I Gotta Organise. . .Christmas! 

How are you going with your Christmas organising? Are you becoming as organised as Mrs Claus or is your inner Grinch rearing it’s head as you question all hopes of being ready on time! 

Here is your To-Do list for this week. Conveniently seven items on the list this time, so you can try to get one thing done per day. Just pick the activity and assign a day and time to it and off you go…

4 weeks to go: 

1. Continue shopping

Keep going with your Christmas shopping this week. Again plan a day and time to get out to the shops and get another few gifts. 

2. Gift wrap as you go

Once you have a few gifts bought, sit down and wrap them. It’s another job done and that way as soon as you put up the Christmas tree, they’ll be ready to be put underneath. 

St Stephen's Green, Dublin (c) Sarah Reynolds

3. Continue writing your Christmas cards

Like last week, set another half hour or so aside with a cup of tea and finish writing your Christmas cards. If you managed to get that done last week, start addressing and stamping the envelopes. 

4. Post gifts abroad

If you have friends or family living in America or Australia, you’ll need to send away their gifts and cards this week. December 7^th is the last day that An Post can guarantee your gifts arriving to these destinations on time. 

5. Order the Turkey

When you do your food shopping this week, remember to order your turkey and ham with your local supermarket. 

Grand Canal, Dublin (c) Sarah Reynolds

6. Decoration Storage

Have you bought new Christmas decorations this year? Will they fit in the boxes you already have? If not, you may need to think about buying new storage for these items. Do you need a few new plastic boxes? Or more bubble wrap? Do you need more tape for your label maker? Or even simply new black markers? If you get these items now while you have the time, you will get the decorations put away with ease come January.  

7. Stock

When the decorations come out of storage over the coming week or so, do you have everything to get them all set up? Will you need a new extension lead for the plugs that come with the lights or the musical decorations? Do you need some cable tidies to clear up all the wires that come with setting up the tree? Do you need to get some thumb tacks to hang up the baubles and garland? And have you enough nightlights and matches for the candles you have on display? Have a think about these items and make a list so that you can pick these things up this week. 

And with that, you’ll be a little closer to Christmas and a little more organised!

Next week, your three week countdown!

 

 

I Gotta Organise. . .Christmas! 

With five weeks to go you may think you still have loads of time to go to Christmas. However, it’ll be upon us before we know it. Armed with your Christmas lists from last week, here are my top 9 things you can organise this week. . .

 

5 Weeks to Go:

1. Start your Christmas shopping

The sooner you start, the sooner you finish. You will also avoid long queues in shops and multi-story car parks. Look at your diary or calendar and figure out a morning, an evening of late night shopping or even a full day you can dedicate to getting a start on your shopping. 

Getting into the shops by the time they open first thing in the morning, is best as you have the shops to yourself. Bring a small bag with your bare essentials so you’re not weighed down. Wear a light jacket so you don’t get too warm and can carry easily if needs be. Try to get the children looked after or do it while they’re in school so you can fly around the shops on your own. 

Have a look at your Gift List that we discussed last week and make a plan of the shops you would like to target for the gifts you need. This will avoid zigzagging and wasting time. 

2. Buy your cards & stamps

I always tend to do this as one of my first Christmas tasks as it’s quick and easy to do and makes me feel like I’ve got Christmas planning underway! 

3. Buy suitable packaging if sending items abroad

Unfortunately with so many having to emigrate, there will be a lot of Christmas presents to be sent abroad. If they are large, bulky or oddly shaped they might need a very large padded envelope or a cardboard box suitable for transit. Pick these up while you’re in the post office getting your stamps! 

4. Santa Letters

Place du Molard, Geneva

If you haven’t done this already, time to sit the little ones down and get their Santa lists written! The sooner Santa gets them, the better – he and the elves have to get organised too you know, to make sure the toys are made on time for Christmas Eve!  

5. Start writing your Christmas Cards

This is especially important if you’re writing to loved ones abroad. By starting it early, you might have the time to write a longer card than usual or even a letter to those who can’t get home for Christmas. 

