When I started working from home, I didn’t have an assistant to help me with the house, my daughter (who was then a year and a half years old) and of course my job. It was a story of either an organized house but tired Mom or a house in disarray but well fed family and a happy boss. Is this your life story too? Well, it shouldn’t be. Look what’s wrong in that picture. On either side none of it says happy MOM which is bad, bad for you and bad for the family. Hopefully I could be able to help you get organized with my tips and some organizational tricks.
1. Have notebooks for everything. I have 1 for the household, 1 for personal needs, 1 for family needs and 1 for work. Here I write down day-to-day to do list and it’s also where I tuck receipts and bills due for the month.
2. Organize a room at your house 1 day at a time. And then jot down your to-buy list and to-donate list on your household notebook. Schedule the rooms according to your usual habit and family activities.
My usual list goes something like:
Monday– Kitchen & Work Area : Our nanny takes a day off every Sunday so my kitchen and work area is always in a disarray every Monday and I wake up early to cook breakfast and baon for my loves. In the process, I organize the kitchen and make sure I check the pantry for supplies since Monday night is my usual grocery time.
Mondays are perfect to organize work area since the days will get busier as the week progresses.
Tuesday– Living Room : Time to think about the carpet and what’s underneath the furniture!
Wednesday: Bedroom : This actually includes the closet and dresses inside our bedroom
Thursday: Peaches’ room: Includes toys, toys and did I say toys?
Friday: Bathroom: Isn’t it nice to have a nice bathroom when the weekend welcomes you?
Saturday: Time to go over what I wrote on all of my notebooks and have 1 list of to buy, to do, etc. This is also my ME time since I’m off work and husband is half day at work.
Sunday: Family time!
3. Pick items and return to where it should be immediately. I always say, things don’t go back to where they were so better pick it up and return it because it piles up.
4. Clean as you go. Don’t let that one glass of water stand in the sink for too long you will be surprised how much you have to wash afterwards.
5. Ask for help. Let’s face it, we don’t have super powers and we can’t do everything. Ask help from your inlaw’s helper once a week just to have a general cleaning, laundry, etc. Ā Be open to your husband about things you can’t do and ask his opinion. Don’t brood and think you’re everyone’s slave. Speak up.
6. In your pantry use color coded containers to keep like items together so that you can reach for them in one go. Keep snack items handy too because as per experience, my kid loves to ransack the pantry for snacks. To keep it safe for her, I made MOM approved snacks accessible to her.
7. Keep a default grocery list so that when you’re in a hurry or forgot to make one, you can easily print it or tear it from your notebook.
8. Organize your kids’ toys by keeping them on containers according to set/use or color. I like to put all but 1 set of my daughter’s toys in a box and then rotate them per week or two. This way she gets to play with everything and I read that re introducing of toys is good for kids too (and don’t you feel sad for forgotten toys? I do!!!)
9. Teach your kids (even your husband) to be organized and clean. My daughter is never allowed to leave her toys lying in the living room (she’s not even allowed to bring toys out of her room except for special occasions).
10. Lastly, my organizational ideas come out when I sit down and look at the room I like to organize. I visualize my ideas and take note of the things I will be needing, things I need to take out, etc.
Organizing your home isn’t done overnight. It takes time and a lot of effort. Keep at it and it will eventually be a habit that’s hard to break. Also, allow yourself to slack off because no one’s perfect and I’m sure we’re not like the Stepford wives š
SomeĀ organizationalĀ inspiration to look at:
Please do share your tips too!
