Try One New Household Rule Today

Through the years I’ve seen versions of Household Rules printed on posters, mugs and the like. You may know it, here are some of the words:

· If you get it out, put it up.

· If you sleep on it, make it up.

· If you wear it, hang it up.

· If you drop it, pick it up.

· If you dirty it, wash it.

· If you open it, close it.

· If you turn it on, turn it off.

I saw it again this weekend and it got me to thinking about household organizing rules. You probably already have some in place, you might not even know how many, because when the rule works you don’t notice it. Think about it, do you keep clean dishes in a certain kitchen cabinet? That’s a rule: all clean dinner plates go on that specific shelf.

It’s when there is no rule or the rule does not work that you notice it! Since that’s when stuff gets left around. If you did not have a place for clean plates then they’d be hard to find because you’d never know where to look for them.

So this week how about making ONE new household rule to try out? Choose one item that tends to be left out or commonly misplaced. Then make a new rule for it. Let everyone in the house know what the new rule is and next week evaluate if it is working.

What should your new rule be? If you’re stumped try one of these for inspiration:

In our house all incoming bills to be paid (and only bills to be paid) are placed in the sideboard drawer the day they arrive.


In our house we take everything in this basket upstairs whenever we go upstairs.


In our house on laundry day we bring dirty clothes to the laundry room and put away our clean clothing before we go to sleep.


In our house we write all phone messages for other family members on the whiteboard in the kitchen, if we are unable to write the message we do not answer the phone.


In our house we choose our outfit for the next day the night before.


In our house we do not leave anything on the kitchen island, no matter what.

Pick a single new household rule and try it out, you might be surprised how one little change can make life easier! That’s it for this week; I hope you’ll join me next Monday for another real tip.

PS To ensure success with your new household rule be sure everyone in the house understands it, give everyone time to get in the habit of the new routine which might include a nightly reminder or a prominently displayed sticky note and be sure any necessary supplies are near where they’d be needed.

For example if the new rule is “In our house we take break down the boxes for recycling instead of simply making a big pile of uncrushed boxes.” Then you might need a box cutter and safety gloves nearby.

Jamie Novak is an expert Professional Organizer and Time Management Coach. She’s authored two bestselling books 1,000 Best Quick and Easy Organizing Secrets™ and 1,000 Best Quick and Easy Time Saving Strategies™. Jamie can be found demonstrating her product line on QVC, or on NBC’s iVillage where she runs the real ideas message boards. Jamie travels nationally speaking to audiences about hoe to get organized and save time. You can get more free ideas at her website http://www.JamieNovak.com

Tags: bills, clutter, family, filing, mail, overwhelmed, paper, stress, TIME, time management

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