Think about your dream morning that does not involve mimosas. Calmly leaving the house early, kids getting ready on their own, everything going smoothly. You can’t predict any kid meltdowns, but you can control how prepared you are.

Having a drop zone in your home with an organized work bag will certainly move you in the right direction. A work bag is basically like a big purse, but for your job. It has everything you need for work, such as your laptop, charger, papers. No wallet, no sunglasses, no IDs. Only work items.

As soon as you get home, empty out your work bag. Put away anything that is staying home. When you’re done with the work items at home, they immediately go back into the bag. No more forgetting work stuff at home. No more losing stuff at the bottom of your purse. No more heavy purse with all the work stuff weighing it down when you’re at dinner.

The same concept can apply to kid’s book bags. Go through them right away, taking out anything that needs to be done or addressed, returning it right away. In the morning, it’s one less thing to have to get on them about (please, please, please, just put your shoes on).

When combined with the nighttime sweep, your work bag will make your morning routines run much smoother. If you need help working on your family’s routines, contact me.

I’m Maggie, owner of Organizing CU and a busy working mom who understands the struggle of trying to juggle all of it. Using my Reduce, Arrange, Maintain philosophy, I can help you get and stay organized!

Anyone else ever feel like they’re running around in circles, trying to get everything done? Finding sticky notes of things to do in your purse, your work bag, your kitchen counter, your car…

The very first tip I give to people when I see notes all over is to eliminate all those floating papers from your life. Gather them all up and put them in a single place. When they’re scattered all over the house, they have a tendency to become permanent clutter, where you learn to ignore them.

Make a master to-do list, either in a small notebook (hello dollar store), your calendar, or into an app that you can sync with your family. Write down every single thing that you need to do.

Then you need to prioritize the list. You will know which are the urgent ones. Keep those at the top, obviously. Then decide which ones are important soon (calling the electrician to fix the front porch light that has been out for a couple of days) and which ones are dreams (washing your baseboards).

Every couple of days or week, depending on how long your list is, go through and update it, adding and removing where necessary. You’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish when you have everything in one single place.

If you need some assistance getting that list in place, contact me to help you out.

I’m Maggie, owner of Organizing CU and a busy working mom who understands the struggle of trying to juggle all of it. Using my Reduce, Arrange, Maintain philosophy, I can help you get and stay organized!

Everything needs a home. I’ve discussed the importance of it before. When everything has a place to go, your family will know where to put things and where to find things without having to ask you, saving you time. When your family has all these good habits in place, you will find it’s easier to keep up than to catch up.

When you don’t have to think about where you should put the bills that need to be paid (small basket labeled “To Be Paid”) or the receipt for the dress you might return (envelope labeled “Just In Case”), it takes away a bit of that mental load that people tend to carry around. It becomes second nature to just put it where it belongs right away.

My closet has three hampers in it: darks, whites, and towels. When I first implemented the system, I put labels above each one so everyone in the house knew exactly what went where. (The cat eventually clawed them to pieces after about two months, but the habits were well established by that point). The labels prevented things from ending up in the wrong bin. And saved me a lot of aggravation.

The same applies to your kids and their toys: it makes it easier for them to pick up after themselves when they know exactly what goes where. You can use labels with pictures or words.

Let labels help you get things organized. If you need me (and my label maker) to come by to set up some good systems, contact me today.

I’m Maggie, owner of Organizing CU and a busy working mom who understands the struggle of trying to juggle all of it. Using my Reduce, Arrange, Maintain philosophy, I can help you get and stay organized!

How often is your family asking you where something is or where it goes? If your house is like mine, it’s pretty often! It’s so important to have a home for everything. Then everyone knows where to find it…and more importantly, where to put it away!

When everything has a home, it’s second nature to put it away. It doesn’t get stuck in a temporary home, becoming permanent clutter. Imagine your kids know exactly where their hockey bag is or where they should put their bake sale reminders for you to see.

The ‘One Touch Rule’ means everything gets put away the FIRST TIME you touch it. No more paperwork piling up on the kitchen counter. No more unfolded clothes sitting on your closet floor.

With the ‘One Touch Rule,’ those “I’ll deal with it later” stacks disappear. Go through the mail as soon as you get in the door (junk mail recycled and magazines onto the bedside table). Put away the laundry as soon as the dryer dings.

