By Hillary Torres
Being organized can hard if you’re really busy with work and family ties during the day. We’ve all been there. Coming home from work after an eight hour shift to make dinner and clean. Most times than none, getting the days clothes into the hamper is harder work than we want to admit. It’s even harder trying to get the dishes done and pick up the kitchen after everyones finished.
Sure, most of the other organization blogs you read tell you to plan and write and color coordinate, but how and where do you start?
Create Your Visual
If a planner works well for you then great but sometimes a planner is another blank notebook we buy from TJMaxx or Ross to put away in one of your desk drawers. I know that when it comes to getting my household chores done, I like something big and visible to remind me in the mornings.
So I bought a blank chalkboard from Home Depot and took a big, old, golden brown picture frame I had at home to use as the border. This gave it a little bit of style but honestly even without a frame it looked just as nice.
Start Small and Simple
On this board I wrote myself a list of chores that needed to be done for the next day. The chalkboard would read like this:
Saturday
Sweep and mop floors
Wash dishes and clean counters
Focusing on a little bit each day allows you to utilize the rest of your day for other things. It also helps in ensuring that you do not overwhelm yourself or make you feel as though your mess is endless. Some weeks I will switch it up and take longer time for chores and clean every other day rather than every day. This gives me a nice little break in between. Being a pet mom, I know how stressful it can be having hair and chew toys everywhere.
Tackle on What You Can When You Can
For a long cleaning day, my board would read like this:
Saturday
Sweep & Mop all floors
Wash dishes & counter tops
Clean bathroom
Do 2 loads of laundry
Windex Windows
I would probably spend all Saturday morning completing these tasks to alleviate the load of chores I’m supposed to do on Sunday. My apartment isn’t very big at all, so to complete these tasks, it would probably take me about 4 hours. Of course, you’d take into consideration your own apartment size to determine how long it will take you.
Know What You Have to Get Done
I find that reminder’s in the morning are best. You get an idea right away on what has to be done. Every morning I get up and use the restroom, wash my hands, face, and brush my teeth. My bathroom happens to be next to my kitchen and so I placed my board on the wall next to my bathroom doorway. This way, every time I wake in the morning and look up, I can see my big chalkboard giving me my to do list.
Color coordinating isn’t so much for me. I prefer simple, bland looks but if you like to coordinate your planner, white board, or chalk board with colors, do it up. The color might work better for you by creating a pop for your eyes. Who knows!
When it comes to big projects like tackling a room full of stuff, I like to keep them for a weekend I have off. Other blogs I’ve read mentioned getting this done during an entires day worth but I don’t think I have the patience for that. I like to have the night to wine down with my favorite book.
I took an entire weekend off to organize our spare room which we converted into a walk in closet.
Find Time, Share, and Minimize
Often times than none, we don’t find the time to put everything away or to pick up large amounts of messes. The most vital habit one can create is that of putting things back in their place, even if not right away. By having a place for things at all times, you don’t leave any room for excuses.
If you have a family or a partner, incorporate it into family chores so the chore weight is lighter and things get done faster. You can make it fun. Don’t be a couch potato! If you get them done right away and create a solid habit, you will be keeping clean and organized in no time. The key is to be consistent.
Minimizing is also a great practice you can start taking part in. Minimizing for myself eliminated much of my messes. We accumulate so many items we love over the years that we often times refuse to let go. Minimizing and distancing yourself from materials can have a great influence on getting organized.