What do you
want
from your space?
tidying up
approaches for your consideration
Start Small
If you’re worried about being overwhelmed, start with a small area or a project that you find easy and fun. For example, if you love cooking, start by making your most-used items & ingredients accessible and easy to clean. Small, impactful improvements to your space are great to get the ball rolling! Appreciate what you love as you go and you’ll see progress in no time.
Don’t Hide It
As you find things you may not need or want, don’t hide them away! Separating with our stuff can be hard, but putting things in the back of the closet or in storage to worry about later will not benefit you in the long run. If you’re not ready to part with something, that’s okay. But save your precious space for what you really love and use, so you can enjoy life fully!
Landing Zones
Where do your things land? Create a home for them there. Here are some examples - adjust as needed.
Near the door: keys, headphones, wallet, sunglasses, mail
Bedside table: prescriptions, overnight chargers, hair ties
Foyer or closet: jackets, umbrellas, scarves
If you’re unsure of where something should go and it doesn’t have an obvious landing zone, keep It where you would look for it first!
Inspire & Calm
Do you want to live in a storage space, or a home that you love and appreciate? Clutter robs us of peace and sanity. Keep ongoing projects & to-dos in one place so you know what needs doing; everything else should contribute to your life, not take away your energy! Create a living space that inspires and calms you.
Think Outside the Box
Organizing products may be marketed as “kitchen” or “office” containers, but you can use them anywhere you like! A bamboo drawer organizer can store products on your bathroom shelf; a wire ‘pantry’ rack can store your towels; a desk organizer could work for utensils. Be creative and enjoy the process!
Memories Last
Thanks to Marie Kondo, we’ve learned to leave nostalgia for last. It’s too easy to get caught up in the memories and best to hone your ability to identify what matters first before tackling any items with deep personal meaning. Put those things aside to handle later. Once you’ve decluttered more of your space, you will have a greater sense of what you really cherish and what you’re ready to let go of.
Be Kind
90% of my clients apologize for the state of their homes. Folks are embarrassed and beating themselves up for not keeping up with a fantasy! Do what works for you, be nice to yourself, and donate or give away what you don’t love or need to others. Everyone can benefit in the end, and it starts here.
item suggestions
a few product ideas to get you started
COMING SOON!
COMING SOON!
COMING SOON!
tips for those with ADHD & everyone else
quick ways to help keep things in order
Time Management & Productivity
Time management is tough and it can be easy to get overwhelmed. Try these tips & keep doing whatever works for you!
Set a timer to do basic tasks - 2, 5, 10 minutes… it all counts. Dishes are easier to do if you know you won’t be stuck there all day, and the timer can help add urgency. Maybe you’ll even feel like finishing once you get started! Or…
Just do ONE - If you don’t know where to start or you’re getting anxious about the length of your to do list, just pick one little thing and get to it. Don’t beat yourself up! Find the easiest tasks to complete first, so you can gain momentum and confidence. Work up to the big stuff and break down large projects into tiny ones if need be. Remember that any progress is better than nothing - even if it’s just one dish.
Doubling - Ask a friend or hire someone (like me!) to work with you to get things done. A double helps keep you productive and provides a sounding board when you’re unsure about how to proceed. You can even clean together over the phone or video chat!
Pomodoro technique - Try a focus timer like the Focus Keeper app to ensure you’re taking breaks (for water, snacks, stretching) so you don’t get burnt out while working away. The timer can also act as a check-in moment to assess if you have veered off course Or, when you’re having a down-time day, you can opt to use it as a push to do a few simple chores here and there between movies or crossword puzzles!
Scheduling and to-dos - Use the systems that work for you - sticky notes, notebook to-do lists, Google Calendar … try things out until it feels right, but simplify as much as you can and stick to the same process to ensure you know where to find the information you need. I highly recommend todoist.com (online & app available), where you can keep multiple to-do lists and even schedule tasks to repeat on a regular basis. I love it.
Please let me know if you have any luck with these or any additional tips! Always happy to learn new things.
Play Fair Play with your Chores
From Eve Rodsky via SJ Crawford:
The Fair Play book delivers a time and anxiety saving system that offers couples [and kids!] a completely new way to divvy up their domestic responsibilities […] a gamified system with four easy-to-follow rules, 100 household tasks, and a figurative card game you play with your partner.
You can explore for free on coda.io or purchase a physical deck for ~$20 from Bookshop.org (which supports independent bookstores), ThriftBooks.com, or BooksRun.com.
Get Help!
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Identify which tasks are most difficult or painful for you and which are easier, relatively painless, or even enjoyable!
Whether you live alone or with others, consider if you can farm out anything (e.g. laundry or cleaning service, organizing, scheduling). 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think convinced me that the small extra cost of dropping off my laundry was SO worth the time saved while I was working on doing what I was actually good at (no, it’s not laundry, though I love organizing it!). TaskRabbit can be a great resource for finding folks in your area who can help with whatever you need. Or you can always contact me!
If you share space, whether with a roommate, partner, or older kids, talk about dividing responsibilities based on preference, skill, and ability (see Fair Play info above). Personally I LOVE scheduling, planning, budgeting, and organizing, but have a very hard time doing the dishes! Worst case, you have a fairer system for handling the tough stuff. Best case, you’ll end up doing more you enjoy and less you loathe!