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Finding ways to save time and reduce mayhem in the home resulting from disorganization can be a lifesaver for dads on the move. Fortunately, you can use some clever, organizational tactics to make your job easier every day. Consider this collection of simple tips for busy dads who are striving to stay organized at home.
Prepare Meals in Advance
If you prepare weekly meals in advance, serving breakfast, sending the kids out with lunches, and preparing dinner becomes far easier to do. What is great is that weekly meal prep saves you time later that is normally spent whipping together ingredients for each meal, every day of the week. Every week, you can prepare meals in bulk, and then place lunches or dinners that contain a balanced diet in individual meal containers. In some cases, you may want to freeze each set of meals to retain freshness. If your family always eats dinner together, you can cook multiple meals and store the food in large kitchen containers, and simply warm the food up each day right before dinnertime.
Apply Labels as Necessary
If you find it difficult to keep up with packing your children’s’ book bags on busy mornings, a cool way to avoid confusion is to label each one. Companies like LeeLee Labels make it easy for dads to order custom name labels for their kids. There are other uses as well; if younger children in your home often mix up their toys and battle with each other trying to get them back from a sibling later, you can place custom labels on toys to personalize everything. In fact, many children are pleased to see their names printed on their possessions. Labeling baby bottles is another technique to make taking care of your kids easier.
Get Colored Storage Bins
Storage bins are one of the easiest ways of keeping things organized at home. Placing things inside of storage bins and locking it can be a cinch, even if everything is not stacked properly inside. Children who need to remove their toys from the floor can place them inside of their personal storage bins, and retrieve them later during playtime. Storage bins come in all sorts of colors, so you can buy separate colors to indicate what is inside each one so that nobody has to open up every bin to find what they need.
Use Open Shelves and Clear Storage Compartments
When you or your children need to find clothes or linen, open shelves may be a better option than drawers. If anyone forgets which drawer that something is in, they will have to search every drawer until it is found. Drawers that are not shut properly can end up on the floor, and make any room look more disheveled in minutes. By using open shelves and clear storage compartments, you and other members of your home can easily see whether or not a shelf or compartment has the clothes, towels or washcloths that they are looking for. On wash day, be sure to fold everything and place it in its proper area to keep the organizational flow going every week. Helping your child find a lost shoe can result in an escapade around your home. You can purchase a clear shoe organizer and hang it on the back of the bedroom door to make storing shoes and finding them later easier.
Although implementing a fresh plan for staying organized can be difficult at first, the new way of organizing things will catch on with every member of the house over time. Soon, everyone will expect to see meals prepared in advance, clothes and possessions stored properly, and labels on their things. Developing a household routine where backpacks, clothes, shoes, books, and toys are put away immediately maintains order and reduces the amount of follow-up cleaning that you have to do later. Once everyone knows what to expect, it becomes easier to stick with the organizational program each day. If you have additional things lying around your home that are rarely used, consider donating those items to charity to clear additional space in your residence.
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This content is sponsored by Anne Davis.
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