Organization

• 3 Reasons You Can’t Get Organized

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  Have you been struggling with getting organized this year? If so, you’re not alone. There are hundreds, if not thousands of people out there, trying to get their lives organized and not having any luck.

  There could be many things standing in your way of becoming organized. Or, it may only be one thing. Whatever the case may be, you need to identify what is preventing you from having any success with the organizing task(s) you wish to accomplish.

  Below are 3 reasons why you may not be able to get (and stay!) organized.

  1. You have too many things to organize.

  When you start out with an audacious list of things you want to organize, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and just give up – often before you even begin the organizing process.

  I understand the desire to get it all done right away so you don’t have to worry about it again, but in all honesty, thinking like this will only end in failure.

  Make a short list of no more than 5 things you want to get organized and then prioritize that list, numbering each task by importance. Then, tackle one organizing project at a time until it is completed. That’s when you can move on to the next task on your list.

  When you see yourself making progress, it’s much easier to continue, so don’t try organizing everything all at once.

  2. You think it will take too long.

  People use the “I don’t have time” excuse for everything. Clipping coupons, cooking from scratch… how are we all so busy that we aren’t able to give ourselves just a bit of time to make our lives easier?

  Organizing does not have to be a long process and a huge chore. Despite what many people think, you can actually get a lot done in as little as 30 minutes.

  Want to organize your kitchen? Tackle one area for 30 minutes per day until the kitchen is completely organized. The fridge one day, the drawers another, then the spice cabinet… keep going until everything is the way you want it. If you feel up for a 60 minute organizing spree one day, go for it!

  Just remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day – and a home can’t be completely organized in a day either.

  3. You think it costs too much.

  It’s true that many organizing tools can cost heaps of money, but guess what – there are cheaper alternatives out there that you can use instead. You don’t have to go to a fancy organizing store and spend $100 on a few bins and small organizing gadgets. There are plenty of ways to organize your home for much less.

  The first place you want to look for organizing supplies is actually right there in your home. Glass jars, shoe boxes.. even empty egg cartons. These items are great for organizing items such as baking supplies, photos and jewellery.

  Most dollar stores also have a fantastic selection of organizing tools & supplies (I buy most of my small bins from there!). The quality of these products has actually improved quite a bit. So much so that sometimes I find that for certain products, the dollar store item is even better than what you would find from a big box store, such as Walmart!

  If you’re trying to get organized, the key is to start small. Organize one thing at a time, and remember to reward yourself for every project you complete!

  Organizing is not something that you do once and then forget about. If you want to live an organized life, you need to realize that organizing is a continual process and is something you will have to work at every day.

  Please share your favourite organizing tips in the comments.

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• How to Organize Bras: Reader Question

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  A reader recently sent in this question:

  Help! Do you have any hacks as to best store bras to save space? I have no room in my dresser, and no room in my closet to hang them. They are taking up so much room just sitting on my dresser.

  Do you have any ideas for this reader? Please share in the comments!

  Have a question you’d like to ask the readers of MrsJanuary.com? Send an email.

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• 50 Organizing Hacks That Will Improve Your Life

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  Organizing is a passion of mine and is something that I think can help everyone tremendously, which is why you will see me talking about it often on MrsJanuary.com. I think it’s important to live an organized life, because being organized is one of the best ways to save money – and I’m sure we can all agree that saving money is a good thing!

  Below you will find 50 organizing hacks that can help you keep it all together.

