Getting - and staying - organized.

Getting organized is probably one of the top ten New Year's resolutions in this country, right up there with loosing weight and eating healthy and all that.

Getting organized is not my problem; it's staying that way I have an issue with.

I know just how to get organized, and I do it. But then as the days and weeks go by, the stuff takes over again, and I have the piles of mail, magazines and mess on my desk. I have the freezer burned steak shoved in the back of the freezer behind the bag of frozen broccoli and ice cream. The clothes start piling up on chairs and shoved into drawers. My crafts stuff just stays in a jumble on my dining room table where I do in and dig around till I find what I need for whatever project. If Kevin smashes a digit and needs a bandage, I have to dig through three or four baskets of stuff in the bathroom just to find the box of band aids.

The problem extends even to my barn, where my feed room is piled with dirty horse blankets and empty Purina feed sacks and those annoying plastic bags the stall shavings come in; with baling twine strung everywhere; saddles and pads all jumbled together in the tack room with bridles a tangled mess and peppermint candy wrappers on the floor crunching everywhere I step on the floor in there.

I have come to the conclusion that staying organized does not come naturally to me; so I am going to have to make a special effort to do so.

Which is really hard right now with my complicated work schedule. I am not as home as much so when I get home at night, all I have time to do is make dinner for us, tend to the pets and livestock, and crash in an exhausted, frumpy, irritated heap on the couch for a few hours with Kevin, then go to bed, and get up in the morning and rush right back out the door.
My few hours of time away from work during the week are taken up with family responsibilities, farm responsibilities, errands, shopping for groceries and such, and taking care of business things like getting orders from my website shipped out in a timely manner.

So staying organized is going to be a huge chore for me this year. But I am determined to do it.

Here is what I decided to do so far:

For one thing, I am bringing less stuff into the house. I am simply buying less. I have gotten strict with myself about what I can buy as shop inventory, too - so less storage space is being used.

I went through each room in my house and tossed everything that could be tossed. Even in the fridge and freezers; pantry, and bathroom. If I can keep the stuff down to a manageable amount of things I use and need, then I won't feel buried and overwhelmed by it so much.

I am also trying to de-clutter and put things away daily or at least every other day when I can - when I am at home to do it.

I've realized that it is less about what you do to organize, or how you do it; it is more about taking the time to do it; making the time to do it. That is where my difficulty lies. I can't even make the time; because I don't have the time. It is frustrating but I am trying.

What do you do to get organized and stay that way? I need inspiration.