I Spent the Long Weekend Getting Organized

I took some time over the long weekend of New Years and went through my house and got myself organized. I went through 90% of the drawers, closets, and cabinets. I still have a couple of closets and the garage but I put a big dent in the project.

It’s not that I’m a slob or my house is always a mess. Its the projects that I look at and never have quite enough time for organizing the freezer, getting rid of the bags of clothes that need to go to Goodwill, going through the pantry, and the list goes on. Organization has never come naturally to me so I’ve always had to put in some extra effort and when I had Lyme it was a good day when there were no dishes in the sink and the laundry was put away.

The hard part is the next step maintaining the organization and neatness that my house currently has, but I am ready for the challenge.

A Little Bit at a Time

I have always been a big fan with projects that if you do a little bit a time or a little bit each day you will get through the project. For getting myself organized that approach did not work very well. Every Sunday I would tell myself okay if we can do one closet a night or one drawer everyday we’ll get through it and by Tuesday the master plan was on hold until the following Monday and by the time everything was organized it was time to start all over again. With the long weekend, some extra vacation time, and most plans being canceled because of Covid it was time to knock out the project.

I did not do it all at once, I would do a drawer during a commercial of my favorite show, a closet before I went on date night, or the fridge when I got home from the gym. Breaking up the project over the weekend and mixing in things I enjoy helped make the project not as daunting and kept me motivated.

A Fresh Start

Now that almost everything has been tidied up and organized I feel like I have a fresh slate to work with and will make it easier for my ultimate goal the maintenance of staying organized. It has been a great feeling, stress relieving, cut the todo list in half while bringing down my anxiety.

With a fresh start like this and having everything done at once I am hoping it will fuel me to stay motivated by keeping the project going and maintaining my new level of organization.

The Hard Part: Maintenance

This is where my struggle comes in for being organized and neat. My down fall is not taking the extra two minutes to just put the box away or fold the sweater and put it back in the drawer. My thought process has been well when I do my things around the house I’ll do it all at once, when it could take two minutes in the present moment.

I know this is going to be a new routine that I am going to have to incorporate into my life by I am ready for the challenge. I have been making small strides towards it and ready to go.

My Plan Moving Forward

I have a plan in place to work on being more organized and maintaining it. Will it work? I’m not sure yet it may take some tweaking but I’m ready to give it a whirl.

Some ideas I have are to take 10 minutes when I get home from work everyday and tidy up anything out of place, when I use something make sure I put it back where I found it, and take sometime every week when doing chores to do a once over of the house to make sure I am not missing anything. If I start to make habits of each of these then the organization will start to come naturally (I hope).

Now your probably thinking these are simply things that we teach toddlers, and I understand that, but if your someone like me where organization doesn’t come naturally then these are big changes. I’m ready to take on the challenge and of course I will be updating you along the way! Wish me luck!