Who’d have thought…

How addictive this blogging lark would be!!

I knew it’d be a theraputic process to write down a few thoughts, I’ve always loved writing but I had no idea that it would bring a genuine sense of calm to my life. I had a sense that my thoughts needed organising as much as everything else in my life – everything felt cluttered, busy and demanding my attention and I hadn’t a clue where to start, that feeling has lifted! To be honest I thought that starting a blog could be counter-productive, I really didn’t need to be spending more time staring at the internet – I needed to get on with things. Somehow though I’ve found time to write whilst still getting everything done, I finally feel of things and in control again.

So the house is as organised as it can be because I’ve learnt to…

Break it down into small chunks;

Room by room and maybe even cupboard by cupboard I’ve been reading 52 weeks to organise your home which has helped me to think in terms of small achievable tasks rather than one huge job.

It’s a work in progress;

Now I’ve re-organised cupboards and given everything a proper home I have become much more disciplined about putting everything back. I do small clean-ups 2 or 3 times a day instead leaving it to become a big task.

Lower expectations;

Being heavily pregnant and living on a low budget I can’t paint every room as I’d like or buy pretty containers for the kitchen and laundry room so being realistic and a little bit inventive…

 

Here’s an example – no it doesn’t look like one of those beautiful pantries from Pinterest but I now have a nice space to store containers and cake decorating items. I was quite pleased with my idea to make shelves out of cardboard boxes and told my husband I might build another one next to my space on the sofa where I store my laptop etc and want a sideboard eventually…

‘Like prison furniture‘ he said! Hmmm better rethink that one then – oh and no he’s not an ex-convict just worked in Holloway Prison a few years back!

 

 

My Vision Board…

Simplify Your Life Challenge – Week 7 – Creating a Vision Board

and here we have it My Vision and I love it!!

It revolves around the things I love, the things that make me happy – it is my focus…

My goals, values and dreams are incorporated and when I see it like this I realise a lot of what I want, I have. I just need to take time to relax and enjoy it. I set this picture as my computer desktop as that is a place I know I’ll see it every day.

These are my goals for 2012…

• More family time enjoying our simple pleasures like walks on the beach, splashing in puddles & singing in the rain.
• Improving my skills in baking & decorating cakes, trying a new recipe each week.
• Relaxing and enjoying the last few weeks before my baby girl arrives as this will be the last time I feel a life grow inside.
• Spending some time and money on myself and my looks because I deserve it.
• Organise my home and complete challenges set.
• Spend more time in the garden, grow vegetables and some day have chickens.
• Love & Laugh alot!

Next a week of doing the things that really make me happy, oooh that’s a nice challenge – looking forward to sharing…

Images from a variety of sources on Pinterest

Goal Setting…

This is my post for the Simplify your life challenge – Week 6 and this time I’ll try to add it to the Linky too!!

Source: blessedbeeapothecary.blogspot.com via MummyOn on Pinterest

 

 

This absolutely sums up what I’ve felt/found as I’ve begun to discover my goals this week. I really don’t feel that I’ve completed this challenge properly but I’ve made a start! I’ve found it a very helpful organisational activity too as I’ve gone through my to-do lists and separated wants from needs and put them into categories roughly based on those in my wheel of life.

For Example in my home area…

‘Fix the Bathroom tap‘ has been separated into ‘needs’ away from ‘Spend more time in the garden‘ which is a ‘want’ and the tap is fixed!

I’ve also tried to separate big tasks into small chunks and in reverse start to see the bigger picture in all the small ideas floating around my head…

so paint the living room, organise utility room etc are all part of the big goal to – have a beautiful organised home!

Finally for smaller goals I’ve started to impose time restrictions such as, before baby is born, by the end of summer, by the end of this year.

I’ve only just started to read 7 Deadly Sins of Goal Setting and have just seen that I shouldn’t keep them a secret but for now I’m going to leave the list off the blog. Not due to secrecy but because my spreadsheet is still a work in progress and a bit of a mish-mash of ideas rather than a nice neat list of goals as I hope it’ll end up.

I really feel that setting goals has been a positive focus for me, I like to think of myself as an easy going sort of person and because of this have never really bothered to sit down and impose resolutions, time limits or routine in my life. That’s not to say I haven’t had them but they are a bit of a crazy loop of ideas in my head which often get dropped or forgotten as quickly as they started. This attitude has made my things feel a bit cluttered and has held me back from the realising how achievable (some easily) these random thoughts are.

So goal one for now is to have a nice clear list of goals for this year and share it on here – hopefully before the baby’s born!

Oh to be organised…

This week has been quite good; I’ve kept my promise to myself and gotten up earlier every morning which has made them a good bit more bearable. Packed Lunches and breakfasts are slightly improved but still a work in progress and I’ve even managed to get a cup of tea before rushing the children out the door! I’ve ticked a good few things off my to-do list and begun to de-clutter the house…

Unfortunately I’ve come to a bit of a stumbling block – I have cupboards but not enough and far too many at a low level that get raided by ‘The Toddler’ so are impossible to keep tidy and no funds to buy the ones I want/need! I’m actually sort of organised in the way that most things have a place but unfortunately those ‘places’ are often in cardboard boxes awaiting the day I can afford a new chest of draws or shelves and the onset of nesting really makes me want that day to be now!

I’ve found this great site called Get Set Organize with lots of fantastic ideas and helpful ways to do so – even on a budget. It’s just that I feel I’ve done most the bits I can in preparation and now I need the storage.

So becoming bamboozled I’m trying to shake the feeling of inadequacy on the furniture front and start digitally organising everything that can be. I have an iphone and a laptop and therefore need to control my OCD for writing lists on scraps of paper and relocate them into these devices.

I already use picasa for all my photos and love it and they’ve just added new editing and effects options which I can’t wait to have a play with when I have some time. Annually I go through my photos and create a photobook with Photo Box because I think it’s a shame not to have printed album copies to show friends and family.

I think that now I’ve found the answer to organising my recipes too. One tsp allows you to copy and save recipes from anywhere on the web and access them on your tablet, PC or smartphone. You can save up to 150 recipes on a free account or upgrade to a limitless account for $5.00 or approx €3.75 a year. I am going to try it out and see how long it takes me to fill my free account.

So for now I’m off to browse sites for fabulous recipes to improve breakfasts and lunches as well as finding some valentines treats to bake with my daughter over the weekend – so hopefully I’ll have lots more to share soon – oh and some pretty pics!