Foul!

My personal opinion is that everybody needs a junk drawer. 
However, with that said - junk drawers must be occasionally de-junked to prevent things from getting FOUL! 

The junk drawer pictured above is MY junk drawer - FOUL!. 
It has great organizational foundation - but lacks follow-through.  
It's time to JUNK the JUNK!

Apartment Therapy has steps for easy follow-through: click HERE .

AND check out these beautiful junk drawers!

What is in your junk drawer?

March Madness Continues...with the Garage

BEFORE

How does it get this bad?

They look so innocent don't they?

Here's the After:

TODAYS challenge:  Tackle your Garage!

Leave a comment and let me know how it goes.

The Ball is in Your Court

My new blog-friend Melissa is guest-posting for us today!  She has been using routines in her daily life for years!   I love how she mentions how we must change our routines as we go thru different stages in our lives.
My Morning Routine

Sometimes when I say I have a morning, afternoon, and evening routine, people look at me like I am an organized freak. NOT SO! If I was organized, I wouldn't need those routines. I use the morning routine to get my day started on the right path. If I don't have something to direct me, I find I do nothing.

My sister tells me that she can't do a routine cause it gives no room for the spur of the moment things that come up. I think it is the opposite. Because I have my routine, I am ready when those things happen. Like having my Granny come over and setting to chit chat for a hour or so. When I am done visiting, I can get right back to where I left off. No stress, No wandering trying to figure out what to do next.

My morning routine has been redrafted more times than I can remember. I became interested in a morning routine in High School. I never put it down on paper but I had a magazine article that I tore out of my moms magazine...Sorry Mom. 

It did its job for a high school girl, but when I got married, things changed. When I had a baby, things changed. Now that I have 3 kids and one in school, I have had to change it again. This is my current routine:

Morning Routine
Rise and Shine
a. Make your bed as soon as you get out of it
b. Wake the kids: Get them started on their morning routine
c. Gather Dirty Clothes from upstairs bin
d. Start a load of laundry
Kitchen
a. Start breakfast.
b. Put dishes away.
c. Feed the family (including yourself).
Bathroom
a. Go into the bathroom.
b. Brush Teeth
c. Shower and clean the bathroom while you are in there.
d. Fix your hair and face.
e. Get dressed shoes and all.
Think About Your Day
a. Check your calendar.
b. Make your list of what you are going to do today
c. Thaw something for dinner.
d. Put laundry in dryer.
e. Hit the hotspots. If you did your B.B.R. there will not be any.
Now Think About Yourself
a. Pray and Read scriptures.
b. Exercise.
c. Now reward yourself with some computer time. Check your e-mail.Blog.
d. Find time for a little scrapbooking, reading, card making, etc.


I enjoy having routines. It is all part of the building process. One Block at a time!

Thanks for inspiring us  Melissa!

Todays Challenge: Fine-tune your Routines!

 

Full Court Press

Do you ever think that everyone in your house is against you ?

I've felt that way on many-a-Monday-morning after everyone leaves for school!  I look around at the "week-end" house and I want to crawl under my covers and hide.  BUT I've learned when I do finally crawl back out of the covers - everything still looks the same (or worse).  SO most Mondays I put on some music and focus on one zone at a time - determined to get my little team on my side next time.

Today's "March Madness" Challenge is the computer area! 
Let's whip that area into shape by hashing , stashing & trashing! 

 Leave me a comment or better yet - blog about it and show us your before and after pics - I'll post my AFTER pics when I'm done! 

Go Team!

The Key Position

Nothing can stress a family MORE than looking for misplaced KEYS!  Today's game plan in our March Madness quest is to clear our KEY clutter.

It's been quite a while since I've gone thru my "key drawer".  It's in a handy place next to the front door, but it has become ineffective because of all the EXTRA JUNK that has accumulated there. This is what I just dumped out:

As you de-clutter , be sure to distinguish between keys used every day and keys rarely used.   While a kitchen or laundry drawer might be a great place to store rarely used keys,  everyday keys should be kept near the front door, hanging or in a cute dish. 

Ever since a "teen driver" was added to the driving mix in our home - key's have been a bit of an issue. Expensive "electronic keys"  have made it impossible to have a complete set of keys for each driver.  Instead we've had to share a set of keys for each vehicle. 

Here are some KEY ideas!

