Organisation ideas/tips thread

[BusyBee2017]

Thread to help people with tips to have a more organised life... if possible

Any ideas/tips?

For example I have no storage for papers around the house because I have no room for a study and they always end up scattered around the house.

I have a filing cabinet but papers never get filed away because the cabinet is in the garage so I wanted tips for a paper storage idea which is temporary before it goes in the filing cabinet...

Tips please

A tip i read on here yesterday was a tip the other MNer also read on here - like Housekeeping Chinese Whispers
Get a lever arch file.
Put everything in it as it arrives in the post/child's schoolbag/office.
Once it is full, label it 'Sept 10th 2017-Nov 5th 2017' or whatever.
Leave it like that.

You should be able to find eberything as it'll be in date order.

If you want to be more organised, choose one day a month - put it into your calendar /schedule and fix it - a whole day or afternoon or couple of hours where you transfer file into filing cabinet.

I find it very easy to follow a routine (listed on the fridge) of cleaning/general housekeeping shizz, but when left to 'go with the flow' nothing gets done!

There was a great thread on here recently about being an organised mum with loads of good tips...worth a search.

For your papers you could get a concertina storage box, compact with a carry handle.

I like drawer dividers to organise the contents. Often just buy lots of packs of cheap storage baskets from eBay to use.

Labelling machine to label up shelves etc to ensure areas stay tidy.

Thanks for your post, very useful suggestions. I will try and use them .thanks

Pls take a look at "Clutterbug" on YouTube, she's brilliant.

I get twice as much done whilst listening to her. She offers advice on cleaning/organising/home improvements etc and is honest that she doesn't like these jobs so finds ways to do as much as possible in the least amount of time.

She just published a book which i thought we couldn't buy here ( she is Canadian ) but I found it and it's brilliant.
She's quite jolly and loud but gets the point across.

Thanks Yorkie. Yes watched a few of her videos...she seems quite similar to other organising videos

Love the filing everything by date tip. We used to be totally on top of paperwork with an indexed lever arch file for subsets of paperwork (e.g. Home and insurance; mortgage; savings and investments etc etc) but unavoidable diversions have got me well behind. Think things are easier to find if you file by topic ( in a lever arch file or plastic wallets within box files) but the file by date would be a good interim process for me until I can file properly

I photograph all letters from school/invitations as they come into the house.

I pin things like tickets to the noticeboard in the hall so that they can't get lost.

I have just started writing dates opened on jars/packets with a sharpie (on top of masking tape if dark In colour) as I swear a jar of old mustard gave me a dicky tummy.

Also, 15 minute timer set before bedtime for us all to run around putting things away/chucking out. Only done it twice, but DS seems to be enthusiastic about it so fingers crossed...

Place marking for tips!

Good tips guys thanks

We have a wooden letter rack. It lives in a kitchen cupboard so it's not on display but it does serve a purpose. Things that need to be dealt with stay in it and once they're done the letter is filed upstairs or binned.

I have 4 file folders that papers can go in when they come into the house - to action, to file, to shred and 'current' (things that need to be handy but don't actually require any action). These live in a magazine file at my 'command centre' in the kitchen - diary, notice board, lists etc. Once they look a bit full then I do something about them.