As a children’s storybook author and creator of a lifestyle website (Dandelion Moms), I am constantly thinking about ways to stay on top of things so that I can be a good mom, wife and friend to those I care about while doing the work that I enjoy doing.  But the reality is that sometimes I need a little help and so I’m always on the lookout for ways to stay organized. I have some friends who seem to have been born organized. You know, the friend whose house is always camera-ready – but you never notice her cleaning. My sister-in-law is like that and she has even had requests from friends asking her to help “plan” their lives.  What this tells me is that many of us are searching for ways to handle all the pressure, but do it in a way that doesn’t run us down!

Recently, I have come across a couple of apps and products that I use daily to help keep me sane.  Let’s be honest here, being a mom is tough work and most definitely the hardest thing I have ever done. The more I plan out my weeks, the more time I find to spend doing what I love best – hanging out with my family!  Here are some steps I took to simplify and organize my life.

Declutter Your Home:  Recently, I have gone through a major de-cluttering phase as I work out of the home and felt that the clutter was interfering with my ability to focus on work.  A good friend came over to my house and helped me go through my daughter’s room and garage.  Yes, she is a good friend to help me with this and is one of those women who are just born organized!  We were talking while sorting through piles of toys and she said something that really affected me: “You need to organize your house to help simplify your life.”  This really hit home to me as I tend to be one of those who can’t seem to get rid of my stuff.

Enlist the help of friend who can help you scour through your house and decide what should stay, what should be donated, and what should be sold. I do feel the energy of the house is much better after decluttering, and I am able to tackle more work in less time which leaves me more time to enjoy my family! A great resource to help you take baby steps in your mission towards decluttering and managing a clean house is Flylady.  You can find some great tips here: www.flylady.net.  I really like her 10-minutes-a-day clean-up idea – she calls them baby steps and it has really helped me get my home under control.

Organize the Paperwork:  One of the items we tackled was the paperwork clutter that is never ending. We set up some file cabinets in the garage that I can use for paper work that I don’t need on a daily basis and used a cute filing system for things I use daily.  For my daughter’s adorable artwork that I hate throwing out – I use an app called Kidpix: Save Your Kids Art Work (free, iOS).  I just love how we can save her masterpieces by taking a picture, choosing which “frame” to hang it in and save it in this fun app. Through this app, we can look at her art at any time and only physically keep the most treasured pieces.

Write it Down:  My friends and I joke that if we didn’t write down our name we would forget it sometimes. Yes, Mommy Brain does hit from time to time and I think that is just because as moms we have to remember so many things – what’s for dinner, what time is soccer practice, did I call back that new client – and we start to feel a little overwhelmed.  I find that writing it down really helps me to not only remember the things that need to get done for the day, week or month, but also that I am less stressed about all that needs to get done because I don’t have to try to remember it all.

Erin Condren stationary makes the most adorable Life Planners that comes with colorful stickers, notepads, quotes and monthly calendars. I use this for my day-to-day To-Do List as well as I use their Monthly Family Calendar.  This one I hang on the wall in the kitchen area so anyone in the family can see what is going on as far as activities for the month.  I love how her products make staying organized colorful and fun. It is fun for me to write down for the month in both calendars using the stickers and colorful pens on Sunday nights. Plus, I still enjoy physically crossing things off on my to-do list!

By taking some simple steps you can really see a difference in your stress level.  Start with de-cluttering your home and/or office space and then get a reliable scheduling system. Before long, friends just might be asking you how you seem to manage things so effortlessly!

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Written by Melissa Northway

Melissa Northway, M.S., is a children’s picture book author and founder and editor of lifestyle site dandelion moms.  The essence of dandelion moms is to inspire women to go after their dreams – whatever they might be.  Her daughter was the inspiration to write award-winning Penelope the Purple Pirate whose pro-social behaviors are important for children to read about in a story.  You can find her at www.melissanorthway.com and www.dandelionmoms.com and @melissanorthway and @dandelionmoms.

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