Help Your Child Learn to Organize and Prioritize with a Chore Chart
It can be very frustrating to ask your child over and over again to complete their chores without them ever getting done. Sometimes it’s the result of a child not knowing how to organize and prioritize their time. Help your child develop these important skills by implementing a chore chart.
Chores might include taking out the garbage, doing the dishes, cleaning their room, yard work or putting laundry in the laundry room. After your child completes each chore, they can put a check mark on the chore chart. At the end of each week, it’s very inspiring for both parent and child to look at the chore chart and easily see that each designated job was completed.
Just like our to do lists, your child will find great satisfaction in being able to check off each chore as it’s completed and take pride knowing they accomplished a set task or list of tasks. Once the child is more adept at completing each task and learns to recognize which ones should be completed first, additional ones can be added to the list.
Once you’ve sat down with your child and discussed and designed a chore chart, it’s time to discuss the rewards for accomplishing each task listed. Perhaps at your home you decide you will give a set sum for each task accomplished. If you should decide to grant your child some sort of monetary allowance, make sure it’s age appropriate and granted on a regular basis.
A good rule of thumb is 50 cents per year of age. However, be firm about the allowance being an all or nothing reward. No allowance is given if the items on the list are only partially completed or if they haven’t been completed in a quality fashion. Teach your child early to strive to do it right the first time, and learn to save time in the process.
By helping your child to develop a sense of organization early on, you’ll equip them with an important skill that will help them succeed later in life.
Whether you are collecting compact discs for a hobby or not, you might find that your CDs may already be piling up. Just imagine how many of those items you might probably own currently. Even if you are not actually collecting, you might find yourself having the trouble and the problem of having to deal with a rising number of CDs. Here are organization tips that could help you prevent any cluttering while keeping as many CDs.
You should separate audio CDs from video CDs, which could also be classified into VCDs and DVDs. Start sorting your audio CDs. You could organize your collection by sorting out the items by musical genre. It would be easy if you are a follower of a specific or single music type (for example, R & B). Logically, it could be challenging if you own CDs of general type, pop, or mixed types. You have to separate R & B CDs from alternative rocks, and pop CDs. Label the items for easier retrieval and organizing. You could arrange the CDs in alphabetical order (artist name) or by year.
For video CDs, separate VCDs from DVDs. For sure, you own more DVDs than VCDs, unless you have intentionally collected more of the latter. Just like what you did in audio CDs, it would help if you would systematically organize and sort your collection. You could do so more effectively through arranging the CDs by artist or by genre. You could also label the items by title and arrange them alphabetically. As you do so, you could document your collection in a computer for easy and systematic filing and retrieval. Why not assign serial numbers of codes to every CD so that you would organize your collection more effectively. Searching through your computer files would certainly be better and much more convenient.
Aside from audio and video CDs, there could be other CDs in your drawer. These are CDs where you have stored computer files and information. Do not mix or combine such CDs with all your other collection. Doing so would surely result to overall confusion in the future. Do not forget to include readable and systematic labels. You could file or arrange such CDs separately from the rest of your collection. Never ever make the mistake of combining all CDs. You have to be organized all the time.
When using CDs, resolve to bring back or return the item where you have pulled it out from. It would create possible and future problems and troubles if you would not return the CD you used where it belongs. Organization tips regarding CDs would almost always advise you to do so. Lastly, do no forget to put CDs where they should be. In other words, make sure the case matches the particular CD the package must contain.
You may invest in a CD rack or a special container to make sure sorting and keeping the CDs would not be a hassle.
How to End Clutter and Make Home Organization Easier
I’ve spoken to quite a few people over the years who say they have very nice clothes they love but the don’t wear them anymore. But my question is this: If you value something so much…then don’t you think you should be wearing it?
The reality is we are a society who likes to accumulate and, dating back to the Great Depression, we tend to keep everything we believe has monetary value when, in reality, it really doesn’t.
