10 Tips for Managing and Organizing Your Family, Part 1

Obviously I love to organize.  However, "being organized" always seems to elude me!  Maybe it is due to the size of my family (6 kids, a hubby, plus gramma lives here) or maybe it is all that we do: doctor appointments for gram, homeschooling, academy, church activities, baseball, voice lessons, etc.  That is just the general busy rundown, but add to that the fact that I also have a successful direct sales business with Clever Container Company which has me out of the house several nights a month.  It's no wonder that it is so hard to keep up.  Still, I do love my life. Every crazy, busy moment of it.

So, do I have tips?  No doubt I have tips.  (Don't check on me and the consistency of using these tips, but I do believe in them and the success that can follow if you can discipline yourself enough to use these tips).  In fact, I have so many tips that I'm going to post two separate posts with 5 tips each, so that I don't wear you out with my long-winded explanations.  So, be sure to check back tomorrow for the rest of my tips!!

Tip #1:  If possible, hire help.  Seriously.  A few years ago, my mom used to host a ladies prayer group meeting here every Tuesday morning.  So, every Monday we had a cleaning service come to help clean the house.  Don't fool yourself into thinking that this will relieve you entirely from cleaning, but it certainly will motivate you to get everything 'ready' for the cleaning lady to arrive.  :-)  Those of you who have hired cleaning services can totally relate to what I mean.  It is amazing how important it becomes to you to have all of your surfaces decluttered.  You are paying good money here, and you want every square inch of floor, counter, and table dusted and washed!!  This is great for the order of your home.  Honestly, this became harder for us to continue to afford as time went on, and we have greatly decreased the frequency.  Still, we call them on an 'as needed' basis, and I still LOVE to walk through my home right after they leave.  This is the only time it is ALL done at once.

I would also highly suggest that you consider hiring a Professional Organizer.  These people are freaks of nature.  Oh, I'm so just kidding!!  Seriously, a Professional Organizer can be so helpful in helping you see what you can do to improve the processes and systems that you currently have in place (or not).  Not sure where you can find a Professional Organizer in your area?  Check out the NAPO website at http://www.napo.net/ and on the right sidebar there is a tool to locate a CPO by state and zip code.  Very cool!  There is, of course, a cost involved, but take into consideration the peace of mind that you will get in gaining order to your home!  BTW, my friend, Colleen's company is appropriately named Peace of Mind.  :-)  If you are on the south side of Chicago, I'd highly recommend her.

Tip #2:  Plan and Prepare!  Don't make the mistake I often make and overthink everything.  However, it is wise to put some thought into what needs to get done and when.  Make sure that you run your days on a loose schedule, better known as a routine.  I'm not talking about a 15-minute increments of 'this is what we do now' that you have to stick to (although if you can and/or do manage this: good for you!) but rather a looser guideline of your day.  For example, your routine as a homeschooling mom might look something like this:

• Quiet Time, Shower/Hygeine, Breakfast
• School Time with kids
• Lunch and cleanup
• Computer and Business Time
• Wrap up school with kids
• Errands, Afterschool activities, etc.
• Dinner Prep, Dinner, Clean Up
• Baths and Bedtime Prep

That is VERY basic, but it can help keep you plugging away in the right direction.

Tip #3: Use EVERYONE!  To be reasonable, children under the age of two aren't very much help, but even a toddler can contribute to the efficient running of your home.  Children will benefit from the responsibility of chores.  According to the Bradly Hospital Parenting Guide: "The assignment of household chores serves several important teaching functions regarding social responsibility. It allows the child to experience both a sense of contribution to the family and a sense of accomplishment-and, in turn, it allows a sense of pride in that accomplishment. Pride is the key ingredient in the development of self-respect, which is the foundation for good mental health and happiness in life. Moreover, contributing to the family and feeling good about doing so strengthens the child's connection to the family."  And, in my humble opinion, they contribute to the mess, it is only right that they contribute to the clean up after, right?

Tip #4: Have a central calendar AND a planner.  I think it is extremely important that you have a 'family calendar' that is centrally located.  The most logical place is the kitchen, as it is one room that members will eventually congregate.  This should be the calendar that has everybody's everything on it so that you can accurately access what is going on, where you are needed and what preparations you must make.  I also have a file folder holder located next to my calendar where I keep corresponding papers, such as invitations with directions.  In addition, I think it is important that you have a planner (digital or paper) that you have with you at all times so that you can refer to it and also make appointments on the go.  The key to having this calendar system work is ensuring that you have a time every day where you sync these two calendars to reflect any new appointments or events.

Tip #5:  Menu Plan.  Again, this is something that you can outsource if you don't have enough planning time of your own.  I was the fortunate winner of a 6 month subscription giveway to Stolen Moments Menu Planning which has been such a blessing! 

However, if you weren't a winner of a subscription, where does that leave you?  I still HIGHLY recommend menu planning for a week (or more) at a time.  It makes both grocery shopping and cooking your dinners easier.  Short on ideas?  Check out http://www.orgjunkie.com/ every Monday, where lots and lots of people link up to her blog with their menu for the upcoming week.  Many of these blog posts include links to recipes as well.  It is alot of fun!

In addition to the tips I'm providing today and tomorrow, I'd also encourage you to have you host your own Clever Container class of your own, where you and your family and friends will learn all kinds of great organizing tips.  We offer the following class formats: *Organizing with Kids*, *Clutter Cutter*, *Closet Cleanout*, *Office Organizing*, and *Kitchen Clean-Up*.  PLUS, you will earn loads of wonderful organizing products for free!  Free is good!

Disclosure: This post is part of a blogging contest from the TwitterMoms community. There is a chance this post could be randomly selected to win a $50 Target GiftCard, so wish me luck! For more details, you can view the contest page here (http://icomp.ly/IconApps).