Our homes are a place of rest and sanctuary, but they also need to function. Families can fill a home with the frenetic energy of cooking, school projects, and a hub of comings and goings. Amid this chaos, it is all too easy to lose your phone, your keys, or even your mind. To help streamline efficiency and create order, simple tricks and habits can establish calm. First, let's talk about motivation, it can be hard, and often we may find ourselves discouraged. Try turning on some music to lighten the mood. Or you can promise yourself a treat at the end of a task like a long bath in the bathroom you just turned into a spa-like atmosphere. Let's not forget the other members of the household who might need some encouragement too. Create a family 'Command Center' using a chalkboard or whiteboard in a visible space to communicate everyone's schedules, to-do lists, and more. This way everyone can be on the same page and input what they think is important to highlight too. In addition, here are some small ways to manage and organize your stuff, the family, and your home.
1. Creative Containers
Using baskets, hooks, mason jars, or a lazy susan to better organize items in your closets or drawers gives them greater visibility and a consistent landing place. You can use labels so that everyone in the house gets the idea and gets in the habit. This way things are not just thrown or stuffed into places and forgotten. This strategy will also help to let you know when you are getting low on supplies and need replacing, like tissues and toilet paper.
2. Surfaces
Make sure that table by the front door doesn't become a dumping ground for mail, keys or bags. Put things away as soon as you can and avoid a cluttered surface that will become harder to sift through over time. The less cluttered your surfaces the easier it will be to enjoy the beauty of that dining room table or the clean lines of the kitchen countertop.
3. Papers
We can feel a bit bogged down by the amount of paper in our lives. Whether it is bills, junk mail, or the number of kid's artwork that could practically wallpaper a room! Time to go through each one and decide whether to recycle, toss, file, or shred that item and reduce the paper in your life. Where possible, opt for paperless billing to also shrink the number of forms you have to manage.
4. Create Zones
Assigning zones for a specific purpose can set it up for a specific kind of organization. If a homework station is what you need then you can supply a desk with pencils, a stapler, and erasers. It can be as big as the room or as small as a chopping board placed on the countertop in the kitchen with nearby cutting knives and mixing bowls in a nearby cupboard for a reliable prep meal station. By organizing according to function you won't have to pace or go searching for what you need.