Give me your top 3 organisational tips

[greenleaf5]

MNers! I need your top 3 tips or hacks to keep organised. 2 DS under 3 and need to sort my life out. Thank you

Are questions allowed?

Anyone who has really decluttered, especially a small space, how long do you think it would take? For one person?

I'm doing as much paid work as I can get but it isn't full time. I am hoping to have everything sorted, using evenings and weekends, by end of March.

@Luna it depends on how much stuff you have and what type. It took me a few hours to do all my clothes and get rid of them but paperwork is taking much longer than I’m expecting because I need to look at everything, a lot needs scanning and most needs shredding. With decluttering it’s not the selecting of items but getting them out your house which is tricky especially at the moment.

[quote Thatwentbadly]@Luna it depends on how much stuff you have and what type. It took me a few hours to do all my clothes and get rid of them but paperwork is taking much longer than I’m expecting because I need to look at everything, a lot needs scanning and most needs shredding. With decluttering it’s not the selecting of items but getting them out your house which is tricky especially at the moment.[/quote]
Yes, paperwork is the biggie. I don't buy much so haven't got a lot to get rid of in terms of "stuff".

But paperwork and shredding will be time consuming.

Plus I find it genuinely hard to have a place for everything. I don't know why. Partly it's the design of the place.

I have craft stuff that needs to be organised, sentimental stuff and a bunch of creative writing work that needs binning. Also decisions to make re books that might be donated when things are open.

Have a diary/calendar for all dates and renewals of ins etc
White board on fridge for daily activities/meals updated once a week so all know what is happening
Have bags packed night before
Each person in my house knows return forms for school etc are placed on their bag ready for handing in
Make kids responsible from a young age with age appropriate tasks which grow as they do

It's never too early to teach your children about tidiness /putting things away
It MIGHT be too early for them to learn.
but every single toy does NOT need to be out and on the floor at once

@nicknamehelp

Have a diary/calendar for all dates and renewals of ins etc White board on fridge for daily activities/meals updated once a week so all know what is happening Have bags packed night before Each person in my house knows return forms for school etc are placed on their bag ready for handing in Make kids responsible from a young age with age appropriate tasks which grow as they do

Yes to the calendar

I have all birthdays, card sending occasions, insurance renewals, passport expires etc in my phone calendar as recurring events, with notifications long enough to do something about it.

Also, all school holidays in school and work diaries as soon as they are announced.

Washing done every day

Diary. Note everythng as soon as it arises. I'm old school and use a traditional one. Amazon have a nice Artfan one on a lightening deal for a fiver and I have just indulged as I don't like the free on we got this year

Clearout and car boot sale a couple of times a year. Whatever doesn't sell is disposed off ruthlessly either to the charity shop or the dump.

If you REALLY want to sort out as a major project then start with your loft / garage / large storage spaces. You can't really sort anything until you get rid of stuff that you don't want to 'store' and move things into those spaces that you do want to 'store but not use'. This then frees up space in your living space for things that you use more frequently.

Then use secondary storage - but look for functional things that don't waste space in themselves. So put baskets on shelves in cupboards, drawer dividers in drawers, split small things like craft items into ziplock bags and get rid of bulky or awkwardly-shaped packaging for example.

Load of washing everyday
Make packed lunches the night before
Do certain housework tasks on certain days
Meal plan for the week
Reply to any school letters etc the day you get them
Write everything in a shared family calendar

This from @PositiveNegative is a brilliant piece of advice
Then use secondary storage - but look for functional things that don't waste space in themselves. So put baskets on shelves in cupboards, drawer dividers in drawers, split small things like craft items into ziplock bags and get rid of bulky or awkwardly-shaped packaging for example

I refer to it as Divide and Conquer
We have wide 800mm drawers in our kitchen but my utensil drawer has 4 trays which perfectly fill the space, and it keeps all the spoons and ladles separate from Fish slices and spatulas

While I believe in maximising your storage, this only to the point where you can be in control of it. Sometimes it's better to prune belongings to fit in the storage rather than just add more storage where things get lost.

Thanks Bruce! I love this thread :-)

Really, really, really think about how much stuff you need. If your house was burning down - what would you take (and could you find it?!). And be careful about what you bring into the house too. There's a lot of stuff you just don't need.

One final tip for kids' stuff. Keep a 'small toy' box for each child. Put every kinder surprise, happy meal toy, party bag toy, stuff out of crackers etc. into that box. You can include some small things that are otherwise homeless e.g. yoyos, card games, small binoculars, magnifying glasses etc. Occasionally they will pull it out and have a good play. Occasionally you can also sort through it and thin it out a bit. This stops a LOT of clutter in the kids rooms!

OK - one more. Those cylindrical baskets that you hang from the ceiling for teddy storage. Game changer!

And another - if you are buying clothes, buy a few things that match all at once. (I know MN will say you should be trawling ebay and charity shops but some of us are OK with new - actually I receive handmedowns so it's not all bad). So get 4-5 t-shirts, a couple of jumpers, socks and shorts / trousers etc. that all match. You can get away with having a LOT fewer clothes that way - less to wash, fold and store.

• Timetree shared calendar app
• The Organised Mum Method
• Eufy Robot Hoover

Offload as much as possible as early as possible onto dc/dh, for example holidays- I used to pack everything until I realised that the dc could go and collect 5 pairs of socks etc. Over time you get to the point when they are about 7 or 8 where they pack for themselves. Dh can definitely pack for himself, look after birthdays for his side etc.

So many good tips on here!

