Spotlight: Ten Organisational Tips From Professional Organisers + Giveaway

Do you want to be more organised this year? Well keep reading and you might actually achieve it.

Top Ten Organisational Tips

1. Knowing who you are is the key to organization mainly because if you’re pretending to be someone else, it’s hard to remember where that pretend person put something!

2. Change is hard, so be honest about organizing tasks. People who never hang up their coats in a closet, probably never will; get a coat rack and call it a day.

3. Perfect isn’t real. Magazine perfection is styled by a professional whose job it is to make everything perfection for the millisecond it takes to snap a photo.

4. No shame, no blame! You liking clear, spotless surfaces doesn’t make you OCD (it’s not a personality disorder), it’s your personality type.

5. Later Box It. When you can’t part with a useless item, store it away in a box and revisit that box in a few months (a year), whatever you missed keep, whatever you forgot … dude, let it go.

6. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Change is hard (see #2!) so if storing TP right next to the toilet works for you, do it, but for heaven’s sake try to make it look nice—unless you live alone on Antarctica then who cares.

7. Organizing at its core is about retrieval. Period. Can you easily find and get things when you need them. Everything else is an argument about aesthetics.

8. One-step solutions are golden. Hanging up your coat is a five-step process whereas popping it on a hook is one-step. Light bulb (at least it was for us!)

9. Be loud & proud. So, you write important To Do’s on your hand in a pinch. Who cares? Don’t apologize, defend it and tell any scolds where they can go.

10. There’s no best way to organize—just the best one for you!

Their book

Stressing over the mess? Discover YOUR personal organizing style—and stay organized forever!
Organization isn’t one-size-fits-all. Different people need different solutions. Fortunately, Katie and Kelly McMenamin—the organizing gurus behind PixiesDidIt!®—have found the key to making organization stick, with strategies that work for every personality.Whether you’re OCD or a little less fastidious, Katie and Kelly will help you discover your organizational style, using unconventional approaches or sticking to what already works. Along with personality-based solutions for every space in your home, they offer advice on solving strife between different “PixieTypes.” So you can keep the stuff you love . . . and the peace!

Author Biography

Katie McMenamin and Kelly McMenamin are sisters, professional organizers, personality-type experts, and founders of PixieDidIt! Their business is an outgrowth of buttoned-up hedge fund analyst Kelly spending 30-odd years trying and failing to get her messy older sister Katie, a writer, to be more organized. Countless fights ensued until they had an idea: What if there is more than one way to organize? Today, they spend the bulk of their time organizing for clients, writing for their website, and giving talks on how to organize according to your personality type. Kelly lives in NYC with her husband and three sons and Katie lives in their hometown, the Land of Champions, aka Cleveland, OH, with her husband and three daughters.

Giveaway:

https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js” target=”_blank”>1 Finished Copy of ORGANIZE YOUR WAY (US Only)

 

Second Blogiversary: Four Blogging Tips

Hey guys! Guess what today is! It’s Twenty Three Page’s second birthday! My blog is two years old! How did that even happen?

I’m so grateful for all of you who have stuck around. I feel like we’ve really been through loads together over the years and I honestly cannot say thank you enough.

This blog has helped me grow as a person and I just really don’t think my life would have ever been the same without the wonderful community of people I’ve met through it and the things that blogging has taught me.

So recently, I’ve been receiving a lot of emails from you guys telling me that you’ve been inspired by my blog to create your own blogs and you guys have been asking me for advice on starting it up and maintaining it.

Firstly, I’m honoured that I’ve inspired people to create their own blogs. I think that’s one of the highest praises I could receive.

Secondly, while I have replied individually to everyone that has emailed me, I thought it might be interesting to do a post where I give you guys some round up tips on starting and maintaining a blog.

Now I kind of did something like this when I received the Blogger Recognition Award in 2015 but let’s be honest, there has been so much I’ve learned since then and I’m excited to share them with you.

