I'm back!

This year is a new start for me. I've been with Clever Container now for 6 months and I'm determined to make the next 6 months better.

One of the things I've decided to do was to write this blog weekly. I've decided that Tuesdays are the best days for me to get this stuff done, so it will probably be weekly on Tuesdays. So here goes, The first Tuesday blog of the year.

What I figured I would do was show you my route to organization this year in pictures. I'll show you my mess and how I cleaned it up, one area of my house at a time. When I'm done I'm determined to be able to take a video of my house and show you how everything has turned out.

I'll be posting before pictures...try not to judge me too harshly. I'm not a naturally organized person and I know it. I'm not a professional organizer, but working with Clever Container has introduced me to several of them online. I'm gleaning as I go.

Basically I just want to show you my struggle. I know that you all have at least one area where you struggle. Nobody is good at EVERYTHING. I'm just trying to be brave enough to show you what my problems are and show you how I'm working on them. With God's help, I'll beat this thing called chaos.

Ready to begin?

Today I'm going to show you what I've done to help me and the kids get a bit more organized in chores.
I admit, I found the idea from Pinterest. I followed the link here and found a blog about these awesome chore sticks.

I have to say, I'd had a pretty good chore system in place, but I'd been having trouble with the kids complaining. I had the house divided in sections and gave the kids the instructions for their section and the sections rotated every week. It kind of worked, but I kept having trouble with the kids just irritated with the same chore all week or not having time for their weekly chore to pass inspection.

This chore jar thing has worked pretty well. I've only done it for a couple of days, so we'll see how well it works later, but for now the kids are excited. The part they like best is that I give them a number of sticks that they pull out from the jar. The sticks have something on it like "rake leaves in front yard" or "unload dishwasher". There are also sticks that say "free chore" or "take an extra stick" to mix things up a bit and make it seem more like a game.

I'm using this together with my iRewardchart app on my phone. This gives the kids something to work for. If they complete a chore, they get a star. The app keeps track of the stars and allows the kids to redeem the stars for rewards. Sounds good, huh?

The thing my oldest daughter likes is that she isn't stuck in one area for a week, or even a day if she has 2 sticks in different areas of the house. She hates working in the bathroom, but if she gets one stick with a bathroom chore and one outside chore, she doesn't complain as much. Of course, since we are working on attitudes and complaining, they are getting extra stars (iRewardchart has a behavior section for stars too) for doing their chores without complaining or grumbling...and they have the opportunity to lose stars if they whine.

With those two ideas together, I've really gotten some things done with the kids home today. Sure, the kids' chores are spread out throughout the house and it looke like there is still a lot more work to do, but the kids did what they were told and I know I can just get out the chore jar when they all need something to do. Nobody wants to tell me they are bored, either....

No, there aren't really any numbers between 20 and 24...

Just because my life has been chaos lately, I'm not keeping up with my daily blogs...sorry.

Just because my life is still chaos, my blog entry for day 24 is pretty simple. It makes me laugh at how true this is to my wishes....

Day 20

Greetings!

Today I'm revisiting the kitchen. One of my favorite things to do with my mom as a kid was visit kitchen supply stores and look at the fancy tools. We would play this game with the tools. Basically we'd try to stump each other showing a gadget and the other person had to figure out what it did. This game began my obsession with cool tools. If it has a nifty purpose, I want it. I may never use it but once or twice in my life, but I want it anyway.

You don't want to see the drawers in my kitchen.

The process of going through these nifty gadgets and getting rid of the cool tools that I never use is something I dread. Why? I don't really care about the little figurines or other dust catchers that people collect, they don't have a whole lot of sentimental value to me. What really brings a tear to my eye is the cool gadgets.

I've been trying to figure out a way to keep all of them without living in clutter. I'm seriously considering some sort of modern art creation that would require welding the stuff I never use together...I just don't know where I'd put it...but it sounds cool, huh?

Anyhoo, how does one go about figuring out what one uses and doesn't use? Put all the tools in a bucket. A Tuff Tote works nicely. Take out your favorite spatula (you know you have one) and can opener (unless you use an electric that sits on your counter or something) and any other obviously used item. JUST ONE OF EACH! You can put these in your drawers.

Take the Tuff Tote with all the rest of your gadgets and take it out to the garage or somewhere else where it is not as easily accessible. Write down the date you did this and put it on the tote somewhere. The key here is to only take out stuff when you use it. After you use it, you can put it away in the drawer. One month later go back and look in the Tuff Tote. Any of that stuff you have not used in a month...so you probably don't need it. The only exceptions that I would make are the stuff you only use for special occasions. Holiday cooking is a bit different and sometimes I use different stuff. For those things, I'd take them and store them in a holiday bin. Break them out when you break out your decorations so you can celebrate with all your cool tools.

Day 19...No, I didn't notice that I skipped 17 and 18...

Did I mention that my life is chaos? I am becoming more determined and yet more distracted...it doesn't help when I spend time in the hospital, though.

Enough whining. I'll explain better in my other blog...if I can.

Today I'd like to talk to you about putting away groceries. Okay, it's really about your kitchen cabinets and fridge. I'm not incredibly organized in this area. It's one of those things that I will be working on and will have before and after pictures for. It's going to be awesome.