Meal plan, and have a master list for grocery shopping of the things you actually get through in the course of a week.

Keep toy buying to birthdays/Christmas and do regular decluttering.

Trello lists of household jobs, shared with your partner. Ten minute jobs get done in lunch breaks.

1. Buy a kitchen calendar and put every single appointment/event/ nursery and later school events/ family stuff/birthdays etc. on it as soon as you know about it.

1. Clean the kitchen after your evening meal (this includes emptying the bin and hoovering if needed) so you start the day off on a good footing.

1. Never run out of wine

I also used to organise school bags the night before so they were pick up and go and make damn sure there weren't any unmentioned but lovely plans the school had made for the next day.

This became golden after the bring your teddy day which shall never be spoken of

Crate system

Each child plus joint one for dh&I has their own box/crate/ washing basket

All clean clothes, toys, paperwork, headphones etc goes into the person's crate. Every night before bed they take it upstairs and put everything in it away . Empty crate comes down in the morning

It means that they put their own clothes and toys away . Most importantly is answers the wheres my ......? Which gets asked 100 times a day

I started this when they started school and they still have their own crates at 16 & 18

Also everything in phone calendar including school holiday dates for next school year, passport renewals (yes 5/10 years in advance) , insurance renewals 3 weeks from expiry

Lots of lists in notes on phone. Ie
potential birthday / Xmas presents,
a list of holiday destinations and trips / accommodation links
a monthly / weekly cleaning list
media with any books / tv / films that I've liked the look of but are not out yet

Weekly shopping delivered and book slots as far in advance as possible . I aim to have at least the next 3 deliveries scheduled

1. Don’t allow yourself to do a wash load till you have put one away.
2. Clear out little bitty toys and put sets of toys, lego, brio, happy land etc in boxed and rotate.
3. Shoes at the door in big boxes instead of racks. Kids more likely to put them in boxes.

Buy Xmas presents all year round. Saves a massive job at the busiest time of the year.

Get a builder's hoover, eg Karcher. Eats everything in 5 min.

£1 on daffs transforms a room.

I have an a5 diary I keep in the hallway. I write everything in it that I need to do and get everyone else to write in there if they need something for school etc only started this year abs been a life changer!

Don't have a partner.
Don't have dc.
Don't have pets.

1. Declutter, be ruthless. Especially with toys and especially the ones that take you a long time to tidy!

I kondoed a few years ago and although Marie Kondo says you don't have to repeat the experience, I have done more mini clearouts since. For me the main task has been done but it's an ongoing thing, which brings me on to Point 2....

1. Permanently have a bin bag in a cupboard for charity and add to as you go along. Do not let your children have access to this. Bring to charity shop when full. (Not possible right now of course. I have 3 ready to go.)
2. Cordless vacuum, I use my a few times a day. Don't know how I managed without one.

If I can add one more, in the month of January I actually write a task a day in my diary that I will tidy/sort, as well as the usual washing up etc.. it's usually something that can be done in 20 minutes or so. Like "cupboard under the sink" or "crafts drawer" or "swimming togs".
It gives me a sense of control and achievement that this year I've carried it up until now, end of Feb. I have kind of run out of these kinds of jobs now after 60 days of it. A lot of these tasks can be left until next Jan/Feb.

Reading this just reminds me how full-on life was with little kids. I salute you all!

My main advice is don't decide it's a good idea to emigrate just after your third is born.

1 meal plan. Saves extra trips to the shops. Try and design a weekly menu where you can have one night where you cook enough for 2 nights and reheat later in week. Also think about which days are the days where you struggle most or are busiest and plan easy meals for those days.

2 always keep an emergency dinner in the freezer
3 keep a stash of generic cards that you can use for birthdays plus one sympathy card plus some stamps

And a bonus tip - clean the rest of the bathroom while the kids are in the bath if they are old enough to sit unassisted.

1. Have the right storage in every room. I’ve taken my time and planned it room by room - anything that hasn’t been put away is usually because it hasn’t got a natural ‘home’, which means it needs one eg new file boxes, new cupboards, kallax boxes etc. Once you’ve got this sorted, it means you don’t have to waste time thinking about where things go instead of just tidying.

1. 5 minute tidy of each downstairs room with the kids before dinner every day. I put my phone timer on, one of them (6 and 2) gets to pick a song, which we blast out over the speaker system, and we tidy everything we can in that time frame. Makes SUCH a difference and means DH and I can relax in a largely toy/clutter free space in the evening

1. Robot vacuum, scheduled to come on every evening - between that and the 5 minute tidy, it means the house is tidy and clean (ish) at the end of each day

A couple of others: always make the bed properly / open bedroom curtains in the morning. At best, having a tidy focal point encourages you not to make too much of a less; at worst, it’s a welcoming oasis at the end of a shit day!

Yy to shared online calendar - if it’s not in, it ain’t happening. TouchNote set up with birthday reminders so you never miss a card. Shared shopping list app; add things to it as soon as you run out, check it whenever you pop into a shop for anything. Amazon subscriptions set up for basics so you don’t need to worry about running out - cleaning products, toilet rolls, batteries, toothbrush heads and toothpastes, vitamins etc. Collapsible, named laundry baskets for each member of the house - clean laundry goes into the right basket as you’re folding it, ordered by type (tops, pants etc) and the child can then put it away by themselves quite easily.

I’ve written an essay but 3 kids and two f/t working parents means we have to be really on top of this, especially as I hate clutter - having a reasonably clean and tidy house makes a HUGE difference to my MH.