Helpful Tips and Ideas for Getting Organized.

Tips to Help you Get Organized

Are you a little overwhelmed and shaking your head because there are magazines all over, the kitchen counters are so full you can’t use them, and the front hall is packed to the rafters with shoes, boots, coats, backpacks and lunch boxes?

You have no clue what’s for dinner tonight, let alone what appointments are scheduled for this week.

Are you supposed to be picking up the kids at school or getting a pedicure?

Don’t know, can’t remember? You need to get organized! and you need to get organized fast!

Living in an organized home and living an organized life is so much more pleasant than tripping over a pair of sneakers every time you walk in the house or missing dentist appointments.

But the answer to all this chaos is simple: I’ve got 3 kids, multiple pets, aging parents, a cleaning company to run and being organized is a must!! If the idea of getting organized sounds too overwhelming, take a deep breath, and let’s just start small, and tackle one thing at a time..

Don’t worry, you can do it. I have to juggle multiple issues and sometimes can only respond to the red-hot fire emergency that is going off at the moment.

No one said life is easy or will always run smoothly.. But you can become more prepared and help keep some of the chaos at bay.

Are you ready then? Lets get busy with some of these easy home organizing ideas.

Home and Personal Organization Ideas

There are many areas in the home that need organizing and here are just a few.

Lists are also a very good way of keeping yourself organized. I know the older I get, the longer my lists get, and the harder it is to keep track of it all.

These are digital downloads for a brain that can’t keep up with everything. (who can?) I don’t know what I’d do without them.

Use a Planner, Calendar, Organizer or a To-Do List

There are many tools to organize your life on the internet. Most emails like Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail have calendars, to-do lists, appointments and events reminders to help you get organized with options allowing you to sync with your phone and share with your friends and family.

There are many, many free online calendars and planners. Look at zohoplanner.com, keepandshare.com, cozi.com, and dayviewer.com.

I use many of these tools. I use the hard copy school calendar for keeping track of my kids events. A hard copy year calendar for vacations and 1 time appointments. I use Google Calendar for reoccurring appointments like clients scheduled for my cleaning company. I use a to-do list for longer term projects that I need to do in the future.

Magazine Storage

If you have magazines cluttering up space get a decorative basket or magazine rack to keep them in, but only keep the newest ones.

Don’t hang on to old magazines you’ve finished, this will only cause the clutter to grow and make organization harder to achieve. If you find a recipe or home decorating idea you want to keep, tear them out and put them in a file then recycle the rest.

Recipe Storage

My daughter didn’t take my advice to remove recipes and other articles as she was reading her magazines. Which, if you have the time to read them, don’t you have the time to tear out a page or two?

Anyway, her magazines piled up over the years and now she has a ton (really!) to throw away. Now she regrets not tearing out the things she wanted to keep then – because now – it would take valuable time she doesn’t have to look through them all.

Ottomans are Useful for More than Just Putting your Feet Up

Ottomans aren’t just a place to put your feet anymore. They provide extra seating and they can be used as a place to set a tray of coffee and goodies.

Storage ottomans come in many shapes, sizes, and price points. I know for many of you, this might seem like an obvious choice for storage but for others who are struggling with organizational issues – it may not be as simple an idea.

Using an ottoman for storage is great for storing movies, books, blankets and kids toys. Get your space clean then put your feet up and relax.

Organizing the Kitchen Counters

Kitchen counters are a landing place for a lot of stuff. Not only kitchen stuff but stuff that belongs in other rooms. Here are some solutions you can try for getting those counters organized.

• First – clear the counters off and clean them – Aah, doesn’t that feel better?
• Now take all like items and put them together.
• If there is anything that belongs in another room – put those in a separate pile and put them back in their proper places later.

Now it’s time to put things back. Not everything has to return to the counter, if you don’t use an item much store it in the cupboard or cabinet where you keep other like items.

If you have multiple items of the same type, but different themes; choose the theme you want and go with it. Give the rest away. Here are a few more ideas to do.

Mail and Bill Storage

If the kitchen counter is the logical place for mail – get a basket or type of bill organizer that will fit nicely on the counter.

Important Papers

Important papers for your family can be put in a small filing cabinet, manilla folders on an out of the way shelf, or office supply stores even have sturdy boxes with files you can label by month or topic.

We are taking care of my Husbands parents. I use a sturdy box with labelled file folder to organize their documents by type.

Appliances

If you have appliances that get used everyday keep them out but arrange them nicely in a convenient spot close to where they are needed.

Cooking Utensils

If your drawer space is limited, get a nice utensil holder. Put your tongs, spatulas, spoons or other frequently used items in an upright canister so you don’t have to rummage in the drawer when you need them when preparing meals.

Emergency Contacts

If you have little pieces of papers laying around the counters with emergency phone numbers on them, get a book and neatly write everything down, or bulletin board, or white board to keep visible for easy access in an emergency.

Organizing Resources

This is a great organizing book- The No-Guilt Guide to Owning What You Want and Organizing Everything. It helps you develop a plan tailored for you and your individual needs.

Whatever your organizing issues are, you’re not a hopeless case, and you don’t need special equipment–just a little understanding of the problem and a willingness to plan before diving in.