We all know being disorganised can waste a lot of time and energy (scratching around trying to find things, moving piles of clutter from one place to another trying to clear a work surface), but it can also waste money (losing cheques or medical claims, missing payments and being charged late fees, repurchasing something you need because you just can’t find it). Now I’m not sure about you, but as a mum of a very active four year old boy, time, money and energy are my most precious resources, and not ones that I can afford to waste!

Here are my top 10 tips and tricks for living a more organised life and getting the kids to help, so that you can spend that precious time, energy and money on more important things:

1. Have a plan and stick to it draw up a budget; write down your goals; use a meal plan; write a shopping list. Then constantly refer back to these to help you stay on the right path. “Fortune favours the prepared mind” according to Louis Pasteur, so plan ahead and reap the rewards.

2. A place for everything and everything in its place if you’re tidying up and come across an item which doesn’t really have a home, think about whether it should actually be in your home at all or is it just clutter? Is it useful, valuable and necessary, or can you live without it? By getting rid of the unnecessary clutter, the task of keeping the rest of your useful belongings organised and in their proper place is much easier.

3. Reward your little helpers assign your kids special chores to help mum and dad. It does wonders for their sense of responsibility and self-esteem to make meaningful contributions to the running of the household. The tasks and rewards need to be age appropriate, but from toddlers helping to put things in the bin, to older kids helping unpack the dishwasher, they can really help keep things organised. Sticker charts are a great visual tool to measure how they get on with their chores, and at the end of the week / month / whatever is appropriate for their age, they can get a reward. It need not be a toy or sweet treat; try an experience or privilege, like choosing what movie you watch together on TV, or choosing their favourite meal for dinner. And don’t forget the verbal rewards! Words of appreciation and acknowledgement are very important for establishing these responsible habits in kids.

4. Play the ‘tidy up game’ 5 minutes before you start the bedtime routine, or 5 minutes before you’re due to leave the house, play the quick tidy up game to see how quickly you can all pack the toys / clothes / etc away. It’s always much nicer to wake up or come home to a tidy and organised space!

5. Get the kids to pack their bags have a designated place for the school bags to live, and pack them the night before. Have a checklist up for your kids to follow where the bags live to make sure they have everything they need. Again this will need to be age appropriate, but even 3 year olds can follow a list of pictures (sunhat, sunblock, spare clothes, etc) to help them pack their bag for daycare or a trip to Granny’s house. This also helps with their sense of responsibility, and ensures that mornings are free from panicked scavenger hunts looking for one soccer boot or a missing hat.

6. Limit what you hang on to as keepsakes whether it’s your kids’ art or your birthday cards, you can’t keep it all. Designate a space (wall, fridge, set of frames) to display the art, or a keepsake box for cards and other memorabilia, and follow the “one in one out” rule when the wall or box gets full, choose an item to remove before adding a new one. Let the kids choose which art they want to keep or remove; this is a great life-skill to learn about respecting the physical boundaries and choosing to keep only those things which are really important.

7. Purge the toy box before Christmas and birthdays, make room for the inevitable influx of new goodies by sorting through the existing stash with your child, and let them choose which toys they are ready to let go of. If you have or are planning younger siblings you would like to keep them for, pack them away until needed, otherwise sell, donate or throw it out just don’t let it waste space in the toy box / cupboard etc.

8. Reduce the amount of stuff you acquire joining a book library and toy library is a very easy way to reduce what you spend on kids’ entertainment, as well as reducing the amount of stuff you need to store and maintain. Your kids will still get the satisfaction of having a wide variety of books and toys, and the excitement that comes with new stuff.

9. 101 uses for nappy boxes they’re sturdy, a great size, and come with carry handles on the sides Huggies boxes can be used for so many different things! Pack away outgrown baby clothes or toys in a box from nappies which corresponds to the age of those clothes easy and instant archiving solution without even having to label the box. They’re a great size for storing A4 documents and can easily be carried around even when heavy another great archiving solution for old tax documents. Cut the top flaps off to turn it into more of a crate than a box; then cover it in gorgeous paper to be used as storage compartments in your wardrobe, or with bright fun paper to be used as toy boxes which are easy for young kids to carry themselves (you could even paint them in blackboard paint to make labelling more fun). There is no end to their usefulness just think outside the (nappy) box!

10. Being neat does not equate to being organised even if your house is perfectly clean and tidy, if you can’t easily find what you need when you need it, it’s not organised. Similarly (and a far more likely scenario with kids) your house can be a bit messy and full of “stuff”, but if you know where things are and can find them when you need them, you’re doing pretty well. Hopefully by implementing the previous 9 steps you will get closer to being neat AND organised!

Written by Beverley Scheepers of LifelineDesign: Personalised solutions for organised living

LifelineDesign is a professional organising company specialising in creating customised solutions based on your unique needs and personality. Our mission is to improve the processes in your life – how can we make things easier, flow more naturally, or just work better? From preparing for baby’s arrival, to managing a busy family and household, we can help you navigate through the chaos and get organised.