I dream of the sea: January 2013

...and everything in it's place. It's the time of year for resolutions, for recognising flaws and for raising the bar. I am so desperate to make changes in my life. I need to be more organised and more tidy. Since Merry Berry and the Little Panda opened, I have been feeling increasingly like one of those plate spinners who used to appear on Record Breakers. They would set hundreds of plates spinning on top of sticks and then dash round madly trying to ensure that none of the plates stopped spinning and fell to the floor. I love my shop but I really need to become more organised at balancing running the business and running my home. I seem to have so many opportunities opening up but I can't take advantage of them until I'm sure that they won't compromise my number one priority, which is taking care of my children and my home. So I am determined to get myself more organised and get more accomplished each day.

Wellie Rack (£19.50) from The pine Studio

With two small children it sometimes feels like the cleaning, washing and cooking never ends but I am hoping that improving our routine will help. In this search for the secret of domestic harmony, I came across the Organised Housewife blog and I think I'm in love. It is a beautiful blog full of inspirational photos and quotes and full of actualy useful tips and techniques to get your house organised and keep on top of the chores and clutter. I bought the cleaning checklist from the online store and I love it. It tells you what tasks to do daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually - perfect for a procrastinator like me. I probably spent more time trying to decide what to clean first than I did actually cleaning. The checklist prints out beautifully (in a choice of colours) and I have put acetates in front of mine in my file so that I can just mark off my tasks with a whiteboard pen and then wipe clean as needed rather than print more checklists off.

Storage Basket Tutorial (£2.50 charity donation) from Helen Rawlinson

The other steps in my plan to ~~take over the world~~ organise my life are:

Learn to drive
Cook faster (I was given a copy of Jamie's 15 Minute Meals and a food processor for Christmas). I'm also planning on trying the 5:2 diet (if you haven't heard of this yet, this blog has an explanation and some yummy recipes).
Mind control - well not really but I've bought a hypnotherapy CD that is supposed to make me more organised and tidy. I'll keep you posted on whether it works or not. Currently I'm doubtful as I am rarely able to stay awake much after the warning not to use while operating heavy machinery - as soon as they say 'relax' I'm gone!
A more focused business plan for 2013.

I'd love to hear about your New Year's resolutions and any resources you've found to help you accomplish them.

The images from this post are all items available to buy from Folksy - just click on the image to see the item in the Folksy store.