Episode 208 – 10 ways to make your notice board work for you

Do you have a notice board or bulletin board in your home? They can be so helpful in keeping you organised and on track, but if you don’t care for them they can be more of a hindrance than a help. In this podcast we’re going to talk about the 10 ways you can make your notice board work for you.
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Transcript of this podcast episode
[00:00:00] Ingrid: Do you have a notice board or a bulletin board in your home? They can be so helpful in keeping you organized and on track, but if you don't care for them, they can come be more of a hindrance than a help. In today's podcast, we're going to talk about the 10 ways you can make your notice boards work for you.

[00:00:22] Now, Lesley, we are talking about notice sports today and you've very smartly said to me, but Ingrid, do they call it a notice board all around the world?

[00:00:31] Because I think they call it something different in the US and in Canada. And they do, don't they? 

[00:00:37] Lesley: I think so, and this is where we have to rely on you guys to tell us whether we're doing the right thing or not. But I believe from my very limited Google search that in the States and Canada, it may be called a bulletin board.

[00:00:49] Now for us, a bulletin board would be more of a, we would use that terminology, but be more of a work thing, wouldn't it? Yeah. So what we're really talking about today is a notice board that you would have in your home. So we probably will call it a notice board. Yeah. All the, all the terms do apply, so you'll know what we're talking about.

[00:01:08] We're talking about the kind of thing that you have in your home office or in your kitchen to pin things up, to remind you of things that are 

[00:01:14] Ingrid: coming up. But Lesley, Lesley, what I see a lot as well in house is that, that people don't have a notice board, but they put all sorts of stuff on their fridge with magnets.

[00:01:23] Does this count as well? I 

[00:01:26] Lesley: think things we're talking about are going to apply to the kind of. Fridge notice board as well. Um, but not everything. So, yes, uh, it's interchangeable, I guess, isn't it? Okay. 

[00:01:37] Ingrid: Okay. And if you think about if, 'cause I, if I think about the notice board, I think about things that I kind of pin that I want to keep and I want to have at hand, but people might easily confuse it with the vision board as well.

[00:01:54] Well, I think, I mean, 

[00:01:55] Lesley: you're so right 'cause a notice point is different things to different people. So I think first, first things first. Let's get it back down to basics and think. What is the purpose of your notice board going to be? So as you rightly say, for some people it's a collection of sentimental or lovely memorabilia type items.

[00:02:14] For other people, it's reminders of things that are coming up very soon. For other people, it's permanent reminders of things that they need to think about. For other people, it's meal planning things. There's. So many different ways that people use a notice board, but ultimately the notice board has to work for you.

[00:02:32] So first things first, do think about what that notice board is going to be. So I think that one of the first things I'm trying to think about, the types of notice boards that I've integrated into homes for clients. Mm-hmm. Now, I worked with an elderly client quite recently and what she wanted was reminders of things that she might forget.

[00:02:51] Now, the younger generation might have these kind of things in their phone as constant reminders, um, but she wanted a visual sort of, um, Record of these things. So it was useful numbers if she got stick stuck at any point, there's a num, a number there for the pharmacy, for the doctor, for her daughter, for a son-in-law.

[00:03:08] All of those kind of things. Were on a notice board. So if it is, if it's somebody potentially a little bit older, perhaps it might have a slightly different purpose. 

[00:03:16] Ingrid: Yeah. Yeah, because I'm thinking back to the, I mean, my notice board is getting emptier and emptier now because of course, but in the past there was loads of lists on there and little reminders for a trip that the kids would go on or a, um, overview of the dates when they had music lesson or swimming lesson, or.

[00:03:36] Jazz lesson, or you know, all of those things that they have to kind of show up on a weekly basis. You want to keep the timings kind of close at hand because it's always kind of all timings. It starts at quarter past four, that ends at 10 to five. It's like, oh, I just, I didn't use a digital caliber in the past.

[00:03:52] Now much more. So now I've got everything in my digital calendar. In the past, all these things were on my notice board. Yeah, 

[00:03:59] Lesley: I think, I think what used to be really useful about a notice board was that they would remind you of things that were coming up and they would give you the detail and you're so right, Ingrid, that nowadays that's kind of changed because we can put detail into digital calendars.

[00:04:15] We can add little attachments to them. Put recurring things, uh, recurring dates on them. Be very specific about the time. Like, oh, you know, we need to get there at 20 to four and we need to leave at 20 past four. We can put, um, notes in there. We can put addresses in there. And so a lot of the things that we used to need to put on notice.

