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It can be so easy to let disorganization and clutter take control of your house.  But where do we start?? It literally can be overwhelming and frustrating to the point of just giving up altogether trying to get organized! In between everyday household chores,grocery shopping, taking care of the kids and getting dinner ready, where can you find the time? There never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done, let alone a few hours just to reorganize that junk pile drawer (we all have one) that has been collecting junk for almost 5 years now.

Relax and breathe: it didn’t get chaotic in one day and it’s not going to  get cleaned up in one day!  It needs to be done on a step by step basis! So join me as I get my home organized this January!!!

It all starts with a plan: You need to start by making a plan on how to get your house neat and organized:

•  Walk through the house and take notes of what needs to be done in each room. 
•  Once you have a list, make it a goal to complete at least one thing off the list each day. 
•  Keep the list where you can see it, a good starting point I found was to make a list for each room and tape the list in a spot where I can see it and mark off what I have accomplished for that day.

To keep from feeling overwhelmed, start with small projects, things you can get done 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. A neat trick I learned was to time myself on small tasks with a timer. I set it for 15 minutes, started the job and when the bell rang, that was it! You cannot imagine how much you can get done in 15 minutes! Make it a 15 minute Rule and you’ll see all your “tasks” getting done quickly!

Of course,as you move through the list, some projects may take more than 15 minutes to complete.  That’s 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  keeping it organized!

Each day, you’ll need to 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 keep a designated box, to put things that need to go to another floor.  Then at the end of the day, everything in the box should get put away. This is an easy way to get your kids involved in the helping of the household chores while teaching them responsibility.

Another good idea is to establish a weekly schedule where each room of the house gets a thorough cleaning one day each week.  It may take awhile to get into the new routine, but if you get everyone in the house involved, it will be much easier and quicker.  Make it a rule to have everyone remember to put their own things away which will make keeping things organized easier down the road:) 

Even better: why not assign each member of the household an area of the house to help keep organized with a family chore chart. Each nite all they have to do is simply go through the room and make sure that everything is in its place! This works well for smaller children who want to help mommy clean:)

  While it does takes time and effort, it will be worth it once the house is clean, neat and organized. Just remember to pace yourself and don’t get frustrated and remember Rome wasn’t built in a day, so the house will not get organized in a day either! We’ll take it one step at a time together!

Readers Homework:

1. Set up a To Do List for all the rooms in your home you want to organize and place each list where you can see it everyday. 
2. Get your kitchen timer ready cause your gonna need it!

Extra Credit:

If you can, get your hands on a copy of  Get Your Act Together: A 7-Day Get-Organized Program For The Overworked, Overbooked, and Overwhelmed by Pam Young and Peggy Jones. It’s a great book I am currently reading it and its helping me to make up a household index card organization system which I am truly finding enlightening!!!

Next Post in our Monthlong Household Organization  Series: Organize your Kitchen so its Functional for You.

What ideas/tips do you have to help start organizing your home that you have found to work for you?