I’ve been known to be SUPER organized but in all honesty, there are SEVERAL junk drawers in our home that haunt me in the middle of the night. Everything has it’s place in our home, but with three young children, that doesn’t mean everything is always in it’s correct place.
For those of you who feel out of control from the mess or the feeling of never being able to find anything when you need it, here is a list of three HABITS to help you get started on your journey to organization!
#1 Create Systems & Put Them into Action
Where do papers from school go? Where do the dirty dish rags belong in the kitchen? How about the endless bobby pins and hair ties from your daughter’s room? Start with a few systems and be sure to include your family in on this so that everyone knows what is happening. I know it can be much faster and easier at times to go into your child’s room and clean up for them, but it will hurt you both in the long run. The goal is to create systems for everyone, not just you! This way the responsibility goes to all members of the household and not just one.
Ideas of systems: Toys, clothing, laundry, meals, paperwork, craft supplies, games, missing pieces to the games, random items that tend to float around like batteries and more!
#2 Less is More
Have you heard of the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo. It’s a great read. Basically, it teaches us to let go emotionally to our clutter in order to clean up and free ourselves from the weight of having too much. In our home, we always have a donation bag in my closet. Once something doesn’t work for someone anymore, we put it right in the bag. We have a little boy we give hand me downs to so we have a bag going for him at all times too. Think about starting with just one room a week. When you are considering of getting rid of something, ask yourself when the last time you used it was! That’s an easy question to help you decide let it go!
#3 Plan Ahead & Be Prepared
Now I am completely realistic that you can not prepare for EVERYTHING, however, if you take time to slow down, you will have time to think about what is happening next. Then, prepare what you need so that you can reduce anxiety and increase productivity. This is not possible if you are over scheduled and too busy. I will give you an example. I look at my calendar and see that I have a doctor appointment in a few days. I make a note to get my paperwork together. I follow through and get the nesscearry documents I need and pack them in my purse. I will be prepared now when I am leaving for the appointment. I won’t be scrambling around trying to remember where I put the referral!
Baby steps and low expectations will help you feel successful in leading an organized life. Remember that with children, comes flexibility in this area too. Let them have their collections in their rooms, filled with trinkets and what looks like trash to us (but treasures to them.) #easiersaidthandone
