Morning time can be crazy time! Add in kids, timelines, a little extra traffic, and it can be a rough start to the day.

• Do as much as you can the night before, including packing up your purse, kids backpacks, and stuff in the car.
• Get a great night’s rest with an earlier bedtime.  Moms and Dads need bedtimes too!
• As the mom or dad, get up 30 minutes earlier than your kids. You are getting yourself together ahead of getting everyone else up.
• Simplify breakfast with smoothies, ready made microwave foods or cereal to go in a cup.
• Create a happy sound track to the morning with great music.
• Keep a simple routine with simple steps for the morning.
• Get everyone out the door with a hug!

Thanks to my amazing colleague, D. Allison Lee and her Organize to Revitalize blog.  Here are some practical ways to make a difference for your ADD family.

http://dallisonlee.com/blog/2011/10/13/add-families-and-organizing/

Its time to send your baby off to college, and there is a lot of preparation to do!  Not only will they be working on academics, they will be working on real life!  Your kid may be ready to fly the coop, and you are not sure they are as prepared as you might like.  Having an organized approach will make for an A+ transition!

• Talk through the college day with your student. No longer will they be going to one spot all day long. What will their day be like? Help them write up a schedule that will work for them, taking into account their class times, and their high energy times.  
• Help them set up a planner that will work for them.  Getting started in college is where real life time management begins. Having a great week at a glance planner in paper or technology will be the first step in making real decisions about their time, their priorities and their schedules.   Record all the day’s details in their planner so they can see just how busy they are.  Using their phone is a great option since it is with them all the time, they can set reminders and recurring events, and they can check it whenever and wherever.  You can also recommended a toodledoo or notes for reminders on tasks. 
• Paper is a reality for college kids.  Help them set up a small filing system in a file box for their important papers such as enrollment documents. Encourage them to pay bills online  and use ways to eliminate paper as much as possible. For their class notes and more, what will work best for them? Spiral notebooks, pads, or ??? As long as their system works, that is what is most important. 
• The realities of dorm living mean two kids in a space about the same size as their bathroom at home.   Consolidating, communicating and coordinating are key components to getting along in a small space.    Encourage your student to do all of these in a positive, open and honest way for sharing a living space.  Storage is always at a premium.   Look for creative ways to maximize the space you have and use labeled uniform bins to store less frequently used items. 
• Container Store has an amazing array of options for dorm life.  Visit their site at  http://www.containerstore.com/college/index.html.   My favorites are their laundry baskets, a must for toting dirty clothes.  I love that you can shop visually to think through the options and what your needs are for your space. 
• Encourage your kids to rely on their strengths and core values. They are entering a time when there is a lot of new information and lots to think about.  When they rely on their true strengths, they are most comfortable with their decisions.  Core values like tenacity, honesty, creativity, and determination all make for college success. 
• Keep communication going with the home front. Our kids will “fondly” remember that Sunday was the day to call home!  Having one day to be sure to touch base, even in this time of texting, makes it a little easier on everyone. 
• Parents can forever seem like worriers, but encourage them to keep safety in mind.  Have a flashlight, jumper cables and a real first aid kit in their car.  Just in case!

How is your organizing coming for your best college year yet?

A mom and dad remarry, and it is not quite like the Brady Bunch!  The new American family comes together with kids, pets and way too much stuff!  There are a lot of emotions involved as well as a lot of personalities.  The job of creating a new space for the new family, as well as family cohesiveness, can be helped with the assistance of a Family Manager.

From the start, there is a lot of territory to cover.  The logistics of family stuff, such as laundry, dinner, kids coming and going, all add up to the same responsibilities as running a small company.  Having a new persective brings order to the home.  Mom and Dad can redefine the responsibilities with a clearer vision of how the family comes together.   A great family calendar and family meeting are a must! A command center for paper keeps control of mail, bills and other papers that come from school.  Setting up systems and routines bring order to the chaos. 

Blended families come with a lot of stuff.  There are two homes worth of goodies.  How will this new home bring together the best of each?  Every home is different in this respect and it is in respecting each other, the kids’ wishes, and good cooperation, that the new home evolves, especially in community spaces.  In addition, kids need their own space with their personal belongings to create buy in for the new family.    Kids’ personal spaces reflect who they are and invite them to be a part of the new family too.

It can be a struggle to get all these aspects into motion. Start with your family meeting and be consistent about hosting this weekly.  And add a communication time daily.  Keeping open to new ideas, from kids and adults, keeps the energy of your home positive. 

Make responsibilities visual.  Keep a family calendar posted in the kitchen with all different activities, from sports to church.  Keep posted the chores list, nightly dinner and the laundry schedule.  It helps everyone know what is the plan. 

Be consistent about your rules in your home. Even if your kids are in other homes during the week, what works for your family should be consistent for each kid and adult.  Everyone respects consistently enforced, simple boundaries. 

Get help when you need it.  Whether a family counselor or Family Manager Coach, be ready to include someone on the outside to help create order on the inside.  Helping everyone share their emotions and come together makes all the difference.

