Organization Talk (from Ashton Thelin)

For those of you who missed Ashton's great talk about organization at our RS activity, here are her notes:



Organization

D&C 88:119

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God


Disclaimer… You must commit to a lifestyle change

One of the best things (and the hardest thing) I can tell you is to change your habits! Once you get organized, just don’t fall back into the pattern of clutter. It builds up and organization becomes too arduous of a task, and then you’re back where you started, and you lose all your motivation to be organized. Just put things away right the first time, and you will save yourself so much stress.


Where to start?

* One of the hardest parts of organizing for some people is just figuring out where and how to start.

* Rule #1… You can’t organize clutter!

* Get rid of all your junk. If something is making your life hectic or chaotic, it is not adding value to your life and it is not worth having. Donate or trash it.

* When having trouble deciding where to start, just go slowly. It doesn’t need to be done all in one day, one week or even one month. Remember; it probably took a long time to become so cluttered, so it will take a while to get organized.

* Start small: one cupboard or closet at a time, and one room at a time!

* Clean and organize from one end of your house to the other.


The Pleasure of Purging

1 month challenge

* Start with 3 baskets. Label one ‘sell’, one ‘give’ and one ‘trash’

* Every day for a month, find at least one thing (or 10 things, depending on how much clutter you have) to put in each basket. If a basket becomes full before the end of the month, take care of it immediately, then start again.

* Your ‘sell’ basket would be large items that you don’t necessarily want to donate or trash (for example a brand new pair of skis that you know you’ll never use). You could sell your items on eBay or Craigslist or at a garage sale. It can also contain items you wish to consign. This is an optional basket, as we might not all have items of this nature.

* The ‘give’ box will have things you want to donate to DI (books that you bought that you don’t care to reread) or things you want to pass down (like kids clothes to your siblings)

* The ‘trash’ box is the hardest, but also the most important. Some stuff just needs to be gotten rid of!

Closets

* When purging your closets, try this trick: place all your hangers facing away from the wall (the “wrong” way). After you wear an item, when you hang it up, place its hanger facing the right way. At the end of 6 months, anything you have not worn can be donated. Chances are, if you don’t wear something at least once

every 6 months, it’s probably just wasting space. (Special occasion clothes- snow suits, tuxedos, etc- are an exception)

* When you buy something new, get rid of something old.

* One of the easiest ways to make your closet look better is to standardize your hangers. Make them all one type and color. Throw away wire dry cleaning hangers and cheap plastic ones from clothing stores. You can even assign a specific color of laundry basket and hangers to each person in the family to help make laundry easier to put away.

* In shared closets, keep separate spaces.

* Organize clothes into ‘like’ groups: tops and bottoms, sleeve/hem lengths, color, etc.


Kids stuff

*
Kids stuff

* Instead of saving every single one of your kids’ art projects, take a digital picture of each, then make a photo book out of them! It makes a great keepsake for the kids, and it’s so much easier than keeping 4,000 paintings. (Photo books are readily available through Costco, Target, Walgreens, etc.)

* Rotate kids’ toys. Take ½ of their toys that they don’t play with every day (not including their favorites) and put them in the garage, out of sight. Every month or so, rotate the toys.


Kitchen

* Pantry: Use the system that grocery stores use: when you buy new items, put them behind similar older items, that way you use the older stuff first.

* Over the door organizers are great for cake/cookie decorating items, spices, and bottles of vinegar/oil/etc.

* Group items into categories with similar items- canned goods, breakfast items, kids’ lunch items, snacks, etc.

* Get rid of all your souvenir dishware. You don’t really want 7 plastic Olive Garden cups, anyway! Get rid of your broken dishes or utensils that are missing parts or pieces. They are not worth holding on to. How many extra tupperware lids do you have?

* No chef needs 25 spatulas or wooden spoons. If you find that your drawers are overflowing with excess kitchen utensils, put everything in a box. Once you use something, put it away in its drawer. At the end of 6 months, everything left in the box can be donated.

* When you get home from the store, immediately wash and prepare your food. Separate big bags of snacks into baggies and put them in a basket or box in the pantry to grab on the go.


Bathrooms

* Reserve ‘prime real estate’ (your drawers, under the sink cabinet, and medicine cabinet) for things you use every day. Everything else can go in the closet.

* Medicine: separate into different baskets- first aid, prescription medication, over the counter medicine. KEEP IT ALL IN 1 SPOT

* Makeup: can be stored in makeup bags and brought out every time you need it, or you can store it in flat drawer organizers and stack them. It’s easier to see what you have when things are laid out flat.

Cars
Cars

* Put a bin/basket in your car, and each time you get out of the car, empty out the things that don’t need to be in there. Put it all in the basket to easily be able to take it all inside.

* When you are inside, fill the basket with things that you need to bring to the car (ex: mail, things you need to return, things you need to drop off for your kids, etc.)

* Keep a box or bag in the trunk of your car for your DI donations. If your trunk isn’t big enough, keep it in your garage. When you come across something you need to donate, put it in the box right away- don’t let it just sit around your house.