For example, a pretty dress or a nice suit you bought ten years ago went for what can be considered a lot of money. And the problem is you haven’t touched it in nine years because, as most clothes do, it went out of style. Could it come back in style someday? Maybe. Styles do often return. But this is not a reason to hold onto things you don’t use…”just in case.”
You feel like, because you spent “good” money on it, you are throwing money away. But ask yourself this… is it putting money in your pocket sitting there in the back of your closet with dust on the shoulders? Is it giving you anything? Do you benefit at all from keeping outdated outfits? Now ask yourself one more question… will you gain anything by getting rid of it and donating it to charity? Of course you will!
The benefits?
More space to be able to keep the clothes you are going to wear (we only wear 50% of the clothes we own, by the way.) I might even suggest buying a new outfit for every three to five you get rid of.
The purpose?
Because new clothes make people feel good. I don’t recommend buying new clothes for the sake of buying new clothes and throwing away your money. But you’ve got to admit putting on a new pair of pants that make us look better is a nice, uplifting feeling. The thing is the items taking up space, yes, you paid for them. But by keeping something you no longer wear or use you are not getting anything in return but more clutter and a lack of storage space you could be using for something else.
Here is something you should do right now with items (they don’t have to be clothes) you are holding onto because you paid good money for them.
1. Go find ten items you own for one reason and one reason only… because you paid for it.
2. Grab a piece of paper and make three columns.
3. Write the items you are having trouble getting rid of in the left column. In the middle column, write “why I am keeping this item” and in the third column write “what will I gain by getting rid of this item.”
My guess is you will have a lot more in the right column than you will in the middle. Be specific with both. If you can honestly fill up the middle column with more reasons of why you should keep it, and they are good, legitimate reasons, then maybe you shouldn’t get rid of it. But I’m willing to bet that won’t be the case.
Does your household include young children with piles of toys or teenagers who always seem to be complaining about having no room for their clothes? Save yourself a lot of aggravation, as well as time and money, by arranging rooms and furniture in ways that create a family-friendly organized living space.
The first step is finding room for the stuff. Kids come with a lot of gear, from the time they’re babies until they’re out the door and into their own place. In the meantime, you have to find ways to accommodate everything from strollers and building blocks to hockey sticks and Barbie collections. When there’s a place for everything, there’s a better chance that the stuff will get put away. Don’t waste closet space. Add a shelving unit and storage bins, and put up hooks on the back of the closet door wherever possible. The small dresser that served your young child can be put into the closet at a later age.
Children’s beds often come with storage compartments underneath, and nightstands can have either drawers or shelves. When children share a room, bunk beds and sleeping lofts are obvious choices for saving space. Teenagers, especially those 6-footers, may very well need a full size bed rather than the standard twin. Again, think storage space underneath or headboards that incorporate storage space.
Even if your school-age child has a computer desk, he or she may still not have enough room for spreading out books and binders at homework time. Consider a large desk if there’s room, or maintain an open policy about using the kitchen or dining room table for homework. But remember that a young child’s feet should touch the floor to prevent restlessness, so if the dining room chair is too tall, use a box or stool under their feet.
Toys and sports equipment can be kept under control by using storage chests, large plastic cubes, or shelving units with bins. Hall trees often come with a storage bench, and are a great solution for coats and boots and skates.
Save yourself a lot of trouble by painting children’s rooms rather than using wallpaper. Children quickly grow out of cute prints, and new paint is a simple solution for changing tastes.
Keep living room and family room furniture looking good by choosing fabrics with a high thread count and tight weave that clean easily and hold up to hard use. Flat weaves are better than textured fabrics for durability. The new microfibers are a good choice for surviving kids and pets, and nothing is easier than slipcovers that can be removed and washed. By the way, sectional sofas are very versatile, able to adapt to any room and comfortable for everyone in the family. Add a set of nesting tables that can be handily moved from room to room for games and projects.
Don’t trip over the stuff of family life. There’s a way to make everyone happy . . . especially Mom.
