Handbag Organisation

Recently I watched a Youtube video by www.athomewithnikki.com on handbag organisation, and was inspired by her to sort out my own handbag. (One of those “quick wins” I mentioned in a previous post).

I have always been drawn to handbags, particularly the bigger variety, and tend to carry around a lot of items “just in case”. My daughter calls it my “Mary Poppins” bag. I realise now though, that unlike when I was working outside of the home, I actually need not pack so many things! So I took a critical look at what I was carrying with me when I was out and about, and sorted it down to the real essentials.

Nikki suggests using smaller pouches within a larger handbag to keep like items together – which is a great tip for finding those smaller items that might otherwise get lost. In her handbags she co-ordinates her small pouches, planner, notebooks and glasses case with the colours of the handbag to create a stylish and co-ordinated look.

After my organising session (which only took about 10 minutes), I managed to only keep the following items in various pouches:

• Pens, business cards, notepaper
• Cereal bar snack
• Tissues and wetwipes
• Sunglasses
• Wallet
• A few personal items
• Keys on a chain

After getting a bit more organised, I can now downsize to a smaller bag, or easily swop to another handbag. (I was tempted to say here that I can now fit more into my bag – but that would defeat the object of downsizing!) Hopefully it will also prove easier to find things now that everything has its own specific place!

Image by Anna Hamilton

What are your handbag essentials? Do you also have a “Mary Poppins” bag or are you more streamlined in your approach?

Organizing Projects that are Quick Wins

I love to be organized, but sometimes things get busy and I find that everything tends to chaos. It is then that I need to focus on small and easy projects that I can do with minimum effort and not too much time. These small projects then motivate me to tackle bigger ones at a later stage as I again realize how helpful it is to declutter and re-organize areas that are not working well.

Some examples of projects that are often “quick wins” include:

                Cosmetics

                Medicines

                Laundry cupboard

                Pantry/Fridge

                Shoes

                Handbag contents

                Individual shelves/cupboards/drawers

I have also realized that sometimes it is helpful to break down a huge project into small parts in order to feel like I am actually making progress – on my to do list is the garage and the art room which both feel like mountains at the moment.

Embracing the fact that organizing is a process and that it is seldom completely “done” has also been helpful. As our needs and lifestyle change, we need to re-evaluate what is working and not working for our family. For example, I recently re-arranged our living area to put the bookcases in a different place. The bookcases also house our CDs and now that they are close to the CD player, we listen to music more often as a result.

Unfortunately this move has also meant the space where we use to use our computer is no longer available. So I need to re-think where else in the house might be a good spot for a small home office! This may mean a bit of work, but I am trying to break the whole process down in smaller steps in order to make some "quick wins".

Image by Lou Levit

What areas do you find are “quick wins” to organize? How do you keep motivated to stay organized if you are tired or short on time?