One day my friend Joan taught me her trick for staying sane and keeping the house "a house of order." It's so easy and yet, so hard!!! But here is the rule:
One drawer a day.
I bet you thought it was going to be something glamourous, huh? Nope. Just take a few minutes every day to organize one drawer. Or one cabinet. Or one shelf in the cabinet. The real point here is to just do a little. If it takes you longer than 15 minutes, then it's probably too big a job because it will make you want to skip the next day.
The FlyLady wants us to declutter for 15 minutes a day. Once you get truly decluttered then keeping the house clean is supposedly a snap. I struggle with getting rid of things that I might need. . . someday. I live by the mantra "When in doubt, throw it out," but we still have clutter.
The clutter I hate the most is my boys' schoolwork. Right now my kitchen table is covered in piles of papers, notebooks, and sundry school supplies. The end of the term is drawing near and the search is on for those assignments the knuckleheads didn't bother to pass in. As soon as the term ends, the important papers (like reading logs, practice cards, etc.) will find a permanent home in our "school drawers" which is a plastic container with three drawers that hold 8.5 x 11 papers. The rest of it will be put in folders in the closet in case we need them to study at the end of the year.
Anyway, one drawer a day. While you are watching Rachel Ray. Or before you call it a day.
Wow, I think I got carried away, but I really can't say. . . so. . .
Clean one drawer, OK?
