I need your best organizational tips!!!

[DisneyAddict_M]

The clutter in my apartment is starting to scare me. I just don't have the time to do anything it seems. I work Monday through Thursday 8:30-5:00. My commute is 1 1/2 hours each way. I'm a single mother and I'm homeschooling my 5 year old daughter for kindergarten this year (luckily, she'll be in public school next year. ). Basically, I have no time to breathe.

We live in a pretty small 2 bedroom apartment. We both have more clothes than we need...some of the clothes is stuff we never wear. The same with shoes. Our apartment is also currently being overrun with my daughter's toys. She could open up her own toy store. Most of the toys are in the living room, because she has a very small bedroom. This makes my living room look like crap. There are paid bills everywhere...along with tons of other paper clutter.

It's crazy. I haven't seen the top of my kitchen table in months! I just don't know where to put anything! I'm thinking of getting some of those big plastic bins like they sell at Wal-Mart (or Target if you prefer ). I know I should get rid of some of my daughter's toys, but I get very nostalgic about things like that. I should just snap out of it lol.

Anyway, I need some organizational help! Mostly with finding time to organize everything!

What do you do to keep things neat and tidy?

 

[threeboysmom]

Honestly, if you have that much stuff, it's time to LET GO! Looks like you have 3 major categories to deal with: Clothes, Toys, and Papers. Start with what is most important to you. Personally, I'd start with the toys because that is what you see all over the floor and that will be what is affecting your mood. Get the toys in order and you will feel better and more motivated to then tackle the clothes and the papers.

First, you say you are nostalgic about all of them, but you have to let them go. You live in a 2-room apartment, and you're not doing any favors to your daughter by allowing her to keep so many toys.

Is there a friend or family member that your daughter could go to for the day (Friday on your day off) while YOU go through her toys. Don't do it with her. She'll beg for each and every toy. Trust me

Next, get 2 BIG boxes - one for Goodwill (or throw away) and one for things you're not sure you can get rid of just yet...

Pick out 5-10 of her absolute FAVORITES and BOX UP THE REST!! Just make yourself do it. Take that Goodwill box and put it in your car RIGHT AWAY. Other box can hopefully fit in a closet somewhere.

Start there. Let me know how it goes!!

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

Thanks! That's the kind of motivation I need! lol. My daughter is with her father every other weekend, so that would be the perfect time to do it. I just keep thinking, "Awww, I got this for her when she was just a baby." or "so-and-so got her this, I can't get rid of it." lol. I just won't think about that anymore and bite the bullet.

 

[mickeyboat]

Don't forget the tax deduction you may get for donating those items! My kids are savers, and I have just told them "we can't save everything!"

Denae

 

[eddad]

Tip #1.....Get married

Tip #2.....let them handle it

seriously I'm so bad if it weren't for DW I would be buried.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

Tip #1.....Get married

Tip #2.....let them handle it

seriously I'm so bad if it weren't for DW I would be buried.

That probably wouldn't help. I would BE the DW! My boyfriend may move in sometime next year (Spring maybe)...and he's worse than I am! Ack!

 

[eddad]

How about tubs? And a Stencil gun?And a friends BIG basement? or Salvation Army. just throwing things out there.

 

[stemikger]

Basically, you have to let it go (throw it out). Give yourself a scheduled time to put everything in piles. My rule of thumb is if you haven't worn it in more than a month it gets thrown out. Pick out seven shirts, five pairs of pants and no more than five pairs of shoes. Do this for summer and winter clothes. Also one nice suit.

As far as the kitchen table. Go to staples and buy a file folder. You really don't need to save that many papers. Put everything important into this file folder in alphebetical order, the rest gets shreaded. The billils that come through the mail you will put a small box for incomming mail. My incomming mail box is in the kitchen. You could also put your wallets, keys and cell phone in this box when you come home. You will always know where they are when you are ready to go out. Clean out all closets, drawers and anyplace else that has clutter. Everything has to have a place. Buy bins and label them if you need the extra space. But you really shouldn't need that many, because you should be throwing most everything out.

The key is to throw out everything you don't need (which is most of the stuff). After this initial cleansing, you do this on a weekly basis to keep it that way. That is all. It is very liberating when you don't have STUFF cluttering up your life.

You will find your mind we be less cluttered when you do this. This type of clutter definitely affects the way you live your life and letting it go will make you much less stressed.

Good Luck.

 

[Temair]

What I find helps is to have a place for everything, and everything in its place. My DD likes to leave stuff all over the house so I created a 'lost and I keep' pile. If she wants anything from the pile I charge $0.25 per item. She can also earn things back by keeping the house and her room tidy. The money goes into my disney fund.

For stuff you that has meaning get some big rubbermaid tubs and store things in there. Either in an attic or garage. You can also store out of season clothes that way as well. Thin out the closest and keep only about 7 outfits. That way you only have to do laundry once a week.

Hope these help.
Temair

 

[Chicago526]

The best way to start is just to pick a room. Once you pick a room, pick an area of that room (desk, table, closet, toy chest, etc.) Work on THAT area, get the stuff organized/thrown out/donated, and do not start on another area until that one is done. Once done, KEEP IT THAT WAY while you pick another spot in that room. Once the room is done, pick another room and another spot.