Social media is your best friend

This year, I finally decided to revive the Twitter I created for my blog. So I revamped it, followed loads of bloggers and used it to tweet out links to my latest blog posts, enter giveaways and interact with bloggers and readers.

Social media is vital and I noticed a jump in my stats when I started promoting my posts on Twitter and Pinterest.

You can obviously use any social media platform that you like. In fact, Facebook is also an excellent way to promote your stuff. You can even join blogging groups on Facebook where they let you blast your links to loads of other bloggers. It’s very helpful and a great way to integrate yourself in the community.

(Subtle hint to follow me on Twitter and Pinterest haha)

Create a posting schedule

This year, I also decided to create a posting schedule. This was largely because when I started my internship, I knew I could no longer manage my habit of posting whenever and at whatever time I pleased because if I did, I would probably never post at all.

So I decided on Mondays and Fridays at 10am as my posting dates and time. This was decided through a poll I ran on Twitter. It’s important when deciding on days and times to involve your readers and to get their opinions. Especially considering that your readers are probably coming from around the world.

You want to make sure that you are posting at a time when most people are awake and have the time to be reading. Posting when majority of your readers are asleep or at school or work is pointless.

That said though, make sure that the timings also aren’t crazy for you. Majority of my readers are from America and your guys are 12 whole hours behind me. That can make life a bit difficult. So make sure that it is a time that suits you and your readers.

Create an editorial calendar

I created an editorial calendar for myself earlier in February this year because I wanted to be more organised and I wanted to be able to plan and schedule posts so that when I started my internship, it would be easy to write the week’s posts over the weekend and then just schedule them to go live by themselves.

So I created the above editorial calendar (sneak peek into the life of me) and I have not had a single regret since then. The editorial calendar provides me with a sense of organisation and responsibility that I didn’t have before. It also gives me a nice overlook so I know when I’m posting too much of one thing (like reviews) so I can switch things up.

It also helps me keep track of my blog tours and when certain ARC reviews need to go up.

Post what you wanna post!

Listen. There is no such thing as if you post what everyone else is, you will be guaranteed amazing stats. Post what you want and what you are passionate about. That’s the only way to make it.

So there you have it! I hope this helped you if you are thinking about starting a blog and you can feel free to ask me any questions in the comments or in an email. I will always respond to you.

Once again, thank you for the last two years and here’s to many more. I love you guys!

 

Adulting: Is The Struggle Real?

Recently, I was inspired to give you guys some tips about this strange thing called ‘adulting’. Basically, the art of being of a grownup age and being required to act as a grownup while essentially having no idea how to do it.

I’m going to be 20 this year (oh god) and  while I have yet to move out because we just don’t that in Singapore till we go to university or we get married, I have had to learn to grow up and manage a lot more stuff now.

So here are a couple of tips and things to do to help you become an adult:

1. Get a planner

When I started my internship in March, one of the first things I did was to get a simple but super useful $2 planner from Muji.

It was only $2 but it changed my life. I am a very visual person so I used different coloured pens to mark down the things I had to do, the events I had to attend and the different deadlines and publishing dates of my articles.

It’s been so helpful for me to get more things done in a day and it’s just a great way to keep your head on your shoulders.

2. Learn to take care of yourself emotionally

Now I’m not saying that all of a sudden you have to forgo your best friends and stop depending on them for emotional support. I mean everyone needs emotional support from people.

What I do mean though is learn everything that is to learn about yourself. Know the things that make you happy and know what makes you sad. Know what will pull you out of a funk and know what to avoid when you do get down.

In this way, you are able to control yourself better and you won’t constantly be a babbling mess of emotions.

Again, not saying that you can’t breakdown. Just that it’s good to know how to help yourself so you look more put together on the outside.

3. You know what you are doing in life

There is a stage in everyone’s life where they are allowed to flounder around and not know which direction their lives are taking them. When you start to become an adult though, you better know what you are doing.

