I'm not a great believer in self help books but following a link from a fellow blogger (Mrs Green or Almost Mrs Average, I can't remember which) I bought a copy of One Year to an Organised Life by Regina Leeds. It arrived at the end of last week and I've spent some time this weekend reading the introduction before embarking on my journey to organisational heaven!
The first chapter deals with time management and the kitchen, two areas in which I could do with some inspiration. I can potter for Scotland and never find the walnuts I last saw on the top shelf of the kitchen cupboard. So I'm going to to reassign time spent on various activities and cultivate some good habits. (It apparently takes 21 consecutive days to establish a habit!) I'll be recording my progress in a journal with an cover featuring the famous Dr Seuss cat trying to keep half a dozen or so items in the air without dropping any of them (illustrated above). Very apt I think.
Despite it being Mothering Sunday I've received a woeful lack of encouragement from my daughters who have reminded me of all my previous (unsuccessful) attempts to impose order on the chaos that has become my life.
I'll show them!
Yay! It was me who is working through the book and I was blown away to find Regina came along to the site and left a comment too!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with it; the book is written in bite sized chunks, so hopefully no room for overwhelm. I've done nothing this month yet, but as Regina said there will be months where the tasks are not applicable, so you can always play catch up.
Here's to tidy kitchens and bedrooms!
Rae x
Wow. You are indeed honoured!
ReplyDeleteI made a good start at the weekend and did a 15 minute blitz on the kitchen on Monday but not a lot since, which is hardly surprising given how little time I've spent in the house.
I went to hear Germaine Greer last evening. I'm not sure what she'd make of the book. I'm not sure of all of it myself but will use everything I find helpful.
HOW WAS GERMAINE GREER?
ReplyDeletePleas pass on any pearls - I was sorry to miss her...
I sometimes wonder if there is a choice to be made between tidyness and creativity.
ReplyDeleteBut I could be kidding myself.
As an untidy person, I am always looking for tips to follow. Any handy ones?
My most useful tip was someone telling me to close the drawers - this does make a room look more tidy.
My problem is I can't SEE the untidiness.
Except when I lose something and then I know the only way to find it is to tidy.
DH always has these negative reactions to my resolutions... Good job he makes up for it elsewhere! I'm useless at organisation too, so I've ordered the book, hopefully it'll give me a bit of motivation. Fingers crossed!!!
ReplyDeleteRealfoodlover - My top tip (if only I could follow it!) must be a quote from William Morris - 'Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful'.
ReplyDeleteRe Germaine Greer, I was a bit disappointed that her talk was not a bit more serious/academic/analytical, but the title - 40 Years of Fun with Feminism - should have been a good enough indication of what to expect. Having said that, I thought she was marvellous and thoroughly enjoyed listening to her - as did my 18 year old daughter, who must have been the youngest person in the hall.
Littlefoot - So glad to hear from you. I've popped over to your gardening site and am impressed with your efforts. I particularly liked the Link-a-Bords and shall bear them in mind if we ever get round to digging up all the concrete in our back yard.