Also, by starting early you won’t be in a rush writing generic greetings just to get the job done! Make it an enjoyable activity. Sit down with a cup of tea, some nice music and take the time to wish those important in your life a happy Christmas. 

6. Shopping for Christmas outfits

Again, this is especially important if you have children and would like to get them a new outfit for Christmas day. Set a time aside to do this and only this. Don’t try to go gift shopping at the same time. Focus on one task at a time. 

7. Time to bake

If you like to make your desserts for the festive season, this is the week to think about doing so. Pick an afternoon to bake your Christmas cake or your Christmas pudding. And don’t forget to schedule in time beforehand to go shopping to get your supplies.

8. Book your beauty and hair appointments

Take out your diary or calendar and see what events you have coming up. Not only is there Christmas day to think of, but you may like to book in beauty and hair appointments for New Year’s Eve and if you have any Christmas parties to go to. Find days and times that suit you for a hair cut, a manicure etc and book the appointments in now before they fill up. 

9. Arrange Family and Friends Get-togethers

A great website www.doodle.com will help you organise your family and friends get-togethers. This website allows you to input potential dates and for others to tick their availability. Much easier than phone calls or emails back and forth! 

Hopefully by doing these tasks this week,
you will begin to feel more organised. 

Do let me know how you are getting on with your Christmas organising?

Next week, organising at four weeks! 

 

I Gotta Organise...Christmas! 

It’s that time of year again . . . Christmas!

Six weeks to go and with time flying by faster than Santa’s reindeer, it’s best to start organising yourself now.

Each year do you find yourself up against it, doing everything at the last minute?Do you promise yourself that next year it’ll be different? 

Well don’t let those ghosts of Christmas’ past sneak up on you again. For the next six weeks, I'll be showing you how to organise yourself each week so that Christmas this year brings you more cheer than fear!

6 WEEKS TO GO – MAKE LISTS!

So you’re sitting at home or in the office, thinking about the thousand and one things you have to do over the coming weeks. You need to get those to-do’s out of your head and onto a piece of paper. First things first, time to write a few lists.

You’ll need to get a notebook and this can become you’re Christmas notebook which will perhaps last you for a few years. 

In this notebook you will note everything you need to do over the next few weeks. It will live in your handbag or on your kitchen counter top or in your hallway – somewhere you can refer to it on a daily basis. Personally, I would recommend keeping it in your handbag as I can almost guarantee you will need to refer to it when you are out one day. 

The first thing for the notebook is your lists.

The Overall To-Do List 

In your notebook, you will have one overall list where you write absolutely everything you need to do between now and Christmas. For example, it may read something
like this . . . 

1. Buy Presents
2. Write Cards
3. Send Cards
4. Book beauty & hair treatments
5. Get Christmas decorations out of the attic
6. Go grocery shopping

After your overall list, you’ll have a few other secondary lists. Below are a few suggestions of lists you may need. When you refer to your overall list and see you need to buy gifts, you can then flick through your notebook to your ‘Gift List’ and know exactly who you have to buy for. Similarly, when you need to go grocery shopping, flick through your notebook again to your ‘shopping list’ and you’ll be sure to pick up everything you need. 

1. Gift List

Whether you have a ton of presents to get or just a few, make a list of everyone you need to get presents for. Next to their name create a table with the following headings: 

 
Budget
 
Ideas
 
Shops to target

 




By assigning a cost to each persons present and adding a little extra on for gift wrapping and cards, you will be able to budget better for gifts. 

Similarly, if you write down where you think you may get the presents, you will be able to make a shop map which will not only cut down on impulse buying but it will help you get your shopping done faster. 

You might like to add another column “present bought” and when you get their gift this year write it down. Next Christmas when you take out this Christmas notebook again, you will see what you bought everyone last year and you won’t repeat the gift! 

2. Christmas Card List

Like gifts, write down everyone you need to send a card to. This is your second list. 

 










Make sure to count how many you have on the list when you are done and mark it down so that when you find yourself ready to buy your cards & stamps you will know exactly how many to buy. That way you will only have to go buying them once! 

