Sometimes there’s just not enough hours in the day.

Managing your time, particularly for families, can be one of the biggest challenges you can face. There’s always chores that get neglected and rooms that fall into disarray—not through any kind of carelessness or neglect, but more through the fact everyone has to go to work, soccer practice, and grandpa’s house and it all just gets in the way.

There are ways to get around these problems, though. Instead of letting everything build up and gradually fall by the wayside (or become a massive project), injecting a few smaller organizational strategies into your life and routine are an easy and effective way to prevent messes and keep everything right where you need it, no matter how busy your days are!

Read on for a few easy house-organization tips for the entire family, and see what they can do to simplify your life:

Develop a list and routine of chores: It’s way easier to declutter and organize everything when your whole family is on the same page and ready to go. Divide up your chores and cleaning needs among the family: put your kids in charge of keeping their toys and clothes together, decide who gets to help with main areas like living rooms, and make a list of chores that everyone can rotate between like dishes and sweeping. (Try to keep it age- and skill-level appropriate—even if they want to help, you probably don’t want anyone under the age of 13 or so trying to use a vacuum cleaner, for example!)

Get in some cleaner habits: There’s some things we all do that contribute to messes, and these habits are pretty easy to break once you notice them. Getting in a few cleaner habits will help cut down on the amount of cleaning that needs to be done later, such as:

• Make sure everyone takes their drinking glasses right back to the sink when they’re done to avoid having moldy, old juice cups lying around.
• Set up some entryway storage and make sure everyone has their own designated spot for shoes, coats, and backpacks/purses so everything has a place to land when they get home (and one that isn’t right on the floor).
• Make sure everyone empties their backpacks and puts the important paperwork somewhere safe and easy to get to avoid clutter and everyone’s permission slips get filled out on time!

Get everyone in the habit of cleaning up before bed. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say, and getting your kids (and spouse, if needed) in the habit of cleaning up right before bedtime will prevent a lot of bigger messes later. Have everyone pick up their toys and their stuff to get it put away (or at least somewhere that isn’t “the middle of the dang floor”) before bedtime, and then get them to lay out their clothes for the next day to save time in the morning. It might take a little...convincing at first, but once everyone is used to it you’ll all wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

If all else fails, get rid of some stuff: It might be a little hard to get used to the idea, but the easiest way to get rid of clutter is just to have less stuff! Help your kids find some toys they don’t want anymore to donate, get rid of some old clothes and junk around the house you don’t want, and then try to avoid filling that space with more junk later. (This may be the hardest part, but trust us, it’ll come with practice.)