My Organizing Plan for 2013

I am determined this year to make some progress toward having a clean and organized home.  Now before you roll your eyes and think I'm a super neat freak, you got that wrong.  I desire to have a home where I can find things and not have PILES of papers everywhere.  I want to know where things are and not have so much clutter.  I have two small children and their mess does not bother me at all, it's MY mess that bothers me.

I remember when I was single I would clean my house once a week all in ONE evening.  I also decluttered a few times a year.  Now that I am a home manager, I have to upgrade that simple system because life is much more complicated!

I just finished reading The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized by Karen Ehman and one of the first statements she makes is "being organized means being prepared."  I keep that in my mind often.  Everytime I am rushing out the door trying to grab all the stuff I need I think, I should have been prepared.  That is my focus this year.

I have tried various "systems" of housecleaning and decluttering and I haven't yet found the perfect one, but I'm am going to combine a few different ones to hopefully get me where I want to be.

This year I will be using the Weekly Household Planner from The Confident Mom.  I discovered this planner in August and I am very impressed how I have been able to keep up with the daily chores and also have time for myself as well as play with my kids.  Here is a quick video of why I love this planner.

For more information click: 2013 Weekly Household Planner.

Another book that I really like is 31 Days to Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way.  Although I have never been able to clean my house for 31 days straight I like how Sarah Mae has broken down different areas of the home.  I will be reading this book slowly and focus on ONE area of the home each month. And not only that I want to develop more of a Mary heart as I bless my home in cleaning.

And I'm really excited about Jennifer Tankersley's new ebook 100 Days to a New Year. Sometimes I get overwhelmed and want to organize it ALL in one day, one week or one month.  Jennifer walks you through 100 days and at the end you will have a lot organized!  See my review and giveaway that is happening right now.

Another book that I have used to organize my cleaning schedule is Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule by Christine Satterfield.  I love Christine's blog I Dream of Clean where she always has fun and easy ways to making cleaning efficient and effective.

Other websites that I use and find helpful:

*The Flylady- Weekly zones and cleaning ideas
*Clean Mama- Monthly organizing checklists and more!  New ebook- Pulling Yourself Together: Implementing a Cleaning Routine that Sticks
*Household Management 101- House Cleaning Lists (free ebook)
*The Good Wife's Guide by Darlene Schacht- get it free right now by subscribing to her blog
*My Simpler Life- free Declutter Calendar
*Home Storage Solutions 101- Monthly missions
*Spring Cleaning 365- one task. each day. all year.

For January I am going to start cleaning the Master Bedroom.  I might even do the kitchen too.  I will be updating you monthly on my progress.  Stay tuned!

What has been helpful to you for cleaning and organizing?  Do you have any plans for cleaning this year?  Let me know!!