I'm interested too... I've been perusing Pinterest a bit for ideas too.

The one thing I'm working on right now is to put things away as soon as I'm done with them. I got a new car in February, and didn't want to turn it into the usual trash-can-on-wheels as was my usual doing... so decided I would always empty the car when I got home. EVEN IF it was something I was going to run an errand with the next day... What's interesting is now I don't even consciously think of it. I have built the habit of emptying the car! So now I want to try to do it here at home....

We are very good about cleaning up the kitchen right after dinner. We have a little elderly cat who tries to get into food he should not be having, so it's been good to help keep the kitchen clean.

I had "aha' moments when I realized I didn't want to fold dishtowels, underwear, or white socks anymore.
I now have a large storage area in the kitchen for white rags, a huge bin for dishtowels and drawers in the master bath dedicated to socks and underwear.

I feel like Monica from Friends, however. I do have categories of socks, of course, and underwear, and tons of "good" dishtowels and all those get proper care.

The easy (hidden though), access to dozens of white cotton washrags in the kitchen has eliminated most paper towel use.

I have a special bin in the laundry room to throw them in for their own wash load.

Have you looked at the fly lady website? I've been trying to come up with a house cleaning schedule for awhile now - she has zones that are very helpful.

I found mail to be a problem with causing clutter in our house, so now sort the mail as I'm walking up the driveway and toss into the recycle bin any junk mail/catalogs I don't want. I have a magazine basket that the magazines go into and a mail basket on my desk that bills to be paid go into. If it doesn't fit into one of those piles I try and get rid of it!

I also bought a swiffer dry and wet cloths and am trying to spot swipe my floors to keep them looking nice so it won't require a huge cleaning every week.

I got rid of all cleaners and now use only vinegar, baking soda or hydrogen peroxide for cleaning and it's made a HUGE difference. Also switched all towels to white, no more having to figure out what towels for what bathroom and what towels DH can use in his garage (he gets all colored ones). Same with kitchen towels. Makes laundering a lot easier too.

Baskets are my friend. I just did something totally goofy, but I measured in the inside of my freezer (side by side) and went to the dollar store to buy bins to fit. Now each shelf contains a bin and I labled each shelf; vegetables, meat, vegetarian, ready to eat meals, etc. Cut up an old tupperware lid to make tags, punched a hole in each tag, then used a zip tie to attach them to the shelves. No more digging around trying to figure out what is what.

In the fridge, I added labled bins too...lunch meats & cheeses, snacks, yougurt, etc.

I keep a sharpie and a scissors in a drawer in every room of the house...never know when you'll need them for something.

I also have a lable maker and would be lost without it. It has been a lifesaver for our marriage, since DH has ADD and is prone to losing things walking from room to room. If it's in a bin and labled, he can at least remember to find something that way. I can't count on him to return it, but he can at least FIND it.

I keep multiples of things all over the place, even in my truck. No more having to carry things around and they get misplaced. It's inevitable that I forget something when I walk out the door, so for example, if I have a cell phone car charger in my rig, one in my field bag and one in my purse, I always have one.

I'm not a CAYG person...I like saving it all up for one big clean up, but I do at least rinse the dishes and load the dishwasher each night, and try to throw at least one load of laundry in the washer each night. In the morning I transfer that load to the dryer then start the DW before heading to work.

One last thing, I have two buckets that I carry around with me when I clean. I pick up things that don't go in the room I'm cleaning and throw them in the bucket. Then as I go to the next room, I take out whatever is in there that goes to that room, and so on. The second bucket is for things that need to go to the garage or outside. Saves me steps!

I keep multiples of things on each floor like cleaning stuff and scissors in each room too. Really helps!

A couple of years ago I bought 3 of these from Ikea. They're for a kids room but I use them in the pantry and it's been great. There are 3 different basket depths to choose from (our baskets are in white) and the top acts like a shelf where I put my bigger sized appliances. I lined them up along a short wall and love it! I have one bin full of the white bar towels and the one right under it as a hamper for dirty ones. I have one filled with flashlights, candles and emergency phone numbers for when the electricity goes out. Tools and first aid each have a bin and so on. I'm thinking of getting another set to use in our master bedroom closet for socks, underwear, bags and so on.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ikea Trofast

One more thing to add about junk mail/credit card offers or old bills. I just toss those in a bankers box and wait for the next free community shred day. They take the whole box (you can usually bring two boxes or bags per person), dump and shred it in front of you, and then I start the process all over again. I'm trying to find out when is the next shred day.

Great suggestions! Here are a few of mine:

-Everything should have a place,and it should be convenient or logical. So, there is a bowl right inside the front door where I always put my keys. There is always an extra roll of toilet paper in the bedroom closet, just outside the door of the bathroom. The key to the car my daughter and I share is hung on a key rack right next to the door to the garage. And so on.

-We try to keep our pantry and supply closets stocked. So when we take a can of shaving cream out, I put it on the shopping list and buy another one. This only works though if you keep your stock in a designated place and know to check there. Otherwise I think it's too easy to just keep buying replacement whatevers without knowing you already have it stashed somewhere.

-Also use white towels, as well as white sheets and white table linens. Other than different sizes, this eliminates any and all worries about matching anything.