This is a good time to create your family & friends addresses database. As you gather their addresses make sure you put them all together in one place (that might be an address book, a notebook or on your computer). Make sure there is a clear label such as “friends & family addresses” on the book or computer folder. 

Each contact should have their full name and each line of their address next to them. You could even add in their mobile or email addresses to create a very organised database. 

If your contacts move house or country throughout the year, update your notebook or document so that come next Christmas you will have the most up to date addresses.

3. Christmas Budget

Whether we’re in the middle of a recession or not, it is good practice to write down how much you estimate Christmas will cost. There is a good budget available on www.nca.ie which will help you plan your Christmas spending. 

Or you can create your own one. Make a list of everything you think you will need over the festive period and an approximate cost. Tallying up each category and the total overall spend will help you figure out how you will distribute your funds. 

It will also show you which weeks you may have more money and which weeks you will have less which will allow you to plan ahead.  

Categories could be as follows: 

1. Children - Santa's gifts/ clothing
2. Family & Friends - gifts/ cards
3. Socialising - Dinners/ beauty & hair appointments/ babysitters/ taxi fare
4. Christmas dinner - Food/ Beverages/ Table dressing
5. Decorations - Tree/ Lights
6. Holidays - Flights/ Hotels/ Spending money

4. Grocery Shopping List

It’s never too early to write out your grocery & beverage shopping list for over the Christmas period. This will allow you to start stocking up early. Tins of biscuits, boxes of chocolates, bottles of wine, soft drinks, napkins, and Christmas crackers are all things that can be bought early & ticked off your list! 


Et voila, some lists to start getting you organised for Christmas. Don't put it off, take ten minutes out of your day and sit down and write your lists. Even Santa Claus writes out his naughty & nice list!  

Next week, your '5 weeks To Go' schedule!  

Happy Organising! 

I Gotta Organise...Halloween!

Halloween – personally my favourite time of year, but that’s probably because it’s my birthday! I love the spooky feeling in the air – which to be honest, is getting spookier the older I get! 

But as with most seasonal events, Halloween can dredge up a scary amount of clutter. While the kids are having a wicked time dressing up, you’re shaking in your boots trying to figure out how you’re going to store all this gruesome paraphernalia before the Christmas decorations need to come out! If only there was a large cauldron to throw it all into. 

Well never fear, you don’t need a magic spell, instead follow my tricks to a more organised Halloween! 

Devilish Decorations: 

Halloween decorations aren’t the same as Christmas decorations for two reasons, firstly I don’t think they need to be up for as long as Christmas decorations, and secondly Halloween decorations can be a lot more ‘bitty’ than Christmas ones. 

So that you’re ready on time, remember to place ‘putting up the decorations’ on your to-do list. And every to-do needs a ‘when’, so take note of what day and time you would like to spookify the house and stick to this plan. 

What goes up, must come down again and when they do, you’ll need somewhere to home the decorations until next year. Have you picked out a spot in the house for them? If not, have a think and make some room for them. If you’ve bought new decorations this year, do you have enough room in your current storage or do you need to get a new storage box? 

Cackling Costumes: 

If you’re little ghosts and goblins are getting dressed up this year, to buy or not to buy is the question. Buying a costume will save you time but may be positively ghastly on your pocket. Whereas making the costumes with the kids can be a fun activity together. Either way, as with the decorations, you’ll need to schedule in the time and you’ll need a list of what you need. 

If you decide to buy, pick a day and time for shopping and make a list of not only what you are looking for but where you are going to look. If you think it’ll take visiting more than one shop to complete the costume, plan your route ahead of time. This will keep you on track, will stop you getting distracted browsing for other things and will avoid impulse buying. That way you will get out and get home with all your costume shopping done.

Now, unless you’re a wizard at costume making, this activity is going to take more time. So with ten days to go it’s time to get started! As with buying the costume, if you don’t have the supplies at home, make a list of what you may need and set time aside to get out and stock up.  Pick a day or time a few times over the next few days to sit down with the kids and create the masterpiece. 