  Around the home:

  
  1. Use an over-the-door shoe rack to organize smaller items in your pantry.
  2. Store taper candles in empty paper towel rolls.
  3. Use storage ottomans to house throw blankets and extra pillows.
  4. Use bread tags to organize cords.
  5. Use an old tool caddy to corral art or cleaning supplies.
  6. Create a snack bin so that there are always snacks available when hunger strikes.
  7. Use an ice cube tray to store small jewellery, such as rings and earrings.
  8. Use plastic zip-top bags for organizing smaller items around your home.
  9. Take advantage of unused space under your bed and use under-bed storage containers to store extra blankets and pillows.
  10. Use wicker baskets for organizing just about anything. They look nicer than plastic and often last longer, too.
  11. Lazy Suzan‘s are your best friend. Use them everywhere.
  12. Use tension rods in cupboards to organize cutting boards and baking sheets.
  13. Store sheet sets inside corresponding pillowcases.
  14. Use clear storage containers for organizing, so you can see exactly what is inside.
  15. Rotate toys every few months to avoid toy overload.
  16. Keep all soccer balls, basketballs, etc. in a large mesh bag.
  17. Attach wheels to old drawers and use them as under-bed storage.
  18. Use a plastic storage bin with holes to organize ribbon.
  19. If you bake more than you cook, use a spice rack for sprinkles instead of spices.
  20. Use a cork board to hang necklaces and bracelets.
  21. Save space by storing your wrapping paper rolls on the ceiling.
  22. Attach a magazine holder onto the inside of your bathroom cabinet door to store your curling iron, hair dryer and/or flat iron.
  23. Screw a jar lid to the bottom of a shelf and organize desk supplies off of your work space.
  24. Use a serving tray to add additional storage for drinking glasses to your cupboard.
  25. Use old baking pans to group like items together in your pantry (we keep oils & vinegars in ours).
  26. Use a travel soap box to store card games.
  27. Turn a dish drainer into a file holder.
  28. Add a tension rod to the inside of one of your cabinets to hang spray bottles for cleaning.
  29. Organize your cupcake liners in a spaghetti jar.
  30. Instead of folding, roll your bath towels so that you can fit more of them in your linen closet.

  Reuse for another purpose:

  
  31. Reuse egg cartons to organize small items.
  32. Reuse glass jars for art supplies and pantry items.
  33. Reuse cereal boxes for magazine storage.
  34. Reuse cleaning wipe containers to hold plastic grocery bags.
  35. Reuse baby food jars to store spices.
  36. Reuse an old Tic Tac box to store bobby pins.
  37. Reuse pop can boxes to store soup cans.
  38. Make lined canvas bins from old diaper boxes.

  Everything else:

  
  39. Organize keys according to colour with key tags (or paint with nailpolish).
  40. Use Pinterest to organize your recipes and eliminate cookbook clutter.
  41. Purchase inexpensive organizing tools at the dollar store (most are decent quality).
  42. Plan weekly or monthly menus to save time and money at the grocery store.
  43. Keep a dry-erase board on your refrigerator to write down groceries you need to pick up the next time you go shopping.
  44. Use shoe boxes to store sentimental items.
  45. Hang your clothes hangers backwards and as you wear items and put them back, put them on the right way. In 6 months, donate anything that is still on the backwards hangers.
  46. Turn wire hangers into flip flop hangers.
  47. Set up a donation station and donate the contents when you’ve run out of room.
  48. Scan or take photos of your child’s artwork to prevent paper clutter.
  49. Use a cereal container as a trash bin for your vehicle.
  50. Organize batteries using a fish tackle box.

  Do you have any organizing hacks you can share? I’d really love it if you posted yours in the comments!

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• The Ultimate Home Management Binder Guide

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  In an attempt to get more organized this year, I have decided to revamp my current home management binder so that it functions better for our family. The first one that I made would sit, unused, on my desk for weeks because it wasn’t organized the way I needed it to be in order for it to really improve our lives.

  I spent a few weeks in December deciding what I wanted in my new binder and think I have come up with a plan that will work much better for our family going forward.

  What is a Home Management Binder?

  A home management binder is a one-stop shop for all of your family needs. It is filled with lists, charts and calendars for managing your home, your finances and your life. It is an invaluable resource for me and without it, I would be completely lost!