  

 

Click HERE  to read "7 Steps to never hunt for your keys again!" by Organize Anything.

Tip Off

Today is our tip-off for March Madness!  Hope you're joining in the game.  We're off on a mad adventure to plan ahead and put things order! 

Our first play starts in the Kitchen.  The goal is to get rid the excess and put necessities back where they belong! 

Start with the plastics - how many little plastic containers do you really need?  I like to use rubbermaid baskets to give me a limit.  I can only have as many as the basket will hold.  I use this method a lot - for plastic cups, lids,...mail.  When things start popping over the top, I know I need to start sorting and trashing.  The buckets also give the items a home, which makes it easier for the rest of the family to return items to their proper location when emptying the dishwasher.
I use two baskets - one for lids and one for the containers!  I think it's about time for me to toss these and get a new set!  I've been eyeing the one's with the red lids.

Next move onto your spices, then to your cookie cutters, cereal bowls, condiment packets, coupons, ... whatever is accumulating in your kitchen!  Be strict with yourself - purge all the extras - make your kitchen drawers and cupboards feel light again!  We only want to own what we use and take care of the things we own!  We can only do this if what we own is manageable!

Let the madness begin!!

Don't forget to leave me a comment and let us know how your kitchen is coming along!

March Madness!

I've seen the report: The 2010 NCAA March Madness begins this Sunday when college basketball team match-ups are announced. The national championship is then determined during a month-long battle of skill, determination, and dazzling performances.

Let's follow the NCAA's lead and take a shot at our own month-long endeavor.It will take OUR skill, determination, and dazzling performance!


March seems to be a calm before the storm. Our schedules seem to lighten up just a bit before the crazies of spring break, the end of school, and summer vacation. Let's take advantage of this time, and work like "mad-women" this month to, prepare, plan ahead and put things in order!


Don't be left on the sidelines, join me for the MARCH MADNESS challenge! Leave a comment and let me know whose in the game!
                                    

Free-Day Friday

Congratulations to MelBlocks!

E-mail me at

justorganizeyourself@gmail.com

and I'll send your

Menu Planner, Project Tracker, Pouch Organizer, & file folders!

Congratulations to ALL who worked so hard this week!

I hope you continue on the path of an organized peaceful life, one step at a time
and keep an eye out for another Free-Day Friday very soon!

Now on to March Madness!

Storm Watch!

Ever feel like your life is a constant whirlwind of activities?

Much like the destruction violent weather causes is the damage to our homes and our families when we get too busy. Homes get trashed, family members struggle, and schedules get out-of -whack.

We must guard ourselves and our families from the storms of busy-ness - especially when it takes us away from things that matter most! A wise man once said, "It's not enough to do things, we must do the right things."

The next task in our 2 week get-ourselves-under-control plan is to STOP the Storm of busy-ness and re-focus our lives on the right things, the things that matter most.

Here are some ideas:

• Cancel Something! While your trying to re-claim your time and get yourself under control, you might need to post-pone, re-chedule or cancel some commitments or appointments. Is it really going to matter if you re-schedule that teeth cleaning until next month?


• Be Deliberate on what you spend your time on. Check your priorities. Are you spending the majority of your time on your highest priorities. Schedule the important things and follow through. Don't let outside activities or commitments to determine how you spend your days.


• Say No! Say No to outside tasks until you get a chance to feel caught up.
  Remember - when you say YES to someone OUTSIDE of your family - you say NO to someone INSIDE your family


• Slow Down! Be aware of each activity your involved or task your performing. Force yourself to stop hurrying. It's okay to get less done - the tasks will never end. Enjoy the journey rather than rush thru to the finish line.


• Simplify! Get rid of clutter, get rid of unfinshed projects that don't add to your happiness. Just because it's cute or a cool thing to do doesn't mean you need it or need to be involved in it. Just because something is a good buy or on-sale doesn't mean we need to buy it! Everything we bring into our home comes with another price - upkeep and storage. Why is it so tempting to bring more and more into our homes? It just gives us more and more to clean, rearrange and store.


• Delegate! You don't have to do it all! Write down all your family members names on a piece of paper and divide up the tasks. Working together is one way to happiness in family life.

And last of all...
Never forget that a calm, peaceful MOTHER is a first step to a happy home.

Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you did to calm the storms and stop the busies in your life. Get your name in our Free-Day Friday Give=Away!