I’m always trying to find new ways to be organized. I suspect it’s important to have certain aspects of life on autopilot, like bills or to-do lists, and I would love to achieve this level of organization. I geek out at the Container Store or while watching Martha Stewart (back in the day) or the Home Edit. I’ve read Marie Kondo’s book. I’m naturally drawn to those kinds of things. I like them and want them.
I can also recognize that not all organizing is functional. Some of us just need organization to feel at peace. I like it and find it helpful and calming. But I live with four other people, including a toddler who uses the floor to store his toys, and what I need is a system to keep the house chaos at bay.
I’ve read a few books and tried many methods, and these are the ones that have been helpful to me. Let’s call this Kerri’s 10 Organizing Tips For Moms:
1. Calendar App
I use my calendar app a lot- multiple times each day. I log events, appointments, milestone memories, and illness patterns – just to name some. I got the idea to utilize my personal calendar more from using my work calendar to stay organized. I thought, “Why not do this at home?” I also send event and appointment calendar invites to my husband and teen daughter so we all know what to expect.
2. Online Grocery Shopping
I rarely go to the grocery store. If I do, it’s for a forgotten item. Instead, I use the grocery store app and delivery. I eased into this by using the grocery pick-up service, then after the birth of our third child, I switched to delivery. Honestly, I’m not sure I’ll ever go back. It’s so much easier to walk to the front door and grab my groceries instead of gearing everyone up to go to the store. Additionally, I can complete the task virtually anytime. Shopping virtually helps reduce overspending. I love it. This is truly my favorite of my 10 organizing tips for moms.
3. Meal Planning
Completing online grocery shopping leads to another tip I use- meal planning. Each week, we take a look at our schedule and plan out at least 4-5 dinners. We try to be realistic about our schedules and energy levels, so frozen pizza is always on standby in our freezer. It’s important to differentiate between meal planning and prepping. We are not doing a massive prep day for multiple meals. The time, effort, and variety just don’t work for us. Instead, we make things as needed and do prep as we cook.
4. Daily Reset of Home
I’ve been on the search for tips on how to maintain our house amidst the chaos of family life. My 10 organizing tips for moms is something borne of pure necessity. I found How to Keep House While Drowning, which offered a simple approach to cleaning. The author suggests that each room can be broken into five tasks: trash, dishes, laundry, things with a place, and things without a place. I used this approach to do a daily reset of our house. I do this daily reset to help get through the day into the next. It doesn’t take a lot of time or thought, and my brain feels less cluttered.
5. Utilize a Laundry Sorter
Using a laundry sorter is a small pleasure of mine. I overly enjoy our laundry sorter because it’s sturdy, and it provides a visual reminder when I need to complete the task. I do one load of laundry a day (regardless of the size) to keep up with the never-ending chore.
6. Annual To-Do List
I’m making an annual to-do list (pictured below). I broke the year into months and added tasks for each month that happen only once or twice a year. For example, scheduling my car tire change/oil, prepping taxes, or snow gear shopping. For me, my annual to-do list has helped reduce the mental load I carry.
7. Ongoing/Immediate To-Do List
I need to write things down to make my brain remember to do them. I have an ongoing to-do list that lives on my magnetic board. When I have extra time, I see if I can tackle something on it. The ongoing list is for tasks that don’t happen regularly and don’t have a place on the annual to-do list.
8. School Keepsake Binder
Each of my kids has three three-inch binders with dividers and sheet protectors to hold their art, writing, report cards, and class photos. I’ve seen other options for storing your kids’ school keepsakes, but this works for us. It does require purging and sometimes trimming to fit.
Side note: my daughter is entering her senior year of high school, while my sons haven’t reached school age yet. One thing I noticed while keeping my daughter’s items is that as she’s aged, there is less art, and most of her writing samples are kept online. Those first years of school had a lot more projects. When planning the binders, I assumed each school year would require equal space, but I now know the early years require much more space while the later years require less.
9. Use Autopay
All but one household bill is scheduled for autopay and paperless billing. I don’t have to worry about missing a payment, and I never have to shuffle through paperwork. For the one bill (daycare) that can’t be on autopay, I pay it every two weeks so it matches our pay periods from work. My husband and I check and review our bank accounts regularly.
10. Work as a Team
Maintaining a house and family is a lot of work, so I find having conversations with my husband about chores, schedules, and other tasks important. We discuss who is responsible for what and pivot as needed. Things don’t always go as planned, but at least we both know what needs to be completed and can work together to make it happen.
In every way, 10 organizing tips for moms is really intended for the whole family.
These 10 organizing tips for moms may give the appearance that I’ve got it all together. I must tell you, I don’t. Just like any other mom, there are nights when the sink is full of dishes or a load of laundry is on the bed waiting to be folded.
I remind myself I’m not perfect, nor is life intended to be perfectly organized. I just try to find different tools or systems to help reduce my mental load or get ahead in some chores. Now that you’ve read my 10 organizing tips for moms, what systems or tools do you use to organize your family?
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