You know those times when you feel "in the zone?" Things are rolling along smoothly, you get a lot of things done, and all in all, you feel very efficient and productive.

At Major Mom, we promote that you get your stuff in the zone. This is an area where items used for a certain activity are stored together. Why? Because it helps you find things easily, it prevents you from going back and forth to gather items you need, and all in all, it is more efficient and allows you to be more productive.

Here is a simple example that you are probably already doing: If you keep your toothbrush, toothpaste and dental floss together near your bathroom sink, that is your tooth brushing ZONE.

Think about how you can create other zones around your house.
GARAGE: Create separate zones for sports equipment, tools, and lawn/gardening. If you have an abundance of sports equipment, you might even make more specific zones for baseball, skiing and cycling. By using zones, you won't waste time looking all over the garage when you are ready to go for a bike ride. Just go to your "cycling zone" where you will find your bike, your helmet, your tire pump and any other gear you need to ride.

KITCHEN: Some possible zones in the kitchen could be: Food Storage (Pantry & Fridge), Food Prep (knives, cutting boards), Wrapping and Packaging (Tupperware & Cling Wrap), Baking, Clean Up, Meal Planning (Recipe Books, Coupons). There are many other options.

When organizing a zone, keep in mind accessibility. For instance, if you are organizing a pantry, keep the items you use most often between hip and eye level.  Products you seldom use go up on the top shelves.  Children's healthy snacks go on the lower shelves where they can help themselves.

What about your nightstand?  Things you want by the bed might be a reading light, a book or magazine, and an alarm clock.  

If you have created a zone already, but it isn't working for you, change it!  Don't keep things in a certain place because "that is where it has always been."  Put it where it works for you!

Finally, it is just as important to keep things OUT of the zone which don't belong there. You don't need pens in the toothbrushing zone, or magazines in the pantry. And if you ever need any help creating zones, call Major Mom!