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1. Make it Easy

• Use open storage containers when possible. The easier it is to get items in and out, the more likely children will use them. Consider canvas bins, baskets, and plastic containers that are easily stored away in shelf units or cubes.
• Again, the easier it is to get the storage container in and out of the storage area; shelf unit or cubes, etc. the more likely the storage container will get put away.
• Understand that if you need to stack or secure the containers with lids that you may need to help until the children can handle the lids and stacking on their own. The more steps the harder the task.

2. Make it Fun

• Label the containers. Very young children are not able to read yet but are eager to learn. Teach and repeat to them what the label says and what goes in the container.
• Be creative with your labeling.
• Use the first letter of the word “B”,  along with the word “Blocks”.
• Or use pictures to help show what goes in the container.
• Make learning the letter or words on the containers a game. Use the pictures to help.
• Make it a game to pick up and put away toys.  Reward children with a sincere “thank you” or “good job”. Your appreciation shows your approval to a child which in turn is a great reward.

3. Make it Colorful

• Children love color. Use color when organizing.
• Consider colored canvas bins or plastic containers.
•  Use color with the labels. Hand-made labels with colored paper or apply printed labels to colored paper for a more colorful effect.
•  Pictures, either cut from magazines, or drawn by the children are also colorful ways to identify the contents in the container.
• The colors of the containers or bins can also complement the room or space for a more decorative look for the entire room.
• Involve the children when selecting the colors to go with the labeling when possible. Use a blue square of construction paper taped to the container to go with the “B” and Blocks label for the blocks.

Organizing habits learned early on and made part of a child’s lifestyle routine are skills that they can keep with them through adulthood.  Whether it’s the alphabet, math or organizing, whether in school or in the home, what our children are taught gives them the knowledge and wisdom to excel!

Make organizing easy, fun and colorful for your children and you’ll teach them early organizing skills for a lifetime.

The holiday season means decoration time. Pulling out boxes, bags and containers of all kinds of special treasures you’ve saved   for embellishing your home every year and they are all marked “holiday”.   Where to begin, but to open them all and start dragging items out until you find what you are looking for at that moment.  Eventually you make your way through it all in time to enjoy the holidays for the family gatherings and entertaining of the season, only to be quickly followed by the dreaded post-holiday season of taking down those decorations and putting them away for another year.  But did you know the post-holiday season is the best time to organize all those decorations?

Here are some organizing tips for making this a really productive organizing season too!

1. This is the most perfect time to take stock of your exterior and interior décor. Has anything served its time well and is no longer useful, looks dated or worn, or anything you would ever use again? Now is the time to purge those items. If you are not going to use them next year, certainly do not take precious space and time to pack them up again. Donate what may be reusable to someone else that you won’t use again. Throw away anything that no longer is of use to anyone.
2. Sort your items, keeping in mind you want to keep like and similar items together.  Here are some examples of how to sort depending upon what you have; exterior décor from interior décor,  exterior lights from Interior lights, wreaths, garlands, holiday linens, centerpieces, collections of holiday items should be grouped together, ornaments,  candles, etc.  You should now have everything sorted into categories so that all like items are grouped together.
3. Now is the time to visually see the amount of the items you have and the size and shape of the containers you will need to store them in. There are many assorted storage containers available during this season for just this organizing event.
4. When you pack your items away remember to use a little packaging paper or bubble wrap for any breakables so they are not just loose in a container.
5. Label each container from the categories you made when sorting the items. Put the items in the corresponding containers. You may have multiple categories in one container. That’s ok. Just label what is in there.
6. Now you are ready to store all your containers in their designated area until next year and you will now know exactly where everything is!
7. There is another sorting option and that is to sort all the décor for each room into its own category, for example; Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, Family Room, etc.  This is not advised for everyone but works for some folks that don’t like to think about where they are placing their decorations every year, so a designated container for each room works well for them.

When next year comes around you won’t be opening 10+ containers at once looking for certain items as you are trying to decorate.  By sorting all of your holiday décor into categories and packing the décor into labeled containers will keep your décor organized and easy to access for the next season.  You’ll look forward to knowing where everything is when you’re ready to decorate and knowing where everything belongs when you’re ready to put it away.

Is your office the epitome of a work station or a storage facility?  If your home office isn’t “working” for you, here are 10 Home Office Organizing Tips to help you get your office in efficient working order.

1.  Designate an incoming mail area.  We are all inundated with paper daily.  Do not just lay it on your counter, desk or the first available space you find.

2.  Have pre-determined and labeled bins or folders to sort your mail into.

3.  When you are ready to look through your mail be prepared to sort it to the appropriated areas.  Do not continue to pick up the mail, look through it and return it to a pile unsorted.

4.  Keep your trashcan or paper recycling container close by so as you sort, you can toss what you do not need.

5.  Keep your shredder close by if you choose to shred any junk mail that you feel has sensitive information on it.

6.  Keep as many items as possible off your desk and in appropriate files, drawers, containers or storage areas.  You cannot work at your desk if your desktop is a storage facility unto itself.

7.  Keep your “tools”: pens, pencils, stapler, paperclips, etc. together either in an easy to reach top drawer or neatly in desktop containers.

8.  Make a filing system that works for you, so you have a place to file or store paper information and documents in your office.

9.  If something no longer has a purpose to you, such as expired coupons, a broken stapler or anything irrelevant – dispose of it.

10.  Your office space should feel good to you.  If it’s cluttered and messy you won’t want to use it.

Remember: Organizing is an on-going process, just like laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc.

Mail, paper and clutter are incoming daily, so organizing what is incoming and maintaining organization is continuous as well.  With an organized system in place, maintaining an organized space is much easier and more time efficient!

Looking for a calmer more relaxed start to the day? Consider starting your day by selecting your clothing and accessories from an Organized Closet.  Here are 10 Closet Organizing Tips to get you started.

1.    Use identical style hangers; wooden, clear plastic or tubular to give your closet consistency.

2.    Return metal hangers back to the dry cleaners as they leave indentations in your clothing and are not as sturdy as other style hangers.

3.    Purge, Purge, Purge.  If it doesn’t fit, is out of style, you never liked it, have no use for it, know you will never wear it – Donate It! This includes clothes, shoes, purses, and accessories.

4.    Do not hang your sweaters.   Neatly fold and store either in drawers or on closet shelving or neatly in containers.

5.    Have baskets or bins available for laundry and dry cleaning to keep laundry off the floor.

6.    Use shoe shelving to keep shoes organized in pairs and off the floor.

7.    Store small accessory items in drawers or small containers on shelves.

8.    Hang belts, scarves and ties for easy viewing and access.

9.    Do not store unrelated items in closets, such as; kids games with your clothes, husband’s clothing in baby’s room, kitchenware in coat closet.  Keep coats in the coat closets. Baby clothes in the baby’s rooms. Games with games, etc.

10.    Always take the extra minute to put things where they belong, such as hanging up a coat or putting shoes in a closet.

Remember:  Organizing is an on-going process, just like laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc.

New items are always coming into your home and other items are losing their function or style. You must continuously take stock of your inventory to keep it organized.

With an organized system in place, maintaining an organized space is much easier and more time efficient!