Life can feel chaotic at times, and it can be difficult to get everything done. With work, social gatherings, and getting your kids to school and extracurriculars, it can be difficult to find the time to get your house organized or to even keep it clean.
Coming home to a house that’s messy isn’t ideal. For some people, knowing they don’t have time to clean it can bring on feelings of sadness, failure, or anxiety.
Here are a few tips on how to organize and clean your house in the spare minutes you have in a day:
Start in one room. Attempts to organize fail when the task seems too daunting. If you have several areas in your home you want to get under control, start with just one. The Container Store suggests that you start with the room that will make you feel the best. Is it the area that gives you the biggest headache? Is it the room that is the dirtiest or that your guests will easily see? Select one area and stick to it until it’s done. When you complete one room, celebrate and then move on to the next.
Allot time every day. Every day, take at least ten minutes to clean and organize. Some days, you’ll have more than ten minutes, and others, you might have to break it up into two five-minute time frames. What’s important is that you spend the time that you have.
Get your family involved. When you take your ten minutes to organize, have your roommate or partner do the same. If you have children, Susan Ramsay suggests making clean-up time into a game; before the kids get ready for bed, have a ten minute race to see who can pick up the most stuff.
Make a chart. For every day of the week, assign a chore. For example, on Mondays, you sweep. On Tuesdays, you vacuum, and so on.
Block clutter. If you have a table that you only use as a catch-all, make it so that you can no longer just throw your stuff on it. Buy organization bins so that each piece of mail or bill goes into a certain spot. Also, put a waste basket underneath the table so that you can throw away stuff you don’t need. Another suggestion from Good Housekeeping is that you place a photo frame, a plant, or something pretty in the center of the table; that way, there’s no room for pile up.
Remember, just because your house isn’t as clean as you’d like it to be doesn’t mean that you’re lazy or that you don’t care about how your house looks. We’re only given 24 hours in a day. Your house is taking a backseat to the more important things in your life: your family, your friends, and your work.
Sometimes it seems that no matter how hard you try, catching up seems impossible. If you feel overwhelmed by sadness or anxiety about how busy your days are, you might benefit from seeing a therapist. They can help you organize your day, learn how to say no to the things you don’t have time for, and help you develop strategies to feel better.
If you’d like to set up a time to meet up with Reka, you can contact her by phone at 402-881-8125, by email at reka@omaha-counseling.com, or via Twitter or Facebook.
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photo credit: Patterns Of Mylapore via photopin (license)
