Declutter the Basement or Family Room – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

 

 

Happy Friday! Let’s work on decluttering in the basement or family room today. This is an often neglected area in our homes, and it can be a beautiful, usable space. Take a look around. What is taking up valuable space? What do you not use anymore? Get out your box to put items to donate and start throwing stuff in it. Set the timer for 15 minutes. I don’t want you doing this for hours on end. Make this a quick mission. If you have a lot of clutter to deal with, then come back to this after regularly during the week. By spending 5 to 15 minutes a day on this, you will get done, and you won’t be burned out at the end.

 

Have a great week-end!
If you have any questions or tips, please email me. I enjoy hearing from my readers.
Zone Mission: Declutter your basement or family room.

Routines:

 

Home:
  • Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
  • Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
  • Swish and Swipe
  • Start Your Laundry
  • Decide on Dinner
  • Check Your Calendar
  • Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

  • Sort through your school materials from this year if you haven’t already done that. Record information that needs to be recorded. If you have a high school student, add information to the high school transcript.
 Afternoon Routine:
  • Eat Lunch
  • Clear off One Hot Spot
  • Reboot the Laundry
  • Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
  • Drink Your Water

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

  • Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
  • Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
  • Put things at your launch pad
  • Shine Your Sink
  • Clean Off a Hot Spot
  • Go to Bed at Decent Hour

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Detail Clean the Home Office – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

If you have a home office, I want you to detail clean and declutter in it today. The home office is often overlooked and becomes a dumping ground for stuff that no one knows what to do with. Get a trash can and your box for items to donate handy. Set your timer for 15 minutes and see what you can fling. If you don’t have a home office, pick another area in your home that needs decluttering. We all have a place that needs some decluttering. Let’s get rid of the stuff that holds us back from having a peaceful home.

Zone Mission – Detail clean the home office or one other area in the home.


Routines:
Home:
  • Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
  • Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
  • Swish and Swipe
  • Start Your Laundry
  • Decide on Dinner
  • Check Your Calendar
  • Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

  • Start setting up your new files for the new school year.
 Afternoon Routine:
  • Eat Lunch
  • Clear off One Hot Spot
  • Reboot the Laundry
  • Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
  • Drink Your Water

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

  • Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
  • Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
  • Put things at your launch pad
  • Shine Your Sink
  • Clean Off a Hot Spot
  • Go to Bed at Decent Hour

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Declutter One Room in Your House – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

Let’s spend 15 minutes decluttering in one room in the house. Since it is also anti-procrastination day, pick a room or area that you have been avoiding. Set the timer for 15 minutes and grab and go. Don’t obsess. Don’t try to do it all. Just grab what you know can be given away or thrown away. If you keep chipping away at it like this, you will get it done over time. Include your kids if it is a space that has a lot of their toys and stuff. If you are drowning in toys, let your kids organize a yard sale this summer. Their reward can come from their yard sale proceeds.
Zone Mission: Declutter one room for 15 minutes
 
 
Here are your Zone Missions for the month of June:
 
Download the PDF: JUNE 2016
 

Grocery Shopping and Errand Day – Take your list, pack snacks, and water bottles.

Home:
  • Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
  • Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
  • Swish and Swipe
  • Start Your Laundry
  • Decide on Dinner
  • Check Your Calendar
  • Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School: Stop by the library and pick up some books to read over the next week.


Afternoon Routine:
  • Eat Lunch
  • Clear off One Hot Spot
  • Reboot the Laundry
  • Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
  • Drink Your Water
  • Errand day: Make your plan for grocery shopping and errands. Pack water bottles and snacks for everyone. Pack up your library books that need to be turned in.
Family Fun: Plan a fun activity while you are out.
When you get home from doing errands, have everyone work together to unload and put away everything.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.) 
  • Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
  • Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
  • Put things at the Launch Pad that you will need first thing in the morning
  • Shine Your Sink
  • Clean Off a Hot Spot
  • Go to Bed at Decent Hour

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Declutter in the Bathroom – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool
Take a look at your bathroom today and see where you need to declutter. It could be the cabinet or closet in the bathroom. It could be that you have too much stuff on the counter or in the shower. Just take 15 minutes to get rid of the stuff you are not using. Check expiration dates on cosmetics or medications, if you have those in your bathroom. Make this your last day to declutter in the bathroom today. The rest of the week, we will work in others areas of the house.