After Halloween, like the decorations, you will need a home for these costumes. While you might be able to let the costumes go in a few months time, the kids are more than likely not going to want to part with the costume initially. You may indeed have quite a few costumes that have accumulated over the years and they will all need a good home. Here are a few of my solutions: 

1. A simple storage box could be used. Make sure the box is big enough to hold all your costumes. You may like to get two storage boxes – one for girls costumes, the other for boy costumes. I particularly like the Ikea “Samla” boxes. The lids aren’t the best in the world, but the see through nature and the various sizes of the boxes always work for me. This one pictured below is my favourite, it always holds more than I think it will, and yet it’s narrow form fits my shelves well. 

www.ikea.com

2. If you have enough hanging space in your cloakroom or wardrobe, you can hang up your costumes. Costumes by their nature can be bulky, covered in threads and feathers, and with trinkets hanging from them. So if they are hanging up alongside your other coats or clothes, this will make the entire space very cluttered in appearance. 

To neaten it up, get coloured plastic bags, and place a plastic bag over the costume – like a garment bag or suit cover would do for your suits. The coloured bags are to avoid the dull dirty look of a black plastic bag hanging in your wardrobe. Place a photo of the costume on the outside of the bag. 

 

It may be an idea to get the kids involved in organising their costumes. Get them to dress up in a costume & take their photo. As you’re arranging the costume on the hanger with its cover & the photo of them in it, they can be changing into the next outfit.

 

You might find that by trying on the costumes, they may be too small for them, are missing a piece or are just not liked anymore. If so, let them go and create some space!

Having the costumes all hung up neatly together and well labelled, will make it much easier to keep them organised over the coming years.  

www.hsw.ie

3. Alternatively, you could use this handbag organiser. 

Place the costume into a plastic bag and fold it neatly. Place the costume into a pocket and place the photo of the costume on the outside. 

                       

And there you go, organising for Halloween is not so frightening after all! 

Happy Halloween! 

Sarah 

 

I Gotta Organise...my photographs! 



I adore photography, it's my favourite hobby. When I was asked to write an article for the Irish Times on how best to organise your photographs, I was delighted to get a chance to combine my two loves organising and photography! This is a job that can be done all year round and it's one that most people would like to do. With the arrival of digital cameras, people are leaving their great photos and memories on their computers instead of getting them printed and displayed. I'm guilty of this myself. A few months ago, I organised myself to get three hundred photos printed, but only this week have I started to put them into a photo album. And it's just great to look over all I've done, the places I've been and the important family events.

Reading in the sun

So for anyone who didn't see the article, here are my top tips for organising your photos.

1. Set aside time: 
Allocate a day or time per day that you dedicate to putting your photos in order and don't get distracted during this time. You may be tempted to begin showing the photos to those around you and reliving memories. Don't succumb to this, you can enjoy looking through the photos later when they're all organised.

2. The importance of labelling: 
Before moving photos from your digital camera on to your computer, always set up a picture folder first and make sure the folder is appropriately labelled. Labels should describe the theme of the photos and should include a date, for instance "Christmas 2011" or "Ben's christening November 2009". Make sure you choose labels that make sense to you. This will make for easier retrieval later. 

Perouges, Lyon, France

3. Creating categories: 
Sort actual photos out one by one. As you do, categories and sub-categories will emerge such as "Holidays - France" or "Events - Jane's Debs, David's 30th Birthday". Write the sub-category, for example "David's 30th birthday, on a post-it and place it on top of the bundle of photos. Hold them together with an elastic band. Place the photos in an envelope with the overall category, for example "Events", written on the outside. This will keep them together and organised until you get proper storage for them.

4. Toss and delete unwanted photos: 
Don't hold onto any poor quality or blurred photos. They will only cause clutter in your home or on your computer.


