Hi Organisers.

Can you believe it’s April already! Where has the time gone?! Before the month whizzes past, I wanted to touch on a very prominent and current topic of conversation – Recycling.

The images on social media are circulating at an alarming rate with horrid images of animals and the landscape being affected by pollution. I thought I would share a few small tips that you can do every day to help alleviate your carbon footprint.

1. Plastic Bottles. It breaks my heart when I stand in queues at the grocery store and people have grabbed bottles of water in the queue. Ahhh! It kills me. Coca Cola produces 3MILLION TONNES of plastic every year; I can’t even visualize what that even looks like! And even though we are all becoming more and more aware of what’s happening to our planet, we still buy from these companies: why? Because it’s habit or because we think, ugh, it’s just one bottle and I’ll recycle it?Let’s do my math, just as an example. I drink 3 liters of water a day. Let’s say I don’t use a reusable bottle. I’m likely to buy, for arguments sake, 2 x 2 L bottles or a variation thereof per week while I am out on the road/ shopping and feel thirsty. That’s 104 bottles a year and, let’s be honest, not all of them will end up in the recycling bin. I have a reusable 2L water bottle that I fill up every morning and clean once a week; by filling up at home I have saved myself (R10 for a 1.5L Valpre x 2 x 52 =) R1040 a year on water.What’s even more entertaining is that when I work in Kitchens (ironically, despite my lack of love for cooking, I love organising kitchens) my clients always have cupboards full of reusable water bottles that are never used. Here’s what I say. Fill them up and put them in the fridge and get into the habit of reusing them.
   A) You will also clear out a cupboard in your kitchen for other items that need the space
   B) Save yourself some money and reduce your plastic waste (there are just over 56million people in SA and if even half of us stopped buying plastic bottles, imagine the difference we could make)
2. Shopping bags. I am delighted that so many retail stores are moving away from plastic and towards biodegradable and earth friendly material bags. But we can also add our bit here. Again, in many kitchens I have worked in there is always “that cupboard” that is bulging with unused plastic bags. When I talk to anyone about being organised it’s just creating habits and being mentally prepared ahead of situations. By being mindful and present with your actions, you can have a profound effect on how organised you can be.Since 2016 I have had 3 fabric shopping bags (I am only human and on occasions I have left them at home). I worked out quite fast that I seldom buy any more than three bags at a time, when I am out shopping. On average I do one big shop a week so that’s 156 plastic bags a year and 468 bags from 2016-2018 that I have prevented from dying a lonely death in the kitchen cupboard, destined to never see the light of day again. Yes, I appreciate that we lead busy and frantic lives and very often upon our arrival at home we drop our bags and kick off our shoes and head straight for the escape of the couch. But if we spent 15min unpacking and putting our bags on the front door handle or in our handbags, then the bags would make it back to the car and in turn, back to the store and create a wonderful habit of conscious living.In many of the spaces I have worked in, I find many many shopping bags with their items still inside the bags and not even being used as they have been forgotten due to the items being out of sight. Which leads me to the next point…
3. Retail therapy – ahh man, this is a tough one. My husband looks at my cupboard and gives me the raised eyebrow. Everyone has their weakness and mine is my clothes. I buy selectively, my shoes are mostly trainers and Toms and a few other styles, but I have got to a stage now where I only buy my clothing from 3 or 4 places because I trust the quality, the fit and I know that with the proper care the items will last.My husband is also very good in this regard; he is working towards a capsule wardrobe (I think it’s easier for men as they wear either tops, shorts or pants. Women have so many other parts to their wardrobe (like earrings – I am very big into earrings). He has worked out the colors that look great on him and now he only purchases items that will go with all his articles of clothing. So now he has fewer items and he wears all his clothing; his shopping is reduced as some items just don’t fit in to his colour pallet and his closet isn’t over flowing. He is much like me, he buys from a few select places and so he doesn’t end up with these impulsive buys that he doesn’t wear.We are so indoctrinated by fashion and it changes so fast that, having worn an item once, it’s already ‘so yesterday.’ I have a shopping list of items that I would like; I add to it when I see something I like and then I think about it (the leopard print jeans from Zara – all my jeans are from there because they fit me so well, are on the list and let’s be honest, leopard print will always circle back into fashion hehe) but I keep my list and think about whether or not I will wear it in a few years’ time and then make my decision. My goal for 2019 is to invest in experiences and not in things (Mauritius in June and Europe/ London in Sept/October). I bought my bikinis on special from my favorite place last year and I have been waiting patiently to give them their debut… Yippee!

   That’s another point – shopping in sales – so many of my clients have garages lined with bags of clothing for donation and the tags are still on some of the clothes and they were so often on sale. Make a list of what you want before you go and stick to it. If you are feeling brave and fancy a closet clear out, start small; a whole closet overhaul can take hours and you may end up sleeping under a pile of clothes on the bed that you haven’t managed to get to. Underwear. Shoes. Gym clothes. Swimming costumes. Small tasks make you feel exuberant. If you aren’t sure where to donate your preloved items, then give us a shout. There are also wonderful second-hand stores that will sell your items for you. Put the bags in the car and donate them ASAP otherwise they can start to take over your garage. By donating them asap it finishes the task and you are less likely to want to go through the bags.

4. E-Waste. I am so glad that there are more and more places that will recycle e-waste for you. What is e-waste? Computers, cellphones, batteries, CD’s, DVD’s, appliances, wires and cables that have lost their partners, light bulbs, old VCR tapes. These items I always collect when I am with a client because they often end up in the bin and in a landfill and they often have poisonous or toxic materials that end up not biodegrading. There are many drop-off points or companies that will collect this waste and then they recycle it or dispose of it correctly.

