3 Simple Lifestyle Changes for a More Organized Home
Organizing an entire home can feel like a daunting task. Who has the time?! But home organization isn't a one time endeavor, it's a lifestyle! And organizing one space in your home often creates a domino effect, necessitating the organization of other spaces. We like to view home organization as more of a journey than a destination. Yes, the upfront work is often much more labor intensive than maintenance, but without periodic assessment and attention to your systems, they won't last or evolve to serve the seasons of your life. Here we will discuss some lifestyle changes you can adopt to keep your home feeling functional and fresh.
Tip #1: Transform Your Thinking
In busy seasons of life (we're looking at you, parents of young children), setting small goals is key. When a problem really bothers us, we tend to jump straight to large solutions. The problem is, implementing large complicated solutions isn’t usually sustainable. Rather than enacting a 7 step routine that your family will need to complete upon entering and exiting the home, pick one small trouble spot and find a simple solution to help keep your sanity. The pile of shoes by the front door? Eliminate the ones with holes or that no longer fit, contain them in a basket or bin, and celebrate the small win!
Another tip to avoid failed systems… lean into your family’s tendencies! Don’t try to fully change a habit, instead try to make a small modification. If your husband drops his keys, hat, and pocket change on the end table every time he comes home, placing a bowl or tray works with his natural inclination while giving the items a home. Small but hard working areas of your home can yield big results in a short amount of time. And we find that the momentum of a freshly tidied space will carry you on to the next one!
Tip #2: Arrange for it in Advance
The best way to stay organized at home is to create systems that support your lifestyle! The things that you use and need regularly should be given prime real estate and ideally, a beautiful label. Having systems for dealing with items that come into and go out of your home will keep your life running smoothly and decrease the chance of an important task getting overlooked. What do you do with the pile of papers that came home from school? Where do you keep the Amazon returns that need to be dropped off? How does mail get sorted, dealt with, and either filed, digitized, or shredded? Thinking through these common everyday tasks will help you create systems that support your day-to-day life and prevent organizational chaos. The #1 way to create beautiful and intuitive systems in your home? Hire a professional organizer and use their expertise and experience to craft easy to maintain orderly spaces!
Tip #3: Practice Makes Perfect
Once you have your organizational systems in place, try habit stacking to make the new routine stick! Habit stacking involves adding a new habit to a routine that you already have. If you open your mail on the way in from work each day, add on the habit of sorting it into bills/items that need attention, items to shred, coupons, etc. Place each category in a designated place that won't get lost or overlooked- bonus points if it's a labeled mail organizer! (Check out James Clear's "Atomic Habits" for more on habit stacking!)
One of the best ways that we have found to keep your home organized for the long haul, is to decrease the number of items you own. Regularly evaluating your possessions and donating or selling those that you no longer need is a habit that will keep your home from feeling like a storage unit. When you begin to declutter regularly, your shopping habits will naturally change as you imagine your future self reckoning with an impulse purchase that is now just taking up space. Decrease your consumption, save your money, and change your life!
If you're ready to hand off your initial organizing to an expert (before you take over the maintenance), we've got your back! Give us a call- we'd love to chat!
