Command Centre: Schoolwork File Bins & Series Wrap-up

Is your kitchen table covered with piles of your kids' schoolwork?  Or maybe you have piles in the living room.  Or your kids’ bedrooms.  Somehow schoolwork seems to keep coming into our homes, and no matter how organized we think we are, it has a way of taking over.  

Today I'll show you the system I implemented recently to help stay on top of all the work my kids take home from school.  I love it and it's made a huge difference in our home.  

This month I've been showing you parts of my kitchen command centre.  If you haven't seen the first five parts, here they are:

Wall Files for Papers 

School Gear

Routines

Monthly Goals Page

Weekly Notes and Calendar

A bit of background before I reveal the last part.  

February Point of View {Organizing Link Party}

I'm so excited to be this month's guest host for the Point of View link party!  And even more excited that February's theme is Organizing :)

What is Point of View?  It's a link party a little different from others. The Point of View girls come up with a project to support the theme for the month, they share their project with you and then you have a chance to link your project to the link party.  There's also a rotating guest host each month and this month it's me!

How to Organize Your Pantry

Can you find what you need in your pantry?  Do you know how much you have of each item in your pantry?  Are you afraid to open the pantry door because something might fall out on you?

Pantries are very important elements in our kitchens, but they can easily become overwhelming.  Today I'll show you how I organized my pantry and give you some tips to help you organize yours.

Organizing Ideas for the Weekend #14

Happy Friday!  Time for another organizing idea for your weekend :)

Is your purse a bottomless pit?  Do you lose things in your purse and waste precious time trying to find what you're looking for?  Do you switch purses frequently and take a long time moving everything from one bag to the other?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then today's post is for you!  I'll be sharing some great ideas for organizing your purse so you always know where everything is, and can quickly and easily find what you need.

Command Centre: Weekly Notes and Calendar

First, I'm excited to say that this is my 100th post!  In some ways it feels like I've been blogging forever and in other ways it seems like I just started.  It's fun to celebrate milestones and the first 100 posts is a big one for me.  And here's to the next 100 :)

OK, on with today's post!  Last week I showed you our Monthly Family Goals page.  Part of what helps us achieve our monthly goals is breaking them down further into weekly goals.

Today I want to show you our weekly notes memo board.

Organizing Ideas for the Weekend #13

Happy Friday!  Time for another organizing idea for your weekend :)

Do you feel overwhelmed at your computer?  Is your desktop cluttered and your inbox overflowing?

We focus a lot on decluttering our physical spaces, but our digital space can be overwhelming too.  And that can decrease our productivity.  Or our motivation.

Command Centre: Monthly Family Goals

Do you ever get to the end of the month and wonder where the time went?  Do have great ideas at the beginning of the month about what you'd like to accomplish and then find that your good intentions vanish just as quickly as the time that keeps flying by?

I am often frustrated at the end of the month because I have so many things on my "to do" list that are not scratched off.

But even more than incomplete projects or tasks, I sometimes feel that, as a family, we're not being intentional enough about developing the personal qualities that we want to develop in each other.

In today's post I want to share another part of my kitchen command centre, that has made a difference in how I feel throughout the month, and especially at the end of the month.

Command Centre: Routines

Do you often find yourself getting overwhelmed before or after school?  Are there arguments on the way out the door?  Do you wish you could have a more peaceful start to the day?

My kids are perfect so of course I don't know anything about this. :) Just kidding... it drives me crazy when they fight about silly things!

There is always a certain amount of stress or anxiety that accompanies transitions, and the shift from home to school and back again can be somewhat unsettling for kids (and for us!).  But you can reduce that by following routines.  Not eliminate, but at least reduce {remember I mentioned my kids fighting on the way out the door?}.

Kids thrive on routines.  It helps them know what is coming next.  When things are more predictable, they feel safe and comfortable.

Parents like routines too.  Even those who aren't particularly organized still likely have some patterns they follow.  It just makes everything run smoother.

Today, I'm going to share our before and after school routines.  They're a key part of our kitchen command centre.

Command Centre: School Gear

Are mornings crazy at your house as everyone is rushing around trying to get everything they need for the day?  You know, things like lunches, homework, signed agendas, and money and permission forms for field trips.

To help make mornings less overwhelming, here are a few tips:

1. Set up a place where everything is kept together.  
2. Do as much as you can the night before.  
3. Put together a routine for each person in the family to follow before and after school so everyone knows what is expected of them.  

Organizing Ideas for the Weekend #12

Happy Friday!  Time for another organizing idea for your weekend :)

Do you have a lot of jewelry?  Can you easily find what you want to wear when you want to wear it?  Do you have some jewelry that you don't wear often because it's at the back of a drawer or on the bottom of a pile and you forget you have it?

Today I want to share some ideas for organizing your jewelry so you can enjoy every special piece you own.