I can’t say much on this because I have known that I wanted to write for a career ever since  I was 10. But really, once you’ve started entering adulthood, you need to get down what you want to do in life. You need to start working towards a career. Building a resume that is targeted to that career, studying things that are related to your career and basically getting ready to be a working and self-sufficient human being.

So if you haven’t figured out what you want to do with your life, here’s your wake up call. Figure it out. And if you need help, you can always try Credit Card Insider for some help. They have great resources to help you out.

So there you have it. A couple of tips to help you be a better adult. Quite honestly I found this quite hard because I realised that I am a very bad adult and really I am still five so I don’t know what you are doing taking advice from me but hey, I tried right?

 

19 Things I’ve Learnt At 19

Today’s my 19th birthday!!

I can’t believe how fast that has happened. I’m in my last year of being a teenager. Oh my god. That just really hit me. I’m getting old!

Anyway, I thought it would be fun if I gave you a list of 19 things that I have learnt from being alive for 19 years. Some of this stuff is cheesy but bear with me.

1. Do what makes you happy. Life is too short to do stuff you don’t like.
2. Stop worrying that people will judge you. Because they will judge you no matter what you do so why bother?
3. Only when you stop caring about what other people think, can you truly achieve your full potential.
4. It’s okay to have an ugly meltdown once in a while. Just remember to pick yourself back up after and bring the thunder when you go after whatever made you cry in the first place.
5. Black blue tack should never never be used on a wall. Ever.
6. Find a way to document your life. It goes by too quickly.
7. Fully utilise every opportunity to pee.
8. Don’t give a crap what anyone says about your lipstick. If you wanna wear the brightest red lip ever, girl you go and wear it. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
9. Sleep it off. Sleep makes everything better.
10. Pinterest is just another site that makes you feel bad about your incapable self. Get off it. You don’t need that kind of negativity in your life.
11. Everything in moderation aka it’s okay that you had that cupcake because at least you didn’t have a whole box of cupcakes right? Unless you did. Then I can’t help you.
12. Everyone is dysfunctional. Everybody has their issues. So be kinder then you have to.
13. Spend time with you grandparents. Take a thousand pictures of them. Do a little extra for them. It won’t mean much to you but it will mean the world to them.
14. Family time should be placed above any work or school commitments. Work will always be there. Your family, on the other hand, won’t.
15. Everything happens for a reason.
16. Create routines for yourself. It will help keep you calmer and generally healthier and happier.
17. Don’t put off what you can do today. You really never know what could happen tomorrow.
18. People actually aren’t judging you as much as you think they are
19. Caffeine, or any substance that is intended to keep you awake, is unhealthy and can amplify anxious feelings. Instead, establish a good sleeping routine for yourself and stick with it. A good night’s rest can do wonders for you (and I’m not just saying this because I hate coffee)

Well there you have it. 19 things that I’ve learnt in 19 years. I hope you enjoyed it. I also just wanted to say a massive thank you for all the birthday wishes and presents that I’ve received. I am truly grateful for all the people in my life and I couldn’t be happier that I get to spend the day with them.

I also can’t believe that I spent my entire 18th year on this blog. It seems weird that 365 days ago I put up a post about my 18th birthday. So thank you for being a part of my life. I honestly don’t know what I would do without you guys.

I’ve got a whole bunch of posts planned for the next few days so keep an eye out for that. Besides that, I wish you guys a very merry eve of Christmas eve! (yes that is a real thing)

 

 

Holiday Reading Tips

Hello there my chocolate cupcakes with extra sprinkles and icing (I think that’s the longest one yet guys!)

So just two days ago, I was told that we would be going to Bali for the coming week. Now I considered bringing my laptop because I couldn’t bear the thought of not being able to write and post for so long. But I decided that since I would already be vlogging and taking photos, I would give myself a week off and come back with loads of awesome footage and photos of the place. So I thought I would do one more post just before we leave and what better topic to do then the topic of holiday reading?

