Some simple yet useful ways to make home organization work for you.

1. Make a list: Relying on your memory leads to stress, information overload, and forgetting the most important things. My favorite teacher once told me that a successful man or woman memorizes only the things that cannot be written down, everything else should simply be written down somewhere he knows how to find it. Doing this will reduce your stress level because you won’t have to worry about it anymore, you have it written down.

2. Carry a notebook and use it. A notebook goes hand in hand with the number 1. If you use one notebook at a time, you will only have to look in one place for what you need.

3. Schedule time each week to copy vital and important things like appointments and phone numbers from your notebook to a permanent list (computer notes and logs are great), just remember to back them up.

4. Think before you act. Remember that speaking is an action. Think about your priorities and your own needs before offering to help out at the bake sale.

5. Leave some ‘free’ spaces in your schedule. You don’t want to schedule every minute of every day. You need my time, and you need to have the ability to have spontaneity in your days.

6. Group similar tasks. An example, if you are dusting and light cleaning, stick to the light jobs and get them done, trying to mix light and heavy tasks at the same time leads to frustration.

7. Maintain a healthy balance in your life. You need time to clean the house, of course, but you also need time for yourself and your family. Don’t let one area of ​​your life unbalance the other areas. Everyone is important, but everyone also has their time.

8. Keep your cleaning supplies together in an easily accessible place. Use a bag, or a specially made apron, or even a bucket to carry all the supplies and tools for the job you are going to do. It’s frustrating and a waste of time to have to stop what you’re doing and retrieve a certain rag or supply when you’re in the middle of a job.

9. Efficiency is not always your friend. What I mean by this is simple. Being efficient doesn’t always mean you’re being productive. Your home organizer is very helpful in keeping you focused, doing the jobs you need to do and not the ones you can do better.

10.Beware of busy work. Sometimes when a person has a long list of things they need to do, we tend to do busy work, that’s work that they don’t really need to do, but it’s easy and makes us feel like we’re doing something.

11. Determine which jobs are urgent and which are important. Urgent things are not always important, and important things are not always urgent. An example is that cleaning the kitchen every night before going to bed is not urgent, but it is very important. Answering the phone and talking to someone you really don’t want to talk to may seem urgent because of the ringing of the phone, but it’s not important.

12. Tidy up your immediate work area. A person works more productively if the area around them is clean and organized.

13. Make a weekly plan It’s much easier to stay on task when you have your written to-do list right in front of you. Flying is great when you’re on vacation or spending your free time, but for keeping your house organized it’s unreliable.

14. Make checklists for routine tasks. It’s amazing how familiarity with doing a task over and over again makes you miss the little details. A checklist is a visual reminder of what needs to be completed.

15. Put on upbeat music, dress comfortably, and put your whole being into your organization’s routine. It’s so much more fun, you get the work done, you get a mini workout and you introduce a bit of lightness into your day.