Organizing tips and thoughts...
 

I have HAD IT with my organization problem. I've read many, many books. I've picked up some good tips here and there, but they never last. I followed "The Fly Lady" for a while, and wow...she really made a difference for me when my first child was about 9 months old. I was organized and HAPPY until child #2 came along over two years later, and then all my attempts at routines went out the door.

Now, our family is in transition. My husband recently graduated with his Ph.D. He is on the job search. Our oldest child started school this year. We are expecting our third child. I feel like I must get things under control now before life changes again. Any tips or words of encouragement?

Take a deep breath! You can do it!
Remember the feeling of being organized when your oldest was 9 months old.
Take baby steps to do little things that worked for your then. Had a special drawer for bills that need paid, try to make one again. Once one little thing feels manageable, add in another little thing that helped before.
Although I've never had kids and can COMPLETELY consider the chaos that ensues with children (I see how my mother was -- she's not really an organized person now either though) but I think baby steps are the key to making anything work.

My Aunt, who has 4 children all fairly close in age, did fly lady successfully for a long time, but also was unable to maintain her routine. I wonder if that's common.

I'm not sure if this is applicable, but something that has really helped me organize my life is an accordian folder. Being able to compartmentalize different things has done wonders. If the folder doesn't make sense for you, maybe try to begin a system in your desk/workstation/whatever?

A tip that works for me: Whenever I need to start organizing something (a closet, a desk, cupboards, whatever) I start with purging anything I no longer need. I throw out anything that's expired, worthless, wasting space, and donate anything that could be of use to others. You don't have to do it all at once; just tackle it one drawer/cabinet/whatever at a time.

And like nittany said: baby steps :) Slow and steady wins the race. If you're looking at the big picture of everything you want to organize, it can be incredibly overwhelming. Just keep chipping away at disorganization and doing the best you can.

ETA: Also, have you read the magazine Real Simple? It has great tips for organization and saving time.

This is what I plan to do come January and hopefully have it all completed by March. I'm tired of the clutter and crap around here and am in need of downsizing. I'm hoping I can get hubby on board with that too so he will declutter the garage so both cars can fit in it instead of just one (his--BOO!).

My tip? Once your area is clean (in my case, my room) the moment you take something out, put it away right after your done! Or if your in a hurry, do it as soon as you get back. Not only will this form a habit so your area stays clean, but it will keep your space clean if your constantly picking up after yourself. Swear, just make yourself do it. :)

When my kids were little, I actually had the opposite problem. I had to learn to let go of some of my (almost) OCD tendencies. For example, I liked the children's books to be organized by size on the bookshelves. My daughter went through a phase at about age 2 (when my son was an infant) where she took every book off the shelf and left them on the floor. Every single night, exhausted, I painstakingly put them back, in order by size. One night, I came to an epiphany that this was a fruitless effort and I was making myself nuts. I decided at that point that as long as the books were on the shelf, it didn't matter if they were in order by size (and some alphabetized because she had a book series about animals.. A is for Annabelle the Anteater or something like that).

However... what I did find was that it only took about 15 minutes each night, after the kids were in bed, to get everything back to where it should be. As long as I kept up with it each night, it didn't get overwhelming.

It would help to know exactly what feels out of control. Piles of papers/bills? Go green and use online billing to slow down the amount of paper coming in. Junk mail? I get the mail every day and go through it, standing next to the trash can. Junk, junk, junk.. in the trash. Important stuff goes into a ledger (my bill book) until paid or acted on, then shredded, thrown out or filed.

When a friend of mine went back to work after being a single mom, she asked how I ever keep the house clean. I shared this one: I clean each major room very thoroughly once a month. Each week, I dust and vacuum in each room but the other cleaning.. wiping out the fridge, using glass cleaner/furniture polish, etc. only gets done once a month. So I'm only focusing on one room each week: Bathroom, kitchen, family room, living room. It is never all clean at once then, but each room gets a thorough cleaning monthly.

I'm going to have to share this one with Andy! That sounds like a great trick. :)

I was going to recommend the Fly Lady.

For de-cluttering and heavy cleaning, the only thing that has worked for me is to do one room/thing at a time. For example, do your pile of bills until it's done. Then move onto the closet with the door that won't shut. And so on and so on. Starting and finishing one thing can be so liberating, especially if you've been staring at messes all over the place. Plus, you get a great sense of accomplishment and motivation to move on to the next "thing".

Thanks for all the great ideas. I'm not giving up on the Fly Lady, but I do need to put in some other tactics as well. Right now, the biggest problem is laundry, but dishes and paper are major challenges for me as well.

I'll come and take care of the laundry. In all seriousness, it's the household chore I actually like doing. You do it and then have a clean stack of clothes to show you accomplished something, and it's done for a while. As opposed to dusting which you could do every day and still never be done.

I almost need someone to stand next to me with a buzzer. Whenever I get distracted, *buzz* and whenever I complete something I get a cookie or something.

Yes, that's right, I'm willing to use operant conditioning, I just need someone else to push the buzzer.

I've found it helpful to declare a weekly laundry day. I suppose with a family it would need to be twice a week, but it's still the same principle. Then you just have to make yourself do it. Even if it's the middle of the night. I usually wash it and then let it go in the dryer and go to bed, then I put it away the next morning while I'm getting ready.

If you haven't got a laundry organizer, I highly recommend one or two with the size of the family. You can get them at places like Walmart for around $15/$20. I recommend one that looks like this: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Whitmor-PV...heels/10574535. Yes, it's not as pretty as the others, but one mesh bag=one load of laundry. It's all sorted and easy to bring to wherever your machine is (mine is in the basement) and you don't have to bend over to retrieve the clothes. Just pull out the bag and dump! Believe it or not, Andy was the one who introduced this to me 12 years ago.

I also recommend the one day dedicated to laundry. I set the stove timer for an hour every time I come upstairs to remind myself to get the next load in and take care of other chores along the way. Now, I don't know how that will work when the little one arrives, however. I am still green in that department.

I agree on the laundry organizer. Mine has two bags.. one white, one black, so I separate darks and lights right into them immediately. It does make laundry a lot easier. I also do all the laundry on one day, usually Sunday. There is a mesh bag that hangs on the bathroom door for towels.