I have pulled this one out of the archives. The funny thing is it all stands up to the test of time. Getting organized has been a real challenge. I am not the most organized at the best of times but when life gets busy, with work, kids, cooking, cleaning, and family it is even more of a challenge for me.
I feel like we are overrun by our stuff, that our stuff is starting to control our lives. We have an old four bedroom house and what it lacks the most is storage. There are only a few closets in my entire house. The biggest closets in the house are in our master bedroom and the basement and that makes storing things a challenge. My husband has a home office and that presents additional challenges. We have a lot of stuff in the office, including paper, comic books, toys and action figures that my husband has worked on and really no where to put any of it. To be honest that is the problem throughout the house. Our bedroom is over run with clothes, the kid’s stuff has spilled over to every floor of the house, and my teaching work and my freelance writing and communication work is taking up too much of the T.V. room. I am working to declutter but sadly I don’t feel like I have made very much progress. I think in order to really have effective change I need to enlist the entire family – husband and two kids. I think I also need to get some tips and tricks from an expert.
I got the chance a while back to chat with Lindsay Harris, @lindsayglowbaby, of Glowbaby.ca about some easy tips to get organized.
It was a great chat with Lindsay. I asked her questions and she asked me some questions. It is really important to talk about the areas that are the biggest challenge. The amount of stuff in our house has to be the biggest challenge. There is four people in our house who all have lots of stuff and it is starting to overwhelm us. Lindsay talked a lot about what she does in her house and the kind of routines they have in place. I want to touch on a few of the best tips Lindsay gave me because I think they can work for everyone.
De-clutter: It is really important to go through the things in your house to make sure you are using everything. It can be a daunting and overwhelming task but if you go about it room by room it can be easier to tackle. Lindsay also says sometimes it is easier if you start with the room that is the least cluttered. Lindsay says it is really important to go through toys and clothes on a regular basis to get rid of anything that isn’t being used. Throw away anything that is broken or damaged. Donate anything you think is still in good condition that someone can still use.
Everything has a home: Once you have thinned out all your stuff it is essential that everything has a place. Storage in each room is key, says Lindsay. If there is not enough storage for all the toys and things don’t have a permanent home in the room then the kids will have a difficult time cleaning up because they won’t know where anything is supposed to go. Lindsay says a really good tool to help everyone keep the toy room clean is to label bins with pictures of what is supposed to go in it that way the kids won’t have to guess.
Maintenance it key: Lindsay says it is easy to keep things organized and tidy when you make it part of a regular schedule. When it comes to de-cluttering she says it is a good idea to do it every couple of months to make sure that everything in your home is getting used. “It is never done. It is an ongoing job”, says Lindsay. If you make it part of the entire families regular chores then it is more likely to get done. Lindsay says if you actually schedule cleaning and organizing like an appointment then you are more likely to complete the task and there is a better chance of it becoming part of your everyday routine.
Decluttering and getting organized is a work in progress in my house. I am armed with a few tips and a fresh focus to get the stuff under control. Is decluttering and organization a challenge for you? What tips and tricks do you have to stay organized? How do you de-cluttter?
