Organizing Tips – six ideas that will save you time!
Guys, I am struggling with a chaotic brain! I prefer to be a very organized person. Maybe it’s having three children, or it being summer time, or trying to juggle Motherhood and this website but I’m losing my gosh darn mind. I’ve been brainstorming organizing tips to get my life in order.
I’ve carefully looked at my life to identify the places that lack of organization and are the biggest time suckers. These are the places I want to start incorporating my organizing tips:
Getting dressed in the morning
Keeping an organized Purse and knowing what’s in it
General Storage
Laundry
Let’s work our way through the day, starting with getting dressed. I’m not a morning person. I’ve decided there are a few key things organizing tips I need to implement in order to keep my life in order, eliminate clutter and get what I need to get dressed quickly.
Organizing Tip #1
Keep the make-up you use daily in an easy to access spot. I love makeup and have so many fun pieces to play with, but they aren’t the go to pieces I use daily. I’ve decided to make accessible ONLY what I absolutely use everyday which is foundation, mascara, cover up, blush, bronzer, eyeshadow, lip-gloss and the brushes that go with each.
The rest of my fun eye shadows, or play blushes or mascara primers are still in my makeup drawer but now I don’t have to search for what I need in the morning pre-coffee. Those can wait for date nights when I have more time to play dress up!
Get the desktop Large Acrylic Organizer here. (PS the Glamboxes are all the rage, but I love how this is more customizable and affordable! They work and function great!)
Organizing Tip #2
I love to accessorize, so I have a lot of jewelry. It must be a southern thing. I dream of having a totally glam Lisa Vanderpump closet (if you have no idea who that is, my husband applauds you.) But I don’t. So I’m re-creating a makeshift one, but (!) keeping it in a very accessible, easy to find way.
One idea is to use pretty tea cups, and a sculpture to display my favorite go to pieces so that when I’m getting ready I can see what I need quickly, but have a moment of “ahhh isn’t that pretty.” It’s a way to add decor to your closet yet still maintain organization and seeing what you need in a quick way.
If you’re short on space for a set up like this I love pieces that you could put on the back of a door, or inside a cabinet to hang and have the same moment of “look at my pretty sparkles” but still see what you need quickly. You could also use a cork board to hang on a wall. or ice cube tray in a drawer. This is a super cute cork board! I love it!
This ice cube tray is awesome because it has a top to ensure nothing spills. So if you use it for jewelry storage (or ice, ha!) it’s really nice and functions nicely.
After I’m dressed I’m doing stuff around the house. I’m either feeding my kids, cleaning up a spill, helping them with a project or putting stuff away.
I own a few jewelry wall hangers like this and I love how easy, save saving and affordable these are. You can literally put them anywhere and they function beautifully!
Pretty tea cups (for jewelry display) or just for tea, here!
Organization Tip #3
In our first home we didn’t have much space so I started using an over the door shoe holder in almost every spot I could squeeze one in.
I had one by the family room to store my daughter’s crafts.
I had one in the laundry room for cleaning supplies.
I had one in the pantry for quick snacks.
And now I’m loving the idea of using it in the playroom.
Get the shoe organizer here – it’s on sale!
I love the adage “if you don’t see it, you won’t use it.” This helps you not be wasteful and saves time getting what you need, where you need it. And the space saving is a very added bonus!
(By the way – I hope it goes without saying, but I wouldn’t store all of this in one shoe rack. It’s probably not a great idea to put cleaning supplies within kids reach or mix cleaning supplies with food! This idea is for each space to have their own!)
Organization Tip #4
Laundry! Who loves it? If you do, I need to understand why. Most people don’t have time to do all the wash in one day. They do a load here and there to keep up with it, or fit it in to the free hour they have.
These sorting baskets are amazing because they don’t take up much room, and you can make one for whites, one for color and the other for towels. In my home I need one for “stinky gym clothes” from my husband but that’s another blog (why do men sweat so much?). Organizing tips can not only mean having something in the right spot, but also setting yourself up so when you have a few minutes, you can get what you need done quickly without working too hard!
I use a label maker to mark them (I love a label maker.) Now when you have a free moment you can grab the basket you have time to wash!
Get these amazing stackable baskets here.
So now I’m dressed, the house is reasonably organized and I’m heading out the door. But wait, where is the sunscreen for the kids in case we swing by the pool? Oh, it’s in the swim bag not in my purse. I dig and dig in the swim bag for it and can’t find it.
Then my kids grab a water bottle to throw in my purse, and oops! the bottle top isn’t fully closed so now all the paper I’ve shoved in my purse is wet. They clearly don’t understand my mission to implement my organizing tips.
When I’m at the store and I’m trying to return something I can’t find the receipt I need because I have 50 million pieces of paper in my purse. Everything from receipts from grocery store, to oil change paperwork that needs to be filed to a class reminder from my sons class to send in the snack next week.
My purse is a dark pit of junk. Yet it’s the biggest work horse in my life! I do firmly believe that the larger the purse, the more you cram in it. But at this stage in my life with little children and a constantly evolving company I need a purse to carry lots of stuff. Here’s what I’m doing to fix this:
Organizing Tip #5
Use clear zip bags marked “Receipts,” “To-Do” and “To File.” As you get paper throw it in the right folder. These zip bags are so super easy to open and close. I did this before having kids and my friend, Leslie (yes, I’m calling you out!) made fun of me. I stopped this when I entered the diaper bag way of life and just forgot to pick it back up. But this idea is back with a vengeance. It keeps the paper organized, clean and just like the laundry – I can grab by “To Do” or “To File” folder when I have a few minutes to dedicate to that task.
Organizing Tip #6
A great organizing tips for your life is to use one of those travel bags intended for travel and instead use it as the “catch all” life bag. Put the sunscreen, the bug spray, the goggles, the wipes, a lipstick and a cell charger in there. That way if you transfer bags all you do is grab the “catch all” bag and you have everything you need. I love these for another reason – my husband can see it! Now when I say “can you grab the sunscreen” he no longer looks in a bottomless pit saying “I can’t find it!.” It’s right there for him to see. But watch – he probably still won’t find it. I swear men are funny that way!
Get this amazing travel bag here. I love how it zips close and so cute on the outside!
As I think of more organizing tips I’ll be sure to share them! I’m on a mission people to simplify and organizing! If you have any favorites, I’d love for you to comment and share them for others to read!
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Recent blog posts that have been big hits are How to Care for Petunias and my Disney World story (hint: I was very good friends with Pluto)!
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