By Hillary Torres
Being organized can be hard when you’re really busy with work and family during the day. We’ve all been there. You come home from work after an eight-hour shift, only to make dinner and clean. Most times, getting the day’s clothes into the hamper feels like harder work than we want to admit. It’s even harder trying to get the dishes done and pick up the kitchen after everyone’s finished.
Sure, most of the other organization blogs you read tell you to plan, write things down, 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 just another blank notebook we buy from TJ Maxx or Ross, only to put it away in one of our 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 something 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 ensure that you don’t overwhelm yourself or feel as though your mess is endless.
Some weeks, I’ll switch it up and take more time for chores, cleaning 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 What You Can When You Can
For a long cleaning day, my board would read something like this:
Saturday
- Sweep and mop all floors
- Wash dishes and countertops
- Clean bathroom
- Do two 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 completing these tasks would probably take me about four hours. Of course, you’d want to take your own apartment size into consideration when determining how long it will take you.
Know What You Have to Get Done
I find that reminders in the morning work best. You get an idea right away of what has to be done. Every morning, I get up, use the restroom, wash my hands and face, and brush my teeth. My bathroom happens to be next to my kitchen, so I placed my board on the wall next to my bathroom doorway.
This way, every time I wake up in the morning and look up, I can see my big chalkboard giving me my to-do list.
Color-coordinating isn’t really for me. I prefer simple, bland looks, but if you like to coordinate your planner, whiteboard, or chalkboard 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 save them for a weekend when I have off. Other blogs I’ve read have mentioned getting these projects done during an entire day, but I don’t think I have the patience for that. I like to have the night to wind down with my favorite book.
I once took an entire weekend off to organize our spare room, which we converted into a walk-in closet.
Find Time, Share, and Minimize
More often than not, we don’t find the time to put everything away or clean up large amounts of mess. One of the most vital habits you can create is putting things back in their place, even if you can’t do it right away. By having a place for everything, you don’t leave much room for excuses.
If you have a family or a partner, incorporate them into your household chores so the workload is lighter and things get done faster. You can even make it fun. Don’t be a couch potato!
If you get things done right away and create a solid habit, you’ll be able to keep your home clean and organized in no time. The key is to be consistent.
Minimizing is also a great practice you can start incorporating into your life. Minimizing my belongings eliminated much of my mess. We accumulate so many items that we love over the years, and we often refuse to let them go. Minimizing and distancing yourself from material possessions can have a great influence on getting organized.
