While we’ve written about staying organized before, we here at Austin Moms Blog feel it’s worth revisiting. Sometimes, just beginning the process of getting organized takes a lot of time and, well, organization. How can you de-clutter when you’re not sure where to begin?
I have two tried-and-true ways to keep things in their place. The first is bins, bins, bins. Your little ones are close to becoming hoarders with all of the stuff they accumulate in a short amount of time. Before I had these foldable bins in the bookshelf in Lucy’s playroom, these cubes looked like a disaster. Plus, they only held half the amount of stuff! With the bins, I can cram more in there and it looks way neater. I even found a way to make it fun for Lucy by letting some of my OCD rub off on her. Each bin has its own “theme.” One is art supplies, one is puzzles, one is cars, etc. It’s made cleaning up way easier for Lucy now that she’s old enough to clean up herself.
Is your under-the-sink area a disaster? Every time I opened the door, cleaning products would come spilling out. So I got – you guessed it – a bin to keep all of the bottles together. Sometimes it’s the simple things that make your life easier.
Since I currently have three jobs – one of which requires keeping an office of eight people organized – I always need to know what’s going on and when. So that’s where trick number two comes into play. I’m a huge list-maker. It doesn’t matter what method works for you: writing things on a notepad, Google docs, a day planner…as long as you’re keeping track somehow and you’re consistent, you’ll never miss another appointment. I sit down every Sunday night after Lucy goes to bed and I plan out our week. I love the Notes feature on my iPhone. For set appointments, I use Google Calendar so I can share it with Todd so he knows what’s going on, too. I’m not so resourceful as planning meals, but I at least know if we have any appointments or events as well as any deadlines for my freelance clients.
So there you have it. All you need to get on the path to a de-cluttered life is bins and lists. And maybe a Container Store…
