Organize and Simplify

The Basics

What’s Your Style?

Perhaps you’ve heard of Type A and Type B personalities, or task versus goal orientation.

Where are you on the spectrum?

One extreme: wanting a squeaky-clean house where you could eat off the floor. The other extreme: wanting to play with your kids all day, never giving a thought to cleaning and organizing.

Neither extreme works very well. Realistically, it’s nearly impossible to keep a house completely clean at all times while meeting the needs of children. But, obviously you need to do a certain amount of housekeeping.

Become aware of your personal style and how it’s helping or hindering you from achieving the level of organization you desire. If you feel guilty because you’re not spending enough time with your children, maybe you can improve your efficiency to allow more time.

If you feel guilty about leaving the house when it’s a mess, perhaps you can find a better balance, somewhere between “perfect” and “good enough.”

If you’re having a hard time living up to your or your partner’s cleanliness standards, it’s time to reassess and prioritize what’s most important to you. Take a look at where your time goes, then make changes that fit your priorities.

If you spend a lot of time chasing your kids and picking up after them, maybe you need a new strategy. You could create a schedule for accomplishing tasks you want to complete while adding play time with your kids. This could include some designated clean-up times when everyone works together to pick up.

If you dread house cleaning, you can simplify your life by minimizing clutter and creating routines to set you on the right track. When you begin with small steps, you can create habits to keep your house organized.

Procrastinators: Make the Timer Your Best Friend

Do you have trouble getting motivated to clean the kitchen? Would you rather go check e-mail or play with the kids? Do you get distracted easily? If so, make the timer your friend.

15 Focused Minutes

You would be amazed at what you can do in 15 focused minutes. What about interruptions from your kids? With a little prior planning, you can find an activity to engage them for 15 minutes, or you can ask them to work, too.

You can give your children jobs. A 3 year-old can wipe down the cupboards with a wet rag (with water – no chemicals). An older child can dry dishes. Two older children can sweep the floor, with one holding the dust pan while the other sweeps. If both kids want to sweep, help them problem-solve and set up a plan to take turns.

If you tend to procrastinate, you most likely have a lot to catch up on. Your house did not become disorganized in one day, so don’t try to put it back together in one day.

Habits

It takes 28 days to develop a new habit. If clutter is a problem for you, a good place to start is setting aside 15 minutes a day to declutter.

If you frequently must search for your keys, you could start with making a home for them and create the habit of putting them in the same place every time.

Pick a few things that hold you back or overwhelm you. Try to focus on them for a month and see if you can create new habits.