Fun Ideas to Make Your Job Easier

I have a confession to make: I am not great at being organized/ on top of things. So I have actually been having fun applying different creative ways of being more "together". For me, if its creative and fun, I am more likely to start and continue using an organizational idea. Even though I know no one else struggles with this, I thought I'd share some ideas I've been finding and instituting:

Finding places for stuff -

I love this idea of storing art supplies in a clear door-hanging shoe bag from Something To Do because it is so out-of-the-way, easy to use because you can see everything immediately, and you can store so much in one place this way!

We always have something to bring somewhere, give back to someone, or get rid of! Right now I put such items either in the garage (never to be remembered again) or in a basket by our front door (not the most attractive option). I love the idea of making an inexpensive station just for transient items in a closet, garage, or tucked somewhere in the house. I am going to put mine in a corner of my laundry room. This idea is from The Red Chair Blog, where you can find other organizing ideas as well.

Chores, calendars, and other lists -

This chore chart at Lil Luna is so cute and usable! You can find a full tutorial on this at Lil Luna.

This chore chart looks like a lot of work, at least for those who aren't sewing pros, but it is so cute that I think my little one would want to do his chores just so he can interact with this chart! You can find the tutorial for this and lots of other similar chore charts at Child-Made Tutorials.

Sure enough, I have used up plenty of paper with my "To-Do" lists over the years. This idea is so simple yet so genius and delightfully green! Using a glass photo frame allows write 'n wipe marker usage for reusability. Find the tutorial at Lizard & Ladybug. You can do the same thing with a blank calendar and a photo frame, by the way! If you want to big calendar so you can write lots on it, click here and print out 11x14 blank calendars.

If you have trouble remembering to bring your library books back on time, here is a cute and inexpensive solution! In Aunt June's Etsy shop, you can find this printable Overdue Book Calendar. There is a page for each month of 2011, with cute blank books where you write what books you've checked out, and a small month calendar where you can circle due dates. Just $4.

Finally, download a free October homeschool planner and use the pages you wish! There are calendar pages, weekly overview pages, lesson planning pages, Bible verse pages, spelling list pages, vocab words pages, and more! Check it out at Denver Homeschooling Examiner.

Good Luck!

P.S. On a totally unrelated note, has anyone out there seen the movie Practical Magic and remember the death watch beetle? Is it weird that I am very uncomfortable with having a beetle in my kitchen that is currently making odd little clicking noises? I wish my cat would just come in here and eat it! Just saying.