Do You Have a Command Center?

Happy Monday!  For many it is a holiday, off from work for President’s Day along with the kids.

Quick question, have you ever wished for one central spot to keep the kids and you organized?  I mean besides the pile on the kitchen counter or table when the kids unpack their bags from school?  Maybe you have a basket where everything gets dropped?

If you are like me, usually something gets lost in the “pile”.  Or something never makes it to the pile so it never gets done.  What if you had one spot for everything?

Does your refrigerator look like this?  Notes and lists everywhere.  Mine isn’t this neat and as a result, you guessed it, things get lost.

As women, we need to fulfill many roles and take care of many responsibilities in our families.  Everyone looks to us to keep them on track.

A Control Center is the communication center for your family where you keep track of all activities, as well as the plan for managing your household. It is in one central location so everyone knows the plan.  Each control center may be different BUT the common elements are:

Calendar:  to keep track of appointments, doctor’s appointments, music lessons, sports practices/games and family social events.  We have one on the fridge but the information never seems to make it past my planner or the calendar on our phones.

Meal Plan – A weekly meal plan will not only help you get dinner on the table but will save you time and money as well.  Since it is just hubby and I, there is not meal plan.  LOL.  I cook on Monday and Tuesday for the week for him and freeze.  A meal plan allows the kids to pitch in and help to get things ready.

Grocery List – Keep a grocery list on your fridge so you can mark when you are about to run out of items.  We use a wipe board and add to it as needed which is a HUGE help when it comes time to grocery shop.

Kid Plan – Chore charts and lists with morning, afternoon and evening routines will help to keep kids on track.

Household To Do List – Keep a list of home projects to be done such as seasonal cleaning and repairs.  

This is also a good spot for Emergency information for babysitters.  A list of phone numbers for neighbors is good to in case your children need to call them.

The Oh Snap Pockets by Thirty One are perfect for kids papers or to keep forms handy.  They can be personalized for tasks or for individuals OR you the chalk front which is easily wipeable to change as needed.  The Oh Snap Bins are great for keys or your cell phone.

The key to a successful system is to keep it as simple as possible.  Too many steps or ‘over-organizing’ can be a waste time.  Choose your most basic, essential needs and skip unnecessary elements.

Not a lot of space, how about the NEW Hang-It Pocket Organizer.  Get organized in the mudroom, office or playroom with this five-pocket organizer.  It can be tied on a door or hung on the wall. Extra-roomy pockets are great for craft supplies, file folders or even kids’ toys. Pair it with our Wall Together collection for the ultimate wall storage solution!

Printables are courtesy of The Peaceful Mom.  Be sure to check out her blog for more tips, tricks and printables.

My essentials in our control center is a calendar and the grocery list.   Choose what works for you.  What would you include?

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Low Cost Organizing Tips

Let’s get organized….I may be showing my age but I am humming those words to the tune of Olivia Newton John’s “Let’s Get Physical”.  Anyone out there remember it?

Getting and staying organized isn’t easy.  The new school year has started and the organization plan you had in place for the first week may already be a little off track, right?  All of those pretty pictures on Pinterest look great but sometimes they just aren’t functional for us, in real life.

So, if you’re struggling to conquer clutter once and for all, here are some simple organizing tips to help you get started.  I know and so do you getting organized at home can be easier vowed than done. But even if you’re short on time (and budget), there are dozens of ways you can get your house in order. Here are some low-cost organizing tips; many of them are environmentally friendly, too!

#1 Keep a tray or basket on the kitchen counter where kids can drop off permission slips and adults can put mail requiring immediate action. A second tray can handle lower-priority paperwork.

#2 Don’t waste time constantly topping up cereal-sized food storage containers with dog or cat kibble. Use a metal trashcan to store one bag at a time in rodent-proof style.

#3 Use a recharging station to keep your cell phone, MP3 player and other portable device cords untangled and your gadgets fully charged.

#4 Can’t find fresh garlic or onions? Keep them in clean knee-high nylons. Hang in a cool, dry place.

#4 Post a sheet of paper (or use a wipe board) on the fridge to note groceries and supplies needing replenishing. On grocery day, just grab the sheet and go.

