Kerry Beck's Blog

You’ve just gotten that call from an unexpected friend or family member that they will be over in 20 minutes…and your house is a mess! You go pick everything up and throw it in a random drawer or cabinet. After your company leaves, you start to look for the TV remote or cell phone or book that you’re reading and you have no clue where you put it. Does this happen to you? Here’s a simple solution: Keep one of those over-the-door shoe holders inside the entry closet or utility room. Stick everything in there when you need to clean up in a hurry. Then you will know exactly where you left your stuff after your company leaves.

We all have clutter in our lives. It’s time to take action and cut the clutter from our homes. Here’s your 5-step plan:

1. Commit to clearing out the junk: Make a commitment to yourself to clean it all out. Write it down and keep somewhere you look, so that you can remind yourself of your commitment. Everyday clutter can rule your life, if you let it.

2. Set up a system: Figure out what you want from your space and create a plan of attack. Use the FAST system: Fix a time to work on the project; Anything you haven’t used in a year goes; Somebody else’s stuff should be returned; Trash anything that is unusable.

3. Start with mindless clutter: It’s easiest to throw that pile of junk mail away. Start there then move to the harder stuff. If you can just get started, you will begin to get motivated.

4. Get Motivated: Can’t bear to part with that “antique” ring? Seeing how much you could get for it at an auction site such as eBay might change your mind.

5. Keep it up: Spend 5-10 minutes daily to maintain your decluttered space.

Your family’s natural tendency is to drop belongings willy-nilly on entering the house, meaning that no one can find anything the following morning. It’s probably futile to try to change their style, but don’t despair. You can go with the flow and still be organized. Just provide a drop box for each family member near the front door. Use inexpensive plastic tubs, fruit crates, or laundry baskets. Then decree that any items not in the baskets (or put in the wrong basket) may be thrown out or must be purchased back with a small fee.

Here’s a quick way to organize your pantry or cupboard so that you can find ingredients more quickly and avoid the bother of accidentally buying duplicates of what you already have on hand. Group cans according to the color of the food inside: red foods on one shelf, green on another, and so on. Yes, that means the ketchup will be next to the cherries, which has no cooking logic, but you will always know where to find the ketchup. Another advantage of this method: Even a preschooler can help you put away groceries.

Today’s Tuesday Tip is from “Shameless Shortcuts.”

Today I have guest author, Marilyn Rockett, sharing her tips on “STRESSLESS” organization.

by Marilyn Rockett

Now let me get this straight—a homeschool mom is supposed to teach her children (all academic subjects, all day long) while she keeps her home immaculate, bakes bread twice a week, chauffeurs the children to two activities per day, and still has time for her husband and her church. Right? A homeschool mother certainly didn’t start that rumor!

Regardless of false expectations, a homeschooling mother does have more to do on most days than almost any other human on the planet. Disorganization adds stress and frustration to her day. Is it possible to homeschool two children—or ten—and survive? Is it hard work? Yes, to both of those questions. However, when you’re organized, your job is much easier and less stressful.

STRESSLESS Organization

What does organization look like? Let’s eliminate the things that organization is not. It’s not having a perfect home that could go on the cover of a magazine at all times. It’s not running a boot camp in your home, never allowing a mess. It certainly isn’t having closets that could pose for the organized closet advertisements.

Organization is a state of mind and heart that desires God’s best for your home and family and the willingness to do whatever you need to do to work toward that best. It is a recognition that little things count. Elisabeth Elliot said it well in her book, Keep a Quiet Heart:

It is not easy to find children or adults who are dependable, careful, thorough, and faithful. So many lives seem honeycombed with small failures, neglectful of the little things that make the difference between order and chaos. Perhaps it is because they are so seldom taught that visible things are signs of an invisible reality; that common duties may be “an immeasurable ministry of love” (Revell, 1995).

If you experience stress due to disorganization, perhaps applying these ten principles will help you “stress less” in your home and homeschool.

See God’s perspective

In the bustle of life, we often are shortsighted and don’t realize how much the little things count. Training your children in the importance of every-day duties is as necessary as training them in academic subjects. God is a God of order; He made us in His image; and Scripture is replete with admonitions to plan well, count our days, and do things decently and in order. God tells us to do those things because they reflect His character. God never calls us to do anything for which He does not provide the means to obey that call. If you have grown lax in your homekeeping, you need to see your home from God’s perspective.

Take time to plan

Planning well does take time. However, it takes much less time to plan than to try to recover from the consequences of no planning. Each morning stop a moment to review the day’s plans, or each evening take ten minutes to plan the following day. Take a larger block of time once a week to review the coming week. Ecclesiastes 8:5b-6a tells us that a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure for everything. That is only true when you take time to reflect on wise plans.

