As the last few hours of 2018 tick past, I’m sitting in front of the fire with a lovely hot cup of tea and reflecting on the past year. And what a year it has been! Thanks to you lovely lot – my readers, followers, clients and supporters – the first full calendar year of More Organised Limited totally exceeded my expectations and I have a lot to look back on!

When I look back at 2018, I think of the rooms I have decluttered, the spaces I have organised… but most importantly, the smiles and freedom that this has brought to my clients’ lives. Being a professional organiser is The Best Job In The World and every day I am grateful that I get to use my skills to help other people. 2019 is going to be even better… but first, here’s a quick review of what More Organised got up to in 2018!

January

• The year got off to to a great start when I booked my first regular weekly client… a client I am still working with today.
• I helped to organise homes for two refugee families moving to Dumfries, as part of a team from the amazing Massive Outpouring of Love – our local refugee action charity who I am proud to partner with.

February

• I joined the Association of Personal Photo Organizers and started to work towards certification.

March

• The Association of Professional Declutterers & Organisers APDO annual conference was a highlight of the year. As a member of APDO, I am committed to continuing professional development, and two whole days of conference taught me new skills and gave me new ideas. Meeting up with my colleagues from around the UK made this conference really special.
• Spring Clearing Week – an APDO initiative to encourage the UK to declutter and find more space in their lives for what really matters. We had a fun evening of decluttering, cake and chat at a More Organised workshop and made some new friends.
• Also in March, More Organised featured in an article in the UAE’s “The National” newspaper – own experience of organising our big move was documented in the feature “How to ensure a smooth exit from the UAE when it’s time to relocate“.

April

• I published one of my most popular blog posts ever… “How we got rid of half our stuff” was the most personal post I have ever written, but you all seemed to love it!

May

• The first APDO Scotland mini-conference in Stirling.
• I had my first fully-booked week, helping five clients in five days. This businesss of mine was really working!
• I was delighted to be asked by the lovely Rebecca of expat blog Making Here Home to write a series of blog posts about moving countries (even if you’re not an expat, I highly recommend joining Rebecca’s online book club – so much fun!).
• I took over the Instagram account of Scottish Mothers Collective for a day.
• A flurry of GDPR activity, as I joined businesses large and small across the UK in getting my website and online elements of my business compliant for the new data protection laws that came into force on 24 May 2018. An intense period that deepened my relationship with my laptop, and had me desperate to get away from the desk and back to organising. A reminder that running a small business needs flexibility, tenacity and lots of coffee!
• May ended with a wonderful surprise – I had been shortlisted as finalist in the “Most Promising New Business” in the Dumfries & Galloway Business Awards!

June

• More Organised was selected as one of Dragon’s Den judges Theo Paphitis’ Small Business Sunday winners in early June. The highlight of this will be in February 2019 when I go to the annual SBS conference and get to meet the man himself, as well as lots of other winners.
• I was invited to attend the Ideal Home Show Scotland as an expert adviser. Over the two days I met lots of families looking for decluttering and organising advice, which was lots of fun. I summarised their questions and my advice in my post “Your top organising questions from the Ideal Home Show“.

July – August

The summer was sadly a write-off both for More Organised and me personally, as I was seriously ill and spent a couple of weeks in hospital. I am so grateful for the care of my family, friends and NHS staff that had me well enough to go back to work in September. Thank you too to my lovely clients who were so patient and understanding… but it was another harsh reminder about the difficulties of running your own business!

September

• Back to work and back to my clients, who I had missed over the summer. September saw an increase in organising bookings as new (school) year resolutions to get organised were made across the south of Scotland!
• http://www.moreorganised.com was named as one of the Top 5 UK Organising Blogs by Feedspot
• More Organised was selected as one of the UK’s Small Business 100 companies by the national Small Business Saturday campaign. Supporting small, local businesses has always meant a lot to me, so this award was particularly exciting.

October

• I tried to take some time off to spend with my son over the October school holidays, but other than that I was fully booked in October. A mixture of regular weekly clients and one-off projects gave lots of variety and the chance to meet new people – one of my favourite things about my work!

November

• APDO’s National Organising Week coincided with More Organised’s first birthday, so I kicked off the month with a birthday party. Clients and service providers joined me for tea, cake and the usual decluttering chatter – it was so lovely to be surrounded by many of the people who have made my first year in business so memorable, and I will forever be grateful for their support.
• Local radio station DCR invited me to their studios to talk about decluttering and getting organised for National Organising Week. You can listen to the broadcast via Mixcloud here.
• The Small Business 100 were invited to a celebratory afternoon tea at the House of Lords in November too (yes – more tea and cake!) I was delighted to have been invited and to meet so many of my #SmallBiz100 colleagues in such an iconic venue.

December

• December was a whirlwind of helping clients get organised for Christmas, of reviewing the fabulous year that was 2018, and setting new goals for 2019.
• A celebration of small businesses on 2nd December – the first Saturday in December when each year, the Small Business Saturday campaign highlights the small businesses in our community. I was thrilled to be invited by last year’s #SmallBiz100 winner, Julie Hollis of Cloud 9 in Dumfries, to run an event at her beautiful gallery and shop. The perfect end to an amazing year of More Organised.

Thank you for your support over the past 12 months. None of the above would have been possible without you – my readers and clients. Every time I am invited into your homes to help you get more organised I am grateful that I get to do this work, and every like/comment/share of my social media posts means so much. I have lots of fun things planned for the next 12 months, so watch this space!

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and organised 2019!
Mel xx