3 Easy Tips for a More Organized Life

3 Easy ways to live a more organized (Mom) life.

I began this post in my head in January. A new year, a fresh start, time to organize! Somehow it is already February?! Disregarding that, here are 3 tips for a more organized life. I find these 3 things indispensable in helping me keep my work and home life more organized and tidy.

1 - Plan on Paper

My first tip is a simple planner. Yet I searched high and low for just the RIGHT simple, paper, planner. Yes, I have many appointments and events scheduled in my iPhone's Calendar. Yes, I ask Siri to "Remind to go to the Chiropractor on Monday at 10 am", but if it's not written down, I feel a little lost. It's like I can't quite remember everything...IS that all I have to do on the Calendar of my iPhone screen? Did I forget to add that homeschool class next week? Did I delete the event that was canceled tomorrow?

Maybe it's because I'm that in-between generation, you know, the one that had the joys of growing up analog, and yet learned digital in our young adulthood before it was too hard to learn something so new and different. Maybe it's just my personality, but whatever the reason I feel best connected and prepared for the day, the week, the month, even the year when I have a great "analog" planner to complement my digital calendar.

Why I like Day Designer -

*UPDATE 2/2023*

I now love the AGENDIO planner, which you can personalize beyond belief! If you are constantly frustrated that your planner doesn't have "this" or has too much "that", or you wish it would just look like so...then you need to check out Agendio! Perfect for remote workers, entrepreneurs, homeschool Moms, go-to-work Moms...really anyone.
Here's my affiliate link (By sharing this link I do not get $, I only get credit for my next Agendio, but I'll take that!)

So what's so great about the Day Designer? Why pick this one from the hundreds of other options on Amazon, Target, Walmart or wherever you like to shop? Here's my Why-I-Like-It shortlist:

• 2-page monthly spread
• Monthly to-do list sidebar
• 2 page weekly spread
• Daily top three priority fill in
• Hourly rows for each day, 6 am-7 pm
• 4 Design & Goal setting pages
• Beautiful colors, excellent design, fun stickers

I prefer to see the whole month at once, with enough space to write in specific events on specific days. The 2-page monthly spread gives me this. The handy fill-in To-Do list helps keep me focused on that month's priorities.

My brain also operates better when I can see my whole week at an easy glance, which the 2-page weekly spread does with grace. The "Today's Top Three" fill-ins are especially helpful so that I can focus on what really NEEDS my attention that day.

Since I still teach dance and Pilates part-time, the hourly rows in each day help me block out exactly WHEN I need to be somewhere else, and I can see what times on what days are better for homeschool field trips, meeting with friends, or cleaning the house.

Another part that hooked me on this planner is, it's not JUST a planner. The beginning holds 4 different pages with helpful questions and prompts to aid you in looking at "The Big Picture" and setting small and large goals, designing your days, and staying on course for the year. We've all heard, simply by writing down your goal you're already 60% more likely to complete it, and there's nothing like writing it down with an old fashioned pen (or pencil! what if it the goal changes??) on old fashioned paper.

2 - But Control ALL the Paper(s)!

My second of the 3 tips for a more organized life also has to do with paper. In my house it feels like paper, papers, junk mail, important stuff (tax documents have been arriving! don't want to lose those) coupons, fliers, it ALL multiplies like rabbits. You can cut down your mail a bit by paying bills online with paperless statements but how do you manage the snail mail that still comes?

“A Good System Shortens The Road To The Goal.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Let me introduce you to Freedom Filer. As a long time self-employed/do my own taxes/keep important papers and receipts somewhere safe type gal, I was so thankful to discover a way to know WHAT is important to keep, HOW to file it, and the supplies to do it with!

I have been using the Freedom Filer system now for over 5 years. It's been so helpful to have a place for all the paper things and to know what to trash right away, and what to put behind this month's filing tab. To have a place to keep track of all insurance and investment documents, and easily switch out the old forms when updated ones arrive. It provides a place to file business expenses and have them easily available when tax time comes. Also, a place to keep tax files and all receipts and automatically know when they are old enough to be destroyed instead of keeping all records for all eternity.

3 - Clean the House on a cycle

Lastly, my own little invention for keeping attempting to keep a tidy home. And by tidy I really mean clean, not necessarily "tidy" like the KonMarie method. (With 3 kids 7 years and under, the toys are numerous and so hard to keep tidy! One day...one day)

We were blessed to become homeowners in the fall of 2015. Coming from living in an apartment for various years before that, I had a sort-of system for cleaning but...keeping up with a home, even a little one (we had a cozy 1230 sq. ft. 3 bed/2 baths...with a 3/4 acre yard!) there was suddenly so much more to pay attention to!

How often to change the a/c filter? What about the windows? Gosh, the ceiling fans are dusty! When did I last clean the coffee maker? What things are in need of cleaning on a monthly, versus quarterly, versus yearly basis?

And so, for the final of the 3 tips for a more organized life, I have included for you today, my Master Cleaning Schedule. No, it is not comprehensive. But it's a great starting point if you've never thought about this type of thing before.

The top section is my bi-weekly rotation of cleaning the house. At least, my plan on paper. It doesn't always turn out this way but it helps me so much to have a plan. I hang it on my refrigerator and take a look during the week to see how I'm doing. I usually end up switching activities around but try to have it all done by the time the next week begins!

The bottom left is my daily checklist, which I have my kids help complete. The right bottom is the monthly checklist, some things appear quarterly, some annually.

Final Thoughts

This schedule is really tailored to what works for our Texas home. I did my own research and decided what items we needed to make sure to clean on what cycle, so this may be different for you. Note: If you are blessed enough to have someone come do the weekly dirty cleaning for you, then you can definitely edit this to be whatever things are not covered by that service.

Check out this post by declutteringyourlife.com or this article by Care.com to help figure out what you might want on YOUR cleaning schedule. At the time of writing, I have started a Pinterest board for my favorite organization and cleaning tips, called Organized. Click over and let me know what you think!