The furniture in your room is situated just right, yet it's cluttered with lots of paper, items taken from other parts of the house, too many knick-knacks, and trash particles that didn't quite make it to the trashcan. Shouldn't we be asking ourselves, "What's wrong with this picture?" Maybe you already know the answer. But then, why hasn't anything been done about it yet? Don't try to answer that. There's an art to approaching the task of getting organized.

As work load continues to increase, our environment can suffer unless we take some time to take care of administrative and organizational tasks. Because our busy lifestyles warrant continuous maintenance to keep an orderly environment, a key to being clutter-free is to put things away when we’re done with them. This new behavior usually has to be developed, like a routine.

A binder system with logs and forms that can be customized to suit your family's needs. This system can be used for multiple children and offers a simple way to meet any applicable state record keeping requirements.

If you are suffering from CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome), then this is the place for you. Start with Babysteps and learn to set up routines, get rid of clutter, and put your home and life in order. Once you join up with the Fly Lady, you'll receive daily emails filled with FLYing Lessons to guide you through the organization maze.

A homeschooling mom shares some simple ways to encourage children to help around the house based on the principle that one should never do for one's children what they could do for themselves. This leads to a more smoothly running household and the children's sense of pride in their own work.

Homeschool families, like Tolstoy’s happy ones, are all alike: drowning in a sea of clutter. Home schooling a child beats all other organizational challenges hands-down. How do you count the clutter? The books. The papers. The biology experiments on the kitchen window. The six-foot-tall child sprawled on the floor, reading. The record-keeping. College admissions and testing and letters from the correspondence school.

One of the basic housekeeping rules is to keep it simple. Roxanna Ward shares some simple tips for getting housework done without the hassle.

Clutter seems to have become a way of life, and homeschoolers have a great excuse to collect anything and everything vaguely related to education. This is ironic because, as Dr. Montessori discovered, a cluttered and/or chaotic environment hinders normalization/education. This problem can arise when the materials 'take over' and the attitudes and method fall into second place. An orderly, inviting environment is more important than a large variety of trays and/or materials, especially for young children. It is better to have one or two that demonstrate each concept well.

Homeschool is school, but it's home, too--and housework will be with us always. How do you manage to keep up with household chores while homeschooling your children? Cynthia Townley Ewer, editor of OrganizedHome.com, explains how to lowering your standards, planning, and getting your children involved will help you reach your organizational goals. She suggests scheduling housework first, learning new time-saving methods, and getting needed support.

A look at an unschooling family's approach to managing chores around the house. Although this approach may not work for everyone, the emphasis on flexibility and respect for each others needs and inclinations is enlightening.

This website has a wealth of information on running a smooth and organized home. Includes articles, recipes, organizing tips, message boards, and much more. You'll also find information on creating your own household notebook, along with free printable forms to organize all the information your family needs.

Time. It's a homeschool family's most precious resource--and the claims on a homeschooler's time are many and vociferous. Time management is a homeschool parent's most pressing challenge. Includes tips on using a planner and how to get the most out of scheduling.

Each area of your home has a symbolic meaning with which you resonate on a subconscious level. Clutter and untidiness within each of these areas causes constriction and inertia in the corresponding aspects of your life.

Stuff! For homeschool families, it's everywhere. Books and papers. Art supplies. Math manipulatives. Science projects. Record-keeping demands its own set of materials: attendance forms, correspondence, testing, student portfolios, and piles and piles of paper! Find out strategies for storing kid's stuff, using color coding, organizing your desk, and more.

Whether you are an individual family needing a convenient record keeping solution, an umbrella school, homeschool co-op or support group desiring to reduce administrative overhead, Homeschool Reporting Online offers online software solutions. They offer simple, secure online record keeping and offsite electronic storage and backup of student records.

An example of an organizational system for a large homeschool family.

Record-keeping is an important part of your homeschool. Barbara Edtl Shelton lists the benefits of keeping good records, including the greater ease of evaluating progress, helping to set the direction for your homeschool, helping to preserve memories for the future, and more.

Includes tips for organizing in the office, closet, craft room, living room, bathrooms, and bedrooms. Creative ideas for storing kids' toys and other odds and ends.

The National Association of Professional Organizers did a study and determined that the average person spends 80 hours per year searching for papers they need but cannot find when they need them. EZ Pocket lets you quickly and easily organize all those household paper items that need action on a certain date. EZ Pocket keeps papers in view, and sorted, while waiting for the "to-do" date to roll around.

Join the fun as sidetrackers from all over commune to help each other get organized. Along the way, we have a lot of laughs and make a lot of friends.