I saw a fabulous advert about how Iceland (which is the top in the world for Green Living) decided that they were no longer going to buy toothpaste in boxes (what is the point of them anyway?) and just buy consciously not buying the brands that sell in boxes, they managed to change the supply and demand of them. We can make a change. We can be more organized and we can live a more conscious, present life and we can make a difference.

If you have any questions or suggestions, we would love to help.

Hi Organisers!

How much do you value your mental and physical well-being? We spend money each month to protect ourselves from any potential life disaster that may befall us; life insurance to look after our loved ones; income protection in case we are ill. We visit life coaches or therapists or any other kind of medical practitioner so that we can uncover and focus on our potential within, to be able to flourish. In business we have coaches, who hold us accountable for our numbers and motivate us to move forward and focus on the areas that will be most beneficial to us to help us grow.

That’s where Professional Organisers come in – how much value do you place on your surroundings around you? Countless research and studies have been done and prove that your space has a direct impact on you as a person, your emotional well-being and your mood and your productivity. In business, we strive to put procedures in place to create organization and seamlessness; planning and preparing so that we may remain stress-free and achieve our goals. At home, we plot our weeks to make sure we can attend to all matters. Interior designers have even pin pointed specific colours that enhance or improve our mood.

The thing is you don’t know what you don’t know until you know! Just like going to a nutritionist to give you advice to improve your health, Professional Organisers look at a space from a productivity and a use of the space perspective. Perhaps your space works: it’s neat. Perhaps you don’t even know what potential your space has, just because you have never considered another perspective.

So, when we hear potential clients say, ‘Oh no I don’t want you to see my space’ just think of the incredible possibilities your space may have that you are missing out on.

We don’t make you throw your things away, you make that decision all on your own. We suggest cost-effective, long term solutions to make your life easier. What if you are storing items that you use every day in a place hard to reach which frustrates you every time you try to get to them. Think of the reduced frustration of having them in an easily accessible place. We all know how something silly like things falling out of the cupboard and spilling on the floor can infuriate you when you are already late and possibly it puts you in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

Research has also shown that stress is the number one killer in society today and it comes in all forms! Being late because something fell out the cupboard and you had to tidy it up is a stress trigger.

As professional Organisers, our aim is to make your space stream-lined and organised so that it improves your productivity and reduces anxiety. Sometimes it’s a case of moving a few things around and working out what you want from the space. ‘I have no space to work at my desk’ well, then let’s move everything that you don’t need on a daily basis to GIVE you the space to function better. Perhaps you need more of something to maximize the space you have. ‘I don’t have enough space to keep all my things organised so they just make a mess’ – chances are there is something in the space that we can work on to improve the organization, perhaps how things are stored or where.

Just like a Chiropracter is going to look at your office from an ergonomic perspective, to improve your space to account for your body and muscles, Professional Organisers look at your space and how it affects your mind.

Do you want to reduce stress and increase your mood and productivity? Imagine having a space in your life organised, so that it’s no longer on your to-do list in the back of your mind? Imagine what other magical things you can achieve without having it to weigh you down. Have a Professional organiser come and give suggestions and inspire you to LOVE your space around you.

We are DELIGHTED to have Julia to join the Oh So Organised Family, we asked her to tell us a bit about her… Enjoy!

My love for all things Interior / Space Planning / Organisation and Design orientated started when I was in High School. Back then we did Home Economics as a subject and apart from the stereotypical “cooking” lessons we touched on the ergonomics of design. I had an amazing teacher who inspired me that I could do anything I set my mind to and as a result, excelled in the subject because I loved it. I went onto study a certificate in Advertising at Varsity College which helped me get a clearer understanding of Consumer Behaviour and Brand Marketing, then onto a 3 year Diploma in Interior Design at the Durban University of Technology.

I’ve had experience in office furniture / space planning offices / designing layouts / travelling internationally to the U.S.A to gain more experience / Country Clubs / New York living / Running a showroom / Managing a KZN sales team to being a Recruitment Consultant. For as long as I can remember I’ve been one of those people who colour coded my wardrobe, moved my bedroom around to change up the space and literally labelled everything. I made use of every inch of space but in a way that I could always find what I was looking for as it was accessible. I’ve even repacked my friends dishwasher when she wasn’t looking coz there was no way that last glass and plate weren’t going to fit in :)! I’ve done a full circle since then and now I am embracing my passion for all things Organised / Disorganised / Downsizing and Clutter.

On a more personal note, I remember just before I embarked on my travels to the States, I was in Somerset West with my Grandmother and she had moved into a retirement village from a substantially larger home, along with recently losing my Grandfather. It was tough for her to let go of the things she loved in order to downscale to a smaller home, and even tougher to go through the mounds of books / clothes and paperwork my Grandfather left behind. I can honestly say that was “the moment” (singing birds and harp sounds included) that made me realise that people like her needed help with decluttering and organising their space to accommodate their new lifestyles. I made a pact with her when I left that day, that when I got back from the States I was going to start a business that helped people organise / declutter / downsize and relocate them so that they didn’t have to make those hard decisions alone. Unfortunately a couple months later my Grandmother past away and as so many say, life got the better of me and I moved away from my dream! Until now…

My extensive experience overseas and in multiply corporate jobs has taught me about the consumer, how to arrange a space to best suit its function, interior & furniture trends on an international level, how important HOME is to me, how to deal with multinational / multicultural people at all levels of seniority, that money and security aren’t everything, but perhaps passion and sanity are, that dreams can be real, and that the hardest step sometimes is just taking the leap, and FINALLY, how passionate I am about what it is that I now do professionally.

There is a lot of truth in this commonly used quote:

“Choose a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life.”

With Oh So Organised, I feel like I have done just that! I am humbled by my friends and families support throughout this experience and feel brave that I’m now in charge of my own destiny.