Some days I feel like I’m barely keeping everything going and I’m constantly juggling fifteen different projects, people, activities, etc. This is why it’s so important for me to stay organized. If I take ten seconds to put something back where it belongs, I save thirty minutes later by not having to search for it.

I’ve gotten a few emails on how I keep things organized, so I thought I’d share it all with you. If you have tips for me on how to save time and stay even more organized, please let me know! I’m not an expert and I find that as life changes we have to change our organizational ways. I’m a huge fan of Excel spreadsheets for budgeting and creating timelines for projects. But what do we do with all the stuff around here?

Handbags

I have about three handbags that I rotate throughout the year. Switching them out is a breeze because I have small pouches in them that hold all of my stuff. Nothing, other than my wallet and cell phone, float freely in my handbag.

I have this cute set of Toss Designs pouches that fit perfectly in my handbags. Each pouch holds something different: 1. lipstick and powder, 2. feminine products, 3. writing utensils.

I just transfer these cute bags to the new purse when it’s time to switch. Easy peasy!

Calendar

I use the MomAgenda Mini Daily and the MomAgenda wall calendar to keep our schedules going. The mini daily goes everywhere with me and the wall calendar hangs on the bulletin board in our office/playroom. My daily to-do list goes in the mini daily, but our family activities and days that we’ll need a sitter for Hudson go on the family calendar.

It has been really helpful for us to keep track of everyone’s activities and to juggle three people’s schedules.

Mail

We have a mail sorter that sits on our kitchen counter. I go through the mail every day and throw away what we don’t need and keep the things we do need. If it’s an invitation, I respond to it immediately and put the date on our calendar if we can attend. If it’s a bill, I put it in the mail sorter and we usually pay the bills over the weekend. In the last year, we have really taken care of our mail pile up issue. I cannot stand stacks of paper. I like to deal with them immediately and get rid of them.

We also have a filing cabinet (it’s actually attractive) that holds all of important stuff that we can’t trash. We try to go through that once a year and purge the things that we know we don’t need to hang on to anymore.

Toys

Our playroom cubbies and shelves are finally finished and we’re just in the process of arranging them. But I will show you a sneak peek. It is so great to have vertical storage rather than having so many toys scattered on the floor. I’m still in the process of choosing containers for the cubbies based on our needs. Containers can be expensive, so I want to make sure we know exactly how we want things to be organized before we make any purchases. I’m also planning to put a TV in that large opening in the center, but we’re just looking for the right TV and the right price!

The categories that I have for containers are 1) small plastic toys, 2) puzzles, 3) small stuffed toys, 4) bouncy balls and roll-around balls. You can probably see that Hudson has tons of books and those are honestly his most favorite toys.

His big toys that won’t fit in the cubbies are just hanging out on the floor of the playroom, but it’s nice to get some of our floor space back.

How do you keep your house organized?