Organized Chaos

We all have a closet or drawer that we cram random stuff into, piles of stuff that we need to deal with.  Sometimes, those piles accumulate more than we planned on.  After a while, the thought of cleaning it up gets overwhelming.  I'm pretty sure we have all been there.

I have spent the last two weeks helping a friend clean out their mess.  My friend was beyond overwhelmed with the tubs and tubs of paperwork he had not dealt with over the years.  He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named prefers to remain anonymous on this post.

In the tubs of paperwork, we found empty envelopes, unopened junk mail, unopened important mail, napkins, wrappers, receipts dating back to 1995, paper scraps, money, mold growing on files, balls that chime (no joke) and even a pair of baby-sized scissors.

It was a mess.

Here is a picture taken towards the end of week two.

For those of you who are wondering how to find your way out of this mess, I have some suggestions.

1.  Motivation and procrastination books do not work.  In this case, they just got buried with the rest of the junk.  I was even told, "Save that!  I'm going to read those!" by my hoarder friend.

2. Make lists and prioritize them.  I'd probably pick #4 to go first.

3. If you are not a naturally organized person, ask a friend to help you.  This would work best if you have an OCD friend (like me) who thinks organizing people's stuff is fun.  I know it is a sick and twisted trait, but it is the truth.  It brings me happiness.  Maybe you have someone like that in your life too?  Just know that if you have a friend help you will have to suck up your pride and get a sense of humor about it.

4. Reserve a day or a set of days to get to work.  Got a Saturday or Sunday you can stay home?  Perfect.

5. Find things to sort your piles of stuff into.  I have used bankers boxes (Walmart sells them by the 10-pack), paper sacks, and laundry baskets in the past.  You can sort files this way or even sort by which room of the house things will go to.  

6. If you are doing this at home alone on a Saturday, try to find a way to make it fun.  I like to bring everything to my living room and watch a chick flick (or two if I have that much stuff).  If I can't be in my living room, I listen to fun music or load a movie onto my iPad.  I usually pick a movie that I have seen a million times but still love (Pride & Prejudice or Bridget Jones' Diary are my usual picks) so that I won't be glued to the screen too much.

7. Set up a system you will be able to use. Be realistic.  Too often we make things too hard and it all goes right back to the way it was.  If you aren't going to file or deal with paperwork daily, put a basket somewhere to throw stuff in and promise yourself to get around to it one day a week.  Then do it.

My favorite thing about getting organized is that the rest of my life starts feeling more relaxed.  It's true!  When I get unorganized my thoughts start to scatter.  

Now if I could only get paid to organize for an actual job, that would be a great deal!

What is your favorite organizational tip?

Mrs. Priss
Using my OCD for the greater good like...

One Step Away From an Episode of Hoarders...Or so she says!

A month or so ago the housewives were texting back and forth. I don't know what started the conversation, all I know is I sent a picture of one of my many disorganized cabinets. It was this cabinet to be exact. 

Little did I know sending this picture would cause one of the housewives to panic and lose sleep. Yes, it stresses me out. Yes, I'm a little embarrassed when someone is over and I HAVE to open that particular cabinet to get a plastic cup or medicine or a spice. But, I didn't dream it would cause Priss such worry. Now that I know this, I will be texting her pictures of all my cabinets and closets.
Last Monday Priss called me to see what I was doing on Thursday and I informed her I had a friend from Texas coming over for the day. She then told me she was coming over Friday and we were going to go eat breakfast and then she was going to help me organize my cabinet. Who actually calls and wants to come help you organize?!? You see, Priss is an OCD, Type A lady. She's good at this organization stuff. 
Bless her heart. 
We ate a wonderful breakfast at Mom's Diner at German Corner and then we headed to my house where I preceded to open my cabinet. She said and I quote, "Holy S$*t!" If she had her inhaler on her I'm sure she would have started puffing. I think seeing it in person caused a minor panic attack. It didn't stop her. She started pulling stuff out of the cabinet. She kept pulling stuff out of the cabinet. All of my counters and bar were covered when she was done. My job was to go through all the medicine and get rid of the expired ones and then organize them. 

Priss then started asking if I had a shelf somewhere that we could make an "over-flow" shelf. I laughed. She looked in my so-called pantry.... every shelf looked like an overflow shelf. Then she wanted to look at the cabinets in my utility room. I laughed again. This is when she may or may not have had another minor panic attack. If I didn't laugh, I might cry. I seriously NEED more storage in my house. There's just not enough room for everything. You know what that means? It means I'm having to get rid of stuff. Honestly, it's okay by me. I've been wanting to really purge here for a long time. 

We honestly had fun cleaning my cabinets (right, Mrs. Priss?!). It may not look like it by the above picture, but I assure you, we had MANY laughs at my expense. I'm not too proud. :-) 
Now for the after pictures. Be prepared to be wowed. Every time I open a cabinet door, I am wowed! Not only did she organize this cabinet, she also organized the one over the stove, the one under the stove AND the pantry! I now have an overflow shelf! *Squeal* 

Notice my spices all organized in a caddy. Our medicine is divided by the people in our family and pain type pills and the cold/allergy pills that aren't used often are now in a different location. 

And, now for the pantry pictures.

I seriously say, on almost a daily occasion, how much I despise this pantry. It was so packed full that I never knew what I had. As a matter-of-fact, we got many laughs over how much salt and sugar I had. We had to throw away FIVE bags of trash, most of it expired food. SO SAD. 

I love, LOVE this girl. She's not only fun to vacation in Vegas with, but she is fun cleaning cabinets with as well. Thank you, Priss, from the bottom of my messy cabinets.

