What is Hilary Erickson's definitive guide to managing household organization?

Hi, I’m Hilary Erickson from The Pregnancy Nurse and Pulling Curls. I don’t really have one “official” definitive guide written out in a single place, but I do have a very clear approach I teach over and over. Here’s the short version of how I manage household organization:

• Give each day a zone so you’re not trying to fix the whole house at once.

  • Monday – kitchen
  • Tuesday – bathrooms
  • Wednesday – bedrooms
  • Thursday – office/desk, playroom, living areas
  • Friday – filing/office systems

• In each zone, do one small, specific task (5–20 minutes): a drawer, one shelf, one category of clothing, one stack of papers. I even “assign” myself micro‑areas (this week: dresses; next week: sweaters), so I don’t waste time deciding what to do.

• Create simple homes for things and label them. Labels do not have to be pretty:

  • Masking tape + Sharpie
  • Post‑it strips
  • A basic label maker or Cricut if you enjoy it
    Clear bins help kids (and adults) see what belongs where.

• Allow yourself to purge without guilt. Donate when possible (thrift stores, schools, libraries, community centers), but if it’s truly not useful, it’s okay to throw things away. The goal is getting your space back and then changing your buying habits so the clutter doesn’t return.

• Accept that your family may not care about organizing like you do. You lead by example, set up easy systems, label, and gently call people back: “Who did you think was going to put this away?” Teach kids with you at first, make it short and fun, and consider counseling if clutter and division of labor are becoming a bigger relationship issue.

• Most important: there are no “Instagram rules.” Your systems only need to work for you, not look magazine‑ready. If turning every can label forward sounds miserable, skip it and use that time on something that actually improves your life.

If you’d like, I can help you sketch a simple weekly plan and tiny first tasks tailored to your home—what rooms or clutter spots are bugging you the most right now?