To be honest, I am not an organized or tidy person by nature, however, over the years and due to necessity, I have slowly worked towards changing into a slightly more organized and tidier human. It hasn’t always been an easy change for me and there are times where I do revert to my old habits, however, there is no denying it is nice to know where things are when you need them.
Here are five easy tips that busy moms can use to help keep a tidy home.
# 1 – Always leave a room or place better than you found it.
Small messes during the day can quickly accumulate into big messes that seem too overwhelming to deal with. Instead of letting things build up, for example, dirty dishes left in the sink from breakfast, before you leave a room, try thinking- is this better than I found it? If the answer is no, complete one small task, such as picking the socks up off the floor and putting them into the hamper. This is a philosophy I have also taught to my children, and by picking up toys or games before moving on to the next activity, they also help keep small messes from quickly turning into big messes.
# 2 – Use your staircase.
I live in a two story home with a wide staircase. Often times, things that are supposed to be upstairs end up downstairs- like that never-ending pile of shoes near the doorway. When I see something that belongs upstairs, I will grab it and place it on the side of my staircase (be careful though and make sure you don’t create a tripping hazard). At some point during the day when I am going upstairs, I grab one or two of the misplaced items and put them back. Using the staircase to temporarily hold misplaced items avoids the common pitfall of the item being too far away or too much effort to pick up.
# 3 – Everything needs a place.
Do you have stuff that just bounces around from room to room and you have no idea where it goes? Make a place for it. It might be a bin, in a closet, or even a spot on the floor. Whatever works for you. One thing I felt like I never had space for was my children’s artwork, pictures, and other keepsake items. To combat this, I bought a hanging file folder bin for each of my kids. I then labeled twelve folders K – 12th grade. When something comes home that I want to keep, I simply put it inside the folder. It is a simple and quick way for busy moms to keep these items organized.
# 4 – Get rid of clothes that don’t fit.
If your kids are like mine, every day they are constantly outgrowing their clothes. When you notice that your child has outgrown something, instead of taking it off and putting it in the hamper (guilty) create a space where you can store it. For me, I happen to have a free drawer in each of my children’s room, so when something no longer fits, it goes inside the drawer. I will let the drawer fill up and then decide what to do with the items. Sometimes I will save them to gift to a family member or friend, other times I will sell them to a consignment store such as BoHo Baby or Once Upon a child, and sometimes I simply donate them.
# 5 – Unload your dishwasher each morning.
If you are anything like me, you run your dishwasher at night after dinner. If you wake up to a full load of clean dishes, try this simple hack. While you are waiting for your coffee to brew in the morning, unload your dishwasher. I have found that it takes around the same time for each task to be completed and it is an easy thing to do as you are already in the kitchen. Also, by having an empty dishwasher during the day it is much easier for every family member to throw their dish in the dishwasher instead of having those dreaded dishes piling up in the sink.
I hope you found my five tips for busy moms to keep a tidy home helpful. Do you have any tips that you use to help keep your home tidy? I’m always looking to become a slightly more organized human being.