#5 Use small jam jars (or baby food jars) to hold cotton swabs, balls and other essentials inside your bathroom vanity drawers.

#6 A stash of bath towels rolled inside a basket helps, too.

#7 Store kids’ bath toys in a fine-laundry bag. Hang from the faucet ’til fully drained.

#8 Use a shower organizer and just the basics: mild shampoo, conditioner and a body wash.  Stash extra shower products in plastic caddies – one per family member.

#9 Keep cleaning products in a caddy, too.

#10  Got kids? Get large tubs that can be used to deploy toys – and quickly move them out of living spaces when company’s coming.

#11 Don’t hold on to magazines. Just rip out any pages you want to keep for future reference, keep in a file folder, then recycle the rest.

#12 Toss dirty socks into mesh fine-laundry bags. Orphaned socks will be a thing of the past.

#13 Recycle old plastic shopping bags. Store them in an empty Kleenex box ‘til you need them. Great for cleaning the litter box or poop bags if you have pets.

#14 Big, busy family? Paint one entire wall in your mudroom in chalkboard paint so everyone can easily leave messages for one another.

#15 Designate a back-to-car zone by your entranceway, and put anything there requiring to be returned to the trunk – i.e. reusable grocery bags, empties – so the next person to use the car will remember to bring them.

What are some of your best low cost organizing tips?  Share them with us.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

 

Organizing Your Home

The first week of the New Year and you are already wondering HOW you are going to accomplish this resolution, right?  It seems overwhelming – new toys for the kids, new clothes, buying seasonal decorations when they are on sale… you get the picture, right?

Now is a great time to create or fine-tune your household systems.  Getting organized doesn’t mean that your house will look perfect all of the time.  Getting organized doesn’t automatically mean the kids will put their toys away.  What it does me is that there will be simple systems in place that will keep you from wanting to declare

Here are three of my favorites:

1. Create a family command center.  You’ll need a monthly family calendar with everyone’s activities on it including Mom and Dad’s.  Color code each family member and write in all activities, parties, birthdays, travel, homework assignments due, etc. This can be a big paper calendar or a white board calendar that’s wiped clean and started over every month. It can hang on the wall or on the side of the refrigerator.  Hubby and I do this now even though it is just us.  It makes life so much easier.  You can keep pens, paper, scissors, tape, etc. in the drawer and it gives the family a place to put their activity schedules and party invitations so you can get them on the calendar right away. You can also use the space to make your grocery list. This becomes the hub for your family and you’ll be on top of their activities.

  

2.  Let the kids help!   Okay, so maybe it won’t be done exactly the way you want.  Maybe you will need to practice patience since I am sure they won’t move as fast as you want them too.  Let the younger kids pick up all the recyclables i.e. papers, magazines, plastic bottles and put them in the recycle bin.  As they grow, they can help load and unload the dishwasher. You can stop laughing now!  It is possible for this to happen  🙂  How about a place for back packs, jackets, shoes and school work.  This will save you HOURS of hunting every morning.   You’ll need is a small place to hang some hooks and some shelves. Even a small peg board with shelves under it helps control the clutter.

3.  Have a dedicated space to work.  I know that not everyone has an extra room to turn into an office.  I began my first craft business with a small table in the corner of the living room.  It definitely was not perfect, yet it worked. Maybe you  have a big closet you can turn into a work space.  It doesn’t matter where it is; it just needs to be dedicated space for you and your business.

Organizing isn’t about making MAJOR changes, it is about taking small steps to make life a little easier for you and those around you.  What are some of your best organizational tips?  Share them with us…

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Purging for the New Year

As we approach the new year, many people are doing the annual cleaning.  Okay, so most people do it BEFORE Christmas to make room for more stuff.  I, on the other hand, seem to work better doing the annual clean just before the new year.  It clears my head and gets me focused on my goals for the upcoming year.

Cleaning out (or purging) is what getting organized it all about…

And purging isn’t just for stuff, although that’s a big piece of it. Purging is also about letting go of the past, forgiving yourself, and even discarding thoughts which no longer serve you.

