I practice Flylady’s 15 minutes. Each evening I spend 15 minutes decluttering the room I am currently working on. Two summers ago I used this in my basement and cleared half of it in less than 2 months. It made my husband a believer that you can get a lot done in 15 minutes.

When papers and messages come home from school I do what I need to do with it immediately; file it, put it on the calendar, sign it and put it in the back pack for the next day, etc. Nothing is left on the counter.

Also, I clean as I go when I cook. By the time the meal is ready all the pots and pans, etc. have been cleaned and put away.

Finally, I like the “5 things” way of de-cluttering. Every night everyone in the household picks up 5 things that need to be put away.

Don’t use your refrigerator as bulletin board. It is amazing how much neater your kitchen will look with the refrigerator cleared. Place a large bulletin board in your laundry room or garage to post all the essential invitations, art work and pictures.

To eliminate counter clutter I have a large notebook with a different colored folder in it for each member of the family. Each night “important” papers are filed in the folders (I sign what needs to be signed and they can retrieve it on their way out the door). For easy access I use plastic organizer sheets: Team/class phone list – business cards – class calenders etc. It’s nice to have this info all in one place – periodically I need to weed it out; old papers in the round file and important keepers in the family file cabinet.