[00:04:35] What we no longer need. And so I think if you are digital, and let's face it, a lot of people are not. Mm-hmm. Or if they are a little bit digital, have not got to that level of putting that amount of detail into their phone. And so some people still need that visual reminder. Now, I think one of the problems that I've got with this is that sometimes it becomes, Not a visual reminder and it comes a big wall of clutter because of the way that it's used that then no longer serves its purpose as a visual reminder.

[00:05:05] I think that's what we want to talk about today, isn't it? Yeah, 

[00:05:08] Ingrid: absolutely. I think it's really important to kind of determine what, what, what's my purpose of my noticeboard? What, what do I want it to? Work towards, because if it has to work too hard, and if it becomes a place where somebody's um, um, card they sent from holiday to you is pinned on and a drawing from one of the kids, and a list for items that needs to be bought when shopping and a a, a reminder of useful phone numbers, it gets, it becomes a catch all and then, You can't find anything.

[00:05:42] Lesley: Yeah, so, so I suppose when we're determining that purpose, we need to think about all those things. Is it a family notice board? Is it a notice board just for you? Is it a mood board type of thing for a project that you're currently working on? So it's something that's going to be here today, going tomorrow, almost.

[00:05:56] So really, really think about why do you have this notice board? Do you indeed need that notice board at all? 'cause I think times have changed quite a lot and notice boards are still probably in position. Um, And who's going to use it and how are you going to make sure that you are using it effectively? 

[00:06:13] Ingrid: Yeah.

[00:06:14] Yeah. And I think also what, what, what's really important then, Lesley is. Where does it live? Where does this noticeboard live? Is it on a random kitchen surface somewhere? Is it close to the kitchen? Is it close to where you open your mail? Is it close to a home office or a desk? I mean, what makes sense is every house has a different place where it could work or when you would want to keep it, but no place is the same.

[00:06:43] Is there. No. Exactly. 

[00:06:45] Lesley: And I think, you know, like you say, is it a useful notice board if it's behind a door? Now I know in your house yours is behind a door, yours is kind of in an undersized cupboard. Yeah. But you would be looking for those things. And so for you it's almost a visual reminder of something that you would go looking for.

[00:06:59] And I think that's different. That's the purpose is just keeping a few odd things there that you might go looking for. Is that going to be useful? Is the notice board that you put in 10 years ago still the right size? You know, does it look appealing? Are you keeping on top of it? So, yeah, it's really important to think about what's the purpose?

[00:07:19] Who's it for? Where do I need this notice board if I indeed need it at all? Very, very important. 

[00:07:27] Ingrid: So Lesley, okay, somebody has decided I don't need a notice. Board it all fine. I can handle it all in my phone. I'm on top of everything and as soon as I get something in, I snap a picture. I keep it. I attach it in my digital camera.

[00:07:40] Perfect. They don't need to notice board. But let's now talk for the people who do want to know to sport, have one, have used one for ages, like it what goes onto a notice sport then. 

[00:07:54] Lesley: Well, it depends on the purpose of your notice board, doesn't it? But the types of things that might go on there that people typically put on there is definitely appointment letters.

[00:08:03] And so when you get, you know, when you get an appointment for the doctors or whatever, um, that can go on there as a reminder. 'cause the nice thing about that appointment letter is that it has all the details on it that you need. So typically it'll have directions how to get to the specific department in the hospital, which, you know, let's face it, these hospitals are huge in a bit of a minefield sometimes.

[00:08:23] So those are the kind of useful pieces of information that people put on there. Uh, lists. So shopping lists, um, project lists, all those kind of things typically go on un notice board as well. I think invitations go on there as well, so particularly when people are younger, um, you know, party invitations that come through quite rapidly when you've got young kids.

[00:08:42] Wedding invitations, Christian invitations, any kind of family celebration, invitations, they're quite useful. And actually, sometimes the invitations are nice 'cause they're cute as well. So people have probably spent a lot of money on those and they might be a really nice thing. So it's nice to have those up as well.

[00:08:58] So definitely invitations go on there. I think it's super useful to have meal planning on there as well. If you're that kind of person that meal plans, they can definitely be on a notice board as well. Any other ideas? 

[00:09:10] Ingrid: Ingrid? Uh, yes, I would definitely say, uh, maybe, um, if you've got kids who are going to school, primary secondary school, they normally have a term dates calendar.

[00:09:21] That can be very helpful to have at hand as well. Or maybe a dates and times of clubs that they go to because if, especially if the kids are involved in a lot of afterschool clubs, it's good to have those kind of dates and numbers at hand. Um, in the past I would like print like tickets for. Concerts or musicals or or, or train or plane tickets, I would have them at my, and don't do that anymore because now it's all changed, this all with apps.

