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DECLUTTER YOUR HALLWAY
BLITZ YO UR TO - D OS
Keeping items off the floor is the key to a clear hallway. Parenting expert Dr Laura Markham suggests an organisation station for kids. ‘Give your child a coat hook at their height,’ she says. Put up a shelf below for their bag, and a space underneath for their shoes. ‘Get them into the habit of putting their things away when they walk in the door,’ she adds.
R ATH E R THAN YOU R USUAL N E VE R- E N DING TO - DO LIST, FOCUS O N J OT TING DOWN TH R E E K E Y TASKS A DAY TO K E E P YOU R GOAL S ACH IE VAB LE . WRITING A ‘ DO N E LIST’ WILL AL SO H E LP: YOU STAY M OTIVATE D BY SE E ING WHAT YOU ’ VE ACCO M PLISH E D, E VE N IF A J O B G E TS SH U NTE D O NTO TH E N E X T DAY ’ S TASKS .
WORDS GEORGIE LANE-GODFREY ILLUSTRATIONS ADAM HOWLING *PUBLISHED ON 8 SEPTEMBER (VIRGIN BOOKS, £12·99)
7 CONQUER RECYCLING
Use Recycling Week, which runs from 12-18 September, as motivation for cutting down the amount of rubbish that your household produces. It’s also a great way to get kids interested in recycling. Start by building your own ‘recycling station’. This can be as simple as a few clearly labelled reusable shopping bags or repurposed toy boxes. Reusing is a great idea too: you can turn old loo rolls into handy cable holders, while empty tissue boxes make convenient dispensers for plastic carrier bags.
Around 30 million tonnes of household waste are generated in the UK every year, of which 5·9 million tonnes are packaging.
SPRING CLEAN SOCIAL MEDIA
‘It’s important to rid yourself of distracting things in your life on a regular basis,’ says Brian Wong, author of The Cheat Code.* ‘That includes cluttered social media accounts that can zap time and energy. Use the mute function on social networks to hide the posts of users without unfollowing them.’ To do so, tap ‘more’ then ‘mute @username’ on Instagram and Twitter, and use the drop-down arrow on Facebook posts. Check your followers and delete any fake accounts that might send you spam.
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Make plans easier Looking to put that out-ofcontrol WhatsApp group between all your mates to bed? Get Propoodling. This free online scheduling tool, similar to Doodle, lets you enter your availability in a poll before sending it to your friends to fill in. Visit propoodle.net for details.
Tidy upcycling Find out how to turn cardboard boxes into drawer dividers at tes.co/getorganised
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