Organized KidZ™: E-Z Solutions for Clutter Free Living by Debbie and David Williams

As parents, it’s our responsibility to love and nurture our children, to teach them right from wrong, and to protect them from the harsh world outside of our cozy family circle. Too often we do this to a fault. We nurture and protect without showing them how to fend for themselves. Maybe we should look around and take our cues from nature. Mother birds lay their eggs, keep them warm, and then one day out hatches a baby bird that’s brand new to the world around it. Does that mama bird encourage her babies to stay near the nest to keep her company in her old age, or does she nudge them to the edge to take that leap of faith that results in independent flight? Now I’m not saying we should give birth and then turn our children loose outside in diapers to become free spirits! We have been given stewardship of these young people, and it’s our ultimate responsibility to teach them how to be the very best they can possibly be. Let’s make sure that they can fend for themselves after they leave the nest.

Many of the parents I consult are so tired of doing and are ready for living. They’ve sacrificed so that their kids would have a better life than they did. Little Matthew is enrolled in sports every season, plus lessons for trombone and chess. Ashley is taking piano, tennis, and plays in the symphony. And little Tonya has to do her homework in the car while riding with mom from one activity to the next. Who has time for studying, much less cleaning their room?

Now I’m not living the simple life in a cave without electricity, and I sure don’t expect you to either. But it sure seems like common sense that if you can’t easily organize all your stuff, then maybe you should get rid of some of it. Being married to a packrat for over twenty years has really opened my eyes to those who suffer from “Packrat Syndrome,” so I really do feel your pain. Whether you’re a packrat (I mean, collector) or just live with one, it’s challenging to contain the clutter and keep it from overtaking your home. But if you’re allowing more stuff to come into your home in order to live the good life, or worse yet, to keep up with friends or neighbors, then what kind of lesson are you teaching your children? What values are they learning from you, as they watch you go into debt each Christmas “maxing out” your credit cards?

I want to encourage you to teach your children one of the best life skills they can possibly learn: the gift of organization. No, I don’t mean you need to buy a gift certificate from The Container Store or purchase stock in Rubbermaid®! Just teach them how to organize their lives by conquering everyday clutter and managing their time.

My son David is a packrat, just like his dad. He loves to collect all kinds of stuff, from flashlights to rocks and broken cell phones. It’s no easy feat organizing his room when it’s full of broken toys and electronic parts lying all over the floor. Add to this mixture a packrat father who likes to take him garage sale shopping, and you have the formula for clutter overload.

My job as a mom, especially one who has a passion for organization, is to provide David with the skills he needs to succeed in life. I want him to set limits and have boundaries on his purchases, and resist bringing lots of unnecessary stuff into our home. It’s a constant struggle for us all, but we’ve managed to implement a few household rules to contain the collections and keep things under control. The “one in, one out” rule works well, as does the “quarterly purge”. (You’ll learn more about these rules later in this book, but for now, just know that this mom is hunkered down in the trenches with you, struggling to reclaim her household one room at a time.)

David has wanted to share our household organizing strategies with others for some time now, but I’ve been busy with other projects so his idea has stayed on the back burner. Over the years, he’s observed how disorganization can affect others, and so he’s passionate about teaching common sense organizing skills to other families to help them eliminate the stress and chaos in their lives, too.

Our desire for you is that your children will learn simple yet effective ways to manage their time, clear and maintain the clutter, and work together at home so that no one feels they are the only clutter bug in the bunch. They’ll learn how to organize any space in four steps and better ways to manage their schedules. They’ll also create a file system of their own to keep those pesky papers under control, too.

We’ve written this book to be read by young people and parents together. However, older kids may want to read the book, and then sit down and plan out their organizing strategies with mom or dad. Early readers can read the tips and sidebars while working through the activities with their parents. For children younger than age eight, we recommend that the parents read the book to them and then implement a few of the activities with their children, or they can pitch in to help older siblings get their stuff in order.