Organizing your teen might feel a lot like herding cats.  Are you really making a difference?  Approaching organizing can be overwhelming, distracted and extremely frustrating! But with a few tips, you can make organizing happen. 

Start by establishing a work plan that appeals to your teen.  Set a time that you can both work and require mandatory attendance. To work together, you need their input to know what to keep and what to eliminate. Set a time that your teen can really be on target in making decisions.  Work for 2 hour segments as well so you keep on task and get things done.

Help your teen establish a boundary for keepsakes.  Having attractive boxes for keepsakes and plastic 66 quart tubs for alternative storage make for great options.  There will be keepsakes for sure! Having these options gives your teen a boundary for how much to keep, helps them start making decisions, and also allows for safe storage. Attractive boxes can hold paper keepsakes, while storage bins hold models, dolls or other precious items they have outgrown but not out-loved.

Add energy to the project with food and music! Adding a professional organizer in the mix adds objectivity, focus and project management too!  In just two hours, here is what a mom, a teen and I knocked out in two hours over spring break!

What is your organizing challenge with your teen?

It’s 5 pm and you are headed home from work! Who will be there when you get there? Where did they go if not?  Its time to rethink the family calendar. 

We all know we live in a busy world. Being busy sometimes means we are not able to communicate as consistently or effectively as we need. Here comes the concept behind the family calendar.  It is the one spot where everyone’s activities are recorded and the connections created.  Having a family calendar posted where everyone can see it means that there is subliminal information being shared!  It works best when the family holds a weekly gathering to add information.  Don’t be deterred by trying to find a day and time to meet.  Set a time on the weekend, when there is a little more flexibility, and just be sure to hold your meeting each week.  If you are using a technology calendar, no problem! Simply print out the week or month at a glance and post it.  Now you have the best of all, an on the go calendar and one for everyone to see!

Great family calendars come in many forms

• Google calendar  at www.google.com
• Cozi at www.cozi.com
• Month at at glance paper calendar

Just getting started with your family calendar or meeting?  Give us an idea of what is working for you?

Fall means back to school! The sunny days of summer are over and fall is a great time to tackle those home projects.    Join me in learning more about organizing strategies at these upcoming events! 

Fall Refresh on September 14

Fall Refresh is an engaging afternoon program about organizing and interior design.  Certified Professional Organizer Ellen Delap will present Out with the Old .  Interior Decorator Leslie Sarmiento will present Company’s coming!  Refresh your home by decluttering and adding the latest in decorating trends.    Bring at friend and join us at this free presentation at Kingwood Public Library at 1 pm. 

 Organizing for Academic Success on September 20

Struggling to help your child with school success?  Join me in sharing techniques and tools to help your student get into the groove of school again.  Class is offered by phone at 7 pm central time.  Fee of $29. http://theprofessionalorganizer.com/organizingclasses/back-to-schoolwork/organizing-for-academic-success/ 

Organizing for Academic Success  for the AD/HD Student on September 21 

Join me for strategies to help your student with AD/HD achieve the success she/he deserves.  Class is free at Kingwood Public Library at 1 pm.

 Clutter Support Group beginning September 21

Have you had a life long struggle with being organized?  Need support from a community of people who are equally overwhelmed?  Join me in learning from others in the Clutter Support Group. This membership based group is the starting point for your journey in transforming your life, helping you define, establish and maintain an uncluttered lifestyle.  Group meets for 6 weeks, starting September 21.  Fee of $120.  Contact Ellen for details. 

Organizing for the Busy Mom and Dad  starting October 5

Take a fresh perspective to improve your and your family’s quality of life!   The Family Manager™system transfers management skills and strategies  from the business arena to running your home and personal life.  Family Manager skills help you reduce daily stress, create a smoothly running home, and have time for self care and recreation. Four weekly one hour teleclasses on  October 5, 12, 19, and 26.  Fee of $49.  Contact Ellen for details. 

It’s August and you and your kids are counting down the days until school begins again.  Start the year off right with some easy steps to prepare for the first day.   A little preparation goes a long way throughout the school year. 

 Appointments

It is time to schedule all those back to school doctor, dental and eye glass appointments. It can take up to 2 weeks so call now for the best time.  Many athletic departments require physicals and it is important to have an updated immunization record. Be proactive and get these dates on your calendar.  Remember to get an extra copy for your files too!  Schedule other groom essentials like haircuts and more too.

Paper

Before the new year avalanche of paper starts, take the last year’s artwork and corral it.  Using a Fed Ex Box large box, save only the “precious” items to store in the top of a closet.  Label the box by year (1^st grade or 2009-2010).  Now you are ready for this year’s art. 

Set up your command center for action papers.  Your command center holds all the very important action papers, including bills, kids papers from school  and other papers requiring an action. Add sections for papers that will be pending and filed. Each day open your mail at this station, recycle junk mail, shred potential identity theft papers and bring catalogs and magazines to a reading spot. By creating a specific work station for these papers, you are ready to act on them with an hour of weekly administrative time.

