Maintain, maintain, maintain. For most people this is the most challenging (and overlooked) step in organizing. It's fairly easy to start a system, but how do you keep it intact? Remember all those creative ideas you came up with during the organizing step of your project: using file boxes, baskets, and storage boxes to store your clutter? Those created a home for your papers and knick-knacks, and so that's where you should continue to place incoming items on a regular basis. Don't let this step overwhelm you – it's simply a matter of cleaning as you go, and then making an endeavor to put things back where they belong.

Try these specific tips to get you started:

• Clean out your junk drawer once a month
• File important papers once a week
• Purge your pantry and cabinets monthly
• Archive papers every year to make room for current ones

Take the 15-minute challenge, everyday. Grab a laundry basket, set the timer, make it a game with your family and go get that clutter! Tackle a different room each day and you'll keep things tidy on an ongoing basis. What's more, you won't have to scramble to find lost items or try to tidy the living room before company comes.

Create a long-term plan. Make room for activities such as baking, crafting, bill-paying, studying, and playing. The bill-paying zone, for example, will probably be in your kitchen rather than an office if you're like most busy moms. You may have an arts & crafts zone set up in your home office for the children to use as they work alongside you during the day, or perhaps it's neatly stored in a portable tote in the kitchen.