Reevaluate your plans

Your plans don’t always work out as you thought or hoped they would, do they? When you see that a particular plan or method is not working, you need to reevaluate to see where you can make an effective change. Plans are your tools and means to accomplish the important things in life. It is normal for plans to change when they are not serving the intended purpose. An old proverb says, “A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.” Continual reevaluation will help you reach your intended destination.

Establish priorities

The most difficult part of getting organized is making choices. When your priorities are firmly established, you are able to fill your time with the best choices, maintaining a sense of direction. Personal and family priorities keep you on track and help you say no to things that do not fit your established priorities. Conscious choices are better than choices by default. A written Family Mission Statement, compiled by the family, gives direction and keeps balance in your home. Sit down together and decide what is most important to the family. Fill in the blanks for these statements: Our family purpose is _____. Does _______ [a specific activity] fit our purpose? Your list allows you to produce a mission statement that brings the family together for common purposes.

Set goals

Priorities give you direction, but goals are the means that move you in that direction. For success, goals must be simple, specific, measurable, and attainable. State goals in positive rather than negative terms. “I won’t let the laundry pile up” is not a goal. “I will keep the laundry current and in the drawers/closets immediately after it is clean each week” is a positive goal. “I will wash one load of laundry per day, Monday through Friday, will fold the load before lunch, and will have the children put the clean clothes away after lunch” is a plan to reach that goal. Don’t overplan and try to accomplish too many things at once. Work on the things that bother you most or the things that are out of control before tackling other problems. When you prioritize a problem and set a goal for changing it, you put the problem on track for a remedy. Your feeling of accomplishment when you see progress in areas in which you struggle motivates you to continue setting other goals.

Simplify Your System

No matter what method you chose to keep up with your activities, keep it simple. Some people prefer to use only a calendar; others prefer a nice paper planner or electronic means. Don’t tie yourself to a method that seems too complicated for you. Your planner or organizer is your tool and it should help you get the things done that you need to do. If it doesn’t, examine why that is true. Are you failing to use it properly to help you, or is it the wrong tool for you? Simplify your choices in every area possible—meals, schedule, and housework—and establish a simple, basic routine for your homekeeping. If you stick to a simple household routine, adding extras when possible, you will always have the basics accomplished.

List Your Plans

Lists won’t do your work for you, but they do keep you on track and aid your memory as your day squeezes tighter. If you keep one central planner or notebook, you will avoid scattered or lost notes to yourself. A written plan crystallizes your thinking and holds you accountable for what you said you were going to do. It helps you see the bigger picture when you record your plans and activities on a calendar, plan book, or notebook. How you put it in writing isn’t as important as actually doing it in some way. Use what is comfortable for you.

Eliminate Clutter

We don’t like to talk about clutter, and it frustrates us in multiple areas of our lives. We are ashamed of the messes (otherwise, why would we try to explain them away), and clutter usually causes more difficulty in our lives than we realize. The truth is that life is messy in all kinds of ways, and we have to face it eventually. Strive for the balance that I call “functional neatness”—neat enough to be peaceful and messy enough to be happy. Deal with the clutter in your life and experience freedom to produce fruit in important things. In the process, you will also teach your children to be good stewards of their possessions and their time.

Slow down

Life moves fast. Why do we believe that we can add more and more to our lives and not suffer the consequences? Homeschooling affords the opportunity for us to love and raise our children at a pace that produces real fruit and real life. Place time with the Lord first—He is your source of strength and wisdom. Learn to say no based on your priorities, and take time to rest and refresh yourself to continue in your mission. In a little book of quotations, I came across this wise advice: “One half the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quick and not saying no soon enough” (Josh Billings, quoted in Little Things, edited by Louise Bachelder, The Peter Pauper Press, 1969). Slow down to eternal speed and enjoy your family!

Stay the course

If you haven’t planned well, evaluate how you failed and plan to do better. God is the one who is able, and His grace is boundless. When you commit to persevere, He will honor that commitment and lift you up to fulfill your mission. The Word of God encourages you to persevere in the most important task the Lord has called you to do—raise godly children. “Therefore, my beloved [sisters], be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58, NASB). “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass” (I Thessalonians 5:24, NASB).

I love what A. A. Milne (creator of Winnie-the-Pooh) said about organization: “Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up”* In order to display God’s glory through our homes and families, we don’t want our homes to be “all mixed up.” With God’s strength, you can reverse what could possibly be your most stress-inducing concern—disorganization. You and your family will reap the peaceful rewards of an organized household.