I recently heard a trick about grouping things in baskets or boxes by type of item (i.e. all the pasta in one big basket) that makes it easier to find what you are looking for as opposed to sorting based on the size and shape of the container. It also creates space on the shelves and looks better.

My plan is to use the Bin Pulls from Clever Container to hold those items together. The thing I'm afraid of in a basket is that I won't see when I'm out of something or I'll miss it because it's under something in the basket. Bin pulls are clear so you can see everything. It won't look as pretty as the baskets, but it will be more functional...and I'm closing my pantry when I'm done anyway.

On the inside of my pantry door I have Clever Pockets. This is one thing I already do to organize stuff. The clear pockets hold all the drink packets, spice packets, and general small stuff that goes in my pantry. It is really nice to have.

Other than that, because I'm going green...er I'm going to be switching to bags of cereal for the girls and getting cereal containers that will make it easier to store the cereal. I have a tendency to always buy the same kinds (but still sticking to what is on sale) so this should be pretty simple to transition to.

My kids put away the groceries most of the time. If the twins are in charge of cans, I never know what my pantry will look like, but if my son is doing it, the pantry is usually in order. Canned soups, vegetables, everything has a place and an order with him. The girls just put it in fast. My son is more likely to take everything out of the pantry and put it back in in order so that he has control over the order and there is no chaos. If only all my kids had a bit of OCD in them....

Day 16

Tip of the day: You can't organize other people. You can go through their stuff with them and set them on the path to organization, but you just can't change them to make them organized.

The decision to become more organized has to come from them. I try to organize my family, but the reality is, they have to choose to organize themselves somewhere along the way. I teach the principles to my kids and help them set routines, but they have to do it themselves for the lasting effect.

I can't actually organize my husband. He is a man who can be very organized, but doesn't choose to be all the time. From what I understand, he is an amazing secretary...can one do that without being organized? He is really good at his job, but at home...he's kind of a mess. An awesome mess who does great things for his family...but I still pick up his socks from the living room floor daily.

The hardest lesson I've learned in my marriage is that my husband will change when God moves him or he decides to change on his own. I'm not going to change him. I could leave his socks in the floor, but that wouldn't do anything but create a pile. I could complain, but that only makes me angry when it doesn't work and he doesn't listen. The fact is, Tony will change when he decides to. Until then, I pick up the socks.

I say this not to make you stop from hiring a professional organizer, but to help you realize that hiring someone to clean up your mess is temporary, you have to change to make your life more organized. The professionals are here to teach you, but you have to decide to learn and do it.

Day 15

Pictures are my friends.  I love taking them, I love playing with them (on the computer and/or scrapbooking), I love looking at them.  I'm not the best photographer, but I'm good at what I do. 

How does one organize pictures?  If they are printed, Clever Container has an awesome Photo Organizer that does the job well without damaging your pictures if you need to store them for a long time.

On the computer is another thing entirely.  I recently purchased software from Creative Memories (I know several awesome consultants if you need one).  It's called Memory Manager.  The coolest thing about this software is the organizing system.  As you go through your photos, you can sort them several different ways and it can access the photos in different categories...it's kind of like tagging them.  I really like it.  Honestly, there are probably a bunch of programs out there that do the same thing, but this one I earned for free by hosting a party, so I got it...free is good.

So there you go, that's how I organize my photos.  Now I need to go take some.

Day 14

Today I am packing for the weekend. A couple of years ago that would have meant I threw a bunch of clothes in a backpack and just rolled. It's probably my new obsession with always being organized and prepared, but suddenly one backpack has become a backpack, a bag and my purse. I am beginning to understand why so many women pack so much.

Now, my backpack and travel bag are filled with different things. I have snacks (I'm going to a women's retreat with my church friends) and stuff to do in there. Then I have a rolling bag. It has my clothes, toiletries, my Bible and a couple of books in there. I actually made a checklist so I could make sure I had everything.

If you know me, you know how different that is.

I was that person who always used to have to run by Walmart on the way to wherever we were going because I forgot a toothbrush...and/or soap...and/or deodorant...okay, anything else besides clothes...unless I happened to forget to bring some of those too. It was especially bad after my kids were born. I just didn't keep myself together. My kids were okay. I usually had everything they really needed. Not always in diaper bags, sometimes in the back of my car....

I have this basic aversion to carrying anything. I like having my hands free. Now that my kids are getting older I'm carrying more stuff. I know, that's the opposite of most people, but it's true. I carry stuff to keep my kids from going crazy. I carry stuff to keep myself from going crazy. I carry stuff to be more organized and prepared. I just carry more stuff.

The thing that I'm using to make things more organized for this weekend (beyond the normal stuff) is my Grip It from Clever Container. I have cords for my phone, all my travel size stuff, my contacts, pens, medicine and hair things all in that little grip it. It's all easy to see and easy to get to. My travel size stuff is secured a bit better (so it doesn't pop open while we drive up or down the mountain and spill everywhere) with tape...which is in the Grip it too so I can secure it on the way back.

I'm pretty sure I'm prepared for most things and I have easy access to everything. The one thing I wish I had is the Shelves On the Go from Clever Container. It would make things even easier to access when I'm there...but I don't have one...yet.