Organizing Your Chaos Blog
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We all have things that we need to do that make our world go round. Everything from taking care of your family to what you do for work. How do you know what all you need to do? How do you remember where you need to be? With all the things that swirl around in our heads AND our responsibility to take care of our families, it’s no wonder we can get emotionally exhausted! I have used a calendar for a long time. Raising a busy family of 8 has had its challenges. I knew that there would be no way under the sun that I could remember all the things that needed to happen in our family. So I’ve been using a paper calendar for years. This was the only way that I knew to make sure that we were at the right place at the right time. If it wasn’t written down, it wasn’t going to happen! When the digital calendar became popular, I added it to my tool box. Adding the digital calendar (I use Google calendar) was extremely helpful because I was able to assign a color to each member of my family, and I could easily see who needed to be where. And, the bonus was that on my digital calendar I added the notification reminders. The “ding” gave me ample time to regroup and move on to the next activity. As soon as something is scheduled, I add it to my digital calendar. If I’m at my desk, I use my computer; if I’m out, I add it to my phone. This has eliminated the need to keep the reminder cards for a doctor’s appointment, for example, or papers with dates on them. I have less paper piles and know where I need to be. I use my paper calendar to see my week as a whole. This helps me see what pockets of time I have when I plan out my week using my Sunday Basket. I’ll never remember everything in my head, and I doubt that you will either. There aren’t any prizes being given out even if I do. :)  The tools I use to manage my family and my business are:
I would love to hear how I can help you. Feel free to email, I’m happy to support you! Let’s Do it Together!
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Do you feel like this?  This was me about six years ago. I kept telling myself, “I’ll clean my closet when I have time”. I was busy, tired, and overwhelmed. Managing our six kids, a business, and life. I knew that I had to STOP and take care of my closet. This had become a place where I tossed stuff until I had time to put it away. But, it didn’t happen. Not for a long time. I realized that I needed to take the time to declutter and organize. I spent one whole day decluttering my closet. I sorted through my clothes and eliminated everything that I didn’t like, fit, or wear. Then, I took the things out of my closet that didn’t belong there. And finally, I looked at the way I had it organized and I rearranged the areas that needed it. I felt AMAZING and RELIEVED after I was done. So many things that were in my closet went out the door; either to the trash, donation, or back to who it belonged to. The “less is more” phrase is so true! Less stuff = more freedom. Freedom from the things that don’t serve me. Freedom from the feelings of guilt I had because I “didn’t have time”. Freedom from the frustration I had when I couldn’t find something that I knew that I had. Does your closet serve you well, or do you need to take a day and deep dive into your closet? I would encourage you to set aside a day to tackle your closet. Supplies that I suggest before you begin:
 I’d love to see your before and after photos!
For more inspiration, The Ultimate Closet Design and Organizing Guide. Let’s Do it Together! The laundry will keep coming, no matter what is going on in the world today. The coronavirus season will either increase or decrease the laundry in your home. I say this because as our activities change during this season, you may have more time right now to focus on your laundry area. Some people who are not going into their place of work and working remotely from home may not need to “get dressed for work” and could possibly reduce the amount of laundry that is created during the week. Others will discover an increase in their family’s laundry because more people are home. Whatever your laundry situation is, if you need to work on your laundry area, this may be a good time to jump into this project! Begin by evaluating what your laundry area is being used for. Is it only a laundry area, or is it a multi-purpose area? Has it become a dumping ground for things because you’ve been “too busy” to slow down long enough to create easy to use systems and maintain them? This season of life that we are all looking at right now may be just what you need to make some changes in your laundry room!
 Do you have an easy and functional way to corral the dirty laundry that needs to be washed? How do you manage the clean laundry? Who does the laundry - is it your or is it a family group effort? Can the laundry room be simplified?
