Home organization is a popular and practical subject. We all need it, and most of us have some level of frustration when it comes to staying organized. Organization does not have to drive you crazy.

3 Simple Principles of Stay-Sane Home Management.

Here are some basic principles that have helped me over the years. All of these are areas I am still working on. Truly, I consider myself a work in progress.

 [tweetthis]Give God your day…everyday.[/tweetthis]Give God your day…everyday.

Time with God is a necessity, not a luxury. Begin each day with prayer. Even if you don’t have time to read Scripture or a devotion at the beginning of your day, learn to pray as you get out of bed. Pray in the shower or talk with God as you take those first sips of coffee. This is a spiritual habit we can develop, and it makes all the difference.

Work to establish a time that you can sit down and spend a few minutes with God, reading the Bible and reflecting on what you read. Time with God nourishes our souls, inspires our attitudes, grounds our values, encourages our spirits, strengthens our weaknesses, and builds our wisdom. To me, these are non-negotiable things I am unwilling to do without.

I need God’s presence in my day. If you are struggling to find time with God, take it out of the if-I-have-time-left-over category of life. These days, time doesn’t come in left overs. We will always find something else to do if we don’t make spending time with God a priority.

When we give God our day, we invite Him into the adventure of our lives. We learn to do our work with a heart for God, which gives us a good motivation for all that we do. For more on this subject, read Wisdom for a Strong Life or Three Simple Ways to Listen to God.

[tweetthis]Keep organization simple: avoid elaborate systems.[/tweetthis]

Choose ideas that are do-able everyday, not just your best days. Choose simplicity that is sustainable.

There are boat loads of books, seminars, and articles on organization. And there are nearly as many different areas of life we can organize–drawers, closets, cars, finances, kids, schedules, food, grocery lists, paperwork, crafts, tools… and this is just the stuff at home. We can be overwhelmed amount of information, so pick and choose wisely. Find a couple of good sources…and keep it simple.

My best sources of help with organization have come from other moms–folks that I know that do it well. For me it is so much easier to see a good plan in action, rather than read an entire books of great ideas–though I have read plenty of book on the subject. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and start conversations on this subject.

Wherever you get information  on organization, keep it simple. I have tried a few ideas that involved several layers of organization, and I found myself labeling my labels and making lists of my lists. If your system is too complicated, you won’t keep up with it over time, and this gets frustrating for everyone–particularly if you are trying to get the family to keep up with too many steps to achieve a result. Getting the family to participate in your organization is like herding cats anyway, so keep it simple for the best success.

For a laugh and a simple system for Meal planning, click the link. (The tip is at the end of this humorous post.)

[tweetthis]Work toward good routines. [/tweetthis]

When kids are young, a good routine is part of every mom’s survival plan. The younger the child, the more a consistent routine helps keep things running smoothly. Kid’s benefit from order, and tend to like knowing what to expect. If you don’t believe me, try skipping bedtime stories one night and see what happens.

Part of good routines with children involves keeping them fed and rested. Hungry and tired kiddies are miserable–and they will make you miserable too! Bedtime and nap times are important for lots of reasons, so do your best to keep structure and consistency when it comes to making sure everyone gets enough rest–(that includes you too:)

A few weeks of fighting nap battles and maintaining the line on bed time can bring long term structure to everyone’s day. It is worth the effort. And by the way, it is never too late to establish a bedtime, it just may take time.

When our first born was a baby, I was working to get him on a good schedule. The end goal was the coveted sleeping through the night. Somehow in my desire to establish a good feeding and sleeping routine, I began to evaluate my success as a parent by whether or not my child was meeting benchmarks. It was probably due to sleep deprivation, but when my routine became too important, I veered toward rigid rather than consistent.

One day, I commented to a friend that I felt like such a failure that I could not get my baby to sleep through the night. She gave me some great advice. My friend, Michelle, encouraged me to view establishing routines as building a framework. Each day we work on building the framework. Some days will go well; others will be challenging. If we keep our  eyes on the goal–establishing a good foundation–then we can be flexible with the daily ups and downs.

This may not have been what you were expecting, but when we establish solid principles, we develop motivation and mindset that helps us to fill in the details.

Is there one of these areas that need your attention today? What one thing can you work on to make a difference in managing your home? Please use the facebook box in the side bar to like and share this post. How simple is that!