Regardless of your level of organization (or lack thereof), we hope that you’ll find comfort and encouragement as you work together through the clutter in your busy lives. Think of organizing as a journey, not a destination, and this book is your roadmap to a happy, stress-free trip. Happy organizing!

Section 1: Conquer that Clutter

Getting organized is as simple as 1, 2, 3 and 4. In my experience working with people of all ages, from moms and dads to teenagers, this simple 4-step process has worked wonders in creating a manageable organizing system. It’s one that you’ll continue to use at home, school, and even in the backseat of your family’s car!

Step 1: Plan for Success

Lights, Camera, Action! Before you plunge in over your head with your organizing project, you need to create an Action Plan. Whether you use an Action Plan form like the one in this book, a notebook, or a journal, it’s important to start with a place to make notes and track your progress. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Just make it easy to use, and keep it close so you can find it when you need it.

Use a toy telescope or an empty paper towel tube to get a realistic view of your clutter. Walk around your room looking through the telescope to get tunnel vision of the actual clutter in your space. This is one time it’s okay not to look at your whole room. Just zoom in on one little area of your most cluttered space, and begin your journey there. Isn’t it amazing how looking through this little scope helps you zoom in on the clutter zone?

Whether it’s your closet, playroom, or desk, focus on a small space and then form a picture in your mind of how you would like for it to look. Would you like to see that pile of clothes on the floor disappear and be neatly organized in your closet instead? Maybe you have the dream of an organized area for all your sports equipment. Take a few minutes to draw a picture of what you would like for your space to look like. You don’t have to be a great artist to do this. Just draw shelves, boxes, racks, or tubs to hold your gear and collections. Use your favorite colors and don’t forget to leave plenty of room for just hanging out with your friends. Very soon you’ll see that huge monstrous pile dwindle down to a little collection of stuff that is just waiting to be organized. Oops! I’m getting ahead of myself…That’s not part of the planning step, but we’ll get to the organizing stage soon, I promise!

Take a moment to list your biggest problem area in the blanks below. Focus on the one area that is the absolutely the worst clutter zone, and then we’ll tackle the rest at another time. First things first!

Grab your Action Plan and write down the biggest organized dream you have for your new space. How would you like for it to look every day? What are the things that you will store there, what activities will you be doing there, and what kinds of equipment or containers will you need to make this dream come true? Write those down in the lines below.

Are you ready to sort through the clutter now? Hang on, we’re almost ready! The planning step is the most important step of all. Wait a little bit longer as we take the time to create one last part of your Action Plan—and then you’ll be able to grab those containers and fill them up to your heart’s content. I promise it’ll be worth the wait!

Now it’s time for action! Create an Action Plan by listing all the problem areas of your room on a large sheet of paper. For example, you might list: closet, desk, sports gear in the garage, your bathroom, and so forth. Choose the one that you would like to begin with first and then put the number “1” beside it. Find the second biggest organizing challenge and place a “2” beside it. Continue this prioritizing step until you have assigned a number to each room you have selected.

Make an Appointment

Set a deadline to organize your room and mark that date on your planning sheet. Don’t just guess. Grab a calendar and make a big effort to really reach your deadline. Check off each area as it is completed and include that date in your notes. This will be a guide for future projects.

Step 2: Sort Through the Clutter

Now that you’ve created a plan for action, it’s time to start sorting. Tackle one area at a time—and don’t worry; the rest of the clutter will still be there when you’re ready to conquer it!

Create sorting labels for your stacks by writing each of these words on a piece of notebook paper: TRASH, KEEP, SELL/GIVE AWAY, UNDECIDED. (Notebook paper will work just fine, or you can add color to your work by using construction paper for your sorting signs.) Set up sturdy and easy-to-use sorting boxes for your organizing project, one for each of the four categories that I listed above. You might want to use cardboard boxes from your neighborhood grocery store, or have your mom or dad buy some banker’s boxes from the office supply store that can be used over and over again. Your boxes don’t have to be fancy, but they should be sturdy enough that they don’t fall apart. Tape the labels onto your boxes instead of gluing them so you can easily remove the labels to be used another time.