[00:09:50] But in the past I would kind of go, okay, you, you will get the thing. And I would pin that on my notes board because that was the place where all of that kind of important information was collected. 

[00:10:01] Lesley: Do you know what I think is really useful as well, Ingrid, is when pe, when people can put, and particularly for people that are not quite so digital, I think lists of phone numbers, like I mentioned before for the elderly client that I've worked for lists of really useful numbers.

[00:10:13] 'cause sometimes we're not on top of our game and if somebody's old or, um, struggles to find things or whatever, sometimes these things can be, can make you feel secure, can't they? So a notice board can serve that purpose as well. 

[00:10:26] Ingrid: Yeah, and what I also, um, what I realized as well, what I doles, if I get like a little receipt, if I drop something off at the dry cleaners and they give me a little receipt that I've paid, I kind of like, I pinned that on my notice board as a reminder that I need to collect the item because sometimes it's like, you know, when you drop stuff off, when you're running errands, you might forget about it.

[00:10:46] So I would, I would say something like that as well. Definitely. 

[00:10:51] Lesley: So there's a multitude of things. So basically these things are going to be paper-based for the most part, aren't they? That we slot onto a, onto a notice board. Mm-hmm. And the types of things that we've spoken about are things that are practical items, and they are those visual reminders that we need.

[00:11:06] Ingrid: So let's then think a little bit about how you can make sure that the notice board doesn't become like a dumping ground of all these things. So I think my, what we might need to doles, please do a little bit of zoning onto a notice board, right? And kind of assign areas where certain things live so it doesn't all get stuck on top of each other.

[00:11:25] And then still you can't find anything. Ingrid 

[00:11:28] Lesley: and I think that even before we get to the zoning stage, we need, we need to make sure that that notice board is the right size for what we want. 'cause if we're going to start zoning things, perhaps before we even get to that part, we need a slightly bigger notice board to allow us to do that.

[00:11:43] So really think about the notice board, because as I said before, a lot of these things, we've been there for donkeys years and we've just always had them. So we've never changed them. And generally through life things have got bigger and more useful as people are like, well, I don't want a little piddly sort of cork board.

[00:11:58] I actually want something a little bit bigger so I can spread out. So it can be really useful for me. 

[00:12:03] Ingrid: Yes, Lesley. And when you look at the size of a notice board, also take into consideration how a notice board looks because you can go really, uh, basic and just get a pinboard, but you can also go all out and get something really pretty with ribbons and with.

[00:12:19] Colors and with a whiteboard part. And a pinboard part, and, and, and have it in a really nice material. And I mean, you can go all out, can't you? Yeah. You 

[00:12:29] Lesley: just have to make sure it's fit for purpose. That's the most important thing. So make sure the size is right and make sure the practicalities of it are right now when we're talking about zoning.

[00:12:38] Um, I think. We can't really talk about what kind of zones you would have because everybody's family situation is completely different. So it's all about what kinds of things have you got going in your life that you would need to document and have a visual close at hand representation for. So it might be something medical, it might be something to do with food to do with lists, to do with shopping, to do with meal planning.

[00:13:00] It might be something to do with individual people in your family. Um, Whether you've got kids, whether you've got a parent that you look for, look out for all of those things might involve their own zone. Anything else? Ingrid? Yeah, 

[00:13:12] Ingrid: maybe pets. Maybe because they need to, you know, to be taken care of as well.

[00:13:16] So there might be a, a place for, you know, when you, they need, the dog needs to go to the dog room or, or needs to get his medication or needs to be taken to the vet or whatever. So I think that's a zone you could include if you are a, um, if you've got a pet at at home. 

[00:13:32] Lesley: And when we run the risk, and this is the problem sometimes with notice boards, which is why I'm not really a huge fan, is that we run the risk of it making it be a kind of extension of our paperwork storage, don't we?

[00:13:43] Or our in tray. And so we have to be really careful that the things that go on there are things that you absolutely need to. C and that needs to be on there to give you that sort of reminder. So very, very important to think about that when you're thinking about what the notice board looks like and how you're going to zone it.

[00:13:59] So let's go to a breaking board and let, when we come back, let's give some more specific examples about how you can dec to your notice board to make it work for you.

[00:14:10] Ingrid: Hi everyone. Welcome back. We've been talking about notice boards be, um, in this podcast, and before the break we talked about what kind of stuff do you put on a notice board? Where do you put it in your house? Um, what size is is helpful for you?

