How much time do you waste looking for things?  Do you rush out the door in the morning only to realize you’ve forgotten where you put your purse?  Or run around like a crazy woman looking for the permission slip for the field trip that has to be returned TODAY or you will feel like a horrible mother because your kid will miss out? 

Busyness is the enemy of the modern family! The only way to combat it is with a plan!  A place for everything and everything in it’s place.  If your purse turns up missing on a regular basis than it needs a new home, whether it be a basket by the door or a hook or on top of your dresser.  The same is true for your keys, permission slips, lunchboxes, laptops and all the other things we waste so much time looking for.

~Create a checklist for getting out the door in the morning and hang it on the back of the door.  This will remind you to check and make sure everybody has what they need.  Nothing is more irritating than already running late and realizing you can’t find your keys.  It just creates unnecessary stress and gets your day off to a poor start.

~Designate a place for everything.  Your kids should know (and be expected to follow through) where their backpack goes, where their shoes should be when not on their feet, where to put papers that need your attention, where their sports uniforms need to be, etc.  Once your family gets in the habit of putting everything where it belongs it will significantly cut down on time wasted looking for things.

~Have extras- If finding your keys is really an ongoing problem for you and nothing seems to work than keep a spare in a kitchen drawer or somewhere else that you know you will remember.  I have an extra set of just the necessary keys (home, car) for those times that my kids have done something with my main set of keys and I am out of time to keep looking!

~Another important concept for avoiding having to look for things is to develop solid and dependable routines.  We will discuss that in the next post.

Happy Organizing!