Organizing Hacks & Tools Archives - Page 2 of 3

How to Get Your Kids to Do Chores: Secrets of Organizing Pros & Rockstar Parents

Raise your hand if you’ve ever wanted to move to a new home just to get away from the mess at the one you’ve got!

It’s hard enough when you’re single to keep your home organized and tidy. But when you mix in a spouse, kids, and maybe some pets, it can feel as though you’re fighting a losing battle.

So how do you do it??? How do you get your busy family unified and working together? How can you get everyone to conquer that never-ending chore list so that it’s actually done — without tears or screaming? And how can you get organized quickly and easily?

To find the answer, I collaborated with Citi to find the real experts — organization gurus and parents who have successfully rallied their families to maintain ship-shape homes!

I rounded up their secret strategies and recommended tools. And I’m sharing those with you today.

There’s no better time than now to get your family organized. So get ready to conquer your crew’s collective goals and manage your household responsibilities with this easy action plan.

[Read more…]

Why You Need a Food Processor: 10 Ways You’ll Save Time & Money

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

Sometimes it feels as though you have to pick your poison when it comes to meal prep: save time with prepared ingredients or save money by handling the food prep yourself.

But you can save time and money on food prep with a surprisingly versatile kitchen tool — your food processor.

If yours is getting dusty on the back of a shelf — or if you haven’t made the investment to buy one — here are 10 compelling reasons to fire up a food processor to get great food ready quickly and inexpensively. [Read more…]

9 Clever Storage Solutions for Organizing Your Family’s Shoes

This post is part 2 in the series How to Organize It.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

Shoes have a sneaky way of walking themselves where they don’t belong. Kids’ shoes especially wind up under beds, strewn across floors, and underfoot in doorways.

It’s messy, it’s disorganized, and it drives you crazy when you constantly hear, “MOM!!! Where are my shoes?!”

So it makes sense that the right shoe storage solution for your family must be kid-friendly. (If they don’t use it, it won’t work!) Your shoe organizer has to sit where it makes the most sense for how you live your lives. And it has to meet your mom standards for functionality, quality, and even aesthetic appeal.

I have tried a number of approaches to shoe storage over the year, and these are some of my favorite products and solutions:
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Here’s How to Hack Your Way to an Organized Refrigerator

This post is part 3 in the series How to Organize It.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

Ahh, the fridge. That chilly black hole where perfectly good food vanishes until the stink leads you to it. Or where you mutter curses under your breath as you pull everything out in order to find that one thing you need.

As little more than a giant box with lots of oddly shaped foods, the refrigerator can be an organizing nightmare. Too often, you wind up with wasted food and even double purchases after you lose an item in the recesses of the fridge.

But getting your fridge organized — and keeping it organized — is surprisingly simple. With a few fundamental principles and the right tools, you can take your refrigerator from maddening to organized in a snap. [Read more…]

How to Organize Your Bathroom Cleaning Supplies

This post is part 4 in the series How to Organize It.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

I don’t know anyone who likes cleaning the bathroom.

You’re spraying, scrubbing, scouring, bending, and jumping . . . if you struggle to reach the top of the mirror like me. And then, before you know it, it’s time to do it all over again.

But there are ways you can make the process quicker, easier, and less stressful. Organizing your bathroom cleaning supplies is one of the best ways to increase your efficiency, move easily from bathroom to bathroom, and know that you have everything you need in one handy spot.

Plus — bonus! — it makes it that much easier for your husband or kid to clean the bathroom without asking you where every little thing is.

So here we go! Today I’m sharing my best tips for organizing your bathroom cleaning supplies and making this necessary chore a smoother project.

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How Micro-Actions Can Help You Conquer Your Goals

If you’re like most people, you’re probably a bit disappointed and frustrated right about now.

It’s a few months into the new year, and you’re already losing traction on at least one of your new year’s resolutions. You’re not where you hoped you’d be, or you’ve thrown in the towel already.

The problem for many of us is that we set ambitious goals that are nearly impossible to achieve. Think about it:

Are you a fast food junkie who’s now trying to eat 100% healthy foods?
Are you a compulsive spender who’s now trying to stick to a barebones budget?
Are you a clutter magnet who’s now trying to maintain a Martha Stewart home?

And once you mess up just one time, it’s tempting to get sucked into self-doubt that leads to even more mistakes.

But you can break this ugly new year’s resolutions pattern.

You can make big changes in your life. In fact, you can do it without any of the stress and self-flagellation. The trick is to realize that it’s rare that people successfully make those big changes overnight.

That’s where the magic of micro-actions comes in. [Read more…]

7 Free Chrome Extensions That Keep You Organized & Productive

It’s easy for your Internet browser to be a clutter magnet that slows you down. Your browser is a mess of favorite sites and dozens of open tabs — videos to watch, articles to read, messages to which you need to respond, and more.

But, if you’re a Google Chrome user, you can transform your browser into a tool that supercharges your productivity and keeps you on task and organized. Check out these 7 incredible (and free!) Chrome extensions that are more than worth the download:
[Read more…]

How Parkinson’s Law Will Make You Insanely Organized

This post is part 1 in the series Embracing Parkinson's Law.

This week, we’re wrapping up our series on improving your everyday life with Parkinson’s Law!

So far, we’ve looked at this important idea in its original format: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

And we’ve looked at a twist in relation to your money: “Your lifestyle expenses increase so as to use up the income available.”

Today, we’ll tackle one more twist on Parkinson’s Law as it relates to getting organized: “Your stuff expands so as to use up the space available.”

Yeah, this one is so true!

When I moved out of my tiny graduate school apartment, I loaded up all of my belongings into my little sedan. Seven years later, it was a whole different story! When my husband and I moved from our townhouse rental into our current home, it took a medium-sized U-Haul and a truck with movers to wrangle the big stuff.

Our stuff had expanded.

So how can you keep your belongings from multiplying like Tribbles? Growing into piles, seeping into tidy areas, and taking over your home? [Read more…]

6 Kitchen Tools That Make Healthy Eating Cheap & Easy (Part 2)

This post is part 2 in the series 6 Kitchen Tools That Make Healthy Eating Cheap & Easy.

If you haven’t already read it, check out Part 1 of this series!

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

Two weeks ago I shared three of my favorite kitchen tools for eating fresh, healthy foods without the hassle.

If you’ve got the right gear in your kitchen, it’s so easy to eat high-quality fruits, veggies, meats, cheeses, and more without paying the huge markup that comes with the pre-prepped, bagged and boxed stuff.

So let’s dive in to three more of the best kitchen gear you can get for enjoying good-for-you foods on a budget: [Read more…]

6 Kitchen Tools That Make Healthy Eating Cheap & Easy (Part 1)

This post is part 1 in the series 6 Kitchen Tools That Make Healthy Eating Cheap & Easy.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

We all want to eat fresh and healthy foods. And we want to serve them to our spouses and kids too.

But eating junk is just so much easier! There’s none of the washing, prepping, slicing, cooking, and storing that you have to tackle with fresh produce, meats, cheeses, etc. Instead, you just grab and go.

And you pay a pretty penny for that convenience — not to mention the toll it takes on your health.

But what if you could enjoy fresh, healthy foods easily, conveniently, and at a great price?

Here are six of my all-time favorite kitchen tools for enjoying good-for-you foods on a budget: [Read more…]