Sort First, Organize Later

Begin this step of the organizing process by sorting the items in your cluttered little corner of the world. (Remember your #1 Problem Area? That’s where we’ll start.) Pick up and take action on one piece at a time, working around the room until you’ve sorted through everything in your clutter zone. You can go in a circle or zigzag pattern—whatever feels most natural to you. Remember to sort first, and then worry later about the storage and organization steps. Try not to get too attached to anything you pick up during this step. Later, during your break, you can look through your scattered stacks of pictures and trophies, but right now it’s time for action! Sorting is one of my personal favorites of the four organizing steps, because it’s so easy. Anyone can sort socks, shoes, shirts, papers, and toys, grouping like things together and tossing them into the appropriate boxes. Remember when you were in preschool and learned that some things belong together, and others don’t? That’s sorting at its most basic level. Just think, you’ve been doing it all along and didn’t even know it. You’re going to be really good at this!

Ask your mom or dad to help you, or invite a friend to join in the sorting party. Listen to your favorite music to keep you moving. But don’t leave your sorting area to put things away, because you’ll probably get sidetracked down the hall or in the garage and forget to return to where you first began. I call this puddle jumping, because it’s like jumping from one area to the other, and doesn’t really get you anywhere. Try to stay on course!

What to Do with All that Stuff?

Before you can take the next step, you must do something with all that stuff you’ve sorted. Let’s start with the easiest stack, and then work our way up to the hardest (which is another good time management tip). If you have any questions about whether or not to throw something away, check with your parents first. Sometimes they’re able to fix something that seems beyond help, and maybe your favorite flashlight or best pair of jeans can become as good as new after they work their parental skills on it. Or perhaps those jeans that are too tight for you can be saved for your little sister to wear when she’s older. So when in doubt, ask.

Take a time-out to carry the TRASH box outside to your garbage can, dumpster or to the curb for pick up. Go ahead and remove it from the room so that you don’t have to deal with it taking up valuable space. Wow, that part was easy, wasn’t it?

Now it’s time to move to the SELL or GIVE AWAY box. Carry it to your mom or dad’s car to drop off tomorrow at a charity or resell shop. If it’s filled with clothes and shoes to hand down to your sisters and brothers, you’ll need to ask your parents where to store it. They probably have a good system in place for this already and can show you where it belongs, probably in the attic or under their bed in a storage box.

Let’s take another look at that UNDECIDED box—you know, the one with the great big question mark on it? When you’ve gotten this far in the sorting process, it’s a lot easier to toss out things that you would normally keep. If anything is left in the box, move it to the hallway for now. You can always tackle it after your break. See? This won’t be too bad. We’re only on Step 2 and you’re already getting a break!

That leaves you with the KEEP box, which is the only box of stuff you will actually be organizing today. It’s finally time to use all those shoeboxes, milk crates, and tackle boxes that you’ve been saving in the bottom of your closet!

It’s time to get organized! At last, it’s time to finally organize all that stuff you’ve sorted through. Use containers from your closet and garage to contain the clutter you’ve sorted, and remember that the items used the most should be easiest to access. Things that you don’t use very often can be boxed up, labeled, and stored in the attic or basement.

If you’ve done your homework correctly (that is moving from Step 1 to Step 2 without skipping ahead to Step 3), your organizing job won’t be nearly as hard as you thought it would be. This is where you will make a home for your treasured items to live so that you can find them whenever you need them.

To keep track of your stuff, create zones or centers, just like you had in kindergarten. Use common sense to set up the zones in your bedroom, bathroom, or garage. Store clothes in drawers or hang in your closet, set sports gear on racks or shelves, stash crafts supplies in drawers and bins, and display computer games on your desk. Really there’s no wrong way to do this, just whatever makes sense to you (and wherever you will look for things when you need to use them later).

