Organizing

Most of us know that organizing is one of those household tasks that is best done a little everyday. When we don't put something away when we should, our houses can become filled with little piles of stuff that grow into bigger piles of stuff. Pretty soon, our friends are subtly dropping hints that maybe we have a problem.

So, why don't we organize our stuff everyday? Usually it's because we haven't set our home or work areas up in a way that makes sense.

There are tips for organizing that work and here are three simple organizing tips that will help you get out from under all that clutter.

Regularly Used Items:

1. Unless you need your car keys to get into bed at night, put them in a spot near the door. Hang a key rack or place a tray on a table. Once you've trained your brain to put the keys in the same spot each time you come home, it will resist if you try to put something else there.

2. Do the same with the mail. Keep a basket near the door for recycling flyers, junk mail and correspondence you don't want to keep and will end up in the garbage. The only exception to this is credit card solicitations and any other mail with your personal information. All of these should be shredded.

3. Put the rest of the mail in a spot that makes sense for you to get to it and go through it later. For example, if the first thing you do when you get home from work is change your clothes, establish a spot between the door and bedroom to put the mail - like a basket on the table.

4. If the kitchen isn't on the way to the bedroom, don't put it in there. Develop a routine and put the mail in the same place every night.

Put It Away - Right Away:

1. You probably don't need to wear your raincoat in the house, so put a coat rack near the door if you don't have a closet. This way you'll be less likely to hang your coat on the back of a chair or your stationary bike.

2. If you keep loose change in your pockets, put a coin jar near to where you take off your pants. That way you won't leave it on the kitchen counter or the dining room table.

Put Toys Away Before Bed:

If the kids are old enough to play with toys, they're old enough to help put them away. Putting toys away before going to bed serves two purposes:

1. It establishes a routine that teaches kids about personal responsibility

2. It allows them to start the next day with an uncluttered room

For you, when you organize toys in the kids room, it makes life easier and their rooms nicer to look at.