Well, since the kids have been sick for the last week or so and I've managed to get their cold, the house looked like a disaster this morning. So, I just finished a 100 Item Pick Up and it looks much better.
Here's how you play 100 Item Pick Up: You run around the house as quickly as possible and pick up anything that doesn't belong where it is -- the really obvious stuff. You have to pick it up with your hands and you can't put it down anywhere except where it belongs. As you pick up items, you count each item. When you're putting items away, you're looking for items to pick up. So, I'll pick up 5 toys in the livingroom (1-2-3-4-5) and take them to my son's room, where I notice and pick up two items of clothing that need to be washed (6-7) that I take into the laundry bags in the masterbedroom where I see an empty water bottle (8). On the way to the recycle bin, I pass through the kitchen where I find three more recyclables (9-10-11) that I drop into the recycle bin.
I can pick up and put away 100 items in about 30 minutes.
Now, the house is ready to vacuum and mop. I'd like to take some time this afternoon to work more on my filing too.
Here's how you play 100 Item Pick Up: You run around the house as quickly as possible and pick up anything that doesn't belong where it is -- the really obvious stuff. You have to pick it up with your hands and you can't put it down anywhere except where it belongs. As you pick up items, you count each item. When you're putting items away, you're looking for items to pick up. So, I'll pick up 5 toys in the livingroom (1-2-3-4-5) and take them to my son's room, where I notice and pick up two items of clothing that need to be washed (6-7) that I take into the laundry bags in the masterbedroom where I see an empty water bottle (8). On the way to the recycle bin, I pass through the kitchen where I find three more recyclables (9-10-11) that I drop into the recycle bin.
I can pick up and put away 100 items in about 30 minutes.
Now, the house is ready to vacuum and mop. I'd like to take some time this afternoon to work more on my filing too.
Plus, we have several Dora, Elmo, Baby Einstein DVDs that will eventually be able to hit the garage sale table.
BUT, I think we did do great, and are now on a roll in the right direction!
Ok, it was worse than even I expected. We have a full, unfinished basement. We have lived in this house almost 6 years. You could barely walk through this basement! We took 5 truck loads to the dump (and truck is still parked in backyard almost full and ready for the dump again)! I have a HUGE yard sale "area" now (Sept. 10 & 11). I took one day to organize Christmas decorations, wrapping, and misc. I bought 4 more rubbermaid bins before we started this. Now I have 8 empty ones! DH is still organizing his Christmas lights (picture the Target Christmas light aisle, MANY still in their Target boxes, brand new). We bought chrome industrial type rolling shelving for my grocery stockpile. We bought same chrome type cart sheleving for cleaning supplies (slides right next to washer). I have 3 over-sized plastic bins overflowing with things to eBay. So, we are still finishing up the basement, but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel now. 
It's a horrible catch 22. His room isn't organized, so he's not organized which makes his room worse. I will at least clear his floor over the next 36 hours. 