Some people like to do all their laundry on one day of the week. If this is your preferred way, how do you contain it until it needs to get washed? We have bins in our laundry room that are designated by color or type. These are the bins that we use in our house: special (hand wash/hang dry), towels/sheets/blankets, colors, whites, and dark colors. Our family has used the same laundry baskets for 19 years! They just stay in the laundry room. The dirty laundry gets put into the correct basket, and when it is full, it gets washed. I know that a full laundry basket is one load. Others like to do laundry throughout the week. I have done 1-2 loads of laundry every day for years when everyone lived at home. (This year we are down to 4 out of 8 people). There was no way under the sun that I could do it all in one day. Now I am able to do laundry just a few days a week. I prefer this method to the all in one day method because I can easily fold the laundry at the end of the day before I go to bed. Once the laundry is done, it’s time to fold and put away. This is where a lot of people stop. They just don’t like to fold and put away laundry. This leads to piles of clean clothes that sit unfolded - getting wrinkles - and potentially getting mixed up with dirty clothes. I’ve seen this happen. Then there is so much more laundry to do when you don’t know what’s what. Creating a simple system is key to making doing your laundry easy. Whoever folds the laundry in our home puts the clean clothes in each person’s assigned spot. Then, everyone picks up their clean laundry from the laundry room. It’s an easy delivery system for us. Maybe you keep laundry baskets in each bedroom, and send them back with clean clothes. Perhaps your family members do their own laundry. If this is the case, assign each person their day of the week to do their laundry and put it away. My family members now do their own laundry, and I just keep up with the laundry for my husband and myself, sheets, and towels. I'm encouraging you to use this season as an opportunity to dig into your laundry room and make changes that will help make it easy! Figure out what works best for you, and I’d love to see what your laundry room looks like! Let’s Do it Together!  How many times have we said “I’m too busy” or “I don’t have time” as a reason or excuse for not taking care of household projects? How many times have we told ourselves “I’ll do ____ when I have time”? We are moving into a period of time that will allow you and me to dive into household projects. We will have time because the world as we know it is slowing down. This doesn’t mean that everything will come to a screeching halt. However, with the restrictions that are being imposed, we will be at home much more than we have been.
Eating out in restaurants, for example, has been eliminated in many states. (I do, however, encourage you to continue to order from your favorite restaurant via carry-out.) Not spending time with family and friends at sporting, music, theater, and social events frees up time that you would be away from home. You now are given the opportunity to use this time to focus on the various home projects that you have put on the back burner due to being “too busy”. Here are some ideas of what you can focus on while you are home.
Declutter, discard, and then organize. As you tackle this area, you will not only see visible results, you will feel the stress that the disorganization created fade away. I promise you will have a spring in your step! Prioritize the above areas, and work your way around your home while you have the time! This may be the only time that you are encouraged to stay home! Kind of like a big “time out.” Embrace this opportunity to deep dive into your home spaces. Imagine how you will feel when the restrictions are lifted and your home is organized. The relief of getting those projects done is priceless. What area will you focus on first? Let’s encourage each other. :) Let’s Do It Together! I needed to get regular groceries, and with the coronavirus rearing its head, I also purchased some back up groceries and a few other supplies. This started the domino effect. I now needed to make some room for extra food and supplies. So, I started this week with my refrigerator. After discarding food, I cleaned it out. It’s nice and shiny on the inside and out! I had some labels that needed to be re-done. They were coming off the shelves. Yes, I label my shelves! I originally labeled my refrigerator at least 6 years ago after I’d “HAD IT” with the frequent complaints that my kids couldn’t find things or claimed that they weren’t in the fridge. Nine times out of ten, they were there. The people in the house didn’t want to take the time to look. I decided to label the shelves and drawers so that everything would have its “home” in the fridge. I decided to label the shelves and drawers so that everything would have its “home” in the fridge. I called my family to the kitchen and gave them a tour of the refrigerator. This is important when you organize any area of your home. The people who have access to the space need to know how you want to function. This also applied to our family refrigerator.  After they stopped laughing at me, yes, they did! I gave the tour, explained my expectations, and it was MAGIC! This revolutionized the hub of the kitchen.
As you may have more people home and food to manage while we are beginning this era of the coronavirus, you may want to take some time to empty your fridge and make it easier for your family to use by labeling it! I’d love to see how you have organized your refrigerator. Share your photos- you may have just the idea that someone else is looking for! Let’s Do it Together! |
Monique HorbI coach busy, tired, and overwhelmed women who struggle with "winning at work and losing at home". We work together to transform your life from chaotic to calm. De-cluttering your home, paper piles, and over-flowing schedule will you the confidence, time an energy to do what God created for you to do. Archives
August 2020
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