Closets

Clean out your kids’ closets before you shop for back to school gear.  Only keep what is fitting or a little larger.  Keep some warm weather attire for the beginning days of school.  When it comes to creating a system for storing the clothes, have your kids partner with you to create what works. Kids can maintain their closets or drawers if they are in reach and they have a good routine for this.  Have a laundry basket in everyone’s room to collect dirty and redistribute clean clothes too. 

Academics

The first few weeks of school are all about refreshing skills and concepts. Do your kids need a little routine for the last few weeks of summer? Skill building books and free online computer games are available for writing, math and problem solving.  Make it fun with stickers and rewards for accomplishing and completing pages.

Morning and Evening Routines

The hardest part of getting back to school is getting back to the morning routine.  Two weeks before school begins, start having earlier bedtimes and wake up calls.  You can inch back bedtime for half an hour earlier each week until the week before school starts you are setting the routines in motion.   Practice getting up with an alarm too.   Hold your family meeting to review what works best each morning and evening during the school year.    Set in motion an evening routine where backpacks are ready at the backdoor the night before, clothes are laid out and everyone feels ready for the next day.

Make this your best school year yet by chatting with your family about their expectations and more.  Go around the table and ask each person to talk about what they want to accomplish this year.    Ask how each family member can assist another, in partnering about tests, sharing responsibilities or other aspects.  Create a team in making each person’s academic goals come true!

More than just getting your clothes together and buying your books, heading off to college is best done with great organization.  It takes some time, but it is well spent!

Start with a great list.  Think about the very small space you will be living in and sharing.   What is most essential for your comfort and success?  Everyone is different, but most agree that laptop, clothes, bedding, small refrigerator and a few other items are at the top of the list.  Keep this list handy so that you are not easily distracted to add more and more.   You will thrive in a decluttered environment and your space will be small.

Now that you know what you need, eliminate what you will not use.   We are blessed with an abundance of clothes, so let’s share these blessing with others.   Start with a serious sorting of what really needs to go!  You will clear space for the rest of the process this way. 

 Next gather your goodies together that are going with you.  View them all together so you can really see what you are taking.  Time to start gathering what you wil take in 66 quart tubs to travel safely to the new destination.  Be sure to carefully pack things that will leak or break.  Be sure to keep important papers like college registration documents and medical information in a special spot to keep close by. 

Before you start unpacking, think through the space.   Think through all the activities you are doing in your room.   Note where the outlets and computer connections for technology are.  Where will you get ready in the morning?   Think through the game plan of where you will put on makeup, dry hair, do homework and entertain new friends.   Mark spots with post its where things will go. 

NOW you are ready to shop!  Here are a few great products to help in small spaces.

It really depends on your space what you will need, but having command hooks to hang various items, using the back of your door for storage of all types, a desk top sorter for papers, drawer systems for your closet, in the room or under your bed, a way to contain your makeup and toiletries and a great laundry basket make a difference in keeping your college life in order.  These items are from the Container Store, but there are tons of selection at all your local retailers.    Think about your personal strengths of how you stay organized and choose products you love to help you!  Be sure to measure a space before you purchase items to be sure it will fit.

 Having a great year at college is more than just learning academics, it is learning life skills too.  Organization is one of those life skills and make a difference now and later.

This weekend I had the opportunity to visit my niece Hallie for a very special occasion, her high school graduation.  One look in her room and closet, and I knew she had the organizing gene! No clothes on the floor and order inside her closet.   I asked her about her successful organizing techniques and what she would share with other teen girls, especially about her folding and laundry tips. 

First off why stay organized?

Clutter is annoying and it wastes time. I don’t like the way mess looks.

How does laundry get done in your home?

My step dad gets it in the washing machine and dryer and then I fold and hang my own clothes.  It is either in my parent’s room or I go get it and bring it into my own room.  Once it is on my bed, I separate it by shorts, tee shirts, and things to hang or things to put in drawers.  I hang each type of clothing all at the same time.  Its quick and I do it fast!

 What about your friends?

If my friends are unorganized, I help them organizing their rooms.  They get very overwhelmed.  But big thing is that they leave it all to do at one time.  I like to organize as I go along and as a process.   I do it in small steps so it is easier to do.  Just  a little at a time and then you get it done. Then you can do others things with your time.  One of the problems is too many clothes too.   I understand wanting to have enough clothes but only buy something if you are going to use it.   There is not so much to do at one time if you have fewer clothes. 

 What about organizing and other parts of your life?

I am organized about school stuff too and that is the key to success and good grades.  You have everything you need and you can turn it in on time.  If you are organized in class, you know what materials to study and you’re on top of your homework. 

What about stress and organizing?

Being organized is a lot less stressful and much easier on everyone. 

Do you consider yourself a perfectionist?

Not so much, just more organized than other people.  And everything does not need to be perfect but material stuff helps to be organized.

Are you born organized or did you develop this?

Of course my mom and you influenced me a lot.  

Anything else you would like to share?

Watch Hoarders and you won’t want to be them. Hoarders is enough to make you want to be organized. 

Thanks Hallie! You rock!