3 Tips for Organizing Your Home

With children underfoot, it's easy for the house to get unorganized. If you are a stay at home mom or work at home mom, the job can multiply because the family is home for most of the day. Kids are not in daycare for half the day, and your not at a "real job" where the house is empty. Areas of the house can easily get out of hand when there's always a house full of people to mess it up.

The following are three quick and easy tips to help you start tacking the job of keeping a more organized house. The idea is not to change your routine overnight, but slowly work your way into habits you'll stick to. On average, it takes 21 days to make a habit stick. So chose your plan carefully so you can stick to it!

1. Spend 15 minutes daily picking up
Set a specific time of day when you have just 15 free minutes to start in. It's amazing how much you can get accomplished in this amount of time. This can be as simple as right before bed time, while kids are taking baths, while you are cooking supper, etc. The idea is to pick a short time and stick with it.

2. Tackle one room at a time
An overview of the house can be scary. Don't feel as though you need to organize the entire house at once. Pick just one room to start with, and go from there. It helps to pick a certain day you always have free to organize that particular room. Sunday is always our best day to do things, since the whole family is usually there to help.

3. Motivate with Music
Need a bit of a push to get started? Put on some up-beat music to get you moving. No one is looking, dance around if you need to! You can accomplish much more if you are in good spirits. This idea works best if your "15 minutes of cleaning" is done during school hours when no one else is in the house. If you are cleaning and organizing as a family, take turns picking the music so everyone stays motivated.

These are just three quick tips to help you get started. From here you can pick up your own routines, schedules, and other ideas for getting motivated. The longer you stick with a plan, the more it becomes a solid habit, and the more organized your house stays.