Craft area/home office/desk/gift wrapping area

* Desk organizers, paper organizers, accordion folders are great for your bills, mail and paperwork

* Wrapping paper can be stored in tall laundry baskets

* Spools of ribbon can be put on dowels

* Gift bags can be stored inside a large gift bag

* Sort supplies into ‘like’ groups and put them in storage boxes or even gift boxes

* Get a detailed calendar and ONE to-do list and use them!! Put birthdays and special occasions on the calendar at the beginning of the year and you’ll always remember when you need to send out a card or gift.


Helpful Hints

* To organize any closet or cupboard, bins/baskets/plastic tubs/boxes/etc are all GREAT organization tools! You can use things you may already have (shoeboxes or Tupperware) or buy new stuff- it doesn’t matter. Just get a variety of sizes for each space and start sorting.

* Drawer organizers are great- you can even stack them and use them on shelves

* Unless you are between homes, it is a waste to have a storage unit! (140x12x6= $10,080)

* Keep all important information in one place. Use a document on the computer or a 3 ring binder to keep all the information you regularly use and need in one place. (emergency info, insurance info, finances, gift ideas, a master birthday/special occasion list, etc)

* Keep all important documents together in an accordion folder- each person has their own section- car titles, birth certificates, social security cards, passports, government ID’s, etc.

* Copy every card you have in your wallet, front and back side, and store it safely in your house. Then if you lose your wallet, you will know exactly what was in there!

Wasted Space

* Ceiling of garage- install overhead shelving (available at Home Depot)

* Under beds- flat plastic tubs meant to slide easily under beds.

Cleaning Calendar

ONCE A WEEK CHORES

Monday

* Do laundry, including sheets & bedding

Tuesday

* Sweep/mop all hard flooring surfaces (excluding bathrooms & kitchen) and vacuum all carpeting & rugs

Wednesday

* Clean bathrooms

Thursday

* Wipe down all window sills, stair railings and spot clean walls, empty all trash cans

Friday

* Using a microfiber cloth, duster or dryer sheet (reader tip!) dust all table tops, shelving, bed frames, etc.

Saturday

* Clean Kitchen- a) Sanitize counter tops b) Sweep/mop kitchen floor & shake out and/or vacuum area rugs/mats c) Clean the inside of the microwave d) Wipe down and polish (if you have stainless) appliances e) Toss expired/spoiled refrigerator items f) Clean stove top and range hood

Sunday
* Rest (obviously)


DAILY DUTIES

* make beds

* wipe down kitchen counters

* sweep kitchen floor

ONCE A MONTH CHORES

* Throughout House - Wash windows and glass doors * Dust blinds * Clean and/or replace air filter of heating/cooling unit * Dust light fixtures & wall vents * Wipe down walls & baseboards * remove cushions from sofa and chairs and vacuum crumbs & debris Kitchen – Clean cabinet surfaces * Thoroughly clean interior and top of refrigerator * Clean oven interior or run self-clean cycle if available

ANNUAL/QUARTERLY DUTIES

* Bedrooms – Flip Mattresses according to tag instructions * Rid closets and drawers of items that have been outgrown or not worn in 6 months. Donate.

* Living Room, Hallway, Staircase - Shampoo carpets and rugs * Clean dryer vent * Clean out and re-organize hall closets, kitchen pantry, built-ins, etc


10 ways to make your home life more simple/enjoyable

* Resign from a commitment you’re not passionate about.

* Clean out your purse or wallet. (Do it while you’re waiting at the doctor’s office)

* Design a filing system that you can stick to.

*
* Record your good “bed” ideas and then implement them. (Don’t we all get our best inspirations when we’re trying to fall asleep?)

* Write to a friend on actual paper.

* Set limits on your bad habits, and reward yourself when you stick with them.

* Avoid watching commercials and reading advertisements.

* Rediscover the pleasure of reading purely for enjoyment.

* Plan two weeks of delicious meals ahead of time and skip the nightly grocery run.

* Learn to ask for help.


Weekly Meal Plans

* This plan takes a little bit of preparation, but saves lots of time!

* Find a week’s worth meals your family loves- a main dish and side dishes and even desserts if you usually serve dessert.

* Make a master list of all the ingredients you would need to make each meal for the week

* Keep the shopping list and a copy of each of the recipes together in a folder.

* Do this one week at a time- eventually you will have enough for a month or two.


“30 Meals” Plan
* Step 1: Find 30 meals your family loves. You might already have 30 “standard recipes” or you might need to experiment with all the recipes you’ve ‘been meaning to try’.

* Step 2: Copy the recipes onto individual cards. They can be cute and crafty or just index cards.

* Punch a hole in each of the cards and tie them together

* Make a master list of the non-perishable ingredients you need for those recipes, and keep your pantry stocked. At the beginning of the week, choose your meals for the week, buy the fresh ingredients you’ll need, and then you’ll be ready to go.

* No more wondering “what on earth am I going to make for dinner tonight?”


Great resources

* OrganizedLiving.com

* The Container Store

* Bed, Bath and Beyond

* Even Target!