Your favorite organizing tips?

[peach]

I am generally pretty organized but this having two jobs thing has kicked my ass. My house is a wreck and I am trying to feel like I am in control again. I used to meal plan and now we are eating frozen pizza...what happened to me?

I ordered a yearly planner and I sent bags of stuff to the thrift store this morning. Cleaned out my cupboards and organized my closet.

Any things that work great for you? General household/ life stuff?

[peach]

I need more hours in the day - I am not a great multitasker I guess. I can never seem to get caught up on laundry and if one floor of my house is clean the other is a disaster.

[Deleted]

A few things I do:

I use my iPhone a lot. I use the calendar for all my appointments and reminders so I don't have to keep a paper calendar. I also use it to keep a running list of things I need to purchase. It comes in very handy when I'm out running errands.

Every weekend I sit down with the grocery store circular plus a couple cookbooks and meal plan before I grocery shop. If I don't have a planned meal we end up eating takeout. I write the meals down and note which cookbook and page number if applicable, and post it on the fridge. Sometimes I'll come home from work and DH already has dinner going because he knows exactly what we are having and where the recipe is. And even if he doesn't start dinner, I can easily get it started since I already know what's on the menu and have all the ingredients.

On the laundry, I gave up trying to do it all on Saturday and instead do 2-3 loads twice a week. Sometimes I'll put in a load when I first get up in the AM and usually by the time I'm getting ready to leave for work the dryer cycle is finishing up. Then I just put the clothes away after dinner.

[Deleted]

I've lowered my standards.

I donate stuff that bothers me, no questions no worries. I work a block from a thrift store so I throw it in as I see it.

I throw a load of laundry in every morning before I leave, get in the dryer as I remember and fold/put away while Rubes is in the tub. A load a day really helps and about one day a week I feel like a laundry rampage so I do multiple loads and keeps me caught up. I also toss clothes in the hamper as they go off.

I have hooks on the back every door and tons in my entry way. It keeps the most used stuff out of the way but still accessible. I also put a plastic shelf with baskets on our garage landing and I put stuff in it according to where it needs to go. So easy to deliver and keeps crap off my counter.

I'm not above "low rent/cheat" cleaning supplies. Swiffer and Clorox wipes save my life. I also found supplies that work and stick with it. SO much easier to spray and go. Windex and dishsoap usually.

I've streamlined things like shower gel and shampoo. I buy big bottles and use them in all the bathrooms. I store a lot less that way. Of course I have one basket of "special" stuff for me. Thanks to Amazon Prime, I also no longer feel the need to store things like 14 tubes of toothpaste and 48 rolls of toilet paper.

I have designated closets for designated "themes" (extra pantry, coats/winter gear, décor). I know where to find something and shelving installed that fits accordingly. I also do seasonal décor that is up all season instead of holiday specific so I'm not storing tons. Same with my cabinets. I'm crazy about what's in them and how much I jam in them.

I've just learned to chill out too. I quit caring that my kid created a Crayola tub crayon masterpiece on the shower wall and it hasn't been taken off yet. As long as I know the floor is clean under that pile of toys, whatever the hell. It's just the stage of life I'm in and I just kind of have to embrace it. If two rooms of my house are spotless on a good day, I'm happy.

[Deleted]

As for meals, we eat a lot of simple stuff on my work days and I'm okay with it. Salad and breadsticks, steamed shrimp, pork chops and potatoes. Stuff that's still solid and healthy but not time consuming. I dislike freezer meals except for soup, but on days I'm home I'll make a bigger meal for dinner, and we'll eat the leftovers for lunch the next day. Two meals, less mess, no extra work.

I also have no shame in buying things like fruit already chopped, meat already marinated etc. It's more spendy but we also eat it up faster so we're not wasting it.

I make a list on the fridge of meals I want to make for the week. Works better for me because then I can pick and choose. My life is too chaotic and unpredictable for "on Tuesdays we eat this."

[TBM]

Taking the time to figure out how/where you use something (or where you leave something)really helps figure out the best home for it, which means that it will wind up being put away. Even if it doesn't seem to make sense to rest of the world it doesn't matter...it just has to work for you.

The laundry system that works best for us is to have sorting hampers and to throw in a load whenever a hamper is full. We started that when our daughters were tweens, and whoever threw in the item that made it a full load put it in the washer and started it, and then let the others know that it was in there so that someone was likely to remember to move it to the dryer.

It was nice to have them around to do most of it, but it works out pretty well for just DH and I too. If DH would remember to put the hangers in the laundry room I would hang his shirts, but we usually talk while put away a load of clothes together or fold towels, so it is not such a boring task and seems to go much quicker.

I hate planning meals. I am a 'what am I in the mood for?' type of cook, so I have a hard time with planning ahead. I buy whatever is fresh and looks good at the market and figure out what to do with it later. Luckily, I am good at looking at what I have and throwing a meal together in whatever amount of time I have, and we appreciate simple meals as much as complicated ones.

[boiler717]

A place for everything and everything in its place helps a ton (easier said than done). The biggest step in this is purging so you have room for your stuff. Everything gets a dedicate space -- purse spot, place for keys, tray for DH for pocket stuff, container for remotes, room in the pantry for set items, etc.

Day to day cleaning I usually do while doing something else. Run a Clorox wipe over the bathroom sink while I do my hair. Swiffer while catching up with a girlfriend on the phone or a low priority conference call.

Meal planning, we do dream dinners for 2-3 meals a week. A huge help. I am a total foodie but it is awesome to not have to plan/prep/clean up for those meals. I usually also freeze a half batch of lasagna or other casseroles to pull out from time to time. On Sunday night we usually plan out the other meals and pick up stuff at the store or get a peapod order. I usually make a soup on Sunday for lunches. Breakfasts are always the same.

Laundry, I swear by only one load a day. DH is in charge of bringing it into the laundry and putting it into the washed. He does delay start to time with my morning break (before when I worked in an office it was when I would get home from work). I switch and then fold and have in a basket. DH carries back to our bedroom and puts in our respective closets. We usually put away while getting ready for bed and it takes less than a minute because it's only a 1/2 load for each of us. We don't have enough to do a load every single day, but usually 3-4 days a week. It is so much more manageable than having loads pile up for a marathon day.

I use my planner for work stuff. I love how EC separates morning, day, evening. I plan out my projects for the week and when I will work on them. I put cleaning/household tasks on it too.