To ask for your top simple organisation tips that work

[caninecalamity]

If you're a naturally organised person or a procrastinating nightmare like me who has somehow managed to change, please help. I need you. I was also going to start a thread on cleaning tips that work after using a tip about cleaning my wood burner glass with ash that worked! I've had a tumultuous 2022 and facing change this year and Im looking to turn over a new leaf on my house and life. I think I might be another undiagnosed ADD person - I spent all 2022 chasing my tail, never knowing if it's PE day/ non uniform day etc and with a heap of laundry / overflowing junk drawers/ ad hoc meals and spending too much on top up shops etc.
i listened to a declutter podcast tonight felt for the first time that change might be possible with small steps. I managed to do my son's clothes without it feeling a bit effort which felt a big win. I just need to charity one bag and put others on Vinted. If anyone wants a mix of medium men's clothes look out on there soon! I've also done two bedroom tidies using the TOMM app. This might be enough for now tbh but was also thinking of ordering greeting cards for next 6 months - think I read that on here and seeing if I can find a meal planning app
Mental load is all on me - DH will offer to go to shop "if you make me a list" or run errands "if you tell me what needs doing" and I'm exhausted.

Ad breaks.

As soon as they start, get up and spend three minutes sorting something out.

You gain about half an hour of sorting out an evening, and never feel like you've spent a long time doing things.

One ad - lay out clothes for tomorrow. Second ad - chop some veg for tomorrow's dinner. Third ad - put in a wash.

I managed to do the stairs tonight with my lint roller tool think. I'm still not convinced that it's not half the carpet it strips away but was satisfying!
Went through a wardrobe and earmarked some charity stuff but need to actually put it in a bag. Listened to another Declutter hub tonight about quick wins

• dead flowers / plants
• newspapers/ magazines
• old medicines

-out of date food- this one really bothers me and I'll leave stuff sometimes because I feel bad that I've wasted it. Nothing smelly/ unsealed but why do I do that? Going to get an organiser tomorrow for a calendar as they are good Was ordering cards for the next 6 months and got the fear about spending money. Might try again tomorrow. I owe a friend a gift and am procrastinating about what to get having seen 3 things. Perfection is the killer here I guess !

Lists and keep a diary.

Ohio- only handle it once. aka don't put it down out it away. Aka don't leave your bloody teacup on the counter next to the dishwasher DH, just put it in the bloody dishwasher!

Me too. I have a big one with huge boxes so I can fit everything onto it. Collins Colplan A3 Memo Calendar: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09WNGPHD5/ref=pe_27063361_487055811_TE_3p_dp_1

I use this one
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B09TLBXMDR?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I use Google calendar and Google keep, and share with the family.

My one laundry tip. I have two boys. One has 10+ (closer to 20 as whites don't get washed often in this house) pairs of identical white socks. The other has 10+ pairs of identical grey socks. I never pair them. I don't have to guess whose sock this is and then look for its partner. Has saved me hours over the years

Prepare as much as you can the night before, hang up all uniforms/clothes including underwear ready to put on the next morning. Any letters/permission slips from school sign them straight away, back into the bag and write on the calendar immediately too. A wall calendar is good as everyone can see it.

• Prepare school stuff night before
• separate drawers for school clothes
• buy more than one eg toothpaste, hand soap, loo rolls so you don't run out
• have set day for jobs eg mop on a Monday night, change beds on a Saturday etc
• make rota so that husband knows what jobs to do (pretty sure there are some that don't need any direction eg he could mop & vacuum, change all bins & change beds each week)
• Ocado delivery
• tackle a room each week & declutter as much as possible

Before starting to organise you have to reduce the inventory in your house.
Think of every item as something you have to manage so if you don't use it, like it or need it then get rid.
Once you have reduced items then everything you are keeping needs a home as this makes it so much easier to put things away.

A great tip I saw recently is to have a box/bag in your child's wardrobe to chuck in any clothes that no longer fit. Once full, donate or sell.

Oooh I love that idea re kids clothes!!!

Google Tasks on my phone and iPad. You can create different lists and tick things off as you go along. You can also create sub tasks to divide them into more manageable portions.

I have a long list for anything and everything that pops into my head, I move things onto my daily list (keep that one v short and manageable). I also have a shopping list and add anything I need when it comes into my head. I then check things off as I go round the shops.

I have appalling concentration and find that I lose notebooks and get overwhelmed by handwritten lists. Google Tasks works really well for me as the tasks disappear once ticked off.

I'm currently decluttering ready to put my house on the market and move. I'm finding it really helpful to forego selling anything, because it just delays getting it out of the house and creates a new pile of stuff, I just have three categories, bin/recycle, charity shop or keep, if it's being kept it needs a home.

