by Karen Wilmot

Created on: January 05, 2010   Last Updated: January 07, 2010

Some of us are born organizers(BO) while others are born completely disorganized. I believe God put the BO's on this earth so that he could have some fun watching us try to organize the rest of the world. I am a born organizer. Everything has a place in my house and it's all organized in the way my mind thinks. This was great when I was single. I knew where everything was and how much I had of everything. Fast forward a few years, I fall in love and get married. My BO instincts are still here however I now have a disorganized husband living in the home. My organization routine needed to be revisited to include a husband who doesn't necessarily tell me when he's eaten the last apple. What to do?

Well, I'm here to tell you it can happen..Born dis-organizers can be reformed and BOs can be relaxed to form a union that works. Your first order of business is to take inventory. Checklists will become your best friend and you can hide them everywhere. We have checklists for the refrigerator, the bathroom cabinets, the medicine cabinet and general household goods. I have them taped on the doors in the bathroom cabinets, on the refrigerator and in the pantry. The checklist is the list of items you normally have on hand (i.e. toothpaste, tooth brush, olive oil, ketchup, etc.) When your dear spouse takes the last one of something they are supposed to put a check in the box of what is needed. Now this method does take running out of a few things for them to understand the importance of the check marks but in a few months you will be on track to keeping your house in stock of "normal" household items.

Next we need to tackle the clutter issue. Born dis-organizers leave things where ever they drop them. It's in their nature. They may be drinking water in the family and go upstairs to the office then get thirsty again. They will head to the kitchen and pour another glass of water even though their original glass of water is sitting on the coffee table 5 ft from them. Yes, it's exhausting, even to type that out but to a born dis-organizer this is their life. The question is what to do about it. I don't believe this is something that can be changed. In this case your attitude as the BO needs to change. You need to tell yourself you are blessing them with a clean and organized house so you keep picking up after them. Now don't become a martyr about it. Your BO instincts are yours and they don't have the same thoughts. You can't impose your will on someone else, you just have to understand it is your will. But here's the golden ticket on this, I have noticed that as I continue to bless my DH with picking up after him, he has started to notice. At first there were little victories in that he put his glass in the sink instead of leaving it on the coffee table. However, now he has the system down and is cleaning up after himself to keep the house in order. It's truly amazing when I stopped nagging and just did the work myself with a smile on my face. Commenting on how much I love our home and am so glad we live here together. He realized he love the home also and wanted to keep it tidy.

There are many organization systems out there. We are constantly bombarded with systems that involve tons of money and energy to maintain. I have found the best system is here. Flylady has been doing this work for 20 years and you don't have to buy anything to incorporate her system. She does sell a ton of products however, you only need to follow her system to ensure your house is clean every day. Once you have a clean house and change your attitude on blessing your family, you are well on your way to organizing and checklisting your house. Enjoy the ride!

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