The Organizer Lady dot com | Get Organized | Have an Organized Life | Organizing Tips and Ideas | Home Organization Resources






Hundreds of Lists to Put Your World in Order

Get Organized with List Plan It



home

It is so easy to let disorganization and clutter take control of a house. It can be overwhelming. It didn’t get chaotic in one day; it won’t get cleaned up in one day. It has to be taken step-by-step. It is important to make a plan on how to get your house organized. Walk through the house and make notes of what needs to be done in each room. Once you have a list, make a goal to complete at least one thing off the list each day. Keep the list where you can see it.

Start with small projects, things you can see improvement in quickly. Try organizing a closet. Sort through it and get rid of things you don’t need anymore. You can donate them, get them ready for a yard sale or just throw them away. As you make more room in your closet, think about ways to maximize your storage space. You can add shelves and other closet organizers.

As you move through the list, some projects may take more than a day. That is ok. You just have to make sure you keep working on it till it is done. Take about thirty minutes in the morning and thirty minutes in the afternoon working on your list. Before you know it, you’ve gone through the entire house and organized it. The trick now is to keep it organized.

Each day, keep up on maintaining your newly organized home. The key is to not get into the “I’ll do it later” mindset. If you have something that is in the wrong place, take the time to either put it away right away, or have a designated area on each floor, like a box, to put things that need to go to another floor. Then at the end of the day, everything in the box gets put away.

Another idea to help keep the house organized is to establish a schedule where each room of the house gets a thorough cleaning one day each week. It may take awhile to get in the new routine, but if the family works together, it will be easier. If people remember to put their own things away, that will also help. Try not to be too impatient when people forget at first. Be sure to remind them gently, without nagging.

If you set up a checklist, similar to your original goal list, you can keep on top of the things that need to be done around the house. Why not assign each family a specific area of the house to help keep organized. They simply have to go through the room and make sure that everything is in its place. While it takes time and a bit of effort, it will be worth it once the house is clean, neat and organized.

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter


{ 0 comments }

Getting the home organized is never easy, but sometimes keeping it organized can be almost as challenging. However, with some work and cooperation from the rest of the family, it will be easier. It takes time to get used to new habits, but with reminders (not nagging), everyone will be in the swing of things soon.

One thing that will help keep things running smoothly is to establish some daily routines. Even though everything has a place, it takes effort to get it there. So maintenance is crucial to the system working. There are a few different ways you can keep the whole family involved.

One way is to make a chart showing all the rooms in the house and all the family members. Each family member can be responsible for making sure a specific area is clutter free each day. They go through each room with a basket or box and anything that isn’t supposed to be in that room goes in the box. Anything that is meant to be in the room gets put away. Everyone then meets in a designated area, possibly the dining room, and they sort through the items to see what belongs where. The people then return the items to the correct room. Another way is to have everyone work on each room together, and then each person can take their own belongings to their rooms.

If you have more than one floor in your home, running up and down stairs all day to put things away can get rather tiresome, even though the exercise is good for us. One suggestion is to keep a box at the top and bottom of the flight of stairs (in a safe location) where people can deposit things they find that belong on another floor. At the end of the day, or when the box is full, the things can all be put back where they belong.

Even the youngest members of the family can help. Labeling things, at least at first, will help people remember where things go. If the children are too young to read, pictures help, especially with their toys. You can cut out pictures from the latest sale ad in the mail and tape them to drawers, boxes and shelves to help remind the children where their things go.

Clothes can quite often begin to pile up, despite our best efforts. Designate a place for all dirty laundry. You can color code the baskets, or label them for white, darks and colors. Everyone can then put their own washing in the baskets. When a basket is full, it’s time to wash.

No matter what system you decide works best for your family, consistency is the key. In order to keep up on the clutter, everyone has to make the effort every day to help put things away.

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter


{ 0 comments }

Routines to Run a Smoother House

by The Organizer Lady dot com

Routines are great for helping us get everything done so we can get out of the house on time each morning. Did you know that you can use routines to make a house run smoother, too?

