The Washington Post - 01.08.2019

the washington post

.

thursday, august

1

,

2019

MD

8

BY NICOLE ANZIA

Many stressed-out parents

have come to think of home or-

ganization in terms of major clos-

et, kitchen and basement make-

overs, requiring substantial plan-

ning and time not available to

busy families (not to mention the

purchase of fancy hangers, woven

bins and drawer dividers). But

there are a lot of small things you

can do routinely — without a

huge investment of time and

money — that will help make your

house run more smoothly and

give you a sense of order and

control.

Over years of organizing cli-

ents and observing busy people,

I’ve noticed there are certain

tasks “organized people” — peo-

ple who don’t need to “get orga-

nized” because already are — do

every day. These tasks are done so

consistently that they become

second nature. Think of them

almost like a set of command-

ments that keep you on track and

lessen your mental load: the con-

stant need to make decisions and

remember details. As the new

school year approaches, consider

these nine habits to keep your

household on track.

Tidy small messes early

Make it a point to clean up

small messes immediately. It’s

much easier to take five minutes

to put away a game, straighten up

the pantry, put away your clothes

or do a quick desk cleanup than it

is to let your whole house turn

into a disorganized mess that

requires hours or days to clean.

The phrase “mess begets mess”

is absolutely true. Once your

house has become cluttered and

messy, it can feel too daunting to

clean up and the situation can

quickly spiral out of control. But

the same is also true of order and

organization. If things are orderly

and planned, messes and clutter

are less likely to pile up.

Stay on top of the dishwasher

Many families go through

enough dishes to fill the dish-

washer daily. Make it a habit to

run your dishwasher before

you go to bed and to empty it

each morning. (If it’s not full,

feel free to skip a day.) Unload-

ing the dishwasher takes less

than five minutes, and you can

do it while your coffee or tea is

brewing. That way you won’t

wake up to a sink full of dirty

dishes, and you’ll have the

clean dishes you need to pre-

pare breakfast and make

school lunches.

Open and sort the mail ASAP

This is important — and easy.

Make it your routine to open your

mail every evening. It’s so much

easier to manage if you spend a

couple of minutes sorting each

evening than it is to look through

a big stack on the weekend. Recy-

cle unwanted pieces immediately

and place bills to be paid and

papers to file in a designated spot.

Unpack boxes right away

Many of us are increasingly

using delivery services — for pet

food, for groceries, for clothing.

In some cases, boxes are being

delivered each day. If a package

contains items you know you’re

going to keep, take the moment to

unpack the box, collapse it and

take it to your recycling bin. Put

the items away immediately, too.

Pack backpacks every evening

Have your kids pack their back-

packs each evening and put them

by the door. Place shoes and

jackets for the next day nearby,

and put clean lunchboxes and

water bottles on the countertop

so they’re ready to fill in the

morning.

Make lists

Keep updated lists — either

with pen and paper or electroni-

cally. These may be a daily to-do

list, a list of food and household

items that need to be replaced,

upcoming birthdays, or long-

term goals and plans. There is no

right way to keep your lists and no

correct formula. But writing

things down will help you priori-

tize and keep track of what needs

to get done each day.

Limit your distractions

With so many distractions vy-

ing for our attention each day, it’s

a wonder any of us get anything

done. We’ve all sat down and

planned to spend five minutes

checking social media and then

looked up after an hour of scroll-

ing. Just 15 minutes of that hour

could have been spent tidying up

around the house. If you find

yourself putting off household

tasks by distracting yourself with

your phone, commit to doing one

quick organizational project be-

fore you start scrolling. Or, better

yet, use your phone to listen to a

podcast or music while you’re

getting something done.

Meal plan

A huge stress on working par-

ents is deciding what to serve for

dinner each night — and then

actually being able to prepare a

healthy meal. If there’s no plan,

families end up eating takeout,

going out to dinner or eating the

same meals over and over. Plan at

least three meals, and do the

necessary grocery shopping over

the weekend.

Make your bed

This is a demand most of us

heard from our parents, and we

never really understood its im-

portance. Five years ago, in a

commencement speech at the

University of Texas at Austin,

Adm. William H. McRaven neatly

laid out why this habit matters.

He said, “If you make your bed

every morning, you will have ac-

complished the first task of the

day. It will give you a small sense

of pride, and it will encourage you

to do another task and another

and another. By the end of the

day, that one task completed will

have turned into many tasks com-

pleted. Making your bed will also

reinforce the fact that little things

in life matter. If you can’t do the

little things right, you will never

do the big things right.”

I could not agree more.

[email protected]

Anzia is a freelance writer and owner

of Neatnik. She can be reached at

[email protected].

ORGANIZING

Keeping your household clutter-free doesn’t have to be an ordeal

ISTOCK

If you go through enough dishes to fill the dishwasher daily, make it a habit to run it every night before bed and empty it each morning.

Unloading it takes less than five minutes, and it’s the perfect task to complete while your morning coffee is brewing.

Home

Once your house has

become cluttered and

messy, it can feel too

daunting to clean up

and the situation can

quickly spiral out

of control.