  How to Create a Home Management Binder: Supplies Needed

  • Binder (I currently use a 1-inch binder, but you can use any size you want)
  • Page Divider Tabs
  • Page Protector Sheets

  That is pretty much all you need to get started, however, you may also want to include a zippered pouch to hold a pen, pencil, highlighter, etc. or other items like sticky notes and baseball card holders (to hold business cards).

  How to Create a Home Management Binder: Binder Categories

  The number one question I am asked about my home management binder is what I keep inside of it. This is really a personal preference. Everyone’s binder is going to be different from the next person’s.

  With that said, here is a list of categories you may wish to include in your binder (I have bolded the categories that I am currently using):

  • Calendar (One for each month of the year)
  • Miscellaneous
  • Freezer Inventory 
  • Pantry Inventory
  • Stockpile Inventory
  • School Information/Schedule(s)
  • Master To-Do List (weekly, monthly, seasonally & yearly)
  • Monthly Budget
  • Contacts
  • Travel Checklist
  • Daily Docket (to-do list for the day)
  • Online Login Information
  • Important Date
  • Stock-Up Price List
  • Produce Buying Guide
  • In Season Produce Guide
  • Yearly Goals
  • Automobile Maintenance Schedule
  • Shopping List
  • Menu Plan
  • Favourite Recipes
  • Food Ideas
  • Gift List (to track gifts purchased through the year)
  • Mail-In Rebate Tracker

  I suggest grouping things together as much as possible, to keep things organized. Here are a few examples:

  Shopping > Shopping List, Stock-Up Price List, Produce Buying Guide, In Season Produce Guide
  Food > Food Ideas, Menu Plan, Freezer Inventory, Pantry Inventory, Favourite Recipes

  Tips For Using Your Home Management Binder

  In order to get the most out of this fantastic organizing tool, it’s very important to actually use the binder that you just created. This means you will likely open it up every single day.

  Here are a few tips to ensure you are getting everything accomplished that you need to:

  1. Make it easily accessible. You’re not going to use your binder if you don’t know where it is or it’s on the other side of the house and you don’t feel like going to get it. Keep your binder in the area of your home that you are in the most. For me, that’s my office, so my binder sits on my desk. A friend of mine keeps her binder on the kitchen counter. Wherever you decide to put it, make sure you’re able to grab it at a moment’s notice.
  2. Make it pretty. Okay, so this isn’t exactly necessary, but I find that the more plain and boring my binder, the more I don’t want to look at it. I added some colourful printables and cute binder cover and now I actually feel happy flipping through my home management binder.
  3. Re-evaluate often. Don’t create your binder thinking that it’s a one time deal and you won’t ever have to change the way that you use it. You should always go through your binder every 3 months or so and remove things that aren’t working for you (and/or add new things that you think may help). A new baby might mean a new category for tracking food intake and bowel movements (hey, some people like to track that kind of thing!). Your first family pet might require a pet sitting checklist.

  My home management binder is the one thing in our home that really helps keep us organized throughout the year. If you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to consider giving one a try.

  We have a wide assortment of free home management downloads for you to print and use in your binder.

  How do you organize your home/life? Please share your tips in the comments!

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• 5 Easy Ways To Get Organized

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  Get Organized.

  

  I’m not the only one constantly thinking about organizing this time of year – right? There’s just something about getting a fresh start in the new year that makes me want to de-clutter and organize every space in our home.

  I get so into it that I even offer to help friends and family organize their homes and most of the time they say yes because they “have no idea how to get organized“. My mom always tells me that she never knows where to begin because there is just so many areas in her life that need organizing.

  I’m here to tell you that changing your habits so that you can live a more organized lifestyle is not hard – it just takes a bit of discipline.

  Following are 5 easy ways to get organized.

  1. Set goals.
  Goals are always important when you want to accomplish something, so setting one or more organizing goals is a good first step.

  If children’s toys have taken over your home, one of your goals may be to find a good organizing system for those. Maybe you are always missing appointments and need to find a way to better organize your time. Whatever issues you have in terms of organization, set goals to fix them.