Zone Mission: Declutter in the bathroom.

 

If you need more help with organizing your home and homeschool, you can download  The FlyLady’s Homeschool Teacher and Homeschool Student Control Journals for free.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment
Home:
  • Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
  • Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
  • Swish and Swipe
  • Start Your Laundry
  • Decide on Dinner
  • Check Your Calendar
  • Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
  • Clean out your refrigerator. Toss the science experiments.

School: Check out your local library to get details for the summer reading program.

 Afternoon Routine: 
  • Eat Lunch
  • Clear off One Hot Spot
  • Reboot the Laundry
  • Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
  • Drink Your Water
  • Write up a menu plan for the next 7 days. Check your pantry and freezer and make a grocery list. This habit will save you time and money. Try out some new recipes with the slow cooker. It will save you time once you start back to your school schedule.
Family Fun: Take your children for a walk.
Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.) 
  • Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
  • Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
  • Put things at the Launch Pad that you will need first thing in the morning
  • Shine Your Sink
  • Clean Off a Hot Spot
  • Go to Bed at Decent Hour

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Where do you need to clean? Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

 

This week we are in the main bathroom and one extra room for our detail cleaning. What area in your house bothers you the most? Use this week to focus cleaning in it for 15 minutes each day. Because I do my daily swish and swipe in the bathroom and clean the tub/shower daily, I don’t have a lot of detail work to do in there. I am able to focus in other places. For homeschool moms, it is harder to work in the basement, garage, or home office during the school year. Use this week to work in one of those areas. Get out your boxes or bags to put things to donate. Get a big tash bag ready for trash. Then purge, purge, purge. If you have less stuff and clutter, you will have less to keep clean. I know you can do this!

 

 
Zone Missions:  Main Bathroom & 1 Extra Room
Monday – Declutter Bathroom Counters & Wipe Down
Tuesday – Declutter 1 Other Area in the Bathroom
Wednesday – Declutter in 1 Room In the House
Thursday – Declutter Home Office/Family Room
Friday – Declutter Garage/Basement
Set your timers and then take a break when it goes off!
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Home:
  • Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
  • Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
  • Swish and Swipe
  • Start Your Laundry
  • Decide on Dinner
  • Check Your Calendar
  • Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
Weekly Home Blessing Hour:
Spread these out over the course of the week. Put a note on each day of the week with one or two of these per day.

7 Parts of the Weekly Home Blessing Hour from The FlyLady:

  • Quick Dust
  • Sweep/Mop
  • Purge Magazines or Paper Clutter
  • Change Bedding
  • Empty Trash
  • Clean Windows/Mirrors
  • Vacuum
 School:
  • Read a chapter book together as a family.
 Afternoon Routine:
  • Eat Lunch
  • Clear off One Hot Spot
  • Reboot the Laundry
  • Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
  • Drink Your Water
Family Fun: Have some outdoor time with your children today. Play. Do some nature journaling. The point is to add some movement to your day.
Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.) 
  • Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
  • Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
  • Lay anything out that you will need first thing in the morning
  • Shine Your Sink
  • Clean Off a Hot Spot
  • Go to Bed at Decent Hour

FB Cover - Tami Fox

Finish Decluttering in the Kitchen – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

 

 

Happy Friday! It’s the last day of detail cleaning in the kitchen. Take a look around and pick one more area to detail clean. This can mean you are cleaning a kitchen drawer, cabinet, or shelf. It could mean that you are decluttering some cookbooks. It could mean that you are finishing up in your pantry. Spend 15 minutes doing this and then sit down and enjoying a glass of water.

