Well 2010 is now upon us.  The Christmas decorations are put away, the tree is gone, the New Year has been duly reigned in, the kids have gone reluctantly back to school and the house is quiet.  I have flipped my More Time Moms Family Organizer to January where it is surprisingly empty.

I love January. It’s like a clean slate. White snow everywhere, no pressure to go anywhere.  Just stay home and nest.   This is when I take a good look around and realize that between the five of us, we have accumulated so much stuff over the course of the last year and now it’s time to clear the clutter.  Did you know that the average person loses 29 minutes a day just looking for paperwork on his/her desk? Now can you imagine how much tine you spend walking over clutter, moving clutter, cleaning clutter and searching for items like keys and sunglasses.

Reorganizing your home so it works for you is a project that you might want to do eventually.  Not today perhaps, and definitely all at once, but sometime – for this is a super time-saving project.  Even if your home works well for you, here are some good ideas.

You can tackle your house one room at a time.  In general, all you need to do is:

• Determine the use, purpose and activity for the room.
• Rid the room of all superfluous furniture and clutter: cleaning as you go.
• Reorganize the room and furnishings to suit the use and support the activities in the room.
• Find a place for everything you are keeping, taking the time to find a permanent home for the time-wasters that you can never find: keys, sunglasses, purses, etc.

Start each room by sorting clutter with zest, eliminating everything that you can.  You will need basic cleaning supplies, a garbage bag and three cartons labeled:

1. GIVE AWAY: It is easier to get rid of things if you know they are going to someone who could use them.  Take these boxes out to the car when you are done so that you can dispose of them on your next trip.  Consider selling these items to a consignment store, on Craig’s list or putting them aside for a spring garage sale. Personally I like to get rid of things as soon as I can.
2. STORE AWAY: Designate a storage area in your home and create an easy storage system using cartons and shelving units.  Get new cartons, uniform in size and that fit onto your storage shelving unit.  Clearly label the boxes in general categories such as Christmas, Children’s Artwork, Camping Supplies, etc and bring them to the storage area when they are full.
3. SOMEWHERE  ELSE: The items in this box belong to another room in the house.

CAUTION: Do not nag or force everyone in the house into this project. Do your children’s rooms with them and be respectful of their choices.  When I work with the kids I usually give them a number to work with for example: choose three stuffed animals to keep and let’s give the rest to some other children. If your spouse is not interested in