Searching for shin pads. Throwing balls into an overstuffed closet. Hunting for matching socks. Finding ice skates in the garage next to the garden tools. Leafing through piles of paperwork to find that elusive permission slip. Any of this sound familiar?
We get it. We were organized once, too, but throw a couple of kids into the mix and our homes descend into chaos. January is the time to rally the tiniest (or biggest) hoarders in your family and turn them into neat freaks. Trust us, stranger things have happened.
Here are a few tips from Marie Potter, Director of Marketing for the Professional Organizers in Canada.
- Establish a place for everything. The key to organization is having a home for everything you need, and returning items to that place. Sound daunting? Even if you’ve got a lot of purging to do, you can still begin to improve things by tackling a high-traffic area like the front entrance.
- Work together. Make it a family event to do a 10-minute tidy each night to prepare for the next day. Throw on some music, set the timer and make a game of putting stuff back where it belongs.
- Obey the ‘one in, one out’ rule. When a new item comes into the home, an old one is tossed, sold, donated or recycled. Get the kids used to parting with a toy they no longer use each time they get something new and you’ll establish good clutter-managing skills for the future.
If you’re overwhelmed by the idea of finding bins and baskets for the LEGO you walk on everyday, you can hire a professional using the Professional Organizers in Canada website. Rates vary, but the peace of mind—not to mention the time you’ll liberate for indulging your Netflix habit—makes it worth every penny. Plus one mom we know called it, ‘cheaper than therapy,’ and we couldn’t agree more.
If you’re looking for a quick fix in the meantime, we’ve got 10 Easy Ways to Get Organized for you.
Tagged under: family,organization,cleaning,closet,tidy,organized,how to organize your home,Professional Organizers in Canada
Category: organization