5. Storage: 

Catch the moon

Printed photos need a home. Designate a space in your home for your photo collection. This could be as simple as assigning a drawer and placing your organised envelopes containing your newly categorised photos there. Or you could purchase photo boxes which have dividers in them so that you can label up the divider and place your group of photos inside. They are stylish enough to have out on dislay in the home or will store your photos until you are ready to transfer them to a photo album or better yet, a frame! 

Always beautiful

6. Don't forget to back up: 
If you have a lot of photos on your computer, purchasing an external hard drive is essential for not only protecting your photos but also keeping your computer files organised. Once the folders of photos are moved over to the external hard drive they can be deleted off your computer, freeing up space. If you do not wish to delete all the folders you have just transferred over, create a new folder titled "Archived" plus today's date and place those folders in there. In that way, you will always know that folders in the archive folder are also on your external hard drive.

 Have fun organising!
Sarah 

Photography copyright of Sarah Reynolds

I Gotta Organise...my school subject files!

It's almost that time of year again - back to school! There's a lot to organise to get ready for the return - both for students and parents. In this post, I decided to start with how to organise your subject files and folders. Everyday, students come home with handouts & photocopies and where does this paper end up? Thrown on the kitchen counter? Stuffed down the bottom of the school bag?

image: publicschoolreview.com

If this sounds like your young student then it's time to start teaching them how best to organise their time and subjects. Responsibility for learning and studying on our own is expected very early on in first year of secondary school which is a huge difference to primary school. So as well as learning lots of new subjects, making new friends and a longer school day, some twelve year olds can find it quite overwhelming to have to deal with a lot more homework, deadlines and time management. This can then continue all the way along until sixth year, when the Leaving Cert really highlights a students study habits to date.

Getting organised will help students feel more in control and will help them understand the subjects better. So no matter what year they are in or at what stage of their education they are at, it is never too late to start learning to become more organised with their study.

So here are some of my tips on organising all the paper that comes with each subject.

1.    Generally, secondary schools offer first year students 10 – 11 subjects to bring them up to Junior Certificate. So first thing is first – the very minimum they should have is a folder per subject – yes 11 folders! This becomes the overall category.

2.    Then within each subject there are sub-categories. There will always be a need for a ‘homework’ sub-category and an ‘exam questions’ sub-category in almost all subjects. In languages there will always be a need for ‘vocabulary’ and ‘grammar’ sub-categories. In science they will need an ‘experiments’ sub-category and so on.

3.     After that, if you are not sure what other sub-categories to create within each subject, look to the exam papers. I know, you may think that September of first year is a little early to be looking at what’s on the Junior Cert paper – but that’s what you’re aiming for. Alternatively, you could use the contents of their textbook as a guide – particularly if they’ll be using the one book for a few years. What are the main topics in each subject for Junior Cert? Use this as a key to organising their files.

4.       Label, label, label every category and subcategory.

5.       Place items in the folder in date order – most recent to the front of the folder/ sleeve etc.

6.       Do not over-categorise. This is because 1. They won’t remember where they've filed things and 2. It will make organising their work difficult and will dissuade them from doing it at all.

7.       The folders or files you choose should be large enough to hold a good amount of paper. This avoids you having to buy folders often and keeps all their work together. Chances are the one folder is not going to do them until third year, but avoid buying small and thin files and folders as they won’t hold enough.

8.       Make sure you have all your supplies to help make organising easier. They will absolutely need labels. Other useful items are: a black marker, a stapler and staples, paper clips, clear poly pockets, file dividers, highlighters.

9.       Make time to file. I am sure that after two hours of homework, they won’t want to spend another minute looking at school stuff, but spending 5 – 10 minutes at the start or at the end of a study/ homework session to straighten up their notes, will make them feel better because they'll know where everything is. It will also make you feel better because they won't be panicing during the morning rush looking for their notes!

10.  Finally parents, let your teenager decide on the categories. They need to put their work away and they need to be able to find it again for future study. If you do it all for them, they won’t learn how to organise or use this system for themselves.

Are you or your teen in the process of getting organised to go back to school?

Let me know how you are finding it?

Any organising tips to share?

 Have fun organising!

Sarah