Imagine yourself using these things in your room. On any given day, think about how and where you would use them. For example, if you’re a kinesthetic learner (that means that you learn by doing, not just seeing or hearing), and you need to write things down to make sense of your thoughts, use the space below to make some notes.

Most kids stuff their sports gear in their room after a game or toss them into the coat closet, and then they can’t find it all when they need it. But what if you stored your baseball, bat, glove, uniform and shoes in your bedroom closet where you could find them fast? What if your favorite belt was near your pants instead of halfway across the room under your bed?

By thinking clearly about where items are actually used, rather than stuffing them into leftover storage space, you’re making a home and establishing a good habit. Now each time you finish using your cleats, you’ll know where to return them and anyone else in the house can find them, too.

Use this same exercise with the rest of the stuff in your KEEP stack if they become a storage challenge. It’s okay to think outside the box (that means creatively thinking), and to store things in other rooms, especially if you share them with other people in your family. Maybe you share markers with your sister and they need to be stored in the kitchen drawer. Or your brother plays the same video game that you do, so you should keep the disc in the family room so that you both can find it fast. Not everything that you keep will stay in your room, but it’s a good place to start.

Keep up the hard work by maintaining your new organizing system. This seems to be the most challenging and overlooked step in organizing. It’s pretty easy to get organized, but how on earth do you stay that way? Remember all those creative ideas you came up with in the organizing step of your project? All those file boxes, binders, and storage boxes that you wanted to use? They helped you to create a home for your papers and treasures, and that’s where you should keep storing things on a regular basis. Don’t let this organizing step overwhelm you. It’s simply a matter of cleaning as you go, and taking the time to put things back where they belong after you use them.

Some organizing experts feel that there must be a place for everything, and everything should be in its place. But that would be in a perfect world, wouldn’t it? My room certainly isn’t perfect, and I’ll bet yours isn’t either! Instead of giving up before we even get started, let’s pretend to take a walk through your normal day and its wonderfully organized possibilities.

The alarm clock wakes you to music that helps you start your day with a smile. You walk to the bathroom and brush your teeth while waiting for the shower to warm up. After your shower, you realize that you’ve used the last of the toothpaste, so you make a note on Mom’s Inventory Sheet hanging inside your linen closet door so that she can buy you more. (And if Mom doesn’t use inventory sheets, you remind yourself to mention it later at breakfast.) As you hang up your wet towel, you realize that you have a spelling test later today. It’s such a relief that you did your homework last night and put it away in your backpack with your student planner. Of course choosing what to wear today is a breeze since clothes have been laid out for the entire week in your closet. Walking into the kitchen, you see your family gathered around the table because their clothes were cleaned, pressed and lined up in the closet at the beginning of the week, too. Now everyone can sit down and enjoy a calm and nutritious breakfast—no more bites on the run for this organized family!

Since lunches were prepared last night, you can grab yours from the fridge and put it into your backpack with your completed homework hanging on the rack by the door. Mom can return that new video you watched after school on her way to work because you put it in her tote bag last night.

You and your family are up, dressed, and prepared to start your day in an orderly (and joyful) manner. Wow! You might even have time for a glance at your student planner to see what’s on the agenda today.

This may seem almost like a fairy tale, but so many parts of this scene can be played out in your own home if you use the organizing steps outlined in this book. How about it? Let’s get busy making your dream come true!

Use common sense organizing techniques to keep your space simple. Don’t be afraid to reorganize or move items around as things change. Thinking in the zone helps you with the long-term plan of getting your space in order, making room for playing, studying, hanging out with your friends, and sleeping. I think that since these are action words, we may as well call your task centers action zones.

In the next chapter, we’ll learn how to set up action zones in your living space, room by room. You’ll learn about four options for organizing all your stuff, and how to organize things in your bedroom, family room, basement or garage, and even in the car. What are you waiting for? Let’s get organized!

Section 1: Conquer that Clutter

Step 1: Plan for Success

Step 3: Organizing What’s Left

Hands-On Time: Around the House