Organization - The Corbin Clan
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Being organized—having a place for everything and everything in that place—has always been a priority for Nikkie. Unfortunately, it’s easier to be disorganized. Let things go for a week and it can be chaotic. And there is nothing fun about having a several-hour search for something that should have been located in about a minute’s time. Nikkie has been on those hour-long searches and would much rather spend a little more time keeping things organized on a daily basis to prevent these searches. Therefore, if you want to be organized, it takes time and effort. But, it’s well worth it.
Many people have different systems for how they organize. What’s important is finding what works for you. Find a system that is easy for you to follow and makes your life simpler. For instance, Nikkie loves to use the computer to organize her pictures, her addresses, and everything else she can possibly type. If you hate computers, you probably don’t want to use the computer as much as she does.
Below are some tips from around the Corbin home. Maybe some will work for you….
Use a label maker to label where things belong. This is especially great for kids who can read. Nikkie recently labeled all the drawers in their boys’ room. Their oldest son, being able to read, now knows exactly what belongs in which drawer and takes care of his own clothes and helps with the others. This also allows Scott to know where things go. In the past, Scott has offered to put things up and Nikkie had to try to describe which drawer the particular items belonged in so the labels save them both some trouble.
Nikkie loves storage boxes. Scott laughs at how many boxes she has bought (and continues to buy). She even organizes the kids’ toys in storage boxes. Their toy boxes include a box exclusively for Thomas Train pieces, a box exclusively for baby doll clothes, a box exclusively for cartridges to their Leap Pad books, and so forth. Nikkie has all her decorations in boxes labeled for each season/holiday. And they each have their own box(es) for their mementos. They have also always saved all of their kids’ clothes, passing them down as needed to their future children, and these are stored in boxes clearly labeled with the size. Cardboard boxes take less room and cost a little less but plastic boxes are more protective and durable. Nikkie uses both, depending on what is being stored.
Closets must be clean in the Corbin home. Nikkie absolutely can not stand to open a closet door and find a mess. Closets are a great place to store things but if it’s just thrown in there, a closet just becomes a junk pile. A neat closet allows you to put things away easily and find things easily.
You probably don’t want to keep everything. Even if you are 100% organized, if you keep everything, it will eventually become overwhelming. So, carefully choose what to keep, and file right away.
Keep a planner of some sort, or several ways. Nikkie uses a Google calendar for all plans, and it is accessible both on the computer and on her iPad. She can also print a copy of it to keep hanging on a refrigerator or in a notebook. Nikkie also loves whiteboard calendars that can be hung somewhere for the whole family to easily see.
