Organizational tips

I am by no means a pro at some of the things I am going to share in this post but I have had a few people ask me about some organizational tips lately so I thought I would share the things that work for me.  I know these things won't work for everyone and you obviously have to do what works for you.  But if you can use these ideas...go for it!  These things have certainly made my life easier!

Ironing

Someone gave me this advice early in my marriage and I am glad that I took the advice.  She told me to iron everything and then as you wash things, iron them and then you will never need a last minute iron job.   So, I spent almost a week one summer ironing everything that needed ironing in my whole house...yep every closet!  Now as I wash/dry/fold clothes, I hang up everything that needs ironing on this rack....

Then every 2 weeks (sometimes a month goes by) I iron everything on the rack.  It sometimes takes me 2 hours at a time to complete it but then the ironing board goes up and no more ironing for weeks and everything in my closet is ready for wearing!

Karis and Brayden's room and playroom are upstairs.  Most of the toys are up there and in order to keep me from going up and down cleaning up all day long, I have these at the bottom of the steps.  One is for clean clothes that need to go up and the other is toys or shoes.  About once a day, I take both baskets up, unload them both and bring them back down again.  It keeps me from getting too far behind too because once they are full, they must be emptied.

Since there are five people in my family, shoes are EVERYWHERE!  I mean I think I pick up shoes as much as I do toys during the day.  So I have a HUGE basket right by the door for shoes.  It saves us from going back and forth to closets all over the house when we need our shoes.  Also it is good for the kids because they can take shoes off at the door, put them in the basket and when they  need them again, they know exactly where they will be (and dirt isn't tracked all over the house).  Of course all of our shoes are not in there, but most of our "mostly used" shoes are in there (especially the kids).  Even all my babysitting kids know where the shoes go and I find them picking them up and putting them in the basket!

Cleaning

Alot of my friends have a cleaning "schedule" that they use so that they don't have clean all in one day.  Although I have tried it, it doesn't work for me.  The reason?  I am a perfectionist and I like for my whole house to be clean at one time.  There is such joy in that for me.  So I do most of my cleaning on one day and then do maintenance throughout the week.  For example, I clean my bathrooms once a week but I do a "wipeover" several times more.  Also I vacuum/mop my kitchen about every other day.  I hate dirty floors and remember I keep 5 kids through the week so my kitchen floor especially gets dirty very quickly! Crumbs are NOT my friend!

Planning ahead

I think the key to being organized is to PLAN AHEAD!  I plan ahead on almost everything.  Especially at night, I lay out all my kids clothes and have them ready for wearing.  Sometimes I even get 5 or so outfits ready and have them stacked and then let the kids pick one out before going to bed.  My mornings are always crazy and hectic so I have to.  Sometimes I even lay out breakfast bowls, lunch items etc. to make my mornings run smooth.  I ALWAYS pre-set my coffee so when I wake, it is ready.  I mean you got to have your priorities right!

Laundry-a load a day keeps stress away!  I do laundry EVERY morning and try to have them folded and put away by lunch.

Cooking

I always plan my meals once a week before going to the grocery.  I know what I am going to cook throughout the week and it makes it MUCH LESS stressful.  Usually mid morning I begin looking at what I am going to cook to see if there is any prep I can do ahead of time to make it easier for me at night.  Alot of times I even will prep it earlier in the day and then have it ready to just put in the oven.  It makes cooking much more enjoyable!  For me, if I don't plan ahead, I am a horrible cook because I am not good at just coming up with something.  But planning makes all the difference!

I try to keep myself on a schedule (estimated of course).  There are certain times of the day that I do certain chores and I know if I keep that up, I won't get behind and can build "rest time" in for myself and keep Lemonds INC. running smoothly haha!

Of course, some of you may have some tips to help me as well!  Please share and hope this helps someone!