  2. Set up schedules and timelines.
  Setting goals is great, but if you don’t give yourself a deadline for completing them, it’s more like wishful thinking, because those goals aren’t likely to be met (not in a reasonable amount of time, anyway).

  Once you have set your goals, determine some dates for completing them and then schedule time once per week (or bi-weekly) to work on your goals, until they have all been met.

  3. Organize one thing at a time.
  Although it’s tempting to want to completely organize your entire home and life in one shot, it’s near impossible. Cramming too many organizing tasks into your schedule will leave you exhausted, overwhelmed and likely frustrated.

  Pick one organizing goal from your list and work away at that one until it’s completed. Then, move on to organizing task #2.

  4. Invest in quality organizing supplies (sometimes).
  Organizing supplies can be pretty expensive. The key is to know when to invest and when you can go a cheaper route.

  When it comes to organizing bins for small items, I always suggest going to the dollar store. They have a huge selection or bins available for a few dollars or less and they work just fine for many organizing projects.

  If you are looking for larger organizing bins and carts to store items such as clothing, art/paperwork, wrapping paper etc. – I highly recommend spending a bit more money and purchasing decent quality bins (Rubbermaid is my favourite brand). I have purchased cheaper bins in the past and have had many items ruined because the lids didn’t secure well enough and dirt or moisture would get inside.

  I also suggest investing in a good quality label maker. When it comes to organizing, labels are your best friend and you will need to make them often. Pick a label maker that will last you a long time (I use this label maker).

  5. Never stop organizing.
  If your plan is to get organized in general and not just to organize one particular space in your home, you need to realize that staying organized is a way of life. It’s something you will have to work at every single day. Of course, with time it becomes easy and like second nature. You just have to make it to that point.

  For example, in order to ensure that we have home cooked meals every night (well.. almost every night), I need to have an organized kitchen. This means that I need to make sure I put my dishes, cutlery, kitchen gadgets and small appliances back where they belong after I use them. I need to have labels in our kitchen cupboards so that my husband and helpful guests know where to put things when they are tidying up.

  Keep up with your organizing, because, trust me, it doesn’t take long for things to become unorganized and out of control again.

  There are so many benefits to being organized. Not only will your home be clean and clutter-free, but you will also save money by knowing where everything is in your home and knowing when your bills are due.

  The most important thing you can do is just get started. Tackle your smaller projects first and then move on to the big ones. This will ensure that you see progress and progress is one of the best motivators!

  I’d love it if you shared your organizing tips in the comments!

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• How To Organize & Store Christmas Items

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• 6 Things To Organize In The New Year

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  Many people put down “get organized” on their list of New Year’s Resolutions, and there’s a good reason for that – life goes by much smoother when you are organized.

  If you’re feeling overwhelmed – try not to. You don’t have to organize everything in your life at once. Becoming a more organized person is something that takes years and years of practice. It’s worth it though, I promise.

  Here are a few things you may want to consider getting organized in the new year.

  1. Finances

  If you haven’t yet created a budget, the new year is a great time to do so. Having a budget in place for your family is crucial if you want to live within your means, pay off debt and save for the future.

  2. Purse

  This is an item that tends to get cluttered rather quickly, especially if you have children and need to cram diapers, wipes, toys and a change of clothes in there. Make your daily outings go by smoothly with an organized purse or diaper bag.

  There are many great purse organizers on the market that can help you keep everything neat and organized, but the most important thing to remember is to keep like items together. For example, gift cards in one spot, cell phone in another, snacks in another, small toiletries (hand lotion, lip balm, etc.) in another, etc.

  3. Inbox

  It’s easy to end up with a messy and unorganized inbox if you ignore your emails for as little as one day – and it can seem overwhelming to dig yourself out of that giant heap of messages.