-I tidy up before I go to bed and before I leave in the morning. It only takes 10 minutes or so to put things away at night, and straighten up in the morning. And it makes a huge difference to me to see order when I wake up and when I come home. Started this when the kids were younger and it's a habit that has lasted.

-I make my bed every morning. This is similar to flylady's shining the sink/putting on shoes principle. A bed that is made just makes the room, the house and life feel more orderly and organized.

Below is a great little list from a blogger I follow. It includes some of my own tips, which is probably why I think it's so useful ;).

Ann

Here is a link that might be useful: Tips for Keeping it Together

I've found what works best for me is doing a little bit every day. I don't let the mail accumulate. Go through it every day and put bills on DH's desk, magazines in their place, etc. I use a light weight stick vacuum to keep the kitchen, foyer, hall tile clean. Usually a quick go around once a day is enough. I use a spray mop for spot cleaning the tile where it often gets dirty (around sink, in front of island, etc). And, like others have said, everything is put away before going to bed (throws folded and put in chest in family room, remotes put in box they live in, etc). All of this doesn't take more than 15 minutes every day and I think it goes a long way to keeping the public areas of the house clean and always presentable.

I also have a schedule for when I do the bigger cleaning.
So, really, it's a matter of doing a little a day and breaking up the big cleaning so I don't have to do it all in one day. Nothing makes me crankier than having to spend one of my weekend days cleaning the entire house.

I swear that Flylady.net is the key. It all sounds nuts..shining the sink will change your life, but it is true. The kindness in her system makes it work I think.

Beth p

Before I read the responses to this post, my first thought was that switching to all white dishtowels, sheets and duvet covers made my life so much simpler. I then thought "I can't post that, people will think I'm nuts for thinking this is life-changing". So happy to see I'm not the only one that finds one colour easier to live with.

I sometimes feel like I'm always catching up, and getting reorganized.
The holidays set me back, and I can't wait to be alone for a few days and get reorganized. I need it and crave it. But at the same time, I want to be content and happy and living in the "now" , even if things are not as organized and clean as I would want them to be.

Most helpful to me is one of Flylady's tips: using a timer. I work faster and I'm less likely to wander off if I've got the timer set, and like an 8 year old, I enjoy the feeling of beating the timer. But most importantly, it is a constant reminder that even though it seems like it will take 'forever' to clean my room or the kitchen, it's really only 17 minutes. That's all I give myself and it's a rare day when I don't "win".

I only need to use it for dreaded tasks: putting away all the laundry in my room, cleaning the kitchen, cleaning out closets. Bathrooms, living room, etc., for some reason I don't mind cleaning and I don't need extra motivation.

We have a small house so this does not apply to everyone to the same degree, but the ONLY way I can keep it even moderately clean is by constant decluttering/limiting what comes in.

Fly Lady taught me that I don't have to be "perfect" in HOW I get rid of items . . .my mom is a huge fan of having garage sales, but FL taught me to just donate (bless someone else). It makes sense-- you get your real estate back that way! I no longer hold onto items until I find the perfect person to give them to; instead, they go to charity.

One other idea along the white everything is a lot of the same socks. I used to have several kinds of black socks, but now I stick with one brand. It saves so much time! DH is the same way.

We have a long way to go in terms of organization/decluterring, however. I have no problem getting rid of most items (children's artwork is the only exception) but it's the logistics of actually doing it. My only time away from the kids is late at night, but that's when I do my paid work. And now, with the new baby, I'm never away from her, though at least she's in my wrap all the time . . .it's not ideal but better than nothing!

Anele, I'm with you on the Just Do It approach to getting rid of stuff. I had a few garage sales years ago. So much work to get everything organized, have the sale, then get rid of whatever didn't sell. Now, I just put it in a box or bag and off to Goodwill it goes. I may be losing some money but for me, it's worth much more to get things out of the house and out of my mind without taking up all that time and energy to try to sell them. I guess it goes without saying I've never tried Craigslist, freecycle or ebay either to sell/give away stuff :).

Ann

Two of the best things that happened to me: getting a labeler and creating a color coded file system. I went to a free seminar at Office Depot years ago on home office organization, given by a professional organizer. She had a lot of good advice, but those two were the best. Labeler isn't just for office use. We have a very deep linen closet at the end of the hall. DH couldn't find a bowling ball at eye level in there. I already had it semi-organized by type of stuff. Linens one shelf, lightbulbs, electrical cords another, OTC meds and first aid. So I labeled the shelves on the front. I also organized and labeled my bedroom linen closet shelves by season and bed size. Stuff like that.

Love my color coded file system! No wading through a manila sea! Example: Like items are kept in a specific color folder. Each group of colors is filed alphabetically. So the top drawer of our lateral file cab has probably 6 colors (sections). Each color alphabetized by itself. So all green folders are A-Z, all gray are A-Z, etc. Some of my colors are: banking/mortgage/loans are in green files (memory trigger = the color of money), credit cards purple, utilities, cell phones, cable, etc. are gray. Insurance policies are teal. Once you get used to it, it's a huge time saver locating files. If I'm looking for the homeowner's policy I go straight to the teal folders section. And if it's misfiled I only have to sort through teal folders, not a whole row or two of manila. Makes filing paperwork a snap too, because you zero in on the color first, then your file name.