Part 2: Practical Steps to Organization
Practical steps to organization
In my last blog, I discussed the reasons why we should seek to be organized. I encourage you to read that blog before you read this one. In summary, the reasons are:
- It reflects the nature of God.
- We cannot live a purposeful life without it.
- We need to be organized to be a good example to our kids.
- We need to be organized so we can get rest and prioritize important things.
I also discussed that our attitude and motivation needs to be for the glory of God, and our efforts need to be diligent. Now we know why we should be organized, we have the right motivation, and we're ready to work hard. What do we need to do to make order out of chaos? I will be discussing several areas of organization. They will be: our houses, our finances, meal planning, chores, and our kids’ lives. Iam going to start with organizing our houses.
Part one: Organizing the house:
I have 5 basic principles for organizing my house.
1. Be home long enough to get it done. If you are going to manage your home, you need to be home long enough to do that. In Titus 2, it says we are to be workers at home. The reality is that the laundry is not going to get washed and put away, there will never be nutritious budget friendly meals on the table, the house will never be clean, a budget will never be in place, the atmosphere of the home will never be pleasing to those in it unless you are home often enough to accomplish those tasks. Managing a house in our day is not a full-time job by any stretch of the imagination, but things outside the home should be a second priority to taking care of our homes and the needs of those living in it. It is easy to be overscheduled. The word NO is very helpful in managing your time so that you can prioritize the correct things. You need to be master of your schedule, and not let others set your schedule instead. And ladies, time on Facebook or Twitter or blogs doesn't count for time at home being a manager of your home! So, let’s manage our time so that we have quality screen free time at home.
2. Have a place for everything and keep it there. You need to have a master plan of where you want everything and then keep it there. It is a huge waste of time to look for things. To make things easy to find, make sure that all things of a similar type are in the same place. All legos with legos, games with games, all stamps in the same drawer, all vitamins in the same drawer, cleaning supplies together, etc. etc. Try to put things in the most convenient place to get to when you will need those things. If you haven’t organized anything yet, start with one room or even one cabinet. If you do a little at a time, pretty soon the whole house will be organized.
It is important that you always put things back in the same place, and encourage those in your household to do the same. Also, cleanup one mess and put everything away before you take something out for another project. Something that helps me to keep organized is to make sure that everything is put away before I go to bed. Then I can start fresh in the morning with a neat house.
The key to remaining organized is to put everything back in the same place every single time!!!
3. When in doubt throw it out!- My children can tell you that this is my motto. It is my mother's as well. I am aggressive about throwing things out and giving away stuff we don't use anymore. It is absolutely impossible to be organized if you have too much stuff. I can't stress that enough. Every year I give away bags of the kids' outgrown clothes, toys, and things I haven't used in awhile. If you are in doubt about what to do with something, get rid of it.
4. Control the paper monster- Going paperless sounds great, but it is not a reality. If I didn't throw out as much paper as I do, there would be papers stacked to the ceiling, and you wouldn't be able to find me, especially in regards to my work as a CPA. Paper management is a huge issue. There is no end to the papers that come into the house from mail or our kids’ school. You have to have a plan to deal with them in an orderly way. Here are some specific areas we all struggle with:
Mail: Deal with it the day it comes in or it gets overwhelming. I sort the mail into 4 piles: one for me to look at, one for Andrew (and occasionally the kids) to look at, one for the trash, and one for the shredder. I put Andrew's mail on his desk. If there are bills, or something I need to take care of at another time, I put it on my desk in a place I try to clear off weekly. The rest I read and throw out. I have a place where I put unread magazines I get. When I am reading them, I tear out pages of crafts or recipes I want to try, or places I want to visit. I then file those pages in the appropriate files and throw out the magazine.
Receipts: I have a drawer where I keep credit card receipts that have not been input and reconciled to the monthly credit card statement yet. Once they are reconciled, I put the receipts in the shredding bin. Any receipts that are related to taxes go into a special file for the year, or get scanned to the appropriate file in our scanning software before they are shredded.
Memorabilia: Things such as tickets, photos, and pictures have a place too. I label them with the date and what was happening, and then I file them in big envelopes by quarter and year. My plan is to eventually scrapbook them. When I do, everything will be in the envelopes labeled and sorted so I don’t have to wonder where, when and who.
School papers: When my kids were home and going to school, I threw most everything out. If the kids got an award, or there was a special picture they did, or a paper that was really important, I dated it, and filed it in my scrapbook envelope for that part of the year. I let my kids keep one notebook of papers that were important to them per school year. I had the kids put papers that I needed to see, sign or check on the kitchen counter. The reason is that I won't miss them there and will deal with them swiftly, because I make sure that the counter is cleared off before I go to bed. I dealt with the papers and then either threw them out, or returned them to the kids to take back to school. I also had a corkboard where I posted important papers I needed for upcoming field trips and other school events.
Cards: I keep a file of cards that are special to me. I'll be honest and say that I throw the rest out. With the exception of Christmas letters (not cards) and photos. I have a file for them for each year, plus I put family photos that people send me up on my desk wall.
Filing: My husband has converted us to paperless filing for a lot of things. We use a program called Paperport. You have to have a printer that can scan too in order to use this. We still have paper files for some things. A program that you can scan documents onto the computer is very helpful in making your house orderly. You have to be sure that you organize them in the program so you can find them again, and make back up copies in case something happens to your computer. File papers in files labeled clearly and organized. I like to alphabetize my files so that they are easy to find.
5. Lists are your necessary friends. I love lists, especially as I get older and realize that my mind is not as sharp as it used to be!! I often encourage my kids to make lists too. I make a list of what needs to be accomplished during the week. When my kids were at home, I would add things related to their activities or chores to the list. I still give them written lists of things that I need them to do when they are on break from college. It helps to make sure that there are no misunderstandings about my expectations. My son is quite absent minded, so a written list ensures that we both know what he is supposed to do. I have often prepared these lists before I go to bed, and add to them as things come to mind.
You need to also keep a list of what you need to get at the store. I have a list for food items I need, and another list for non food items I need to get. I like paper lists because I will see it and won't forget about it. I keep my lists in a specific place in my kitchen. That way my husband and children can add to them. A bonus is that lists for things you need to buy help you stay on budget. Don't be like my grandmother. She never made a list of what she needed at the store and would wander up and down every aisle in the grocery store. Consequently, she bought way more than she needed or could even use, and sometimes wouldn’t get what she really needed.
I like paper lists, because ifI put the list on my phone or the computer, I may never see it after I type it. I cannot remember a whole lot without my lists. I consult them often to make sure that I am doing what I need to be doing, and not forgetting anything. And I get great joy out of crossing things off that have been accomplished!
I hope these principles are helpful to you in organizing your home. I would love feedback. Let me know what you think, or what questions you have.
You can do this with God’s help! Next time I will be discussing organizing your finances.
You can ask me questions at candice@anastasihome.com.