Zone Defense: A Game Plan for Organizing Your Home

Clutter and disorder can be paralyzing. And despite all the books and videos to help you get it together, sometimes you just need a game plan — and to know you’re not alone in zone defense.

OK, team, here we go. We are facing Clutter and Disorder this year. Those are tough teams to beat. But, you can do this.

We’ve gotta be tough. We gotta be vigilant. We gotta win. So, no shortcuts, no mamby-pambies. We’re going to work hard. And we are gonna do what we set out to do!

By now, my entire family is laughing uproariously because I don’t have an athletic bone in my body. I’ve never played an individual sport, let alone a team sport.

But, I do love a good metaphor.

The Pre-Game Pep Talk

Clutter and Disorder are tough to beat. It does take hard work and perseverance. And this series is a game plan designed to help you make sense of the space in which you live, and to make it suit you. You will get your mind and your house in shape and fit for the lifestyle that your family lives.

They say that it’s the people that make a house a home. It’s so true. And yet, it’s also the people — and their accompanying activities — that can make that house one big disorganized mess.

But it doesn’t have to be so. In fact, we can organize, and in some respects, redesign our homes to fit us and what we love to do. So, this project isn’t just about cleaning your home, it’s about organizing your homeLIFE.

Zone Defense: An Introduction

And zone defense is a great way to look at this process. Rather than go through the motions of isolated cleaning tasks, we’re going to focus on one zone of home/life at a time.

Dividing the average home into 12 areas or “zones,” we’ll be addressing a different zone and its accompanying activities each month. We’ll go on a yearlong journey toward making our homes more of what we want them to be: places perfectly designed for the things and people we love.

We’ll be looking at these 12 zones of life over the course of the year:

1. The Playing Field

• Evaluate your home’s strengths.
• Zone Defense Pinboards
• Get your equipment ready.
• Dump or Donate?
• Good Reads for Organizing

2. Your Personal Space

• Your Clothes Closet
• The Master Bathroom
• Your Bedroom
• Your Purse, Car, and Other Personal Space
• Your Body
• Personal Space – Progress Report
• Taking Care of Your Personal Space

3. The Kitchen

• Kitchen Organization
• Kitchen Organization on Pinterest
• Tips for Organizing Your Food Storage
• Cleaning the Kitchen – Progress Report
• Time to Reorganize the Kitchen
• Spring Cleaning in the Kitchen

4. Clothes and Textiles

• Organizing Laundry, Clothes & Textiles
• Cleaning Out the Linen Cupboard and Laundry Room
• Sorting and Storing Kids’ Clothing
• 2013: Time to Organize the Linen and Laundry Areas
• Kids CAN Do Laundry
• Keep the Laundry Room Clean!

5. Living Spaces/Entertainment

• Tackling Your Living Areas
• Books and What to Do with Them
• Movie Storage
• Organizing Your Music

6. Transportation and Travel

• Transportation and Travel
• Pack a Car Sick Kit
• Be Ready for the Next Road Trip
• Pack Activity Bags to Have Ready
• Car Repair and Emergency Preparedness

7. Kids’ Stuff

• Clean and Simple Kids’ Rooms
• How to Organize and Contain Children’s Toys, Books, and Other Stuff
• Lego Storage Ideas
• Organizing Books

8. Bathrooms

• Cleaning and Decluttering the Bathrooms
• Kids Can Clean the Bathroom (FREE printable for Clean Bathroom Bingo)
• 5 Tips for Keeping the Bathroom Clean

9. Emergency Preparedness

• Make 24-Hour Go Bags for Your Kids
• Being Prepared for Emergencies While Your Kids are at School
• Store a 3-Day Emergency Supply
• Emergency Meals

10. The Great Outdoors

• Outdoor Winterizing

11. Office and Paper

• Sorting Paper Clutter
• What Papers Should You Keep?
• Organizing Paper Files
• What to Look for in Online Storage

12. Deep Storage

This month, we’ll be talking about The Playing Field, your home in general. We’ll take inventory of trouble spots as well as create a vision for what we want life to be like — at home.

I would love to have you join me. This isn’t just about training, blood, sweat, and tears — and stinky sweat socks. It’s a game. And hopefully, it will be fun — or at least rewarding. And it will, Lord willing, be a great journey for us to take in this new year.

Don’t miss out! There will be some freebies along the way. Be sure not to miss them! Subscribe to my RSS feed or receive free updates via email. You can also follow along on Facebook or on twitter.

(Plus, there might be some sweepstakes along the way, so that’s cool.)

Ready to join the team?

Even my mom is doing it, so I’m sure you’ll want to, too.
Leave a comment, saying hey. Let us know you’re in the game.