• Get all the toys together.
• Create 3 piles:

1. Throw-away
2. Donate
3. Keep

• Go through all the toys and decide whether:

1. Toys are broken and can’t be fixed. (Throw-away pile)
2. Toys are no longer wanted. (Donate pile)
3. Toys are still played with. (Keep pile)

• Discard the “throw-away” pile immediately.
• Put all the donate items in a box and in the car. Take these items to a children’s hospital or school on your next trip.
• The “Keep” pile must be split into categories, e.g.:

1. Cars & Trucks
2. Balls
3. Dolls
4. Outside toys, etc.

• Decide on a type of storage, e.g. plastic containers, baskets, drawers, tins, etc.
• Label the storage as per the above categories. If kids are still too small to read, then use pictures instead of words.
• Utilise the space underneath your kids’ beds.
• Floating shelves are also nifty to display toys.
• Puzzles can be stored in plastic containers. Stick the picture of the puzzle on top of the plastic container.
• Board games can also be stored this way, or filed like books or stacked in a cupboard. If possible, keep the board games in the room where it is played the most, e.g. television lounge.
• To stay organized, you have to go through the toys at least twice a year and follow the steps above.

I always get the same reaction when I mention the words “admin and filing” to clients. It seems that people have a natural aversion towards it. Admin and filing is plain sailing if you have a system in place. All you need is a change in mind-set, a recycle bin, a letter opener, a filing tray, a filing system and a to-do/action system. Let me share some tips on how I do it:

• Open all envelopes. Discard envelopes and junk mail immediately in the recycling bin.

• Sort through all the mail and create two piles.

1. Filing
2. To-do/action

• All items to be filed are kept in a central place. I use a drawer in my desk for this, which is out of sight. These items are dealt with, so you can decide how often you want to file these. I do it once a month. You can decide on the frequency, but don’t go over 2 months. The task will then be overwhelming.

• Organize the to-do/action pile further into the following categories:

1. Payments
2. Phone calls
3. Correspondence entered into
4. Diarising/pending entries in your diary, etc.

• Use your diary for the above if you cannot deal with it at that point in time. Once you are done, the mail/piece of paper can move over to the filing tray. 

• People like to use paper trays on their desk, but be careful of these. It is usually just another space for paper clutter. You can have one to-do/action tray, but only if you are disciplined enough to use it and you manage these items in your diary.

• A workable filing system and proper labeling is important.

• I use lever-arch files and a bookshelf for my filing. Each file is properly labelled and I have sub-dividers inside the files for further organizing.

• On filing day, I will organize the stack of papers according to the labels on my files. I file these piles per lever-arch file and before you know it, you are done.

• If you deal with your mail and admin as they arrive at home, you will have no reason to hate it anymore. It is really easy as 1,2,3

Happy filing!

You will be in control, you will not miss payments (and save on interest) and important events, dates or outings and you will not waste time looking for documentation.

Adele xx