5 Good Habits to Start to Keep Yourself Sane and Organized
If you're like many of us, your Facebook feed is probably inundated with pictures of kids heading back to school this week. Gone are those carefree days of summer vacation, leisurely schedules, and sleeping in. Before you know it, you'll be wrangling a house full of holiday parties and trying to keep your clutter under control.
But you can prepare for the inevitable madness. Pick up these five good habits now so you'll stay sane and organized later:
1. Make a list. Keep a calendar.
If you're not a list-maker, you should be. Lists keep you focused, accountable, and — once you've checked them off one by one — feeling accomplished. They're a reminder for the little things you often forget, like pantry items you may be running low on, or batteries that need to be replaced.
And even if you don't have a lot of appointments to keep track of on a calendar, it's a good way to see whether you're stretching yourself too thin on some days. You can jot down errands that need to be done or block out entire days for personal time or date nights. (Yes, it might seem strange to have to schedule in your own personal time or date night, but a calendar will make sure you have no excuses not to have one!)
Together, a list and a calendar helps you get those thoughts out of your head and in front of your eyes.
2. Keep things in the same room where you use them. Put them away as soon as you're done with them.
Maybe this goes without saying, but keeping things in the same room where they're used makes it more likely they'll return to their proper place. That means storing chargers and cables in each room you normally charge your devices (like a home office or bedroom) so they're not always lingering around the house (and constantly getting lost). Or keeping separate cleaning supplies in the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room so you don't have to shuffle them from one place to another.
Make it a habit to put things away as soon as you're done using them — if you only have to walk across the room to do so, instead of across the whole house, you're more likely to pick up after yourself.
3. Focus on one room at a time.
The chore of cleaning a whole house at once is stressful and scary, especially if you're on your own or haven't picked up a duster in a while. Rather than feeling defeated, concentrate your energy on just one room at a time, either the room you spend the most time in or the room you most frequently entertain guests, such as the kitchen or backyard.
Once you've cleaned and organized that space, don't move on to the next room right away; try to keep that space in ship-shape for a while until it becomes second nature. When you're finally feeling caught up and motivated, move on to the next room that needs attention.
4. Avoid being a "weekend warrior."
Blame it on reality TV: Too often we see people undergoing some kind of cleaning/organizing/decorating transformation in one weekend, and we wonder if performing under this kind of pressure is the way to go. In most cases, it's not.
Tackling trouble areas in that little time can be exhausting and disappointing, especially if you weren't able to finish and feel like you've sacrificed an entire weekend for it, only to start over again. Rather than powering through your chores, break them down into more manageable chunks and devote just 15 minutes a day to doing them. Staying focused on smaller tasks makes you more efficient as well — no half-baked cleaning jobs because you were feeling rushed or tired.
5. For each item that comes in, take another one out.
This works well for items that can quickly build up in a short amount of time, like clothes, toys, newspapers, or books. Before you bring home another pair of shoes that you absolutely had to have while it was on sale, or succumb to the kids begging for another set of Legos, ask yourself what it can replace. Maybe you'll finally have reason to donate those shoes that constantly hurt your feet, or that old board game the kids have already outgrown.
Applying the "1 in, 1 out" policy to your household items helps keep the clutter down and forces you to reexamine your possessions, choosing only items that are meaningful or useful.