 

Have a great week-end!
If you have any questions or tips, please email me. I enjoy hearing from my readers.
Zone Mission: Declutter one more area in the kitchen.

Routines:

 

Home:
  • Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
  • Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
  • Swish and Swipe
  • Start Your Laundry
  • Decide on Dinner
  • Check Your Calendar
  • Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

  • Sort through your school materials from this year if you haven’t already done that. Record information that needs to be recorded. If you have a high school student, add information to the high school transcript.
 Afternoon Routine:
  • Eat Lunch
  • Clear off One Hot Spot
  • Reboot the Laundry
  • Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
  • Drink Your Water

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

  • Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
  • Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
  • Put things at your launch pad
  • Shine Your Sink
  • Clean Off a Hot Spot
  • Go to Bed at Decent Hour

FB Cover - Tami Fox

Wipe Out the Microwave – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

Our microwaves can see a lot of action in the kitchen. In my house, the microwave makes it possible for the boys to be fairly independent on fixing their breakfast and lunch. The main thing for me is to teach them to use the cover to keep splatters to a minimum, and it has been important to teach them to wipe down the inside of the microwave after they use it. Since I don’t live in a perfect world or perfect house, I make sure I wipe down the inside of the microwave at least once a month. I use warm water, lemon juice, and a FlyLady purple cloth. It wipes out easily with these three things. Spend a few minutes today cleaning the inside and outside of your microwave.

Zone Mission – Clean the microwave


Routines:
Home:
  • Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
  • Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
  • Swish and Swipe
  • Start Your Laundry
  • Decide on Dinner
  • Check Your Calendar
  • Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

  • File the end of school papers and toss the ones you do not need to keep.
 Afternoon Routine:
  • Eat Lunch
  • Clear off One Hot Spot
  • Reboot the Laundry
  • Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
  • Drink Your Water

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

  • Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
  • Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
  • Put things at your launch pad
  • Shine Your Sink
  • Clean Off a Hot Spot
  • Go to Bed at Decent Hour

FB Cover - Tami Fox

Clean out the Refrigerator – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool
 

Let’s clean out the refrigerator today. Throw out the science experiments. Add items to your list that you are out of. Combine items that are the same. Plan your menu around the things that you need to use. If you clean your refrigerator out weekly, it won’t take long to do this. You will save time and money, too. The picture above is not actually my refrigerator in case you are wondering. I use stock photos for most of my posts online. I actually have two refrigerators that I keep cleaned out weekly. I am able to buy enough produce each week for my large family, so I use both refrigerators daily.
Zone Mission: Clean out the refrigerator
 
 
Here are your Zone Missions for the month of June:
 
Download the PDF: JUNE 2016
 

Grocery Shopping and Errand Day – Take your list, pack snacks, and water bottles.

Home:
  • Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
  • Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
  • Swish and Swipe
  • Start Your Laundry
  • Decide on Dinner
  • Check Your Calendar
  • Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School: Stop by the library and pick up some books to read over the next week.


Afternoon Routine:
  • Eat Lunch
  • Clear off One Hot Spot
  • Reboot the Laundry
  • Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
  • Drink Your Water
  • Errand day: Make your plan for grocery shopping and errands. Pack water bottles and snacks for everyone. Pack up your library books that need to be turned in.
Family Fun: Plan a fun activity while you are out.
When you get home from doing errands, have everyone work together to unload and put away everything.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.) 
  • Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
  • Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
  • Put things at the Launch Pad that you will need first thing in the morning
  • Shine Your Sink
  • Clean Off a Hot Spot
  • Go to Bed at Decent Hour

 

 

FB Cover - Tami Fox

Kitchen Pantry Clean Out – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool
Today let’s spend 15 minutes decluttering and organizing the kitchen pantry. Things tend to get pushed to the back of the kitchen pantry, and often they are there for years. Many times you can just throw out the items that are in the very back of your pantry. Reach back there and pull stuff out. Check for expiration dates. Next, look quickly through your pantry and see if you have excess foods that can be donated to a local soup kitchen. Our local soup kitchen is doubling in size, and they have a list of items that they need. Check your local area and see if you can help meet the needs of an organization that exists to feed the hungry. During the summer months, they feed more children and women than during the school year, so they have greater needs. Take a quick inventory and write down any staples that you need to replace in the pantry. If you keep your pantry organized, you will save money on your food budget. You won’t find yourself buying things that you already have on hand.

