I am here to report on my To Do list from last friday! It was a long list, probably longer than it should have been. However, I am happy to report the toys have been sorted and only a few things are left in order to prepare for the summer months!
The toys in my storage area were a little more of an undertaking than I first realized! I often tell moms to rotate their toys between seasons. Instead of having all of the toys out at once. It is less overwhelming for the kids, and less to clean up if there are fewer toys. We have a storage area / walk in attic of sorts where I put these toys. I must admit it has been awhile since I have been in the storage area to sort, which is why it became a much bigger project than I first thought…
While going through this process, I was reminded of four very key principles in organizing and I wanted to share them with you…..
Tips to Share:
1) Focus – when you have an organizing project that needs to get done, the best advice I can give, is set up the time to do it. Focus, do not let anything take you away from the project! And it will get done! I knew I had most of the weekend to get this project done, and I was not going to stop until it was finished!
2) Sorting toys is more efficient with no children around! They will want to save everything! I had constant little people coming in and out wanting to see what I was doing. It’s easier to sort and purge when they are not around. Again, it’s part of staying focused! At one point I had to set rules and let them know they were not allowed to go into the storage area until I was finished. When I was done, I let them each pick out a toy to bring back into their rooms.
3) Like Items Stay With Like Items - when sorting toys or putting toys away for rotation, make sure to keep like items with like items… I had to do a lot of sorting of little stuff because things were not together… This was a lesson I learned the hard way, and it will not happen again… It’s worth buying a few extra clear bins in order to keep the toys contained if that is what you have to do!
4) Maintenance - Do this kind of purging and sorting more often. I have the kids clean their rooms on a daily basis, however this storage area had been ignored. It had been several months since I really took a look at everything in it. Organizing on a regular basis will make the next time I go in much easier!
Organizing is a work in progress. It never ends and if we want to keep our homes organized we have to work at it! However, the end result is always well worth it!
Happy Organizing!
Recent Comments