Maintaining Your Sanity

We all know the dread of staring down a mountain of clutter or a mile-long chore list. The task of organizing our homes and lives can seem insurmountable. I want to share my best tips and ideas to help you get back on track and stay there.

How does a tidy home help you organize your life?

When your home is disorganized it causes excessive stress. If you're like me the clutter around your home becomes clutter in your mind. Your daily functions become disorganized. To-do lists pile up and you don’t know where to start. You spend unnecessary time searching for misplaced items and kill entire days trying to catch up on cleaning.

Spending a bit of time each day maintaining your home eases your mind and allows you to skip most of those big cleaning days. Having an organizational system in place that works for your lifestyle can save hours of your free time each week. This opens up more time for family activities, self-care, or other projects that have been put off.

Set a schedule and stick to it as a gift to yourself, not as a work obligation. I recommend assessing all of your weekly cleaning needs and deciding on a day and time you will do them each week. Cleaning tasks like the bathroom or kitchen can become long projects if left for weeks at a time, but with weekly scheduled cleaning, it can be done much more expediently. When you experience that “I don't want to” moment, remind yourself of the feeling of accomplishment and contentment you have when life is in order.

If organizing your home feels like a buzzkill try looking at it as interior design instead. You're not just cleaning, you’re nesting and redecorating!

Paper Clutter

Let’s start with something small that makes a huge impact! If you find yourself constantly looking for your wallet to grab cards or looking for a place to keep all of your important sticky notes then you need a wallet phone case! It’s a huge help in organizing everything you need so it’s always at your fingertips. As a bonus, many work as a stand for video calls or watching things hands-free. If you choose to upgrade to a new phone case be sure to choose one that has an adequate amount of pockets and features to suit your needs. I recommend also selecting a design or color that will bring joy to your space everywhere you normally take your phone. If color coordination in your work supplies is something that makes your space more enjoyable then be sure to match your new case to that aesthetic. These tips will help you maximize the enjoyment you get out of your new organization tool.

Make a habit of opening your mail near a recycling bin. This will encourage you to put any flyers or unnecessary papers directly into the recycle without allowing them to clutter up your counters. This will also save you from having to sort through a huge stack of mail later.

Paper clutter can become unmanageable in a hurry, especially if you work from a home office. My first recommendation is to go paperless in as many areas as possible. Many things can be easily digitized these days such as receipts, bills, or any document you don’t have to keep the original of. Scan as many of your important files as you can and save them digitally. This does not mean you need to save EVERY file. Think carefully about each item you scan and decide if it is actually essential to your life to keep this document. When your files have been digitized you can shred and recycle them leaving your filing cabinet organized and easy to use.

If you have a habit of keeping every card you're given or doodle from your children you can digitize those as well! Cherish your memories forever without the need to store all that bulky paper in your home. This can also be done with old letters, postcards, or other sentimental items. The bonus of keeping these items in a digital format is that they will be safe from any type of water or fire damage. They will also be more easily accessible when you want to stroll down memory lane.

General Organization

Having your house organized and tidy allows you to access the things you love easily and creates a feeling of home. Organize items into the locations you find yourself most often looking for them. This step may take some time if your current organization system is a bit counterintuitive. I promise the end result will be worth it!

Boxes are your friend. Organizing your items into various sized boxes is most efficient for maintaining organization. Use them in drawers to keep items sorted and neat. Having a place for everything saves you time when it comes to putting items away and also makes it more enjoyable to complete daily tasks such as cooking or tidying a child’s toys.

Add beauty to your spaces by storing your favourite items in a way that you can see them each day. Clear storage boxes are a great way to display items while keeping them tidy. They are also great for storing items that are harder to clean. When it comes to cleaning time you only need to dust off the box and the treasures inside stay tidy and safe. This can be especially helpful if, like me, many of the items that you enjoy having around your space happen to be made of LEGO.

If you feel like there is a never-ending trail of clutter in your home it may be time to downsize some areas. If you haven’t used an item in the last year consider if it might be time to let it go. Think about each item critically as you organize. Remove any items that don’t have a place in your new and improved life.

Children’s Items

When tidying your children’s area it is best to store their high-use items in visible and easily accessible places. Organizing them by color or type of toy makes it easy to find the items they are looking for and helps children remember where their toys go when it comes time to clean up. Clear plastic tubs will be your friend here as well! Getting your children involved in the organization process is a great way to encourage them to do their part to keep it up.

If you plan to downsize your children’s belongings I suggest you make it a family activity. It can be a great opportunity to teach them about how donating their old items can help another child. Allowing them to help choose which items they truly value will ensure you end up with only the items your child will use.

Clothing

Think critically about each item in your wardrobe. Take the time to look at each item and consider when the last time you wore it was. How does it make you feel? Does this item need to move forward with you into your new life of organized bliss or is it ready to be donated so it can begin a new life? If you struggle to let go of items because they once cost you money, try putting those items up for sale online or hosting a garage sale. Set yourself a time limit on how long you will expend your efforts to sell these items. I suggest no more than one month to sit on items you have chosen to let go of. If they haven’t sold by your deadline then it is time to accept that the items are ready to be donated. Holding onto items you have decided to let go of gives you too much time to become nostalgic and potentially choose to keep unnecessary clutter. Once you have decided that an item no longer serves you it is best to get it out of your home and out of your mind. Mental clutter can be more draining than a physical mess.

Once you remove any clothing that you won’t be keeping you can organize your remaining wardrobe. Think about the things you need to get ready each day and store them in a way that flows easily. An example would be arranging your drawers in the order you prefer to select your clothing. If you select your socks last put them at the bottom. This organization is especially helpful for children who are learning to dress themselves. They will learn the steps of selecting an item from each drawer in order to put together an outfit. Storing your clothing sideways in the drawer will allow you to see every item at a glance. Organizing this way makes your daily routine smooth and efficient.

Hanging clothes are best organized by type of clothing, but there are a few other great options. If you always wear certain clothing in combination you can hang them as outfits to save you time. Organizing by color is also a visually pleasing way to organize your closet.

Kitchen

Keep low-use items on high shelves. This will allow you to utilize the lower space for daily use items. If you find you're constantly searching for somewhere to put dishes you may need to consider downsizing them. Cutting down your total number of dishes will encourage you to keep up with washing and reduce cupboard crowding.

Storing spices and baking supplies in boxes keeps your cupboard orderly and allows you to quickly retrieve and re-store them when cooking. If you have a large spice collection that needs taming I suggest organizing the boxes from most used spices to least used.

Keepsakes... Or Are They?

Are your shelves and surfaces stuffed with Knick knacks and keepsakes that are constantly becoming disorganized? You may need to consider packing away some of your less important keepsakes or downsizing your collection. When organizing keepsakes try to think about how each item makes you feel and the memories associated with it. I find that some items I once thought essential to keep no longer hold any emotional connection for me after a time. If an item doesn’t evoke any special emotion it may not be a keepsake after all.

When organizing or downsizing photos look at each one and consider if this is something worthy of space in your life. Would you pass down this photo to your child someday? Could you possibly digitize this photo instead of keeping the hard copy? Once you have decided if any photos should be weeded out you can organize them into photo albums or boxes.

As I said in my article “planet earth needs you” you should always try to repurpose, recycle, or donate the items you clear out during spring cleaning or any home tidying project. Instead of adding to your local landfill give your items a new beginning!

Check out my vocal profile HERE to read my follow-up article bursting with my best deep cleaning tips as a professional housekeeper.

If you have any questions or comments you can connect with me at www.thecreativechimera.com