I’ve previously talked about how it is easier to keep up than to catch up. The ‘One Touch Rule’ is the perfect compliment. When you only touch it once, there is no chance for anything to pile up. You save so much time when you’re not spending 45 minutes each week going through a week’s worth of junk mail or cleaning up the playroom. You’re already keeping up.

If you want to hear more, feel free to contact me at organizingcu@gmail.com.

I’m Maggie, owner of Organizing CU and a busy working mom who understands the struggle of trying to juggle all of it. Using my Reduce, Arrange, Maintain philosophy, I can help you get and stay organized!

You know that notification that pops up when your phone is running out of space and it demands that you remove an app or two before letting you save anything more? Space limits are the same thing, but in your home. It helps prevent that clutter creep, which can quickly become permanent clutter.

Space limits are restrictions on how much stuff you can keep in a certain area. In our house, we have space limits on clothing. We have 100 hangers in our closet (I didn’t count). Once we are out of hangers, I will not buy any more hangers – it means it’s time to purge some stuff out of there if I want to bring in any new clothes.

It is so easy for toys and clothing to explode out of control, especially after a holiday or birthday. Space limits make it so you can easily tell when you have too much of something. We have a couple of bins in our playroom for toys. If they’re full, we know it’s time to ship some toys to younger relatives or Goodwill.

You can do the same for your kitchen. Keep only a couple of items on the counter top and banish the rest to cabinets. Only the things that fit in the cabinets are kept. When you get new big items, it’s time to purge some of the older stuff that you don’t use.

Especially those of us that have small homes or children, you really need to keep your incoming items in check. Making a routine of it will make it easier to keep the house organized. That would make any new year a good one!

Want to hear more? Check out episode 6 of the Organizing Confidence Unlimited podcast.

If you would like me to come help you define some space limits in your house, contact me!

I’m Maggie, owner of Organizing CU and a busy working mom who understands the struggle of trying to juggle all of it. Using my Reduce, Arrange, Maintain philosophy, I can help you get and stay organized!

I’m a recovering perfectionist. When I lived alone and didn’t have a kid, I knew I was a perfectionist. But now, I want to spend any precious free time with my family, not worrying about the little things. 

I have two pictures in my home (hung by me) that are crooked and I’ve left them that way. I like the reminder that I’m not perfect and that I need to let some things go. All I can do is shrug and smile when I see them. When my partner folds the towels and they don’t have crisp edges, it’s a reminder that I have a partner who helps out around the house. So I let it go and smile when I see the not-quite-perfect towel stack. 

When I look back at my first few blog posts, there are some things I would do differently, but I don’t mind it too much. It’s good to continually grow and change. I’ve talked about not being perfect on my Instagram a couple of times. I post about it often because it’s a reminder I need often. 

Perfectionism can stop you from moving forward. I had minimal website experience when I started this whole process earlier this year, but I purchased the domain and started working on it. I didn’t let my perfectionism stop me from jumping in and starting because a step in any direction is a good step. 

It may stop you from getting organized. Maybe you won’t redo your front entryway until you find the perfect piece of furniture. It’s okay to not have a perfect system immediately. Our guest room has gone through a bunch of changes. Much like ourselves, our spaces and homes need to evolve with us. No system is going to be perfect forever. As our kids grow up, our lives will change. 

Don’t let perfectionism stop you from organizing, changing, or evolving. Let some stuff go occasionally. You’ll get use to it.  I promise. 

If you need help letting go of your perfectionism, contact me!

I’m Maggie, owner of Organizing CU and a busy working mom who understands the struggle of trying to juggle all of it. Using my Reduce, Arrange, Maintain philosophy, I can help you get and stay organized!

I’ve previously talked about the importance of keeping up. I mentioned how a couple of minutes every night doing a quick pick up of the house (before it gets too overwhelming) means saving an hour of cleaning on the weekend.

I spend just a couple of minutes getting everything ready for the next day: getting out anything I can for breakfast, ensuring the dishes are all put away, moving any bags to our landing zone, and putting away any paper or toys left around.

Another one minute task I do before going to sleep is to check out tomorrow’s calendar to make sure I’ve got everything I need for the day. My kid has show-and-tell every Friday, usually with a different theme. We came thisclose to missing it this week, but one final peek at 9:00 pm reminded me that we needed to find something orange.

I like to do the same thing at the end of my work day: take a look at tomorrow’s calendar, put together a quick to-do list, make sure my desk is orderly before leaving. Having everything in its place makes a calmer start to my day, especially on a Monday!

That’s really what this 10 minutes of your day is all about: getting you in a calmer, more peaceful mindset to make your day run smoother and your life more organized.

