by The Organizer Lady dot com on August 22, 2009
Apparently Americans are an unorganized lot because there’s a lot of talk, both online and offline, about how to get organized. You’ll find magazines with featured articles about it and television shows devoted to nothing but organizing your home. If you listen to many of these sources, you’ll find that one of the easiest ways to get organized is with a daily routine.
What is a daily routine and how can it help you get organized? A routine is another word for a habit. It’s something you’ve done much the same way for so long that you don’t even have to think about it anymore. You can easily create a routine for getting organized. Let’s look at the concept and see how it can be used to get your home organized.
Bedtime routine – Take 20 minutes to work in one area of the house:
1. Kitchen – Waking up to a sink full of dirty dishes is enough to make anyone dread getting up in the morning. Before you go to bed, make sure your dishes are done. Either wash them by hand or start the dishwasher.
2. Living room – Pick up anything that doesn’t belong in that room and take it where it goes.
3. Bathroom – Make sure all clothes and towels are picked up off the floor and put into the laundry.
4. Bedroom – Put your clothes into the laundry and pick out your clothes for the next day.
Take some time to plan your day. Think about what you have to do tomorrow and write down anything else you may remember. This will give you a chance to clear your brain and allow you to sleep better.
Morning routine – This will help you get your day off to a good start.
1. Empty the dishwasher.
2. Make breakfast, washing dishes as you go. When you’re done eating, put dishes into the dishwasher to start later.
3. Check your calendar to make sure you’re aware of any appointments.
4. Thaw a frozen dinner by putting it in the refrigerator.
5. Start a load of laundry.
Afternoon routine – If you’re at home during the day, use the time to clean areas you may not have gotten to earlier. Dry, fold, and put away the load of clothes you washed earlier. You may want to take time to make a tentative schedule of when you’ll complete other weekly cleaning.
The more things you can create a routine for when cleaning and organizing your home, the better. Routines, when they’re done often enough, become second nature to you and you don’t have to think about what to do next. Take the time to create your own and then get organized with daily routines.
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by The Organizer Lady dot com on January 2, 2009
House cleaning – it’s a necessary evil if you want your home to be liveable and pleasant to be in. You want to be able to have guests and that may not be possible if your house is always a mess. When it comes to cleaning, you don’t have to deep clean every day. You can start little and see big results in no time.
One of the easiest ways to start small and get something accomplished is to work while you’re watching television. Commercials take two to five minutes every fifteen minutes of a television show. Why not take that time and go through stacks of mail, fold a load of laundry, clean out a desk drawer, or wash a few dishes. If you do this during each commercial break, you can see big results in just one evening of watching your favorite television shows.
Instead of letting things go, do things as you see that they need to be done. Don’t wait until tomorrow if it’s something that can be done in a short period of time. For instance, if you’ve had a glass of water or something else to drink while watching TV, don’t leave the glass in the living room or den. Take it into the kitchen when you go through or before you go to bed for the night.
Teach everyone in your house to put things back when they’re finished with them. If everyone would do this one thing, the amount of clutter you have in your home could be greatly reduced. It would also help if everyone put their clothes in the hamper after bathing or showering rather than leaving the wet towels and clothing in the floor of the bathroom.
Set aside blocks of fifteen to thirty minutes each day. Focus on doing one thing at a time. Write specific tasks you would like to complete on your calendar. Here’s an idea of what this would look like:
* Monday – Clean out one desk drawer. Throw away any pens that don’t work, straighten it up, and put things by type.
* Tuesday – Find and file all bills that need to be paid in a particular folder so they’ll be easy to find.
* Wednesday – Clean out one dresser drawer. Purge any socks that are mismatched, ensure everything is in good repair before folding and replacing, and get rid of anything you haven’t used in six months to a year.
* Thursday – Empty one refrigerator shelf or drawer, wash it, and then throw out anything that has expired. Make a list of items you need to replace.
* Friday – Tackle the pile of shoes in a clothes closet. If shoes no longer fit and aren’t worn, put them in a bag or box, and take them to a local charity.
* Weekend – Take time to work together as a family to tackle one large clutter problem. Remember that many hands make light work
De-cluttering your home may seem like a daunting task, especially if you’ve let clutter rule for too long. You can start small, see big results, and then conquer clutter once and for all if you work a little at a time. Celebrate your victories when you have one project done and then start on another until your home is the way you envisioned it.
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by The Organizer Lady dot com on January 1, 2009
If you have children you’re probably used to hearing someone ask “Mom, where’s my homework?”, “Mom, have you seen my new shoes?” and so on. No matter how often you tell your family to put their things back when they’re done with them, it seems they still end up missing. Make your morning run smoothly by having a morning routine for yourself and for your family.
Actually, you can start your morning routine the night before. Set out your clothes before going to bed and you’ll be that much closer to being ready in the morning. Find any accessories you need and make sure your clothes are ready to wear including knowing where both shoes are.
In the morning, you can get up without having to try to figure out what to wear. You can take your time showering because you have part of your morning tasks done. Go ahead and have a leisurely breakfast; your routine helps make your morning run smoothly.
Do what you can the day or the night before. Having a meal plan will help make your day run smoother by knowing ahead of time what you’ll be eating.
After you have dressed and eaten breakfast, start making your children’s lunches. Check your meal plan for dinner and see if there’s anything you need to take out of the freezer for dinner. Perhaps you can put part of your meal into the crock pot so you’ll have dinner at least started for the evening.
Check your child’s backpack to be sure all of their homework is in it. Were there any permission slips that you had to sign the night before? Be sure your child knows where the permission slip is so they can return it to their teacher.
Start a load of laundry if you have time. When you get home in the evening, put the laundry in the dryer and you’ll have less to do on the weekend.
Do you have a family calendar? Are there appointments you need to be aware for the day? Does your child have band or sports practice? Will you need to pick them up? Looking over your calendar before leaving each morning will help you be prepared for what each day holds.
Each day when you return home, put your keys in your purse and your purse in the same place. This one act can you save a lot of time because you won’t be searching for lost keys.
The old saying says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but you can teach yourself and maybe your family some. If you create your own morning routine, your day will run smoother. Perhaps watching how easy your morning is will make the rest of your family decide to create their own morning routines, too.
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by The Organizer Lady dot com on January 1, 2009
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.
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