Four F’s beat a mess

By Lia Bichel
STUFF won’t make you happy or fill a void. So flick it.
This was the message from organising expert Lissanne Oliver, who was a guest speaker at Southeast Business Networks final Showcasing Women in Business breakfast on 19 November.
After asking guests to clean out their handbags, Ms Oliver offered a number of helpful tips for organising a mess.
The bestselling author and founder of Sorted Organising and Decluttering, said in order to beat the war on paper you should follow the four Fs.
“Either file it, flick it, finish it or forward it,” she said.
“The most important F is flick. Make friends with your bin.”
She suggested making a place to store special and sentimental memorabilia, throw away items that do not have value and make maintenance part of your routine.
“Don’t put it down, put it away,” she said.
Ms Oliver said when things pile up, we often become overwhelmed and make excuses to avoid cleaning.
“What happens when you get overwhelmed? Nothing. You do nothing,” she said.
“We seem to procrastinate and do the things we want to do and not what we have to do.”