Maintaining an organized house goes a long way toward creating a peaceful, low-stress home for you and your family. With a place for everything, morning dashes out the door need not be accompanied by panicked searches for keys and homework. Important papers come readily to hand. Meals are easy to prepare, bills get paid on time, appointments are not missed. Can't you feel the tension melting out of your shoulders already?
De-Clutter
Clutter is likely to be your main initial hindrance in organizing your home. Most of us just have too much stuff. It takes real effort to prevent extra stuff from accumulating in your house. Shedding things you no longer want is healthy and simple to do. Use the classic Three Box method (or one of its many variations) to purge your house of things that are broken, worn out, outdated, ugly, carry too much emotional baggage, aren't useful or don't give you any joy.
The Three Box method requires three big boxes labeled "Put Away," "Give Away," and "Throw Away." If you line the boxes with trash bags, you can pull out a bag when it's full and start another.
Set aside some time. De-cluttering certainly need not happen in one giant marathon, and in fact that would ensure failure of the project. Fifteen minutes to one hour at a time will allow progress without being overwhelming.
Pick one room and line up your boxes at the door. Work your way around the room. Pick up any items that aren't where they belong. If they belong in this room, put them away. If they belong in another room, put them in the appropriate box. Pick up anything you don't want--if it's in good shape, it goes in the Give Away box. If it's not, trash it. When a box is full, pull out the bag and take it to the trash, put it in the car to donate, or set it aside for putting away, depending of course on which box is full.
Don't make a big mess by emptying all the drawers or closets onto the floor. Work one small area at a time, so when you want or need to stop, you don't have a disaster. De-clutter your whole house in this manner, as you have time and energy. This project alone will produce a more organized home.
Establish Order
Sit down with a cup of your favorite beverage and list the things that drive you crazy in your house. Some critical item doesn't work right. There's no place to set things by the door. You don't have enough trash cans. You can never tell if the dishwasher has been run. No one hangs up their towels. Just let it all out onto the page.
Analyze the crazy-making things one by one. Brainstorm until you come up with a workable solution. It may involve a purchase (such as an additional trash can or some coat hooks). But don't assume that buying something will automatically solve the problem. You may need to gently retrain a child or spouse about the towels, make a little 'clean/dirty' sign for the dishwasher, get out the glue gun and fix the broken widget. Many times just thinking through the trouble spot will let solutions rise to the surface of your mind. If you need additional inspiration, see the resources below for a wealth of further organizing advice about establishing routines, keeping a family calendar, filing, cleaning, and much more.
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