We all have been burdened with a cluttered household at one point. We often see friends with perfect homes and wonder how on earth do you get your household like that?

Imagine this scenario, your over at your friend’s house for dinner.

The house is spotless, the meal is gourmet, the kids behave, even the toilet paper is folded into a little triangle.

You get ready to leave you to try to find anything that can prove that your friend is not a robot, a single piece of mail laying on a counter or maybe some backpacks thrown on the ground.

You find nothing.

Your friend’s home in your mind perfect, OK maybe not perfect (no one’s got time to fold toilet paper in triangles) but you realize you want your home to be a little more functional than it has been.

There should be two questions that pop into your head…

1.What will a more productive and functioning home really provide me?

The short answer is peacefulness, success, happiness, better relationships with your family, a cleaner environment, better control over your emotions…Ok, I think you’re getting it now!

2.How do I get started?

Follow the game plan below to make that wonderfully desirable productive and functioning home your reality.

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01 | TALK IT OVER WITH YOUR FAMILY

Whether it’s just you and your pets, you and your person, or the entire family, verbalize that you feel that things could change for the better around your home.

Ask if they have any problem areas in the home that is causing them grief.

Maybe your person would like to clear out the garage so they can do more projects.

Maybe your little one feels like you forget too many important school functions.

Maybe you feel like everyone throws their stuff on the table the second they walk in.

02 | WRITE DOWN PROBLEM AREAS AND WORK OUT SOLUTIONS

Now that everyone has communicated what simply isn’t working around the home it is time to figure out solutions to all of the problem areas.

Come up with a game plan for getting those cluttered household areas functioning, when it will happen, and who will help.

03 | DECLUTTER AND DEEP CLEAN YOUR HOME

Do this first before you tackle specific problem areas.

Once everything in your home is clean and decluttered you will be making some significant headway to creating a productive and functioning household.

04 | CREATE A COMMAND CENTER

This may be my best advice ever.

A command center is a centrally located area in your home to keep you and your family %100 organized.

Make sure you include a calendar, to do lists, grocery lists, mail holder, key holder, backpack and purse holder, and anything else you feel you will need to keep your family organized.

If you are worried this new area of the home will be an eyesore, you will be surprised how many visually pleasing command centers are available.

05 | PICK UP YOUR HOUSEHOLD 10 MINUTES A DAY… EVERY DAY

To beat a cluttered household, have everyone take 10 minutes out of their day to clean up as much as they can.

Make it a race, put on the timer and yell go!

You can fit in 10 minutes before you leave in the morning, maybe the second you all get home, or maybe right before bed.

Those 10 minutes will be just long enough to clear off cluttered areas and keep everyone’s sanity.

06 | HAVE A DEEP CLEAN WEEKEND EVERY MONTH

No one wants to spend every single weekend deep cleaning.

You need to find balance in your life, so by learning to dedicate you and your family to a deep clean weekend the first of the month can set the tone in your home for the next four weeks.

Do the big stuff, tubs and showers, dusting ceiling fans and blinds, hosing down the porch, etc.

Get everyone involved and do something fun after as a family, go get ice-cream or see a movie when everything is done.

07 | DO A FRIDAY ” BLOW OUT “

No not your hair, but rather your home.

Since you now dedicate the first weekend of the month to deep cleaning the home, don’t waste your other three weekends doing the same thing.

The night before your days off, no matter how tired you are after work, try to clean everything you need to.

Start laundry, sweep and mop the floors, clean the mirrors, clean the toilet, etc.

Hence the “Friday Blowout.”

This will give you two things, a good nights sleep, and your weekend free from cleaning.

Take your days off and start to use them for what they were intended for. Living your life!

Go rest, go take a bath, go shopping, spend time with your family, go for a hike.

Find balance.

08 | KEEP A LIFE PLANNER HANDY

My life planner literally saved my life!

I have one life planner that is small enough to carry around with me in my purse, but big enough to hold a lot of information.

Keep your to-do lists, your contacts, your bills, your login’s and passwords, your financial tracking systems, your calendar, your grocery shopping list, your Xmas present ideas, your vision board for the future, etc. literally in one place.

Every morning with my coffee I take a few moments to look over my life planner to make sure I am aware of what is going on.

09 | MAKE TWO TYPES OF TO DO LISTS

Make a short-term daily list of what you need to do today. Realistic things that you know you can actually cross off the list in one day.

Also make a long-term to-do list, things that need to get done in your cluttered household soon, but don’t have to get done today.

Do not be afraid to put deadlines on your long-term to-do lists, this will help you push to get these things done.

10 | MEAL PREP FOR THE WEEK

Plan out what you will have for dinner every night, so there are no surprises.

Before you begin the week, take 1-2 hours to get all the food prepped to make the week go by smoothly.

Pre-make whatever you can for lunches. Pre-bag snacks. Cut up fruit and veggies.

The easier it is to put together lunches in the morning, and have meals prepared for dinner, the less likely you will spend money to buy take out in a pinch.

Productive people make plans, create mini goals that are attainable, get prepared, and find ways to make their lives more efficient.

Utilize the tools above to make your cluttered household function like the well-oiled machine you always knew it could be!

Happy Decluttering!

How a Life Planner Can Fix Your Life