Bless Your Nest: Organizational Blessings

Past Weeks:

Spiritual Blessings

Financial Blessings

This Week:

Organizational Blessings!!

Hey! Welcome to week three of Bless Your Nest! This week we're going to talk about how being neat and organized is a blessing to your family! A neat and organized home (in my opinion) helps others feel safe, confident, calm, and loved. Here are some tips on how I (try to) keep an organized and efficient home:

1. Implement Daily Chores - This is something that I've really only recently started doing. I've made a small list of the things that I wold like to get done every morning and I do them! This has helped me to stay on task, feel motivated, and keep the house running smoothly! My daily chores are: Do Dishes, Wipe Bathroom Counters, and Make Bed. If you don't do this already I would highly recommend coming up with a small list of tasks that you wish to complete on a daily basis. After awhile they will become no brainers and you will feel really off when they don't get completed!

2. Implement a Cleaning Schedule - Everyone works differently and has a different set of standards when if comes to cleaning. I recommend finding a cleaning system that works for you and sticking with it! My weekly cleaning schedule is as follows:

M: Laundry/Budget
T: Vacuum
W: Clean Bathroom
T: Clean Kitchen
F: Bathe Daisy, Dust, De-Clutter

It's simple, easy to remember, and covers all the bases (for me at least). I would rather spend a small amount of time cleaning each day than have to do one or two longer deep cleaning sessions each week, but we're all different and weekly deep cleaning might appeal more to you. The point is to find a system that works for you and stick with it! (I've recently added a monthly and seasonal cleaning schedule, but I haven't started using them yet!)

3. Get Rid of Clutter - In my opinion, there's only so much clutter a person can stand and there comes a point when it just has to go! This comes easier to some than others, but it can be so freeing to get rid of all the stuff that just lies around! I suggest setting aside some time each week or month to de-clutter your home because it can pile up so quickly! I really don't like clutter so this comes pretty easy to me. I go through my entire house 1-3 times per year to either throw away, donate, or sell. If you don't know where to start pick an area in your home (closet, bathroom, kitchen, a small drawer, etc.) and go through each piece asking yourself  "Do I need this and/or even like this?" I've found life to be so much more enjoyable when surrounded by a few things that I love instead of a roomful of things that I kinda maybe like. Clutter can bog you down and hold you back so I recommend getting rid of as much as you can!

Another good tip (that I need to do) is to identify hot spots for clutter in your home and put a plan in place to keep them clear. A hot spot is an area most prone to clutter, you know that place in the kitchen that always has a stack of papers on it? Or that corner in the living room that seems to pile up with the kids toys on a daily basis? The best way to deal with these hot spots is to think about how you can keep them clear and organized whether that means buying a pretty basket with a lid to keep toys in or a few decorative filing folders to keep your "to be dealt with" papers. Either way its good to identify where your hot spots are and put regular effort into keeping them clear.

4. Organize Important Information - In an effort to stay organized and keep a smooth running home I have my home planner binder. This is basically a place for me to keep all of my important information about our home in one place. Each family has it's own set of needs and each family's binders (or whatever you choose to use) should be put together in regards to those needs. The sections in our family's binder are as follows:

Important Contacts (includes emergency, family, services providers, medical, etc.)
Schedules (includes daily, cleaning, and weekly to do list)
Monthly Budget (In addition to our written budget, I slip bills and stamps into this section so everything is in one place when I sit down to pay my bills)
Monthly Menu Plan (I fill these in bi weekly)
Master Grocery List
Mailing Addresses


*I keep our calendar with birthdays, events, and appointments on the refrigerator so we can see it and edit it at all times. I feel putting it in the binder would be a hindrance to us.

My binder is very user friendly and works great for me! If you don't have a home binder I would highly recommend starting one! They're a great tool for the organized home! For a more detailed look at my home planner you can go here.

5. Budget and Menu Plan - I highly recommend using budgets and menu plans in your home. These are simply written plans that are put into place for your money and for your grocery needs. Go here for a more detailed look at how I menu plan.

6. Implement a Daily Schedule - The best way to keep organized and on task is to have a plan. All the time that we have in a day is a blessing from God therefore we should be using it for His glory! Having a daily schedule helps you to set goals and stay on task. It also makes the day run much smoother with little ones so they know what to expect. Your schedule doesn't need to be complicated, it can simply be when you want to get up each morning, when you want to eat, and when you want to do your chores. Having a plan in place helps you to be more efficient with your time.

"Look carefully then how you walk, 

not as unwise but as wise, 

making the best use of the time, 

because the days are evil."

 -Ephesians 5:15-16

Well I hope you've come to see how putting some effort into staying organized can be a huge blessing to your family! Staying on top of things for those that you love is a good way to be a blessing to them! Join us next week for our last installment of this series entitled Physical Blessings!