Marcia Francois's Blog, page 31
December 2, 2018
What I learned through writing every day in November
Many of you know that I chat to Beth, my accountability partner and friend, every week.
On Thursday 1 November, I’d only completed my personal goals from the previous week and no blog goals, which all involved writing.
On a whim, I mentioned to Beth that I wondered if I could still actually write every day. And right there and then, I decided to try.
You see years ago, for five years in a row, I blogged 324 or more times every year. For two of those years, I blogged every single day.
Also, h...
November 27, 2018
Why I no longer have a gift shelf
We’ve all seen the tip to keep some spare gifts on a shelf in case of emergencies.
This is a great idea if you often need a generic gift, and perhaps don’t know the recipient very well at all.
I kept a gift shelf for many years and I was very glad when my kids were in pre-school and attending 10 parties a year for various little classmates.
We used to do a gift on a theme every year so it made good sense to buy 10 colouring books, 10 packs of my favourite colouring pencils and 10 pencil bags...
November 20, 2018
Introducing my 2019 diary
my current diary
When I started looking for a 2019 diary, I fully intended to either get my current diary again, or go for a Moleskine or Legami weekly diary planner as I’ve had in previous years.
But alas, my current diary format was only available in a cover that did not feel very smooth to touch. I’m a very tactile person and I like a diary that feels good to touch, or at least doesn’t irritate me.
I’d just about eliminated everything and was ready to order my Moleskine online as I didn’t...
November 13, 2018
No-fail menu planning
Last year I wrote two posts on menu planning that were two of the most popular posts on my blog the entire year.
If you didn’t see them, here’s post 1 and here’s post 2.
The reason I go on and on about this is because it is such a game-changer when you make it part of your weekly routine.
Today I want to give you two methods of menu planning that are truly very easy.
Base your meals on the protein. E.g.
Monday – legumes like lentils or kidney beans (chilli con carne using just kidney beans s...
November 6, 2018
Book bossy and my October reads
I learned of a delightful little phrase, “book bossy” this month.
It turns out I am book bossy.
Friends, I was quite taken aback because I don’t see this book bossiness as a negative at all; it’s just who I am. I am a person who is passionate about books and reading.
And honestly, I’m only book bossy when I think it may matter to you too. There are some friends I never talk books with; granted, these are probably not my deepest friendships 
November 2, 2018
Declare a day for annual planning
I read on Sarah’s blog where she said she wished we could have an International Planning Holiday where we would all take out our new diaries, transfer information and get all transitioned out of the old and into the new one.
Well, I was agreeing with her as I read and then I realised… I already do this!
My international planning holiday is not on a specific day, but does fall within a specific week of the year – the week between Christmas and New Year.
I love this week and have referred to i...
October 24, 2018
How to have the best Christmas ever
I started reading all my old posts about Christmas and realised that I have actually said everything I want to say, so let me link to those posts.
Lower your Christmas expectations especially with social media
The Christmas Card controversy
Keep Christmas simple but meaningful
Clever gift ideas for Christmas and throughout the year
and last but definitely not least, my favourite Christmas post ever!
Create the perfect Christmas… for you
October 17, 2018
Do you have your 2019 diary/ planner yet?
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Marcia Francois (@organisingqueen) on Feb 25, 2018 at 12:09pm PST
I’ve long spoke about embracing your paper-loving self.
I’ve also mentioned before that generally speaking, Js on the Myers Briggs are most likely to actually use their diaries. Ps buy them all the time but from mid-Feb they’ve given up 
October 10, 2018
What I learned from Spring into Organising
I ran (or tried to run) a Spring into Organising challenge during September.
It was mostly a failure in terms of getting other people to play along, but I thought I’d share what I learned from personally doing the Spring into Organising challenge for the 5 weekends in September.
Konmari has served me very well. I did the full Konmari in August 2014 and while I believe that you do have to do a little refresh now and again, it has been life-changing for me. Spaces are super quick to sort when...October 3, 2018
On setting reading goals and books read in September
Good news!
I reached my goal of 72 in August, and this month, I reached my Goodreads goal of 80 books.
You may ask yourself why I set such a “low goal” if I read 120 books last year.
My purpose for my reading life this year was to read deeper and sometimes longer books as well as fun books. I saw a tendency in my reading life last year to skip over some books if they were over 400 pages and I wouldn’t be able to finish them if the month had only a few days left. This year, I wanted to create...
