible but true!
So, here are a few questions for you to think about, that will give you a pretty good indication if you’re suffering from wardrobe overload:
Christmas can be such a magical time of year, and for me it’s also a time when I more keenly miss those loved ones who are not with me, my parents who have passed away, and members of my family who live overseas. I don’t have a lot of memorabilia, but there are some special items I treasure, and at Christmas my Mum’s Santa comes out to sit pride of place on my dining table. Whenever I look at him I remember Mum’s childlike joy at Christmas – she loved it and shared that joy with everyone around her.
Memorabilia can probably fit neatly into two categories: items which we want to keep but don’t need to see every day, and beautiful or interesting things which we could put on display, if we could figure out where.