With busy lives and kids and work and pets (and pandemics!) life can sometimes feel overwhelming. It can seem like before we even get to the end of one hectic wave of activity to take a breath, another wave is already on its way.
As Professional Organisers we love stepping in to help busy people calm the chaos by assisting with decluttering and creating efficient functional systems, but sometimes for whatever reason that’s just not immediately possible.
Luckily we are able to help with virtual sessions when we can’t be there in person, and there are also some helpful habits you can adopt yourself to transition to a clean, calm, organised home.
It can take a little effort but it’s so worth it! And your rewards will be less mess, less stress, less time wasted looking for things, less space required for storage, less time spent cleaning, tidying, and looking for things… more mental and physical energy, more calm, more peace of mind, and a beautiful inspiring space you love living in.
How, you ask? Read on!
ENSURE EVERY ITEM HAS A PURPOSE
- The easiest way to have clean and tidy space is to have less stuff.
- Declutter & purge any that doesn’t add value to your life.
- Start by asking the question “would I buy this again?”
- Yes → Keep
- No → Sell | Donate | Recycle | Discard
ENSURE EVERY ITEM HAS A PLACE
- If you’ve decided an item has enough value to keep in your life, decide on a place to keep it.
- When every item has a designated home you won’t need to waste time searching for them.
- Tidying up is also much faster when you are simply returning items to their homes.
- When deciding on a home for each item, think about where you use it, and where you would first look for it if it was lost.
CONTAIN IT
- Once you’ve decided where you will keep things, think about how you use them.
- Using containment like bins, baskets, and drawer dividers are a great way to keep items with their “friends”.
- Lift-out containment like baskets also makes use of hard to reach places and lets you easily bring them whenever, and to wherever, you want to use them.
- Think “quick and easy access”, and keep containment as simple as possible to avoid adding unnecessary barriers to easy use and efficient tidying.
BREAK IT DOWN
- Break up your cleaning and tidying into smaller regular tasks.
- A 10 - 20 minute routine each day for a different area keeps everything clean and tidy without chaos building up.
- Clean each area as planned whether it seems like it needs it or not. This maintains a good routine and stays on top of everything to stop it ever feeling overwhelming.
- A 10 minute tidy at the end of the day and before leaving the house means starting the next day or coming home to a fresh calm space.
SHARE THE LOAD
- Getting everyone to participate builds organised habits that are useful in other areas of life, and also ensures the workload is shared.
USE DAILY ROUTINES FOR HIGH USE AREAS LIKE KITCHENS
- The calmest start to the day actually starts the night before.
- A quick evening routine of doing the dishes, clearing the benches, and spot cleaning the floor before bed ensures you wake up to a clean kitchen.
LEAVE NO TRACE
- Clean up as you go.
- Return items you use to their homes once you’ve finished using them.
- Put dishes and utensils in the dishwasher or quickly hand wash and put them away.
- Hang bags, coats, and hats as you come through the door.
- Rather than making a pile that you need to come back to, put items away rather than putting them down.
- Similarly, completing each job fully means there’s nothing that needs to be attended to later.
- Eg. After washing the floors put the mop and bucket away, after emptying the bin put a new liner in, and after folding the laundry put it away. Even a pile of neatly folded laundry in the wrong place can feel like clutter!
SIMPLIFY MOVING FORWARD
- One way to make a space feel more calm, cohesive, and organised is to reduce the amount of visible colours and shapes.
- Wherever possible using matching storage containers. They will be more visually peaceful and fit together more efficiently.
- Using linen and towels in the same or similar colours and sizes makes makes folding and storage easier and neater, increases visual calm, and is more efficient as it often means less separating loads of washing.
And last, but not least!
MINDSET
Remember, it's a journey and done is better than perfect.
Humans often tend towards chaos, mess will probably happen and schedules may get missed.
But having a routine makes it easier to get back on track, and if you adopt the saying “I never miss more than one day” you’ll be back to clean and calm in no time!
As always, Happy Sorting,
Angela and The Sort My House Team xx