Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Organization Tips

I want to be organized. I dream of being organized. I buy lots of totes and crates and boxes to be more organized. When it all comes down to it, I am not, and I have piles of things to go through, boxes that need to be sorted, and many things that just need to be thrown away.

Last week at Enrichment I listened to Marie Ricks speak about becoming more organized. To try to redeem myself from the last gruesome post that probably has some of you hating me or wondering where I've gone wrong in life, and in an effort to remember what I learned, I thought I'd share a few tips. Her website is full of information and suggestions and projects too (www.houseoforder.com). Most of the info below came from her, but some of it is my interpretation.

**We don't have to be 100% better to make a difference. If we can just improve our organization by 10%, we'll have 1.6 hours more per day, almost a full day per week, and at least an extra month per year.

**Every Sunday have family council. Calendar items for the week (on paper). Discuss family problems (if you bring a problem to family council, you must offer a solution). Discuss extended family pressures/obligations. In ever family council parents should say something nice about each kid, and each kid should say something nice about each parent.

**Our goal with our children/spouses should be that they develop Self Initiative.

**Learn what to leave out. A yes to one thing is a no to another (and on the flip side, a no to something, is a yes to another).

**File papers vertically--if it's PILED it's LOST, if it's FILED it's FOUND.

**To save the memory of art projects, take a picture of the child with the project, then have a funeral for the project (child is free to attend or go in room and cry).

**If something is useful and needed, keep it. If it is useful, but not needed, share it. If it is neither useful nor needed, THROW IT OUT!

**Our discontent comes from comparing with others--make sure to always compare DOWN.

**Food Storage: Store what you eat (use), and eat (use) what you store. To build food storage without breaking the bank, buy double of whatever is on your list. Marie says, "If you need one, buy two. If you need two, buy four. If you need four, buy more."

**A great organizational blog to check out: A Place For Everything which is maintained by my newly found cousin Linn (are we 3rd cousins?).

**Do you have any excellent organizational tips?

17 comments:

♥Shally said...

I am like you.. I LONG to be organized, and I am working on it.

If we could stop moving that would help A LOT!

Shirlene said...

Thanks for inspiring me to be organized too! Marie Ricks is actually in our ward. Her husband was our bishop up until a couple of months ago. I know she speaks all over the place, even at conference and education week. I actually missed her at our Enrichment because it was Micaela's preschool grad.
I'm glad I keep to see your family adventures through your blog.

Shirlene said...

Okay, I'm a novice at this. I obviously made some mistakes in my post but don't know how to fix it:) On my blog there's duplicate pictures. Oh well!

Bryan and Amanda Russ said...

Thanks for sharing, I also love www.flylady.net. She has tons of ideas and step by step ways to get started. I've been a flybaby for a while, still trying to find a house of order here somewhere.

LAURA and ELIZA said...

I used to think I was really great at being organized and there are some days that I am. But I look at my desk right now and I think...huh! Maybe I'm not so organized after all. I do however, coor coordinate my shirts. Is that weird? Maybe a little, but it helps! The kids had so much fun today, they can't stop talking about it! Thanks for having them!

Linn said...

Lisa, How nice are you? Thank you for letting everyone know about my blog and for the great organizational tips from Marie. I have loved having her internet site as a resource. You are fabulous Lisa! Thanks again!

Linn said...

PS. I should know how we are related, but I don't. I do know our parents are first cousins. Either way, I am thrilled to be related to you.

Jud said...
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sara said...

OH the trail of organization!! It is probably the only characteristic of a type A personality that I envy. I have the bins too, but my house is constantly in chaos. I work on it everyday and it feels like I get no where. Thanks for this post.

Unknown said...

I really like the phrase, if it's piled its lost; if it's filed it's found. Home organization can be such a pain. Great tips!

Kristi said...

Thanks for sharing those great tips. I am just surprised to hear that you consider yourself an unorganized person...I don't know if I believe that. You always have everything together!! If you really are unorganized, you fake it well.

Dinner Club in CT said...

Good one, I need to search out all these links, such a need around here.

I have been a little blog MIA lately it was good to read and catch up with all your fun posts!

Janene said...

i like to be organized, and I think I do OK, but we do have this one room.... doesn't everybody? The room where things are put when they don't have a place. my organization tips that I SOMETIMES live by:

I do a nightly "put the house to bed" on a really clutter day, I have to set the timer for 10-15 minutes, then just see how much I can do.

AND

The handle-it-once rule. If you pick something up, be prepared to deal with it and set it down only in the place it belongs.

Victoria said...
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Victoria said...

Oh Lisa... what a convicting topic!
With my internship, a remodel, a new person AND dog in the house I'm crumbling!!

I actually have two snippets that I have to have to survive.
I have a control center... a smallish buffet in my kitchen where I keep a tack board, calendar, my day planner, coupons, an electronic charge center, phone books and vitamins and hooks for all the stuff (umbrella, coats, leash, keys, diaper bag) It never looks like the contorl centers in Pottery Barn but it's not as much as a headache as all the stuff strewn across the house or across the house in the office. I have a small upright file holder I keep visible with an "out" file (bills, permission slips, returns, whatever), a "Jake" file (We have agreed we have different systems so all his junk just gets thrown in there so no one gets in trouble). I also have a folder of "to file" I haven't found a place in the kitchen to hide an unsightly file cabinet and it always seems that newly acquired paperstuff sometimes needs pulled sooner than I expect it. So, about once a month, or whenever it's full, I'll go ahead and file it all.

The second is elfa closet systems (www.elfa.com) or a close generics. Actually, My dad used to manage grocery stores and thinks you can build the same thing for half the price if you come across grocery store shelving. It's amazing what you can hold in a closet with the right equipment.

Katie M. said...

Um, I bet you are the most organized bee in American Fork! Dull brains like me glean lots of creative wisdom from people like you, so thank you for this post... the comments were also helpful,so, kudos to you for posting such a helpful post. I will need this in the coming months as we move and get settled.

Anonymous said...

great advice