Zone Mission: Declutter and organize the kitchen pantry.

 

If you need more help with organizing your home and homeschool, you can download  The FlyLady’s Homeschool Teacher and Homeschool Student Control Journals for free.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment
Home:
  • Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
  • Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
  • Swish and Swipe
  • Start Your Laundry
  • Decide on Dinner
  • Check Your Calendar
  • Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
  • Clean out your refrigerator. Toss the science experiments.

School: Gather library books to take back to the library on errand day.

 Afternoon Routine: 
  • Eat Lunch
  • Clear off One Hot Spot
  • Reboot the Laundry
  • Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
  • Drink Your Water
  • Write up a menu plan for the next 7 days. Check your pantry and freezer and make a grocery list. This habit will save you time and money. Try out some new recipes with the slow cooker. It will save you time once you start back to your school schedule.
Family Fun: Take your children for a walk.
Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.) 
  • Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
  • Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
  • Put things at the Launch Pad that you will need first thing in the morning
  • Shine Your Sink
  • Clean Off a Hot Spot
  • Go to Bed at Decent Hour

FB Cover - Tami Fox

The Heart of Your Home – Getting Organized

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

 

Last week I talked about the importance of family meal time. One way to help you with daily meal preparation is to have a clean kitchen when you are ready to cook. Once a month, we detail clean in the kitchen. The rest of the month, we clean daily by wiping things down, doing the dishes, and putting them away. I have a meal prep area that is disinfected daily. I shine my sink each night before I go to bed. When it is time to detail clean in the kitchen, I am not starting with a kitchen in a wreck. I can spend 15 minutes moving things around on my counters and wiping them down. I can spend 15 minutes cleaning out my refrigerator because I spend 5 minutes each week throwing out leftovers before I go grocery shopping. I can spend 15 minutes cleaning out a cabinet or drawer because we are putting things away daily. By working in small steps, it makes detail cleaning easier each month when you are working in a zone. The kitchen is the heart of your home. Take care of it, so you can bless your family with meals.

 


Zone Missions:  Kitchen

Monday – Declutter Counters and Wipe Down
Tuesday – Clean out Pantry for 15 minutes
Wednesday – Clean out Refrigerator
Thursday – Wipe out Microwave
Friday – Declutter 1 Other Area in the Kitchen
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Home:
  • Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
  • Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
  • Swish and Swipe
  • Start Your Laundry
  • Decide on Dinner
  • Check Your Calendar
  • Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
Weekly Home Blessing Hour:
Spread these out over the course of the week. Put a note on each day of the week with one or two of these per day.

7 Parts of the Weekly Home Blessing Hour from The FlyLady:

  • Quick Dust
  • Sweep/Mop
  • Purge Magazines or Paper Clutter
  • Change Bedding
  • Empty Trash
  • Clean Windows/Mirrors
  • Vacuum
 School:
  • Read a chapter book together as a family.
 Afternoon Routine:
  • Eat Lunch
  • Clear off One Hot Spot
  • Reboot the Laundry
  • Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
  • Drink Your Water
Family Fun: Have some outdoor time with your children today. Play. Do some nature journaling. The point is to add some movement to your day.
Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.) 
  • Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
  • Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
  • Lay anything out that you will need first thing in the morning
  • Shine Your Sink
  • Clean Off a Hot Spot
  • Go to Bed at Decent Hour

FB Cover - Tami Fox