If you need help with finding those 10 minutes to change your days, contact me today!

I’m Maggie, owner of Organizing CU and a busy working mom who understands the struggle of trying to juggle all of it. Using my Reduce, Arrange, Maintain philosophy, I can help you get and stay organized!

I would love to tell you that you can simply just organize your house once and that it will magically stay that way. But that would be a lie. My organizing motto has 3 steps: reduce, arrange, maintain. First, you need to get rid of some stuff. Second, you need to organize it. Third, and most important, you need methods and tips to help you keep it organized.

If you haven’t been organized in a while, you will have to do all three steps, which is always going to be daunting and feel crushing. If you need to tweak an area of your house that was previously organized, you will have to do only the last two, which is definitely achievable. If you have a system in place already, you will only have to maintain. And that is the easiest of all.

When working with clients, I focus on all three parts and I love to give them little tips and tricks to make it easier to maintain with a quick pick up. That five minutes every night means saving an hour on the weekend. Time I’d rather be spending with my family. Time I’d rather be spending with my friends. Time I’d rather be relaxing on the couch with a glass of wine.

Every time I leave a room, I glance around to see if there is anything that needs to go with me. Every night before bed, I walk around the house and get everything put away from the night and set up for the morning. It can feel never ending. However, I never feel overwhelmed by my house and I can always find exactly what I need when I need it.

Let’s be real: it’s hard work. At the end of a long day, the last thing I want to do is pick up a bunch of toys or wash dishes, but I do it anyways. Because organizing is an ongoing process and it’s always easier to keep up than it is to catch up.

If you need help catching up on those tasks that have been piling up, contact me today!

I’m Maggie, owner of Organizing CU and a busy working mom who understands the struggle of trying to juggle all of it. Using my Reduce, Arrange, Maintain philosophy, I can help you get and stay organized!

When it comes to my organization style, I have a pretty simple philosophy: reduce, arrange, maintain. The first step is to reduce the amount of stuff you have. Start by taking everything out of the area that you are working on. Every. Single. Thing. (I like to take this opportunity to clean off the surface since it’s one of the few occasions that everything is off there!)

Grouping things is a great way to see what you have. If you’re doing a kitchen, group by type of dish. If you’re doing a linen closet, group by use of item (shaving, hair, hand towels, etc) Take a look at each item and determine its fate:

• Do I really need or want it?
• Do I even like it?
• Have I used this in the last year?
• Would I buy it today? If it broke, would I immediately replace it?
• Is this a quality item?
• Would I keep it if it were originally free?
• What is the worst thing that could happen if I got rid of it?
• Am I only keeping it “in case” I need it someday? (Think about if you can borrow one or buy a new one in 20 minutes for under $20)
• Is it a duplicate?
• Is this the best place for it?
• When will I use it again? And will I remember I have it?

Next, you need to arrange how everything is going to go back into the space. I group everything by putting like with like. In my kitchen, my most often used utensils are grouped together in a drawer. In the playroom, the kid’s favorite books are grouped in the bookcase. In my linen closet, all of our teeth stuff is in one bin. This makes it easy to see what you have, what you’re low on, and what you don’t use!

The last step is sometimes the hardest one and that is the maintain part. You need to have a system in place in order to keep the organization. Labels are obviously a great way to ensure that everyone in your home knows exactly where things need to go.

When I first bought our three hampers for our ‘new’ laundry system of sorting while putting dirty clothes away, I put 3×5 index cards on each one so everyone knew which was for towels, darks, and whites. It looked silly and completely unprofessional, but guess what? It worked. When the cat destroyed two of the cards about a month in, I didn’t even need to replace them because everyone had a routine and habit of knowing which item when into which basket.

What’s great about this system is that sometimes you don’t need to do all three of them at the same time. You can do it piecemeal. If you have recently gone through all of your under-sink items, think about whether you could group them better for easier access. If you just redid your pantry, think about why it constantly falls to chaos and what type of maintenance it might take to keep it looking the way you want.

Want to hear more? My very first episode of the Organizing Confidence Unlimited podcast covered this topic.

Take a look around your house and see if there are any areas that could use some reducing, arranging, and maintaining. Contact me if you find any spaces that need some additional help!

I’m Maggie, owner of Organizing CU and a busy working mom who understands the struggle of trying to juggle all of it. Using my Reduce, Arrange, Maintain philosophy, I can help you get and stay organized!