It's a reality of military life: We have limited time at any given duty station, whether that's a short 10 months for a course or an extended four-year stint at a base. No matter how long you're there, the time can go quickly. Sometimes, it feels like you just watched the movers drive away with a truck full of empty boxes, and before you know it, you're picking up sandwiches and sodas for your next moving crew to pack you back up.

As a professional organizer, I help my clients get organized in more aspects of their lives than just closets and pantries. Time is truly the most precious of commodities, so it's one of my favorite things to help my clients tame. While the duty station time crunch can be one of the frustrating parts of military life, it can also be one of the biggest blessings. Having a limited amount of time at each location can light a fire under you to get out and experience your new home city, state or country.

One of my first pieces of advice to new military spouses is this: Get your bucket list organized. It may not seem like the most obvious guidance, as most people expect me to point them toward PCS binders and color-coded moving labels. (And to be fair, that's usually the next thing I talk to them about!) I find that families without a clear and concrete bucket list are far more likely to do the stressful last-minute pre-PCS scramble to try to see the sights, go to the restaurants and take the day trips they meant to when they first arrived.

Here are my top tips to get your bucket list out of your head and into an organized, tangible and visual checklist:

After all that planning and dreaming, it's time to make your bucket list happen! We are currently stationed in Vicenza, Italy -- a dream of a duty station. We have only two years here, so we feel pretty rushed to see as much of Europe as we can in this short time. The only way to make this happen with busy work, school and social schedules is to plan, plan and plan some more.

Here's how I organize my busy little family's European travels:

-- Lauren Weldon May is an Army spouse, certified professional organizer and owner of Manifesto Home + Office.

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