As a professional organizer when I speak to women’s group I am often asked, “how can I get my children to pick up after themselves” or “how can I get my husband to put his tools away or pick up his socks and put them in the hamper”? I have suggestions on how to motivate children but when it comes to husbands I tell them when they find the answer to that please let me know.

So, let’s get motivated:
It is unrealistic to expect our children or our significant others to be organized at home if we aren’t organized ourselves. It is easier to follow when there is a good example for us to follow.

If we want to always have everything perfect and expect our homes to look like a picture in a magazine we probably don’t let others help organize or keep things organized and by doing this we are sabotaging ourselves.  We then possibly complain that no one helps keep things organized and we become martyrs, naggy and unhappy. For some clutter control is easy but for others it is not easy and they need to be taught how to reduce clutter.

The way to avoid this is to delegate duties and recognize that others may complete an organizing task differently than we would and accept that fact. Or they take longer to do it than we think it should take and that’s okay too because there is no right or wrong way to organize. Show them how to do it, be an example and they will catch on and may even surprise you with their creativity and even delight you that they can organize their rooms, and put things back where they belong after they have used them. You will no longer engage in power struggles with them. You will probably need to show them how to do the task several times before they know how to do it. But that is just fine; it is not a race to win.

Always show and work with children when teaching them a new task. Assign responsibilities based on their age and ability level. Always provide guidance and clear instructions. If they don’t get it the first, second, or third time, be patient they will “get it” and your efforts will be rewarded. By teaching children clutter control we are doing them a huge favor as they will always have to control clutter not only now when they are young but also when they are adults in every part of their lives.

Everyone likes rewards. Adults work for the reward of a pay check. That is the same for everyone—something to look forward to makes the job easier and more pleasant. Again make it age appropriate.  Praise often and criticize not at all while they are learning a new skill and that is what organizing is—it is a skill that can be taught.

Hold a family meeting or council where everyone sits down together and discusses organizing and creating systems together.  When people have input into ideas and creating systems they are much more likely to be willing to do the task.

When setting up systems they need to be logical and simple. For example: make it easy for the children to put their toys away after play—reduce the amount of toys that are out at any one time by having the toys contained in containers and only bring out one container at a time. Rotate the containers daily and it will seem like they have new toys all the time and there will be less to clean up.

Another example is keep bill paying supplies together to make it easy and fast for you to pay bills. Set up a working filing system for all paper that comes into your home. My favorite is the Freedom Filer System as it is color coded by categories and makes filing a snap. As a professional organizer this is my favorite system and I recommend it to everyone.

Being organized makes a difference in every part of our lives and when we have the cooperation of others in our home it makes our lives easier and their too!

Marilyn's Bio:
Marilyn is a professional organizer who works with women and seniors in clearing clutter and providing organizing tips. Clearing clutter helps those she works with to have less stress in their lives and feel more joy in living.
Marilyn invites you to visit her website where you can find organizing solutions.  You will find fun stories and free organizing tips in her blogs, articles and videos.