  Make it a goal to have a completely empty inbox every evening. When you decide to de-clutter your inbox, stick to the “read and react” system. Once you open an email, you have to read it and then decide what to do with it (delete, reply, or move to another folder to respond to later).

  4. Entryway

  Make your home feel welcoming when you first walk in the door by removing all unnecessary items. A mirror on the wall, a small-medium table, a shoe rack, floor mat and small-medium bench are really all you need. If you don’t have a hall closet, some simple hooks on the wall are a great way to organize jackets, bags and umbrellas.

  If you have quite a few items to corral by the front door, it may be a good idea to place a small dresser in your entryway. Fill the drawers with smaller items, hiding as much as possible to keep your entryway feeling clean and clutter free.

  5. Stockpile

  If you use coupons and have built a stockpile in your home, keep it under control by making sure that everything is organized. If you add items to your stockpile every week like I do, it doesn’t take long for things to get out of hand if you don’t have a strict stockpile organization system in place.

  Keep like items together, put new items at the back and keep an inventory of what you have on hand , so you don’t end up purchasing more than you need.

  I suggest going through your stockpile at least once per month – checking for items that may be close to expiration, and making sure to use them up or donate them to a local charity.

  6. Vehicle

  Start the year off right with an organized vehicle to take you from place to place.

  Nothing stresses me out more than getting into a vehicle and seeing a bunch of takeout containers, receipts and papers, stray toys, and a big mess of reusable bags taking up residence all over the floor.

  Have a bag handy for trash and empty it whenever you leave the vehicle. Keep an air freshener in your glove compartment and give a light spray every once in awhile to freshen things up (or hang an automobile freshener over your rear-view mirror).

  My friend Laura has some great tips for organizing your vehicle.

  I encourage you to choose at least one thing from this list to organize in the new year. I promise that if you do, your life will be much less stressful. It’s amazing just how much an organized space can change the way you feel every time you see it (in a good way!).

  A word of advice: If you do plan to tackle everything on this list, only attempt to do one thing at a time. Trying to do too much at one time is a surefire way to become overwhelmed and give up completely. Once you have completed one thing, move on to the next, and so on and so forth.

  What do you plan on organizing this year? Please share in the comments!

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• How To Organize Your Movies

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  Last month I was trying to find a movie to watch before bed. I pulled out our entire movie collection from where it was stored (in our buffet, located in the dining room) and became frustrated when I couldn’t find anything I wanted to watch, because everything was all mixed up.

  Comedies were mixed in with horror films, kids movies were mixed in with dramas – it was a mess. When I did finally find a movie that looked good, I became even more frustrated when I realized that the movie that was in the case was not actually the movie I wanted to watch.

  Needless to say, I didn’t watch a movie that night and the next day I set to work, organizing out movies.

  While there’s nothing wrong with having a large movie collection, there is a problem if you can’t find what you want because your movies are not organized. By organizing your movies, you are telling yourself that these items are important to you and you want to be able to find them when you need them.

  If you have a big stack of movies in your home that are in dire need of some organizing, this post is for you!

  Quick Sort
  When you begin organizing your movies, you first need to do a quick sort.

  A quick sort is when you go through your collection and make a “keep, toss or sell/donate” decision within 5 seconds of picking up an item.

  Carefully analyze the movies you currently own and decide if you really need to keep every last movie. If you don’t think you will watch it again, it needs to go. Is it really worth the real estate in your home to hold on to something that will never be used and enjoyed again?

  Decide How To Organize
  Determine a place in your home where you will keep your movie collection. Ideally, you want to keep them as close to the television as possible, but I know that that is not always do-able. For us, we have to keep our movies in our buffet in the dining room, because if they were anywhere near the television, Elliott would be able to get a hold of them and that would just be a disaster!

  Once you’ve decided where to store your movies, it’s time to figure out the best way to organize them. By genre, alphabetically… there are many ways – pick the one that works best for you. You may even decide to organize by genre AND alphabetically. Whatever is going to aide you in finding the movie you are searching for in the shortest amount of time – that’s the route you want to go.

