Confessions of a Professional Organiser (May 2014)
You may assume as a Professional Declutterer and Organiser that I am always perfectly organised, my home is immaculate and that things never go wrong around me.
If you know me, you will know the truth!
The truth is that I am pretty organised and most of the time things do go fairly smoothly. However, our home is only perfectly tidy and clean once a week (after the cleaner has been) or just before guests arrive! Over the years I have made a conscious effort to prioritise people above a perfect house. If you pop in unawares I’ll make you a cuppa, rather than racing around vacuuming around your feet. So you may have to put up with the washing up still being out, and the occasional children’s sock in our living room etc. (My teenage boys have a bit of a habit of stripping their socks off while watching TV!)
Packing disaster
It is time to ‘fess up to a mistake I made- proving I am human! This weekend I took my 13 year old son on a camping trip. I’ve done this before several times and am pretty confident about what I’m doing. I have a holiday packing list in my Dropbox which I can refer to. This includes a camping list, beach list, skiing list for whichever holiday we’re packing for. I’ve re-organised our loft space so that equipment for each of the above is stored together, but in separate areas. When I’ve decluttered kitchen stuff, I’ve saved some of it just for camping so that I can just grab the cheap cutlery & plastic plates from the loft camping area. (Fellow campers, do contact me if you want to use my list as a basis for your own!)
I checked through the list, printed out a copy & worked my way through it to avoid missing anything. I always have to scribble on a few bits on to pack/do at the last minute eg. add wash kit & lunch, watering plants etc. All this makes for a smooth pack, and by Saturday at 9am I was ready to leave. I even had time for a relaxed coffee with my husband. At the campsite we put the tent up, unpacked everything, organised the area inside the tent and sleeping areas. Unfortunately it suddenly dawned on me that I had forgotten to actually pack my bag of clothes into the car. It was now sitting (tidily) on my bedroom floor in London!
A lucky rescue
Fortunately I was able to find friends coming up the next day who kindly agreed to bring my bag. Pyjamas and warm clothes were quickly on their way!!
I hope this reassures you that I’m just a normal person! And even without that bag it wouldn’t have been a disaster- a quick shopping trip for undies & a fleece would have enabled me to survive the weekend..
I’ll often tell you on a Free Your Space visit that we’re not aiming for Homes & Gardens perfectionism, our goal is to make things work better for you and to reduce clutter and stress in your life.
And I’ve learned some important lessons:
- Add a clothes list to my Dropbox packing list.
- Check once around the house before leaving!!
Now over to you, do you fancy consoling me with a holiday story?!