* Retrieved online, July 16, 2006. http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/a._a._milne/2.html

Marilyn Rockett is a “graduated” homeschool mom of four grown sons and Mimi to six homeschooled grandchildren, teaching for fifteen years before the Rocketts ran out of sons to teach. She is a contributor to multiple books and is the author of Homeschooling at the Speed of Life, her latest book that provides encouragement and organizational helps with a scriptural emphasis. For more than twenty-five years, Marilyn has worked in the homeschool community locally, statewide, and nationally and has contributed articles to many publications. She is currently a regular columnist for Homeschooling Today® magazine and speaks at homeschool and Christian women’s events as well as presenting her own “Minding Your Time” seminars. Visit her website at www.MarilynRockett.com or contact her at Marilyn@MarilynRockett.com

1. Keep your child’s schedule in mind. If your toddler usually naps from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., a noon trip to the dry cleaners is more likely to trigger a meltdown. You might have to make more than one trip to get all of your errands done, but the extra gas may be worth it.
2. Tag team. Consider running errands with a friend (preferably one who has kids around the same age as yours). She can distract your child (and vice versa) when necessary or, if things get really bad, one mom can sit in the car with all the kids while the other gets the shopping done for both households.
3. Get the important things done first. Do the errands that can’t wait until tomorrow, today. Of course you don’t want to make multiple trips, but “trying to cover too much territory can backfire,” Jen Singer points out at American Baby.
4. Bring your bag of tricks. Just as having special toys at the ready helps when you have to work from home with little kids underfoot, having a set of “car toys” that only come out when you’re in the minivan can make running errands a treat instead of a chore.
5. Make at least one of the errands “kid friendly.” Stopping at the playground after the post office is a welcome break that can help keep boredom at bay for the rest of the day. No time for the swings? Pick up a cookie at the bakery before you steer your cart toward the grocery store check-out line; it’ll make the wait a lot sweeter for your child.
6. Pack plenty of the necessities. There are several things you should keep on hand whenever you leave your house with your child in tow: Wipes, diapers, juice boxes or sippy cups, snacks, extra clothing, and small trash bags are among the basics you should keep stashed in your car at all times.
7. Let your child get involved. Just because he’s strapped in the cart doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to help. Have your toddler help you pick items in the produce aisle — he can point to the perfect apples if you don’t want him to touch them.
8. Build extra time into your schedule. Sure, when you run errands alone you might be able to get everything done in a couple of hours. But toddlers dawddle, mishaps occur, and going anywhere with kids takes extra time. Planning for it will significantly reduce your stress levels.
9. Shop online. Avoiding a public meltdown may be worth the price of shipping. Bonus: Some stores allow you to buy online but make returns at a brick-and-mortar location.

Tips courtesy of workitmom.com and the Work It, Mom! Team

Many housekeeping experts advocate having a place for everything that’s in your home.  You may have heard the expression, “Everything should have a place, and everything should be in it’s place.”

The longer I’ve cleaned my house and tried to keep it organized, the more I find this to be true.  But how do you get there?  Certainly, one big part is decluttering your home and getting rid of unnecessary stuff.  But another very important part is bringing less stuff home from the store.  The next time you’re in the store or looking online, think about these questions:

Ask yourself, “Where exactly will I put this in my house?”

If it’s on sale, ask yourself, “Would I still buy this if it were full price?”

Finally, ask yourself, “Is there something better I could spend this money on?”

Do you clip coupons?  I know some people do and some  people don’t.  And some people who DO clip coupons even decide it’s better not to when it doesn’t make the desired product any cheaper than the generic.

But here’s an idea.  Begin to clip and use coupons for new products the manufacturers put out, especially household products.  Usually these coupons offer a deep discount just to get you to try it, and if you look online, you might find a coupon for the product that makes it FREE!

A friend of mine recently tried this the with new Bounce “Dryer Bar” and really discovered (for very little money) a new way to add that fresh smell to her laundry.   It works just as well as the dryer sheet but without the hassle of remembering to add  a sheet to each load of laundry or throwing the same said sheet away afterwards.

Not quite ready to abandon the practice of sorting your laundry before washing? If that’s the case, try this tip taht will cut the time you spend sorting laundry to nil, saving at least 15 minutes each week. The trick is to provide two laundry hampers in each room where dirty laundry collects, suggests Barbara Webster; president of Nice N Clean Maid Service in Miami. One hamper is for whites, and the other is for colors. For instant recognition, use one white and one brightly colored hamper. Or just label them, and make sure family members use them correctly. Dirty clothes will arrive in the laundry room presorted and ready to go straight into the washer.

This quickest way to keep your food budget under control is to carry a calculator into the store and tally your puchases as you go. No need to pinch pennies — round to the nearest dollar, if you like. If it’s a pain to hold a tiny calculator in your hand, buy a clipboard with a solar calculator at the top. This type of clipboard costs just a few dollars at a dollar or closeout store, and you can clip your list and coupons to it, too.