Make Your Bed! and 9 Tips to Keep Organized and Stress-Free 4M

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4M – Margarita’s Manic Monday Minutes

I want to be able to give you some quick tips to keep on top of the clutter.  If you manage to keep your home tidy, you will have to do less deep clean housework.  You don’t have to do much but you do have to be consistent.  Here is a quick reminder:

Make Your Bed

I cannot say this enough: wake up and make your bed.  It is instant gratification and at the end of a long day, you will be glad your bed is all nice and neat and cozy.  If your bed is not made you have a tendency to just throw things on top of the bed or leave the clothes on the floor.  This is a great way to start your day and a great habit to get your kids into.

Wipe Down the Counters in the Bathroom

Once you are up, brushed your teeth and showered, make sure to give the bathroom counter a once over.  Use a squeegee if you have glass doors (like we do) and make sure that the toilet is flushed.  I know, you would think that is a given but sometimes it is not.  Pick up any towels that my have found their way to the floor (of the bathroom or the bedrooms).  If you have teenagers, you know that this will happen.

Check your Kids Rooms for Clutter

You know that your kids are bound to be the culprits of a messy home.  Make no mistake about it, my children DO NOT always make their beds in the morning.  If they don’t they are likely to find me going in and tossing anything that has found its way onto the floor right back onto their un-kept bed.  Sometimes, teenagers have a propensity to want to nap when they get home from school.  So if there is stuff there, they will have to clean that up before they can crawl into bed for a snooze.  It’s not a full proof method but it has been know to work in my favour at times.

Empty the Dishwasher

Once downstairs, I am usually left with the first true chore of the day: emptying out the dishwasher.  It’s not a chore I love but I don’t hate it either because I know that it’s a ‘fresh’ start to the day.  Because the dishwasher was not emptied sooner, there will be dishes to put inside.  Once those are put in, the kitchen will look a lot cleaner and organized.  There will also be dishes to put away that were drip drying from the night before.  We ALWAYS DO THE DISHES IMMEDIATELY after dinner.  I have no conceivable idea why someone would want to start the day with a huge load of dishes.  Just DON’T DO IT.  It puts you behind if you have a busy morning and I guarantee you, you’ll feel better when you just clean everything up the night before.

Tackle the Mudroom

I think the worst area in our house for clutter is the mud room which also happens to be the laundry room.  The children and my husband come in through the garage so no mud or dirt are dragged through the house. On the wall, there are plenty of hooks for coats and hats.  There are also storage bins that hold hats, gloves and other sundry items.  Against the wall on the floor is a row of shoes and boots.  It is those particular items that must be taken care of right away.  My daughter is the worst culprit.  She always leaves her shoes there and I always have to remind her to put them away in her room.  Both my husband and I share the front closet and that is where we place our coats and our shoes.  My son and daughter have the area in the mud room.  I try to make sure that the shoes are put away and the coats are all hung up on hangers and hooks and not on the back of chairs.

Sweep and Clean the Halls and Kitchen Floor

When we had young kids, it seemed that there was more food on the floor then in their tummies.  Thank goodness we had a yellow lab that was happy to follow them around as they dropped tidbits of food.  Regardless of that ‘convenience’ you get into the habit of sweeping and spot cleaning the floor.  I must admit, I fell in love with our Shark Steamer from the first day that we had it.  It cleans both the kitchen porcelain tiles and the hallway wood floors easily and without damaging them.  Every couple of days, you can also pass the vacuum cleaner in the family room if that has daily use.  This has two benefits: you can do this quickly and you don’t track dirt throughout the house.

Laundry

I only do laundry once a week.  It is usually Friday or Saturday but it is all said and done in one day.  There are usually 5 loads.  I think that doing five loads is reasonable for a family of four (my eldest is at university).  But many, many people that I know do a load or two a day.  This helps them keep on top of it and it is just one load to do.  I’m not a fan of laundry so I don’t like having to to it everyday.  This way, the kids also know that everything has to be picked up and put into hampers on Thursdays.  Sometimes, I even manage to remind them to bring their laundry down in the morning.  If not, well, let’s just say, they are doing their own laundry in the afternoon

Clean As You Go

The best way to stay on top of clutter is to deal with it right away.  I cannot stress enough how much easier it is to clean as you go then to let things accumulate throughout the day.  So start at the top at the beginning of the day and then make your way to different parts of your home as the day progresses.  I always manage to make my way to the basement for one reason or another before the day is done.  So making sure that the dishes from snacks that were brought downstairs or the guest bed is made because my daughter had a friend sleep over… well, that is all part of the routine.

Pick up at The end of the Night

I am usually the last one to go to bed.  I am a notorious night owl.  So two things tend to happen at the end of the evening:  my husband will usually turn all the lights off, check the doors and let the dog out one last time.  I will check the patio door, do a walk through in the living room, dining room and family room to make sure that blankets are folded, dishes are on the counter and that the dishwasher is now finished its load.  I will also ensure that the coats and boots that need to be easily accessible are there for my kids to grab on the way to school.  I also like to see if the kids have brought down their knapsacks.  This means that their homework has been done and put away.  Lastly, I make sure the dog is safely tucked away and all the lights are out.

 

It is never easy keeping on top of clutter buy you can get organized and be stress –free if you do just a few things everyday.  Remember if you make it a routine, it becomes a habit and good habits never, ever get old.  And one day, your son and daughter-in-laws will thank you.  I know I did.

How do you stay on top of the CLUTTER?