This is a quick off the cuff blog! Isn't it strange that how we speak to our selves can affect how we feel? This morning I could have got up and said 'I need to sort the washing and pu a couple of loads of washing in, get them dry and put them away - that's going to take all day' :( Or I could have (and did!) reframe it! " I'm going to put the radio on and whilst I'm listening I'll gather the washing and put on a couple of speed washes whilst I potter around the kitchen and get breakfast. Then I can put it to dry in the sunshine and sit outside with a cup of coffee! I am actually looking forw ..read more

My website is being updated at the moment in order to reflect these different categories, keep coming back to see each new phase as I open it up! If you want to be notified, message me or use the chat button on the website. There is a link to my instagram and facebook pages at the end of this DOCC Blog and you can contact me through either of these, too! I am mum to 3 adults (including twin boys / men!). I have a wonderful partner and we have been together for about 30 years. I live in South Cheshire in England and I work part time in a pharmacy. When lockdown began, a couple of years ago no ..read more

In the UK we have recently started our school summer holidays, in other parts of the world you are already beginning to talk about ‘back to school’! How do you handle the summer holidays? Are you a stay at home mum and spend every waking hour entertaining the children? Do you work part time and have to arrange childcare with family or summer holiday clubs and then entertain the children when you are not working? Or are you working full time and drop your children off at summer club every day before work and pick them up every evening? There really isn’t an ideal way to manage the summer holid ..read more

This is a difficult DOCC Blog to write. If you have been a follower and friend of the DOCC Blog for some time you will probably have noticed the move towards self care - taking time and being easy on yourself. My instagram page has also been about slowing down when you need to and having a pared down basic routine for those times when you are running on empty. My most recent posts have been off the cuff posts from my garden, it is here I have been able to find some joy. I am not writing this in order to gain sympathy, in fact I thought long and hard about writing anything at all. I am writin ..read more

I am recovering from COVID 19 and it’s taking much longer than I thought and hoped it would. After spending 5 days in bed and napping for a further 5 days I am still far from ready to begin again with my usual daily routines. So I am working with what I can. When I get up, which could be anytime at the moment, I make my bed and go and have breakfast. Nothing too taxing there! I then try and assess what my energy level is. I have found that I have more energy in the morning and my mind is clearer - I do seen to be suffering with the feeling that my head has been stuffed with cotton wool as th ..read more

Today I am going to take you with me as I work through a morning at home. I work part time and this is one of my full days off. I have two full days off in the week - one I try to keep as my main housekeeping day and the other is where I can see friends and family or schedule appointments. So lets begin - my name is Linda and I am a BCP (Born Chaotic Person!) A BCP could be seen as the polar opposite of a BOP - a Born Organised Person. BUT it is not a gene we lack which BOP's have it is just a set of skills which need to be learned and the learning may take a little longer for some than others ..read more

I get so cross with myself, sometimes. I feel like I have let myself down - again. If I’m honest I treat myself worse than I would treat anybody else! I show more compassion and understanding to other people. Why do we do this? I am hardest on myself when I don’t live up to the exacting standards I expect of myself - when I eat a whole pack of custard creams after reading all about nutrition and health or when I write a DOCC Blog about the importance of routine only to realise I haven’t vacuumed for over 2 weeks. If somebody came to me and told me they hadn’t vacuumed for over 2 weeks would I ..read more

What is your ultimate goal for the area you will be working on? You have made the decision that you want to live in a less cluttered and more organised way. This in itself is a huge step towards being successful! You will struggle to keep up with any new systems or routines if you have been talked into decluttering and organising by somebody else,however, if you have come to the decision that something needs to be done by yourself then you have a much greater chance of long term success. Nobody but you really knows when you are ready to make some changes in your life - and there is no doubt t ..read more

In the grand tradition of Strictly Come Dancing these steps are in no particular order but implementing each one has made a big difference in my life and I know they will in yours! Whether it is keeping my fabric stash, my underwear drawer or my partners t-shirts under control - file folding has been a real game changer! Not only is it really easy to do, it means you can see exactly what you have in the drawer. A bonus result is that it becomes much more obvious if certain items are not going to be worn, and therefore easier to know what can go in the One In One Out rule!(see below!!) File fo ..read more

When you embark on a decluttering or organising project your mindset could be the tool which means success or failure. And mindset is a tool. To have the right mindset on any project is like having the correct hammer when you are doing woodwork or the right paintbrush when you are painting a portrait. There is little point starting on a decluttering project when you are not ready for it. There are many questions you will be asking yourself - some of which can be difficult and lead to soul searching for many people. It isn’t something to be taken lightly! Decluttering comes very easily for som ..read more