Sometimes the best morning routines start the night before. If everyone in the family can get into the habit of selecting the clothes they want to wear the next day, it will make your morning run much smoother. You may even be able to get everyone out of the house on time and with little fussing.

Take time to develop a schedule that the entire family can follow. Find a calendar that has large squares to write in. Write down all regular family events such as practices or games if your children are involved in sports, scouting activities, weekly dates with your spouse, or religious activities if your family attends.

Determine which days certain household tasks must be performed. You may want to spend time each day cleaning a certain room in your home rather than waiting until the weekend to do everything. Do laundry one day, vacuuming and dusting another, clean the bathrooms on another day. You get the idea. If you have everything planned and do it the same way every week, it will soon become routine and you won’t even have to think about it.

One day each week, create a meal plan so you know what you’re going to eat. Write down what items are needed for each meal. This will give you an idea of what you need from the store. While you’re in the “food mood,” take the time to make your grocery shopping list and gather any coupons you may need. By having a plan and a list, this will allow anyone who cooks to be able to make dinner even if you’re not home to do it.

Having your meals planned out will also make it easier for you to get your family fed each day. You’ll know what you need to take out of the freezer, you can put everything in the crock pot to cook during the day, and you won’t have to make trips to the store on the way home.

After the evening meal, plan on setting aside time to enjoy as a family. Establish one night for family fun and games. Watch a movie or play board games. Have some fun with your family and watch the dynamics of your family change.

Set a bed time for everyone. Of course, you and your spouse will be able to stay up later than your young children, but everyone will benefit from getting to bed at the same time each night.

Creating routines to help your house run smoother is something every family can do. If you’re consistent in following the routines you’ve established, your day will run smoother and so will your house. It may take time to make the routines habit but the effort will definitely be worth it.




Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter


{ 0 comments }

Organized Home, Happy Family

by The Organizer Lady dot com

Experts agree that clutter is costly. It’s costly not only in the amount of time it takes us to find the things we need, but also in hurt feelings among family members who don’t like clutter. They may want to entertain but feel they can’t because your house is too cluttered. When you remove the clutter you’ll have an organized home and a happy family, and you’ll enjoy your home much more.

If you’ve had clutter in your home for very long you may have become “clutter blind”. You may not even realize how bad it is but your family members may become irritated and resentful because the clutter is keeping them from inviting guests over or being able to find what they need.

Clutter does more than just wear on your family’s emotions. It may become a way to avoid dealing with what is going in your life – a way to insulate you from something that has hurt you. Some people hold on to clutter because they’ve had tragedies in the past and are afraid to let go. Let go, however, is necessary if you want to reclaim your home, your family, and your life.

Many people with seriously cluttered homes may want to clear the clutter from their homes. However, they are overwhelmed by the amount of “stuff” and don’t know where to start. Starting to de-clutter is often the hardest thing. After getting started, they then have to face the task of letting go.

Families that have a lot of clutter to live with may experience any of the following:

* Frustration and anger over the amount of clutter
* Family battles over getting rid of things
* Shame or guilt to the point they won’t let anyone come into their home
* Depression and feeling stuck in a situation of their own making
* Feelings of being overwhelmed by the clutter and life

After the clutter is cleared away you may find that you feel relief, appreciation for the items you’ve kept, appreciation for your family and home, clear headed, able to make decisions, more focused, and productive.

There will also be less tension and fighting among your family members. Everyone will be able to relax more than when the clutter took over the home. You’ll also be amazed that you’ll actually have more time for your family because you won’t be wasting so much time looking for things. What’s more, you and your family will be able to actually invite friends over without fear of embarrassment or being ashamed because of amount of clutter in your home.

Clutter makes your home unorganized. When you are able to let go of the clutter and organize your home you’ll be amazed at the transformation that takes place. You’ll have an organized home and a happy family, and you’ll feel much better about yourself.




Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter


{ 0 comments }