If you try to get everything done all at once your just exhaust yourself and give up halfway through, making an even BIGGER mess in the process. And organize things in a way that makes sense to you, and complements the way you live your life. For example, I tend to put the mail down on the first flat surface I find near the door. So I made that flat surface the mail organizing area: Junk, bills, notices, and personal letters and invitations. Don't try and change your habits too much, you'll do it for the first three days and then revert back to your old ways!

 

[mickeysgal]

You mentioned that you don't have a lot of time. Organizing takes time. What I would suggest is to do things in 10 minute chunks of time. When you look at a whole room that needs to be organized, its so overwhelming and time-consuming that you may tend to put it off until you have more time - which you'll never have (we never do!). Doing things slowly, every day, for 10 minutes each session will keep it manageable and you'll see improvement little by little.

Good luck!

 

[golfgal]

I operate on the "if I need it again later I can always buy it again later" principal. I have yet to rebuy something I tossed out. It makes it much easier to throw things. For the baby things, I got a smaller tote and only put my absolute favorites in that, once it was full, too bad.

 

[Imzadi]

Two great organizing sites:

Organizedhome.com

Getorganizednow.com

Basically, right now, you are paying rent for prime real estate to use your apartment not as a home, but as a big STORAGE facility for stuff you don't even use. Those items you don't use and are nostalgic about are costing you a lot of money by storing them. Is it worth it? EACH item you store is costing you in the way of money, space that could be used as a calming sanctuary, and costing you & your daughter emotionally.

One tip for I learned from one of the organizing websites to keeping your momentum going is:
Do the task where you will see the most satisfying, and instantaneous results IMMEDIATELY!" Start with areas that will make the biggest VISUAL (and therefore emotional) impact first.

Example: Most people tackle the closet first, thinking that needs to be cleared out so they can put stuff back in it better. But you don't really SEE the closet much in the end once the door is closed. Meanwhile people are tripping over a pile of clutter in the livingroom.

Instead of clearing out a closet, clear out the bookcase or the section of the living room, that every time you pass by, you can't help but notice how much stuff has been tossed out. You see a nice empty spot that you can be proud of! It will keep you motivated to continue onto another project, instead of overwhelmed as you can actually see the progress.

Also, read this excerpt: One Thing at a Time: 100 Simple Ways to Live Clutter-Free Every Day. It teaches how to declutter even when you don't have much time.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

Wow, thank you all SO much! I really appreciate it. I can't wait to begin tackling this huge project lol. Thanks again!

 

[Nancyg56]

I am a packrat and was getting overwhelmed by all of the stuff that was all over the place. I use Flylady.com and it has helped me. You can do anything in 15 minute blocks of time. Good Luck!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I don't see it suggested yet, but I'm going to recommend www.flylady.net There's lots of good information on that site . You can sign up for e-mails, but that gets overwhelming, so I wouldn't if I were you. If you do, have them go into a separate folder so they are not in your general e-mail.

I would also get rid of a lot of the younger toys. If you'd like, keep a few things. I need to go through our toys (again). I am going to keep a bin of baby toys and a bin of toddler toys. We have the storage space and I like having those toys for when we have visiting children. Also, it gives me a chance to keep some of my favorite things (I get very attached to things) and my oldest is in college so I'm not that far away from grandchildren).

Good luck getting organized. It's something I struggle with all the time.

Oh, one more thing. My bedroom has become my dumping ground and I hate it!!! My mother is a big packrat and I don't ever want to turn out like that and I'm going to spend a week with her in early December and I am going to come home from that trip and devote a week to cleaning out my bedroom. I know that I will be extremely motivated at that time (after seeing her mess of a junk room ). Hey, whatever works to motivate me!

 

[binny]

also dont forget websites like www.freecycle.com


You wont get the donation credit but people can come right to your house and pick things up.


Boise has a bargainhunter website. Maybe go to www.Yahoo.com and see if you have any yard sale or sale sites in your area.


Im going to bump up our organizational post that we had going a while back there are some great tips on that

 

[mickeysgal]

I would also get rid of a lot of the younger toys. If you'd like, keep a few things. I need to go through our toys (again). I am going to keep a bin of baby toys and a bin of toddler toys. We have the storage space and I like having those toys for when we have visiting children. Also, it gives me a chance to keep some of my favorite things (I get very attached to things) and my oldest is in college so I'm not that far away from grandchildren).

Tigger&Belle, its funny that you mentioned this. We were organizing DS10's closet one Friday evening (don't we know how to have a good time?) and the things that I thought that he should keep (because I was attached to them or thought he was attached to), weren't even things he wanted to keep. He was willing to part with a lot more than I would have guessed. I still kept a few things from the kids' baby years that I had sentimental attachment to.

In this case, it worked to involve him. Involving the child in the sorting process can backfire also - they may not want to give up anything!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

mickeysgal, I can't involve my 6yo because he wants to keep everything! My older kids are fine at getting rid of things, but my 6yo gets attached to everything, even a piece of paper. So I have to get rid of things when he's not around. My DH is the type who doesn't get attached to hardly anything, so he doesn't get this emotional attachment and I suppose I'm glad he's this way. It's a good balance, but can be an issue when I drive him crazy.

 

[Mom2Ashli]

I need to take back my house also. DD has WAY TO MUCH STUFF. And it seems to be in every room of my house.