Howdy! I hope your week is going well. As for me, my husband is coming back tomorrow from an 8-day mission trip to Africa and I am SO ready to see him! (Someone remind me not to do a series on organization again when my hubby is away!)
If you haven’t been reading along, be sure to catch up on Tips 1&2, Tip 3, and Tip 4.Today’s tip is SO simple, yet has profoundly affected how organized I feel.
The tip? Put things where they make sense! In other words, put them as close to where you use them as possible.
For example, I keep my workout equipment in a bin in the back of the car. (See what else I keep in the car here!) I attend boot camp 3 times a week, so there’s no sense in hauling out my weights, mat, workout coat, and gloves each time. It keeps all of it out of the way, and I don’t have to run around looking for it at the last minute. We keep our shoes tucked away in an armoire, so they’re always ready, too.
Other things I put in close proximity:
—> School lunch items: I only have to fix school lunches 2 times a week- my older 2 go to a homeschool co-op one day a week and my little 2 go to Mother’s Day Out one day a week. I keep small Tupperware containers, their lunch kits, and plastic spoons in one cabinet, and ziploc bags are in the drawer right below that cabinet. That way, when I get ready to make a lunch, I can stay in one area of the kitchen.
—> Toboggans, scarves, and gloves: I’ve got a zippered bag that holds all of these items and keeps them from getting lost. During the winter, the bag stays either in the car or close to the front door. The kids know to put these items back in the bag when they’re done with them and are pretty good about returning them. Usually. Sometimes. Okay, after I remind them!
Putting our coats, toboggans, gloves, and scarves to good use on a family vacation in Colorado last year.
—> Coats: We have hooks in our garage on which to hang our coats. That way, the coats don’t have to even come into the house. A pile of 6 heavy winter coats can make a huge pile in the entryway!
—> Homeschool supplies: Our homeschool room is on the 2nd floor of our home, but my desk is in our bedroom on the 1st floor. So, upstairs, I keep an extra stapler, paper clips, scissors, pencils, pens, post-its, etc., so I don’t have to run back and forth up and down the stairs. (Not that I don’t end up doing this anyway, but I digress.)
My son hard at work! For the next 30 seconds, anyway.
Sometimes, doing what works for your family may not be the conventional way of doing things (i.e., coats in the garage instead of the coat closet!)
Your assignment for today:
—> Don’t forget to purge 7 items for donation or tossing.
—> Take one area of your life and decide how to organize it where it would make sense. Just one area! You don’t want to burn out too quickly!
What is your favorite organizing tip? Do you do anything unconventionally?
