[maria4040]

Just wondering how you ladies with young children still at home manage to get everything done during the day. I have a 2, 4 and 6 yr old and the last 6 months have become very unorganised for some reason, so now I am thinking my whole home needs a complete declutter and sort. I am so busy and only have the couple of hours during the day that the baby sleeps to myself, and so I think I will start to do sometime but feel overwhelmed where to start.

Its things like the linen cupboard needs sorting out, the kitchen cupboards the same, as well as general cleaning etc etc. I spend most of my time with my kids and because they are still young I am finding it difficult to time manage. Do you have any routines that have worked for you, please any replies would be wonderful.

[QueenAngie]

Ever hear of the Fly Lady? She has great organizational skills.

One tip is to have a 29 Fling every day.
Grab a garbage bag and quickly run through the house throwing
away 29 items.
Place directly in the trashcan outside.

29 x 7 = 203 less items in your own home in 1 week.

You can teach your children to help pick up too.
Play the pick up 10 things game.
Everybody puts 10 things (toys, shoes) where they belong.

Another thought is to clean out 2 drawers every day.
Can be 2 shelves, or 2 cupboards.
By the end of the month, you have sorted through 60 drawers & shelves & closets.

That's a way to start organization. Baby steps.

[pattiewrites]

I have four little ones and I work from home. I know exactly how you feel. The house gets cluttered all the time. I did a sort and declutter. Well, I'm still in the process, but it's getting better. Take one area or room at a time. Declutter and either throw away or donate what you don't really need. Once you get started, it feels so liberating to get rid of stuff. The process will take several weeks, if you have a large home or a lot of stuff. Once the place is decluttered, keeping it neat is much easier.

[twinzplus3]

Ditto--I have 5 little ones, homeschool and work from home. I love fly lady. . . I get the kids to pitch in as they are able. (They have their own thing fling--I put away 29 things and each one of my kids has a number of things too).

I always do dishes and laundry and all else is debateable. Honestly, my kids will not remember my immaculate home but they have oodles of fond memories of building tents in the living room, play outside, and other stuff we do with them. I tell myself that when I'm tempted to be overwhelmed.

[mommartin]

I would agree with the others. Start with one room or an area and once that is done move on to the next.

[gfranke]

I think the first thing I would do is sit with the clutter for few minutes and figure out what patterns are creating it (too much junk mail piling up? Kids dropping their stuff right inside the door?). Next, I would take a look at the patterns and determine which ones really need changing or can realistically be changed and which ones you can live with. Then, think of ways to change the ones you can't live with. However, in the short term, I would probably do this alongside or secondary to getting things decluttered initially and getting your stress level down, definitely.

Gretchen
www.bin-buddies.com