Organization - Roseville,CA

I have one master calendar for the whole family: the Boynton Mom calendar.

I made up shopping lists on my computer, print them out and post them on the fridge: Costco, Groceries and Household Supplies. When we are out of something, we just put a check by the item on the proper list.

I have a packing list, too, so when we travel I can print one up and easily gather all the stuff we need.

My purse is tiny and I throw it into a big tote bag along with everything I need for that day: coupons, library books, workout clothes, maps, glasses... The tote bag usually stays in the car and I just grap my purse and whatever items I need from the tote bag for each errand.

When bills come, I open them immediately, write the due date and amount on the front of the envelope and file it in my desk organizer in order of due date. Then I flip through them every couple of days and can see at a glance what needs to be paid next.

I carry a daytimer with me and keep track of appointments in that. In the back section of the daytimer I've clipped on extra note paper and keep in there a list of my family member's clothing and shoe sizes, as well as a running list of things they say they are interested in so that when birthdays, Easter or Christmas roll around I have gift ideas to grab from.
In the car, I keep a small cloth/zipper type of insulated lunch tote full of crackers, nuts, dried fruit, granola bars, etc. So there's always something to grab from in the car and we don't have to go through drive throughs. I also keep 2 stainless steel reuseable water bottles in the car, for front and back seats. I do the same as one of the other mom's below. My actual purse is tiny, but I have a huge tote that I throw it in. I call my small purse the satelite, and the big tote is the mother ship. Everything I need to survive is basically in the mother ship, and the satelite bags get pulled out as needed through the day. I plan my family's menus weekly and post them on the fridge. When I have spare time at home I do things like pre-wash and chop veggies or pre-marinate meats for upcoming meals that week. This way they are easy to grab and cook on weekday nights, as I don't get home from work until 6:30 p.m. and I strongly believe in the value of a home cooked family dinner. Example: I currently have a large tupperware full of mixed chopped veggies in the fridge, with another tupperware with chopped pork loin marinading in teriaki sauce and ginger. Guess what we're having for dinner tonight? Stir fry. Also in the fridge already is tomorrow night's stuffed pork chops. Already stuffed and ready to be grilled. I clip coupons and keep them in a small coupon organizer sorted simply by "breakfast" "Lunch" "dinner" "Snacks" "Sweets" "Dairy" and "taxable". Pretty much sums up our eating habits right there! LOL! Mail gets sorted as it is received nightly. Bills go into a basket and wait for bimonthly pay weekends to be opened and paid. There's generally enough lead time on them to accomodate this. I do all my house cleaning in one big swoop. Meaning, Friday nights I kick my husband out with the kids and I go through and do the week's cleaning in one big overhaul. This way every other night all I have to do is the basic nightly pick up, which pretty much includes putting things back in their places, loading the dishwasher, and giving the floors a quick swiffer and the bathrooms a quick clorox-wipe (every 2nd to 3rd night). I pack lunches in groups of 2 or 3's. Sunday night I pack lunches for Mon, Tues & Wed, and Wed night I pack Thurs & Fri lunches. This way they are ready to grab and go in the mornings. Many of my friends say that I am OCD and don't take enough time to relax, but I work 7am to 6:30 p.m. daily, have an 8 year old in the home and challenged 23 year old that I am still trying to teach independent living too, and a hubby who is exceptionally skilled outside of the house, but clueless with inside chores. Besides, to me there is nothing as relaxing as sitting back at the end of the day, knowing that everything's in it's place! Good luck!!!

My number one tip is just to simplify --fewer commitments to remember, fewer possessions to clean. Do you really need mints that often? Do you really need to highlight things?
I try to keep my routine as steady as possible, with certain time blocks filled and others open for appointments. We have a whiteboard calendar with four movable weekly sections, so it can be updated each week.
Post its are great.
I have a bill organizer that has slots marked with numbers 1-31, so you can file by due date.
I keep handled brushes under the bathroom sinks so I can brush out toothpaste or hair quickly without doing a full wipe down.
I have a small brush and dust pan to brush dry crumbs from the table or counter.
I do laundry of one person at a time or one type of item at a time (like towels only) so that putting items away is a one stop trip - no sorting.
Keep meals simple. I like to make things with few ingredients and have lots of leftovers.
If the kids like school lunches, let them have them and save yourself the mess of lunch bags and containers and snack packs.

Families are more unpredictable than jobs--don't be so hard on yourself!

Go on line and type in the "Wonder File" it holds everything you need. J.

I agree with Bethany... everything should have a "home". I know a lady who is completely organized & she uses a saying that goes something like... "A place for everything & everything in its place."

I am a big fan of bins, the plastic storage kind you can purchase @ Target. I have a bin for just about everything... from X-mas decorations to toys to a bin in the car for books, coloring books, etc. You can easily label them & they stack nicely in the garage, closet, etc.

The other thing that keeps me best organized is "weeding". I periodically "weed" rooms, closets, bins, drawers & go through them & make piles of "to keep, to toss, to donate" (just like they do on that show, Clean Sweep). That helps tremendously.

For my kids, everything has a "home". I have put labels on bins in their rooms and they know where EVERYTHING goes, so it makes clean up much easier. For me.... I keep my "everything drawer" cleaned out pretty regularly. I keep my coupons in a book, have baskets for misc. things like my favorite blanket and such.
Boxes in my garage are clearly labeled. Easter, Christmas, b-day, gardening, etc. It's hard to maintain with the daily intake of "stuff", but you can make it manage. Get a label maker. 1st step, lol.

I've got one mid-size organizer that has a calendar, address book and pages for notes. I use a pencil to mark events on my calendar and I also keep little post-it notes in my organizer so that if I need to write something down but it isn't necessarily confirmed yet I can stick it the right calendar page.

Coupons go in my wallet (I don't use a lot of coupons so I don't need a separate file for them)

As far as home is concerned I too use large bins for general storage purposes. My kids are not allowed to have their stuff just laying around the house. Everything has to be put in their rooms preferably as soon as they are done with but definitely before they go to bed each night.

The kids also have to have all of their school stuff they need for the next day in their backpacks and by the front door before they go to bed.

We do not allow t.v. or pc usage on school nights unless they are needed for a school assignment-which means everyone can focus on what needs to be done instead of getting sucked into technology and then time is gone before you know it.

I used to try and micro-manage everything on our schedule but that got to be too overwhelming for me so I just started writing the basics down and I found it was easier for me to keep track (i have 4 kids,btw)

Revisit what you used to do to keep organized and start from there. I think the biggest reason we have such a hard time getting and keeping organized once we have kids is because we tend to get complacent with our schedules because let's face it we need to be flexible once kids enter our lives. Good luck with whatever you work out for yourself! Give it some time. You will figure out a method that works best for you and your family.