As a business owner, busy mom of twins, and wife, I receive a lot of mail. So today I’m going to show you not only how I organize and file my mail and important documents but also teach you how you can create a mail ‘drop zone’ too!

Proud mom moment: my identical twin girls were on the Rachael Ray Show this week! If you’ve been following for a while, you’ll remember that my daughters Ellie and Marin shared their tips with Rachael Ray last year (more on that in this post), and Rachael Ray invited the girls to skip school and come hang out with her to hear more of their tips!

Like many of you, I wear many of hats throughout a day. Between being a mom, running a full-time business and managing my team, plus keeping my house and personal well-being in check it feels like there never is enough time. We are always searching for time to add to our day. Clients always tell me that if they had more time they could do XYZ and I get it. I know that I can’t change how many hours are in a day but I can change what I do in the environment where I spend my days. There are things that I can do throughout the day and week that can get me—and you, too—more in control and grounded so that when I lay my head down at night I’m not running through the laundry list of items still on my to-do list. And while I can’t dish out tips for how to master the work/parenting balance (is there even such a thing?!), I can tell you that there are things that can be done in your home to help save you time and sanity, which is a pretty big “win” if you ask me!

A lot of my organizing tips are specific to an area of the home (like the kitchen, playroom, or under the sink), but there is a common area that we are all touching on an everyday basis: our email inboxes! While this area of your life doesn’t fill up with the same type of clutter that you see around your home, the impact of the disorganization in this area can be just as frustrating and difficult to navigate and honestly one of the most difficult areas to organize.

I remember years ago when I hosted my first yard sale. The neighborhood was hosting a big event where you can go between driveways to shop, making it the perfect opportunity to clear your home of unwanted items once and for all. My girls were excited and ready, because with yard sales meant a lot of fun, like lemonade stands, learning about money, earning money, and finding new homes for old things. I had organized all of our items into boxes, did an insane amount of decluttering (okay, a little more than usual), and what happened? It rained.

Basements, garages, and attics can quickly become full of clutter because of how much can be packed inside and the lack of upkeep that it requires (function definitely trumps design in these areas so it’s easy to make excuses for their disorganized state). Think of each of these spaces as another room in your house–a place where everything should be purposeful, visible, and where you can still walk around to access everything. At least once every year pull every content out of the storage area and review what should stay and what should go.

Similar to how the new year marks a new beginning, for me, the same goes with each new month. I love being able to check off tasks from my to-do lists (hello, Type A), cross off goals from what I have planned out and succeeded in doing, and most importantly have a visual reminder of what I’ve done already and what’s to come moving forward.

How was your week? I made progress in swapping out my makeup and skincare items (though it wasn’t easy) and this weekend I’m taking time to prep for the next month ahead. I have a couple of quick day and overnight trips on my schedule, and I like to keep my packing to a minimum…both in how long I spend preparing and how many items I bring.

I don’t know about you, but I depend on routines and schedules. If you’re interested in adopting some tried-and-true tips that have worked in a busy household with young children, I’ve included the morning routine tips that have worked for our family over the years below. For younger and older kids, the same morning routine tips apply but your involvement will be determined on their age and how much responsibility/independence you’d like for them to have.

With both business and personal new beginnings, life has brought such wonderful things that I am beyond grateful for and couldn’t have predicted, like new clients, projects, opportunities, relationships, the feeling of security, routine, and more. I have come to find that making time for both work and play, focusing on not making more clutter and writing EVERYTHING down has helped me get through the rollercoaster of life.