Operation Organization - how do you do it?

I had to laugh when I read you were going to break out the label maker because I have always wanted to get a really nice one.  I feel if I label the shelves in the linen closet for example, it would help keep all of the bedding items straight - the queen size bedding, the twin bedding, etc.

I am a visual person so labels are a great help to me.  I have a basket of file folders on my desk with lables like weekly ads, coupons, bills, shred, pass on, receipts to keep mail organized.  I've been a bit lax on that lately so I am eager to get back in the habit.  I have a lot of rubbermaid-type totes for storing clothes and other items in the attic, basement.  I would love if they were all see-through though to make things a bit quicker to find.

I also have a planner that is devoted just to daily tasks.  I assigned a room or smaller rooms to each day of the week.  I also assigned recurring tasks to certain days of the week or month (shred  documents, change toothbrushes LOL, RSVP to an event, etc).  For the most part I wrote everything on sticky notes so I simply have to move the sticky notes at the end of the day and avoid the time it would take to rewrite everything.  I write additional tasks directly into the planner as necessary.  The idea for organizing things this way is that I can conquer the room of the day and keeping up with it on a weekly basis would keep is clean and organized.  For the most part it works.  Right now with the nice summer weather, picnics, etc I am not sticking to it as much as I should.  But when I do, it does work.

Even with all that, our biggest hurdle is not being in the habit of picking up after ourselves.  Unfortunately, my husband and I aren't the best examples of that.  My kids are 4 and 5 and I am trying to teach them to do so.  I just made a chore chart for them that makes them responsible for picking up their toys througout the house, making sure their dirty laundry makes it to the laundry bins (one on first floor and one on second floor) and making sure their shoes, hats and sunglasses are put away.  I am anxious to see how much of a difference that makes.

Good luck with your organizing.

There must be an organizational bug going around right now.  I have been trying to organize this week too.  I cleaned out one cupboard in my kitchen, the shelves on the changing table, part of the garage, a cupboard in the bathroom, the refrigerator and am now working on my desk and filing cabinet.  I have a long way to go but I feel like I've made at least a small dent.

I was cleaning out our guest room closet the other day (as part of my ongoing Operation Organization