[00:14:25] Do you want to make it pretty or not? Are you going to zone it? But let's talk a little bit about the number one rule you need to keep decluttering it. You can't just keep pinning stuff on it or using magnets and just have like 12 things on top of each other. Decluttering is key, isn't it? It's 

[00:14:46] Lesley: so funny, you know, England, because quite often when, when I'm doing a kitchen or something like that with a client or a home office, I'll be like, okay, let's declutter the notice board, or let's declutter the fridge, and they're like, Why are decluttering that?

[00:14:56] And then when we go to it, there's things on there that have been on there 12 years, you know, hidden underneath everything else. And I think that's it. Definitely keep on top of this notice board. So it's going to work for you. Do a regular declutter of it. You can even incorporate that within your. Maybe not weekly, but definitely monthly resets.

[00:15:16] And so make that part of your habit, make that part of your non-negotiables. You know, your notice board will thank you for it, won't it, Ingrid? I 

[00:15:24] Ingrid: know. I mean, we find vouchers that were like valid two years ago. I mean, it's like, okay, this is way past, or like free tickets entry to a zoo that were never unfortunately used and then.

[00:15:36] Are outdated and it's just such a shame because if a lot of it comes onto a notice board, then you actually start to miss the stuff that's on there. So decluttering is definitely key 

[00:15:47] Lesley: as well as decluttering. I think it's really important to allow white space. Around the stuff that you put on your notice board.

[00:15:54] And by that what I mean is don't have all of the letters and receipts and tickets and whatever you've got on there all close to each other. You need that kind of white space around you to give you a little bit of, it's sort of, dunno it kind of. Singles it out a little bit more. If you've got this whole wall of stuff and detail, it can be very hard visually to see it.

[00:16:18] So do allow yourself some white space on that notice board. That's why it's important. Sometimes the bigger the better. If a notice board is going to work for you, sometimes bigger is better. 

[00:16:27] Ingrid: I think it's bit similar. Lesley, what it reminds me of, uh, having a bit of wide space around, it's almost like in an in tray you want to have.

[00:16:37] Papers, I think in different l folders so you can kind of, kind of take them out and they're not just all one stack and one big pile. You want to be able to kind of lay your hands on stuff and, and flicking through 10 folders is much easier than trying to rifle through a stack of 30 different kinds of paper and go, I know the paper's in here, but because it's in a big.

[00:17:00] Pile of stuff, you can't find it. Well, it's when it's in its separate folder, it's much easier to retrieve that information. And I think the same goes for a notice board. If it's all put on top of each other, you can't see the wood for the trees anymore. Well, when you have it all kind of almost neatly hung up and kind of categorized a little bit, sorted the eye, it's, it's like you start to see things again instead of just seeing a whole blurb of.

[00:17:28] There's stuff on paper on this notice board, but I, I can't tell anymore what it is. 

[00:17:33] Lesley: The bottom line is, is it, it's reminded me of my emails. So if you've not on our email list, why not? Um, please do. Um, sign up at decla hub.com/subscribe, where we send hits, hints, tips, motivation, inspiration, podcast information, challenge information, et cetera.

[00:17:50] So when I write my, um, emails, every, you know, every few days you get an email. I, I make sure that every sentence, or there's only a couple of sentences, and then it's got white space around it. And that's so that it's more easily digestible. It follows along from the thing that we teach all the time, Ingrid, which is breaking things down into manageable chunks.

[00:18:09] And if you've got a. Loads of texts on an email or loads of documents together on a notice board. It's not really breaking it down into manageable chunks. And that can be the problem. So my emails are not grammatically correct, but they're easier to read 

[00:18:24] Ingrid: in principle. Yeah, and that's what we want, isn't it?

[00:18:26] We want to be, we want to be able to digest the information because. Then it's easier to see and it goes in easier, and you can think about the next step, then what needs to be done instead of going, oh, there's just a whole pile of stuff. It, it's, it's with everything. I mean, that's why we love categorizing, don't we?

[00:18:45] And putting like with like, the same goes for a noticeboard. You have to put like with like, so it's easier than to find and retrieve the information. 

[00:18:55] Lesley: Absolutely. So, you know, following on from that, don't overlap items on a notice board because you're never ever going to see them. I mean, one of our bug bears when, when it comes to a wardrobe is multiple items of clothing on one hanger.

[00:19:08] We know sometimes it's necessary if you've not got the right hangers and things like that. But in general, One of the jobs we do as professional organizers is make sure one thing, one hanger so that you can see, because as soon as you put something on top of something else, then it starts to be hidden and you don't see it, you don't choose it, you don't digest the information.