So, here are some things that I never thought about that I hold on to:

Pictures – So many pictures. Do I need them all? Do I want them all? And more positively, which of these pictures brings me JOY? I cleaned a lot of the pictures out when we sold the house in South Jersey but I still have a lot of them. Mostly the ones that do bring me JOY!  Now to just get them in a format that will allow me to look at them and fondly remember those times..

Clothes – What is the rule? If you haven’t worn it in 6 months, get rid of it. With the change in seasons, I usually do the “if I haven’t worn it in 2 seasons – get rid of it”. Or what about those “just in case clothes”. You know the ones that are too small or too big – just in case you lose weight or gain back the weight you lost.

Negative thoughts – This used to be a HUGE problem for me. I have found that with the help of a good life coach, I am practicing extreme gratitude and radical compassion for myself.  I am squashing out those inner gremlins that haunt me.

Saying YES even when I don’t want to.  That is the people pleasing side of me. Come on, be truthful, you do it too, right? What if we were to choose to spend five uncomfortable minutes now saying NO so that we are not regretting our YES for the next several months.

Office supplies. I can say that I used to hoard office supplies.  Having a home office, I found myself shopping on impulse when there is a sale.  Time to donate some while those that are too old will be tossed in the garbage!

Belinda used to say when I got in “clean mode”, if you aren’t tied down or have a purpose, you get tossed. It is so true. I used to need to do this more when we lived in the bigger house but now in the condo I try to keep things simple.

There really are good feelings that come after the initial hyperventilation of actually beginning the purge, freaking out, and thinking, “I can’t do this!”

Purging is a practice – and a good one when it is done thoughtfully, consciously, and from a mindset of love and abundance (I am enough, I have enough).

Go ahead, try it. Do it and let me know how it feels when you’re done (or let me know why you started and never finished).

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

The Benefits of Coloring

 

When was the last time that you sat down and colored?  If you have kids, chances are you do it once in awhile.  What about if those kids are grown?  I can’t remember the last time that I picked up a crayon and started to color.

I loved to color as a child.  Creating pictures that transformed from a mere black and white piece of paper to works of art worthy of hanging on the fridge for all to see.  It actually was a great way for keep busy and entertain myself.

Of course, I had no idea that it had some mental benefits.  It is for that reason that coloring has become the new rage with adults.

• Coloring is relaxing.  You have to sit still and focus on what you are doing.  The coloring books for adults have intricate designs so you really need to pay attention if you a re going to stay within the lines.
• Coloring helps you to de-stress.  When you focus on coloring, you don’t have time to think of the day to day stresses.  You can be more creative.  When you are done, you feel refreshed.  
• Coloring can take you back to a time when you felt happy and carefree.  Those awesome childhood memories come flowing back.
• Coloring requires both halves of your brain to work together.  This was a fact that I didn’t know.  By using both sides of your brain – you will stay strong and nimble.

Now that my daughter is grown (and no grandchildren yet), I haven’t thought about coloring in years.  Then this idea of coloring started popping up.

Who would have ever thought that you could transform a product you bought into a work of art while relieving the stress of the day?  This is a great gift to give yourself or anyone in your life that could use a little de-stressing time.  Gather a group of friends for a night of de-stressing and see what a difference in makes in your week.  A useful product carrying your unique design made with an assortment of Sharpie color markers.

Need to de-stress right now!  Grab a FREE download image to color from  Yellow Mountain Coloring Books.  They also offer free weekly mandala coloring patterns too.

What do you prefer to color with?  Crayons? Markers? Colored pencils?  Colored pens? You can find an assortment of tools on Amazon.  Keep them organized and looking cute.

C&T Publishing offers a series of adorable coloring books great for kids AND adults.  Boho Designs books have styles that will inspire you to tap your inner 60’s artist.  These make great gifts for kids or treats for adults!

Make coloring part of your daily or weekly routine to find your “happy” place.  Then once you finish that work of art – hang it on the fridge or stick it on your wall in the office to reflect on when things get stressful.  Worried what your co-workers will think since they know you don’t have kids?  Share with them the benefits of coloring or simply tell them that a child did it for you.

So I challenge you to grab some crayons and a coloring book and let the de-stressing begin.  Take time for yourself and a little self-care.  Take a picture and share it with us.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!