Do you find yourself spending an hour each morning trying to move the kids out the door because shoes are missing? Are you spending too much money on cleaning and pantry essentials because you aren’t able to find the one spice you need to make a meal? Here are 3 organizational tips to bring into the new year that are a great place to start. 

Declutter.

Before buying items to help organize, it’s important to go through and decide what stays and what goes. Some items might hold great sentimental value, but not every item needs to stay. Start with one room, then move to the next. Going from one room to the next can be less overwhelming. Once you decide what stays and what goes, you can determine how to remove items from the home. Can you hand down items that your children have outgrown? Can you donate gently used clothing to a local shelter? Decluttering with a purpose can help make the process less difficult. 

Give every item a location.

It’s very easy to throw everything in a cabinet, close the door, and forget about it! If you know where items are stored, it can make it easier to maintain a more organized home. Rather than throw your coats or purses on a chair, take an additional minute to hang them up and store them in a designated closet or hook. 

Are your home cleaning products stuffed into a closet or cabinets? Take some time and organize them by use.

If you have children, let them assign a location for their school items after school. They can place lunchboxes in the sink, place shoes in a specific shoe holder, and hang their backpacks in a designated spot. 

Giving an assigned location for each item can help you to take inventory and prevent you from purchasing items you may already have.

Create a system for organization.

This will look different for every household, but the importance of it is to create a realistic system that works for each member of the household. Having a system that can be employed on a regular basis can help everyone be more efficient. 

This may include a system for processing mail - where to place ingoing and outgoing mail, prioritizing how mail is answered, including a spot for important documents. 

Maybe your system includes spending 30 minutes a day tidying up. It may be a team effort once a week when every member of the household helps with tasks. Whatever system you choose to stay organized, make sure it’s a realistic system that helps reduce stress and helps you to stay organized.