With summer coming soon, it's helpful to stay organized. After all, you don't want to spend time inside cleaning when you could be outside enjoying the sunshine. But how can you do it?

Here are some simple things you can do to make staying organized a bit easier:

• Take 10 minutes a day (maybe 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes before bed) to set the house to rights. If everyone who lives in the house spends just 10 minutes a day, it's amazing what can be accomplished. Put things where they belong, throw out trash, damp mop, clean the bathroom, unload the dishwasher, etc.
• Assign a place for things that come in and out of the house, like mail, sports equipment, gardening equipment, beach stuff. At least once a week, straighten that area, including sorting mail and filing and gathering clothes and towels crying out for the laundry.
• Schedule a whole house tidy for once a week. I do mine on Friday night (the Friday Tidy) so that my house is well-ordered as the weekend begins and I can play with a clear conscience. I move from room to room, dusting, putting away things that escape the daily cleaning, folding and putting away laundry, etc. I can generally do my little house in a little over an hour. Then, I hop in the shower and then chill out with a good book or movie and a glass of wine. And my
  weekend begins.