27 October, 2015
Everybody wants a smooth transition when moving home. So it’s really important to stay prepared for what will be coming ahead in the next few weeks. There are a few points to help with the move:
4 weeks before moving
- Start packing/sorting – start as soon as you can if you are doing the packing yourself or call a removal company to organise a day for your move
- Change of address – let companies know of your new change of address
- Land/Mobile phones – inform providers including Internet account and advise them of your change of address
- Car – tell the DVLA to update both your driving licence and Vehicle Registration Certificate
1 week before moving
- Packing/packed – by now majority of your belonging should be packed and ready to go, only everyday use items should be left out
- Gas/Electricity/Water – Contact your existing and new household utility companies and advise them of your new address and date of removal
- Children – arrange for the children to be looked after on removal day, this helps to focus on the removal
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17 October, 2015
With winter fast approaching, your garden begins to lose its beautiful colour and life. Many decide to leave it as it is and clean up when the weather gets warmer but its best to clear the garden before winter kicks in.
Clearing up before will mean you are ahead of when the weather starts to get warmer, so it is ready for you to just walk out and enjoy the sun.
Here are a few tips to help you with cleaning your garden:
- Flower Garden Clean Up – start with removing and composting any dead annual plants that will remain over winter, as they will not re grow again. Many perennials actually prefer to be left standing throughout the winter, for extra protection.
- Woody Perennial Flowers & Plants – many shrubby plants with woody stems need to be back before winter, as they only bloom on new branches. These are pruned to limit winter damage and to encourage the plant to start sending out new flowering branches.
- Evergreen and Semi-Evergreen Perennial Plants – some perennial plants will never quite go dormant, but they still need tidying up. This is the time to trim back the tattered foliage and encourage new growth to come in.
- Ornamental Grasses – you can cut them back your ornamental grasses as soon as you can get to them. There is no need to wait for new growth.
- Weeding and Composting – Early spring is the time to take action against weeds with some pro-active weeding. Damp soil makes it much easier to pull young weed seedlings. Most of what you clean up can go into your compost pile.
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10 October, 2015
Do you spend unnecessary amounts rummaging through your office to find an important piece of document instead of working? Or spend ten minutes looking for something to accomplish a three minute task? If this is you then here are a few simple ways to stay on top of office paper work:
- Aim to always have three things on your desk, the PC, lamp and telephone. So when you leave at the end of the day put everything else away except those three things.
- When you receive your mail, sort through it straight away. Recycle all the unwanted letters and leaflets, file away all important letters and respond to any needed. Doing this helps with having no piles on your desk.
- Shred unwanted important document as soon as possible. Avoid leaving for later as that becomes a pile.
- Make sure you sort your email so you never have more than 3-5 emails in your inbox at any one time.
- Keep a box on the side where you can put magazines or articles you want to read later during your break or tear out the articles you are interested in and recycle the rest of the magazine.
- Have a to-do list to keep track of important things you need to do, this will help stay on top of all your paper work load.
- Give yourself extra time to organise any projects/meetings, as sorting through the paperwork takes time and it gives you the chance to recycle any unwanted paper.
- Organise your desk so that everything has a home e.g. a drawer, cabinet, basket, bin, or shelf it belongs.
- Organise your paper work in categories: to do by end of the day, end of this week and by a certain date.
- Hold an empty box and simply take a walk around the office and pick up at least three things from each area that you think can be thrown away.
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6 October, 2015
How to declutter your loft
A home can easily accumulate unwanted clutter, which tends to get shifted into the loft and to clear the loft you need time. Since time has become very precious in everyone’s life, being organised is very important. There are a few important things to do before you climb up to the loft and start clearing:
- Set aside a day or two just for the clearing of the loft
- Make sure you have enough bags and boxes to put things in
- Grab a marker and stickers to label bags and boxes
- Be prepared to let go of things that are not needed, put them in the rubbish bin or charity bag
- Check when your local charity shop and recycling centres are open or when you can arrange a collection service. You could also enlist the help of a house clearance company.
- Gather as much help as possible to shorten the length of the clearing time
With the preparation for the actual clearing done, there are a few things you need to be prepared for when entering the loft after a long time:
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