Clutter Control and Organizing Solutions

I haven’t left a “quick tip” in awhile, but this one is definitely a must. So - when you are busily organizing and moving items from one area to another, it is imperative that you clear a walkway. Clear a complete path with enough room to get from point a to point b without great difficulty. Be sure all items and pets are clear of the area you are working in.

Otherwise, this happens: (this was after 24 hours)

And then a day later it looked like this: (this was after48 hours)

And this was today - it’s about triple it’s original size LOL (about 80 hours)

I know it looks terrible, but it doesn’t hurt any more than a regular bruise.

So what happened? Well, I made the mistake of asking my 14 year old son to help me. He had been bringing boxes for freecycle upstairs to put in the garage. In order to stack stuff in our garage, he had to move a few things and when he moved them, he put them right in the middle of the walkway. I couldn’t see the bucket he had set there as I was carrying a huge box. I tripped over it, the moving box went flying and basically I landed on the kids bikes. Yeah. That was fun.

So yes, again my advice - be sure that all walkways are CLEAR before attempting to move anything LOL

I know it’s probably about your bedtime, and the last thing are thinking about is cleaning stuff up or decluttering, but over a weekend - a lot of things can get out of place and can be annoying to see all week long.
Here are a few quick ideas for getting your house in order before you go to bed tonight.

• First place to look is the kitchen table. It seems to accumulate a wide range of miscellaneous items that definitely don’t belong in the kitchen. Have all family members grab their own items and remove them from the table. Anything left? Toss it!
• Now check the counters in the kitchen. Are there any dishes or containers that need to be cleaned or returned to where they belong? Are there any papers that need to be signed for school? Anything that doesn’t belong? Get rid of it now.
• Now enter the Family Room - check out the coffee table and end tables and see what lies in your path. Straighten up your magazines, knick knacks and other things.
• Return shoes to their respective owners, hang up clothes or take them to the laundry.
• Go to sleep and when you wake up - these things are already done and don’t have to be re-done - well until everyone else wakes up

Want a quick tip to get a bit more “de-cluttered” in only a half hour or so? Try this great quick tip and see if it works for you!

If you start small and quickly spend 5 minutes PER room and pick up ANY trash you see.

Here’s what you do. Grab a trash bag and set a timer for five minutes. Enter any room in your house and spend 5 minutes (or anytime you wish to set the timer for) and pick up every single trash item you find in that time period in that room. Got a bunch? Now move onto the next room, set the timer and go to work again. You’d be surprised how quickly that bag will fill up and how much of a difference just removing the trash and junk can make.

Don’t even focus on the whole “organizing thing” just get rid of the trash and things that are junk and need to go to the trash. After a half hour, I’d be surprised if you don’t notice a huge difference.
Let me know how it works.

I love this thing. I found my first copy a few years ago. We used it faithfully and have ever since. It is a 17 month organizer (which is much better than a standard 12 month calendar) with a storage pocket and extra large grid’s to fill in those important dates.

They come with 357 stickers to mark special dates and they have a magnetic holder to secure somewhere, and a hole for bulletin board style. Up to five family members have their own space to write their activities. It can work for six, if mom and dad share a space or you can purchase the Super Size edition which can then hold up to seven family members (eight if mom/dad share a space).

If you are looking for a good way to organize your time, dates and really simplify your entire family - here ya go! This is the calendar for the whole family and by far is the best I’ve ever found.

Quick tip: Right now, get up and gather all family members in one room. Grab a stop watch or clock and set it for 5 minutes. Give each person a bag, trash can or basket. Have everyone go from room to room and pick up anything they can find in any room that doesn’t belong in that room. In other words, a fork on an office desk. A book on the kitchen table. You get the idea. Whoever picks up the most things that don’t belong, wins. What do they win? That’s up to you!

For another twist on the game, go through the contents of each persons basket AFTER calculating their points. Now they get a point removed for each item that belonged to them that someone else picked up and put in their basket.

This is a great way for the kids to be sure they are putting their stuff away, and you’d be surprised how quick mom and dad will catch on if they have to fess up too.