Book Review: Sink Reflections

Book Review: Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley

FANTASTIC Book!!  I LOVED, loved this book.  I immediately went and washed and shined my sink as she suggested and I swear the rest of my kitchen almost cleaned itself.  It was amazing. 

Book Review: Unclutter Your Life in One Week

Book Review: Unclutter Your Life in One Week by Erin Rooney Doland

This was a great book for someone with severe disorganization and had some helpful tips that we could use.  The best one that we have implemented with immediate results, has been changing into our pajamas one hour before our desired bedtime.  This has helped us stay on track with our evening routine.  It helps us to stay focused and not get sidetracked by all of the things that still need to be done or that we want to get done.  We have also found that instead of going to bed with a million things on our minds, our thoughts have settled more, we're in bed 30 minutes before bedtime,we actually get to converse uninterrupted and have time for some scripture study.  Getting to bed on time really helps start the following day off on the right foot.

Another helpful tip was setting out clothes for the following day during our evening routine.  This is really time saving in the morning.  We've been doing this for Big Sis for quite a while to avoid meltdowns during our morning routines, but never thought of doing it for ourselves.  It's helpful to discover any surprises the night before, so we aren't chasing around looking for it in the morning.  It has shortened our morning routine just a bit more...always a blessing.

Children's Achievement Chart and Board

Achievement Charts (almost) eliminate nagging for regular morning and evening chores. Nagging and micro-managing is very time consuming and creates a hostile environment where both parent and child are unhappy. It was a place we were at much too often!  Thank goodness this works for us!

Establishing a Daily Schedule

We have found, especially with children, establishing a daily schedule is essential for productivity.  This not only gives parents sanity, it also creates stability for kids, so they are secure in knowing when things are happening.

First, we set meal times and bed times.  We then established a morning routine.  Once our meal times, bed times, and morning routine were predictable, we continued by instituting a bed time routine.  After much trial and error, this is what we found worked for us...

Meal Times and Bed Times Set:  Breakfast is between 7:15 A.M. and 7:45 A.M. (except Baby's is more like 5:30 A.M. or 6:00 AM), a very light snack is optional at 10:00 A.M., lunch is 12:00 P.M.- 12:30 P.M., snack at 3:15 P.M., dinner is between 5:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M.  Bedtime for Baby is 7:00 P.M., bedtime for Big Sis is 8:00 P.M., bedtime for parents is a target of 10:00 P.M.

Filing Simplified

We have a new HOUSEHOLD filing method that works fantastic for eliminating the infamous "paper shuffle."  Before adopting Betty Meyer's household filing system, I had the ever-growing pile of papers that we needed for one reason or another, but that would get moved from one place to the next as I 'cleaned' an area, or got tired of the paper clutter in the area it was currently in, to be set aside until it was needed.  BUT by the time we got around to doing whatever needed to be done with those papers, more were added to the pile, so it was never GONE.  I came up with a 'winner' of an idea for containing this clutter pile in a basket.  The problem was that my pile got so big that it literally went from a bowl sized basket to a full-sized laundry basket!  This new household filing method eliminates the need for counter top paper piles, and makes them so easily accessible that I have been amazed at how tidy our counter tops have stayed.

The method requires a filing cabinet, OR a filing cube (found at Walmart or Target for around $10), OR a portable filing cabinet (around $15-$20 at Walmart or Target), OR an oversized envelope with dividers.  We have all four that serve different purposes, but we use the front portion of the filing cabinet for our household filing.