So I decided that today, literally 2 hours before we leave for the airport, I would give you some tips to maximise your holiday reading time as well as some holiday book suggestions.

1) Travel Time

I consider travel time to be the best time to read. Especially when I’m on a plane. So to start off, you need to plan your reading around the mode of transport you will be taking and your personal ability to read on different modes of transport. For example, I can’t read in a moving car (but I can usually read on a bus which is weird). But I can read on a plane. So you should be able to tell just how much you think you can read depending on how you are getting to a destination.

The next thing you should do is plan to read a book that you can finish during your travel time. For example, if you’ve got a 2 hour flight to Bali, you might choose to read a book that would take you about 2 hours to finish. Or, if you are on an 18 hour flight to Seattle, you might decide to get a longer book or even two books if you’re feeling adventurous.

The key is not to overestimate yourself. Don’t push yourself. Remember that especially with long haul flights, your body clock will likely be very screwed up. I remember that when I was flying back to Singapore from Seattle, I crossed time zones and even completely lost the 2nd of April. I was also trying to finish ‘My Heart And Other Black Holes’ in the flight. I finished it. But I also barely remember anything because I was falling in and out of sleep and I was very disorientated. I pushed myself to read too much on that flight and ended up not even being able to remember the book. So pace yourself and take it slow. If you feel sleep coming on, let it happen. If you are itching to watch a movie (though let’s face it, airplane audio and video quality sucks anyway so why even bother) then go ahead. Don’t feel pressured to read. Go with the flow.

Books For Travelling:

• To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han (Highly Recommend)
• Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
• Me, Earl and The Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
• Paper Towns by John Green

Basically any light contemporary will do for a trip. You mostly want to avoid high fantasy books or books that would require you to be 100% focused because you will be distracted and you don’t want to put yourself off the book without giving it a proper chance.

2) The Destination 

Finally! You’ve arrived at your luxurious hotel or your gorgeous beach villa. You are now ready to start reading properly.

So the first thing of course is to plan your reading based on what kind of holiday it is and basically what you plan to do during your time away. Obviously someone going sightseeing everyday is going to read a lot less then someone going away to simply chill out on a beach. So plan according to that.

Once you’ve established how much reading you can get done, it’s time to pick the books that you will read there. I strongly suggest tackling some of the larger books in your collection while you are away. While it is harder to bring around luggage-wise, you have to remember that you will have more time then you usually would to read. So books that might seem quite daunting because you have work and school could actually become a real breeze because you are so much more free. Also feel free to go with books that might be heavier content-wise. You have the space and the state of mind to tackle these if it suits your fancy.

Another tip I would like to slip in here is to bring an e-reader if possible. It’s so much easier and you can get in 50 books if it so pleases you. That means that if a book just isn’t working for you, you can easily switch over. Also it’s a lot more weight and space friendly.

If you are bringing physical books though, remember to bring at least one more book then you think you will need just in case. You don’t want to be stuck somewhere without a book. Of course you could always buy a book there but you’re overseas and you might not be too familiar with your area so it might be harder then you think to find a bookstore that has the kind of books that you are looking for as well as the book in a language you understand.

There are always pros and cons to bringing either an e-reader or a physical book. Go with what you are comfortable with because you don’t want to be struggling with a format that you are uncomfortable with when you don’t have the option to switch.

Holiday Book Recommendations:

• An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
• The Throne Of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas
• Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
• The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah

Of course what you read and how much you read is entirely up to you. It’s your holiday so don’t feel pressured to read a certain number of books or a certain genre. These are just my suggestions based on my personal experiences. Everybody is different so take these tips but tweak them to fit YOU.

I hope you enjoyed my tips and that they helped you to pack your reading materials. I will see you guys when I get home next Friday. Follow me on my social media if you want to follow me on my trip in Bali. I will be updating them  constantly.

If you are going away on holiday, let me know what you favourite vacation book is in the comments.

Bye guys! xoxo