A home for everything is an old one but it works (and the toothbrush principle of storing things where you use them) For example I have a box for all my important documents, anything I deem important in the moment goes in there, straight from the letterbox if possible and then every few months I go through it and decide what needs to stay, so that form that needs filling in or that new credit card is in the box, it's not sophisticated but it stops things getting lost. A more refined filing system would just enable procrastination, I'd put the envelope down in the kitchen until I had time to file it.

I also have a box with lightbulbs and a box with batteries etc. so they don't end up all over the house and when you need one you can find them. I'm a fan of boxes.

I also like a PP have a notebook (I do the same for work) rather than writing notes all over the place I try to use the notebook, so that phone number i jotted down will be in the notebook, and my shopping list, and my to do list etc. I like boxes and lists it's how my brain works.

This mostly

Along with realising that time isn’t elastic - If you want to achieve something you aren’t currently able to do, you will have to drop something

on a micro level:

write a list of what needs doing tomorrow and where you need to be at the end of everyday so you you wake up organised.

Review for 5 mins in the morning so you junk anything that having slept on it you realise doesn’t really need you

And make the first actual task you do something that is long term important rather than just urgent

but mainly - sort out your husband.

divvy up the household and kid tasks fairly and let him learn as he goes, he’ll learn to buy food when there isn’t any and all the rest of it

Oh yes, one style / colour of socks per family member is one of my best ones. No more pairing ever.

F

Love that!
May Ohio be my mantra of 2023

Declutter

I've found it invaluable to have a hardback diary (at least A5 size) or organiser / planner in which to note down important things - so you don't forget to pay bills etc on the due date or keep appointments, and tick them off when they're done.
Hardback so that it is robust, easy to find and doesn't get lost among a mess of papers or clutter. I got a diary reduced to 50p in the pound shop the other day. You might have to pay £1.

I'm similar. Admittedly it took my DS going away for a week but I spent the time organising and cleaning the house. Decluttering and organising is great, but do it with purpose and a plan about where everything is best going. If you're always forgetting where something is, it's not in the right place so try somewhere else.

I'm keeping on top of it by using a sticker reward chart in my bullet journal. I did a spider diagram of habits I want to work on, split into categories (home, health and hobby) and picked the four I most want to work on this month. Every day, I highlight the habits on my tracker if I've completed them and give myself a sticker in my book! Then I reward myself with something like some sketching or whatever. It's working well so far. It was also fun raiding Amazon for cool stickers 🤣

Ohio. Perfect!

Do kids lunches whilst prepping dinner.

Clean bathroom whilst kids are in the shower

Cook once eat twice : I made a big pan of mince and onions. Took half the mince out, topped the rest with mash potatoes = sheperds pie. Remaining mince to be made into a mince beef pie for later in the week.

Allow children to wear odd socks, it's personality innit 😘

I do this. Love lists and love ticking off the items as we do them. Love my diary

When I did my teacher training another student said, "I wish I had a uniform, it would make things easier". I said, "Make one, I have" I had 5 pairs of black linen trousers and the same blouse in 7 different colours / fabrics and just rotated through them.

If you have a dress code for work put outfits on a hanger not just clothes, so instead of just a suit, put a suit with a shirt and even a bag on the same hanger.

Another vote for a diary / planner. Put in as much as possible as early as possible.

You can colour code things for each member of the family with a marker pen or post it notes, so even when the diary is shut you can see the post it notes for a child's activities or dentist appointment etc.

The sock thing reminded me that my mum used to colour code my dad and my brother so blue pants / socks / shirts for one and white for the other. However she would forget and buy things in the wrong colour.

Start with a big whole year calendar where all days are visible, preferably arranged in weeks, plus coloured pens.
Fix calendar in prominent place where everyone can see it.
Write in known dates, such as birthdays and school terms in colour selected for that purpose only.
Using a different colour mark days when certain bits of school kit need to be available and taken to school.
Use third colour for appointments such as dentist, hairdresser etc.
and so on. It will end up colourful, but you can see at a glance what is coming up. Review the next week in detail on a Friday night or Saturday, so there is time to prepare over the weekend.
Use a dedicated colour for decluttering activities, but only do these on 1 week per month. So, for example, next week could be bedroom week, February could be bathroom, March kitchen, April sitting-room etc.
Score through each completed week in black so you know you do not need to look at it again.
Use a spiral notebook for meal planning and shopping. Write the week's meal plan on the right-hand page and the shopping requirements on the left-hand page, so that you can pull it out and use as your shopping list.
Stop relying on technology unless it is just setting an alarm. You can overlook technology, you cannot miss your wall calendar!