We just finished a fun week with family for Christmas. Since we live near my parents, we stayed at home while the rest of the clan bunked with my parents. We had a great time, but our house is upside-down from running back and forth without paying attention to keeping anything clean. I'm afraid that's a bit how my life felt all year long--kind of chaotic and out of control. It's time to get things back in order for the new year. If you're ready to get things in order as well, here are some ideas to get you -- and your kids -- started to a more organized 2016. Let's get organized!
I know. The post says 2016, and the image says 2018. That's because it's a new year, and I've updated this post to add a few new ideas.
Organizing Kids
If your children have trouble keeping things clean, maybe they have too much stuff. This idea really helped us a few years ago, and it's time to do it again: How Getting Rid of Toys Made Us a Happier Family.
Because sometimes having too much really is the cause of the problem, I think we need to go through and do this every year. And guess what? I think the grown ups need to go through their "toys," too!
What about your kids' bedrooms? Do you have a bunch of pack rats, like I do? Help your kiddos understand how to manage the clutter with these great tips: Decluttering Tips for Kids. Once they know how to declutter, help them keep things clean with part two of my decluttering tips: Keep Kids From Becoming Pack Rats!
If you are lucky enough that your kids rooms don't get out of control, all you need is this simple three-step room cleaning plan. I hope to get to this point again very, very soon: How to Teach Kids to Clean Their Rooms.
We use these fun tips to keep the kids' drawers organized: Organizing Kids Dressers with Drawer Dividers, and The Best Trick to Keep Kids Drawers Neat!
If your kids are Lego fans, I feel your pain. Legos everywhere, right? This year we tamed our Lego disaster with these two hacks that I wish I had thought of years ago! Check out our DIY Lego Tray, and How to Turn Any Surface Into a Lego Table in Minutes!
To add to the theme of taming the toys, check out how we store our puzzles. Easy Puzzle Storage (You won't believe how many puzzles I fit into one small space.)
Organizing Adults
You know what? I think a lot of the same things that apply to the kids apply to adults as well. As I type this, I'm looking at my computer desk, which is totally out of control! We have this great family computer station, but I can't even see the top of the desk. It's time to prioritize and put a little more focus into cleaning the house!
These 10-minute Tidy Lists were originally created for my kids. Maybe I need to adapt one for myself. My printable is editable, so I think I'll create a "Mom" quick list to make sure that I keep up with my own daily tasks. You can make one for yourself, too!
Are you great at keeping track of your grocery list? I used to be, but now my list is just as crazy as my life. Sometimes I remember to write things down, but often, I forget. I'm going back to my favorite printable grocery list!
Be Happy and Adapt
The other big change I'll be making in 2016 has to do with One Creative Mommy. I've realized that a lot of the craziness in my life stems from my priorities being way out of balance. My blog is really fun, and I love it, but I have put way too much time into the virtual world and not enough time into the real one.
This year, I'll be spending a lot less time blogging about making my home and family great and lot more time actually making my home and family great. I'll quit talking about it and spend more time doing it!
My hubby and I thought about moving to a bigger home, but we've decided to embrace our smaller home and make it work better for us. I hope to share some great ideas, but I'll be focusing more on creating great spaces than creating great pictures. Life will be about life--not about the blog.
As you think about what's been making your life crazy this year, I hope you'll take the time to step back and think about refocusing your priorities as well. Here's to a fantastic 2016 (and 2017)!
Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you'll stick around and check out some more great ideas. Visit the posts below by clicking on the images.
linda spiker
Ah....I needed this! Thank you, it came just at the right time!
Heidi
I think we all need organization ideas right now, Linda! Here's too a clean slate in 2016!
Lillian Randall
Such a lovely and helpful post! I definitely need to make some plan for the year ahead and your tips and suggestions are great! Although I''m a professional cleaner, organizing the whole cleaning process is not that easy when you have three boys at home. Love your 10-minute tidy lists and my sons don't mind using this system too. Thank you for sharing all this nice ideas, have a great year! Greets, Lillian :)
Heidi
Thank you, Lillian. Have a great year as well!
Nell
My mom says that getting organized is the key to a better memory as it helps in better retrieval of information compared to a messy setup of not caring about stuffs but once you associate them with better organization everything becomes a charm. :D Happy 2016 (✌ﾟ∀ﾟ)☞
happy wheels
Great!! Very interesting and useful information. Thanks for sharing & bookmarked it!