Simplify Things at Home

Recently I was working with a client and she asked “How do you keep things simple in your life, especially with all the back to school work?”

That was the beginning of a very intense coaching session! So below is some of the information we discussed and implemented in her life!

Now that everyone is “back to school”, we begin to settle into a new frantic pace known as Fall. This is the time of year we are all super busy.  School activities, after school sports, end of year business planning and lots of holidays!  But to be honest with you, I absolutely love Fall! Crisp evenings and the beautiful colors of Fall feed my soul and energize me with fuel! 

So for me, as a mom of 4, wife, community volunteer, PTO supporter, CEO of my own business and all things in between, I find this time of year a true test of time management and balance. This is when implementing and maintaining systems in your life are extremely important, and reducing ongoing clutter is a big part of this process.

So what then can you do to reduce clutter in your home this time of year?  When we are surrounded by mounds of paper and end of year projects.

Let’s review first the usual pointers…

***Everything in your home, needs a home!

When things in the home have a place to live, you always know:

• where to find it
• where to put it when it becomes misplaced or left out
• kids and adults alike will learn where those “homes” are

So for example: When the kids and hubby come home from work and school, they know exactly where the lunch boxes live and can find them in the same spot every day when packing.

***Like lives with Like

Look around your kitchen, family room, and office and ask yourself “Do I have things stored together where I can easily locate them?”

• pencils with pencils
• coats with coats
• wrapping supplies, ribbons, tape, gift bags and boxes all together
• bills with bills
• batteries all in one place not in 8 different drawers throughout the house

You get the idea!

Now that we’ve reviewed some of the basic principles which are a necessity to decrease overwhelm in a home, we’ll add in a few other productivity strategies.  These tips once implemented consistently, will make a huge difference in little ways.

• Permission slips, PTO forms and volunteer questionnaires: Fill them in and return immediately! I know you’re tempted to wait til tomorrow, but you never know what tomorrow has in store for you.
• Create a file for each child to keep all necessary school trip, class list, sports info and teacher information in one concise spot.  Label the file with that child’s name and you will always know where to find the information. The kids and other household members will become used to this system alleviating the need for you to always do everything!
• Utilize your calendar!  I’m sure I’ve said this a bazillion times, but it reallllly makes a difference when you know in advance what your responsibilities are on a daily basis.

Incorporating repeatable systems and minimizing clutter in your life inevitably frees up time by taking some of the “guessing” and “thinking” out of the equation!