Priss and Me 

Here are couple of cards she managed to send me within an HOUR of leaving my house. 

Oh, by the way Priss, here's you a new picture.... a cabinet in my utility room. Just want to be sure and keep you motivated. *LAUGHING* 

~Mrs. AlbrightWorking hard to keep things organized, like.... 

P.S.  I feel the need to let everyone know that my cabinets and closet do not reflect my whole house. It's actually clean. Whew! There. I feel better. 

Manic Monday ~ Organizational Tips

It's just another manic Monday. I wish it was Sunday 'cause that's my fun day. I don't have to run day...
Life out here on the ranch BUSY!
While we don't have any cows to milk or chickens to feed we have four "ranch hands" to feed, dress & keep organized/on schedule. This job is about to throw me over the proverbial edge.
I am looking for organization tips. How do you keep your "ranch hands" organized & going along? We are having a hard time keeping up with the shoes much less lunch boxes, homework, practice gear...
Hold on, I'm getting stressed just typing it all.
Here is what I've learned from Organizing Okie Sisters {their website is no longer or I'd link them up}:


1. Pick-up, toss and donate. Place an attractive large basket with handles in a central location. Designate a separate container for each family member marked with their name. Keep the bins accessible, for instance on the stairs leading up to bedrooms or lined up in the hall near bedrooms.

Every evening before bedtime walk through the house with the handled basket and pick up everything left on the floor, on counters or draped over furniture.

Transfer the salvaged items from the handled basket into the owner’s bin. Make a rule that bins must be emptied before bed or the bin owner will lose a privilege. You can go even further and say that items left in their bins overnight will be donated to those in need. Be insistent and consistent about children putting away their things and disciplining appropriately for leaving items in their bins. Being responsible for one’s belongings and helping to maintain a clean environment is a very important behavioral lesson that teaches children respect for home and family.

2. Make sure that everything has a place. It is impossible for children to put their belongings away if there is no designated location. Make sure that there are plenty of shelves for books, drawers for clothes, bins for toys, hooks for bags, bathrobes, coats and hats. Putting things away should not be random; sometimes it goes here, sometimes it goes there. Everything needs a permanent home; board games always go in the closet, socks in the upper right hand drawer.

3. Set up hooks for coats and a bowl for keys. Inside the door where the family comes and goes, hang a labeled individual hook for each family member where he/she can hang a coat and backpack. A wonderful addition to the hook is a cubby placed underneath the hook for hats, mittens, lunchbox etc.

Place keys, sunglasses and cell phones in an attractive bowl close to the regularly used door and be sure to get in the habit of throwing all items into that bowl. Not searching around the house looking for the keys will save a lot of time and energy and reduce parental stress.

4. Children bring a lot of paperwork home from school. It is impossible to save and store it all. Choose a small representation of what the child is doing in school and toss the rest. We use a milk crate, 12 hanging file folders & label each one for each grade. K-12. It has been a life saver!

5. Do one load a day. Wash, dry, fold, and put away one load of laundry a day. As soon as a day is missed, the laundry starts to pile up and the work becomes overwhelming. Teach children how to sort their own laundry and put into appropriate laundry baskets. Get children into the habit early of picking up their clothes. Teach the children how to put away their own clothes in the appropriate place.

6. Hang a shoe tree on the back of the door that the family uses most frequently. Parents should insist that everyone hang their shoes as soon as they take them off. This eliminates the line of shoes scattered across the house and makes shoes easy to find as the family is scrambling to get out of the door. If the kids don’t hang their shoes, they lose the shoes or a privilege. Remind children consistently and the kids will begin to hang their shoes automatically.

7. Wipe down the bathrooms daily or the mess can become daunting; at a minimum put clothes in the hamper and hang wet towels. If the sinks, toilets, tubs and mirrors are quickly wiped clean daily there is less need for a massive and exhaustive cleaning. Make sure that the children have their own towel racks to hang wet towels on and hampers in the bathroom. If there aren’t enough towel racks the towels will end up being thrown on the floor and can’t be reused. Wet towels on the floor lead to extra laundry.

8. Sort the mail daily and immediately throw away all junk mail. Open the bills, remove the actual bill and return envelope, and throw away everything unnecessary remaining in the bill envelope. Place all bills in a folder marked “Bills to be Paid” and keep the folder next to the computer and/or checkbook. Keep a roll of stamps, plain white envelopes, a pen and a wastebasket within reach. Pay the bills on the same day every month.

9. Dispose of broken, empty and out of date items. Out of order telephones, obsolete computers and electronics, toys missing pieces, unused or out-of-date cosmetics, broken appliances etc. all need to be thrown away. Sometimes these items are stored in the hope of finding, fixing, mending, combining or selling. Often what happens is the useless item ends up gathering dust and taking up precious space. Throw away the unsalvageable and donate the salvageable. Take one Saturday every two or three months and go through the closets, drawers, attic and garage, collect the unused items and get rid of them.

10. Use a large calendar to reduce stress. Posting a large dry erase calendar in a central location allows parents and children alike to know what is coming up that day, week and month. The calendar should have everything posted so there are no surprises. Set a good example and be on time to appointments, school, events etc. Teach children that being even five minutes late is disrespectful to those who are waiting. Tardiness adds to anxiety and stress so being on time will help to calm down the household.

None of the above habits are difficult to implement. You don’t need to put everything in place at one time. Consider making one change every week. In a few months you will enjoy a more organized house.

What is your favorite organization tip? Please share. We need all the help we can get around here.

Here's to a peaceful Monday,
Mrs. Montgomery
Looking for an Assistant to Organize my House like a...