  Bonus Tip: If you own DVDs, consider ditching the cases, and storing your movies in a large binder with DVD/CD sleeves.

  Keep Inventory
  If your collection of movies is very large, be sure to keep a complete inventory of the movies you own. This is handy for many reasons:
  1) Easily loan out movies to friends and family by sending them your list, instead of having them dig through your movies one by one.
  2) Prevent buying a movie more than once. When you find a movie you want to buy, you can quickly scan your inventory to see if you already own a copy.
  3) Easily provide your insurance company with your inventory. If your home is damaged or burglarized and your insurance company asks for an inventory the items in your home, this list will come in handy.

  Put Them Away
  Organizing any area in your home is relatively easy. The hard part is actually maintaining your system and making sure things are always organized.

  Be sure to put your movies away (in the right cases!) as soon as you are done using them. Make it a rule. It’s important that everyone in your house follows this rule if you want your movies to stay organized.

  

  Movie night is a fun event for many families (ours included), but the fun can only happen if you don’t end up getting frustrated going through your disorganized movie collection to find something you want to watch!

  Organizing your movies is one organizing task that really doesn’t take much time at all. Set aside an hour or so one day and go through your collection. Get rid of what you don’t want and organize what you do – then enjoy movie night with your family more often!

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• Home Management Binder Tutorial

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  Jen from I Heart Organizing shows you how to make a home management binder and my gosh, does her’s ever look pretty!

  Sometimes I consider buying a colour printer, just so I can make pretty printables like the ones Jen creates.

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• Creating Stations To Get Rid Of Clutter

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  What do you do when you come across something in your home that you no longer want? Do you throw it out? Take it to a local charity? Or perhaps you’re like most people and you just ignore it.

  It’s easier than you think to get rid of items in your home that you no longer want.

  There are 3 “stations” in our home for discarded items that I think may be helpful for you.

  

  For Sale Station

  (Our for sale station is in our basement, next to the stockpile donation station.)

  If you would like to try selling some of the items in your home, set up a “for sale” station.

  This can be anywhere in your home and items can be in plastic tubs or stored on shelves. Set aside time once per week to list and/or re-list the items you have for sale on Kijiji, Craigslist and/or eBay. If your items don’t sell within a reasonable amount of time, donate them.

  If you’d like to save all of your items for a yard sale, be sure to donate all items that don’t sell once your yard sale is over. If it didn’t sell one year, it’s not likely to sell the next.

  

  Donation Station

  (Our donation station is in a corner of our basement, but I just cleared it out the other day to take the items to the local thrift store, so here they are sitting in the dining room.)

  Perhaps you can’t be bothered with selling things, and would rather donate items you no longer need. That’s great! Set up a donation station in your home for storing these items until you can make it to the thrift store.

  Our donation station is in the basement, but you can keep yours anywhere that you will be able to see it often.

  Make a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly trip to drop of your donations. If your pile of items to donate grows larger than the container you are using to store them, drop the items off earlier. Don’t let the container overflow.

  

  Stockpile Donation Station

  (Our stockpile donation station is right next to our stockpile on a small shelf.)

  If you are often able to obtain large quantities of items with coupons (or even without), consider donating what you will not use to a food bank or shelter in your area.

  Dedicate a small location in your stockpile for items to be donated and once that area is filled up, deliver your donation and free up room in your stockpile (to collect more donation items, of course!).

  Having these 3 designated areas in our home has drastically reduced the amount of clutter we have. It also feels good to have a donation and for sale schedule as well, to make sure that these items actually make it out of the house.

  It’s not hard to find unwanted items in your home. I think I find a box full of stuff to get rid of every week or two. I don’t know how the stuff gets into our house in the first place, but if it’s not being used, out it goes!

  Do you have a for sale or donation station in your home?

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