As I mentioned last week, over the next few  posts, I’m going to offer some suggestions to help you get your life in better order. Last week, we looked at meal planning. Today, let’s look at your house.

There are a few basic principles that will help you keep your house in better order:

1. Everything needs to have a place. If you have more things than you have places, you need to let go of some things. Fortunately, my new book can help with that!
2. You need to make it a point to put things back in their place EVERY time you finish using them. That’s why I put my coat back in the coat closet when I get in from walking the dog at night — even though I know I’ll be wearing it again tomorrow!
3. Make it easy to do the right thing. If putting away a frequently used item is a pain, you aren’t going to do it. Why would you? make sure the things you use most often (e.g., your favorite cooking utensil) is easy to reach. In the same way, make sure it’s easy to toss the junk mail in the recycling, to compost food scraps, and to file away papers you will need later.
4. Do a little bit each day to restore order. No, you probably don’t have time to empty and reorganize a clothes closet on a work/school night. But you can sort the stack of paper that’s been on the dining room table for a week. You can gather the dirty dishes from all over and put them in the dishwasher. You can remove the science experiments from the back of the fridge. A few minutes here and there can make a big difference.
5. Everything has its place — and everyone has a task. Keeping order isn’t a one-person job (unless you live alone). Fifteen minutes (seriously, set a timer) of intense tidying a day — with everyone involved — will have your main rooms looking spic and span in no time.