[00:19:27] So have some white space around what's on that notice board and don't overlap items so you can see what lies 

[00:19:32] Ingrid: beneath. Yeah, good point. Good points. Now another thing that might not have crossed, um, uh, people's minds before, if your notice board is on a very visible place in your house, and a lot of notice boards we do find in the kitchen, think about what information you want.

[00:19:52] To put on there, but also think about what information you don't want to put on there. Because if you have a lot of people in your home visiting, coming through, coming around for a cup of tea, you might not want them to see your letter from the hospital or your letter from the doctor, or. Kind of more personal information.

[00:20:13] And if your noticeboard is on view, they might go, oh, and you know, they might snoop or they might accidentally, it catches their eye because people have, you know, look around and they might not intentionally want to know what's going on in the hospital with you. But on the other hand, if it's out and in the open, you know, so think about that before you pin anything personal like that on a notice board.

[00:20:36] Lesley: Well, we're inherently nosy people. I think you're being too kind there. If we see a notice board with information, we're going to 

[00:20:41] Ingrid: read it, aren't we? Let's face it. That's the reality 

[00:20:44] Lesley: of it, because we just, that's human nature, isn't it? To be maybe nosy, inquisitive, let's call it inquisitive our way. And so, so I think if there is anything that you don't want other people to see, then it makes sense not to put it on a notice spot.

[00:20:57] And we all know what that looks like to individual people. Yeah. I think the most important thing, Ingrid, is that we keep that information on that up to date. We've already spoken about decluttering. If it is gone, declutter it straight into recycling. If it's paper, let it go so that the notice board can serve you well.

[00:21:16] That's the most important thing, isn't it? 

[00:21:19] Ingrid: You know what, Lesley, I think we can do our future self such a, you know, a, a, a, a good turn if we help ourselves this way. Because if we're constantly dealing with information that's out of date, it gets really muddled with the stuff that is important and that we don't want to miss, and an appointment we really have to go to.

[00:21:38] And if we have to wade through lots of old information, it, it gets really hard and it gets a lot of work. So I think. It's super important to, to keep on top of the information and, and to have that on a, on a regular rotation of, oh, let me quickly run through my notice board and see, oh, that's outdated, that's gone.

[00:21:55] That can go, oh, there's something new. You know, you can do that. When you pin something new on, you can immediately do a quick scan and see is there anything here that I no longer needs? Or maybe once a week when you do some live admin or once a month, do like a proper run through of everything that's on there.

[00:22:12] You can do that as and when you need, but don't leave it for months or years on end. And in terms 

[00:22:18] Lesley: of the aesthetics of a kitchen, fridge or a notice board, It looks much, much nicer if that information has got the white space around it and it's more neatly attached to the notice board rather than randomly placed on there.

[00:22:32] So think about the aesthetics, because honestly that does create a lot of visual clutter in your kitchen, doesn't it? 

[00:22:38] Ingrid? 

[00:22:39] Ingrid: Yes, absolutely, Lesley. So these are the 10 ways to make your No to Sport work for you. That's it for this episode. Lesley, shall I tell the listeners what we're doing next week?

[00:22:51] Absolutely. Alright, so next week I've got a guest and I'm speaking about the menopause with our guest, Clarissa Chris Jansen, and it's all about how you can thrive through the menopause. So I was, I was excited to record this podcast 

[00:23:08] Lesley: episode. I do think a lot of people will be like, it's exactly because of the menopause that I need a notice board.

[00:23:15] Ingrid: Do you know what I. Okay. 

[00:23:19] Lesley: I was fine before the menopause, but now I'm in the menopause. I definitely need that. Otherwise I'd be like, what did I come in this room for? 

[00:23:27] Ingrid: Where was I supposed to be? Apparently, maybe that's just me. Well, apparently one of the things, uh, connected to menopause is brain fog, so, Point well taken, uh, uh, Lesley.

[00:23:38] So thank you so much, listeners for being here. If you want to, um, look at our show notes, have a look on declutter hop com slash 2 0 9, and of course, as always, we would love to know what you have found on your notice board, because maybe you are inspired after listening to this podcast and you're like, yes.

[00:23:57] I have not done this for a while. I have a noticed board and I need to tackle this. Tell us in the show notes, tell us the comments. We would love to know from you what you have found on your notice board that's maybe quite old. Tell us, share with us. We'd love to know. So thanks for being here, and we'll see you next week.
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