Smartphone alarms + thematic music = Less Nagging

Do you look up at the clock in the morning and realize that, yes, your family is behind schedule, again?

Do you have a hard time remembering to stop to eat lunch, leave for the day, or floss your teeth?

Consider enlisting your smartphone for help! Set thematic songs as alarm ringtones for critical or forgettable parts of your routines.

Songs catch our attention more than clocks or even timers, and are easily recognized by kids too young to read a clock.

Start by picking one or two trouble spots. These might be transitions, like waking or leaving for school, or good habits you want to cultivate, like consistently eating lunch or cleaning your desk before stopping for the day.

This playlist can get you started: http://proforganizer.com/about/routinesplaylist/ 

Add more songs as necessary to support your family’s daily routine. With small kids, songs every 5-10 minutes throughout morning routine and bedtime routine makes it easier to be firm and consistent, improves everyone’s ability to estimate time, and replaces nagging with dancing!

It might take some experimenting to find out which times work best for each step, and which steps need to be added. Ask the kids which songs would keep them on track, and what they want a reminder about! Challenge the kids to “beat the pajama song.”

Every few months, delete any alarms that you regularly ignore, adjust the times of others if needed, and add new songs to keep things fresh and relevant.

And be sure to listen to Kate Carpenter’s song “Orderly and Organized.” If professional organizers had a theme song, this might be it!  The link is:

http://www.broadjam.com/player/player.php?mediaID=572528

Organizing your routines is easier than you think!  For more organizing tips, visit www.NapoMichigan.com. 

Article written by Melanie Sobocinski, of Prof Organizer LLC, NAPO Chapter Member.

A More Organized Play Room is More Fun!

Four Steps to a More Organized Playroom

These simple tips from the National Association of Professional Organizers in Michigan will help your family get and stay organized.

1) Decide:

Determine what volume of toys can fit comfortably in your playroom and make homes for them on shelves or in drawers. Keep an eye on that volume: as new toys come in, old ones must go out. Move them to a storage space for future use (labeled) or – better yet – donate to charity.

2) Contain:

Store broad categories of toys (avoid the temptation to be super-specific) together in bins that are easy to move to and from play spaces. Avoid lids for easier access. Label the containers, even if you think its contents are obvious. Involve the kids; they can draw picture labels if they're not writers yet.

3) Collect:

 

Toys have a way of escaping the playroom. Place smallish bins in other areas (e.g., living room, kitchen, stairs) to collect the escapees and return to the playroom when they're full.

4) Teach:

 

Staying organized is an essential life skill, so teaching your kids how to put things away so that they can find them again is part of your job as a parent. That means they need to practice! Just as it would be a shame for a 30-year-old to have never learned how to tie his shoe laces, it’s sad to see one who hasn’t learned the basics of organizing. So make putting toys away an everyday part of the end of the day ritual.

Organizing your playroom is easier than you think!

 

For more organizing tips, visit www.NapoMichigan.com.

Article submitted by Chapter member Molly Boren of Simplicity Works Organizing Services: www.sworganizing.com