Tips On Keeping Things Tidy
Staying one step ahead of household chaos.
I don’t want y’all to think I’m a total slob.
But I am human, which means things occasionally get a little out of control.
Dishes and laundry pile up. The floors need attention. Books, papers, toys, and other signs of life litter the place to the point that it’s hard to tell where the mess ends, and the furniture begins.
And when it gets this messy, I get stressed. My wife gets stressed. My child? Well, he’s always happy, but the dog gets a haunted look in his eyes.
Fortunately, stress doesn’t have to be something we live with.
Over the past few years, we’ve gotten out act together and worked out some strategies to stay ahead of the chaos and live in relative order. And, by extension, relative peace.
Here are some tips on how you can do this, too. None take up a lot of time.
The best part? You don’t have to buy any fancy organizing supplies. Another time I’ll write up some hacks that may include some items I’ve found helpful, but for now… all you need is you.
Set Priorities
Determine what a “clean house” means to you. What is neat and orderly enough to satisfy you? Is it having less clutter? Is it having a dust-free home? Is it fewer wild animals walking in and eating out of your sink?
Most people prioritize having a presentable living room, kitchen, and bathroom for guests to see rather than a neat bedroom or home office. Personally, I like to have at least a somewhat-neat office area for my own peace of mind.
If this is too much to decide right now, start small. Maybe focus on your kitchen or entryway.
When you’ve decided your base level for tidiness, you can aim for that and consider how you may want to expand on that later.
Get Everyone On Board
Taking more control over the state of your home may involve building new habits. This often works best when everyone in the house is on the same page.
Everyone who lives in your home should take on some responsibility to make it a pleasant place to live. I have my chores. My wife has hers. Even the five-year-old pitches in by putting away his toys.
It makes a difference.
Talk regularly about how everyone can help. If you live alone, have a talk with yourself. It may sound a little silly, but it does help.
Start the Day Right
For us, it means making the bed every morning.
Without fail.
After getting up, it only takes a minute or two to put the bed back in order. Because I tend to get up first, my wife tends to take care of this chore, but on the weekends, when we change the sheets, it’s often me taking a turn.
While having a neat bedroom isn’t high on our household priority list, we find that the ritual helps put us in the mindset of establishing some order early in the day.
Each morning, I solidify this idea by going through the bedrooms to collect towels and laundry for the hamper.
Do You Know Where Your Cleaning Supplies Are?
Knowing exactly where things like household cleaner, sponges, pads for the Swiffer, and so forth make it easier to conduct spot-cleaning.
If milk spills, I know exactly where to put my hands on the mop or sponge. It takes only a few seconds to wipe something down right away. There are anti-bacterial wipes by the bathroom sink and shower spray near the shower. The toilet brush is near the toilet.
When it’s time to do a spot-clean, there is no excuse because what I need is right at hand.
Picking Up As You Go
Establish a rule. If you’re on the way to the kitchen, see if something needs to go there — be it something for the sink or something for the trash.
This cuts down on the accumulation of cups, junk mail, or other trash scattered about the place. Try not to go into the kitchen empty-handed.
Similarly, if you’re walking down the hall and see a sock on the floor, pick it up and toss it in the hamper. It takes a second.
Try to make this a habit. The accumulated effect of cutting down on random clutter will surprise you.
Put Things Away When You’re Done With Them
This is similar to the previous tip, but it is less about trash or dirty dishes and more about putting away that book you finished or returning those scissors to the utility drawer.
We have books all over the place. If we’re not careful, books end up littered all over the house. It was a problem until we got into the habit of putting books back on the shelf when we finished with them. As we may be reading two or three books apiece all at once, it might still mean a little bit of clutter, but not as much as before.
They pile up quickly.
The same principle can be applied to other things.
Not playing a video game or watching a DVD anymore? Then it’s time to put the disk back in the box.
Who left the aspirin bottle out? Back into the medicine cabinet it goes.
Putting things away often takes less than a minute and can go a long way in keeping your home looking less like a tornado hit it.
Conduct a Weekly Declutter Session
Consider this along the lines of conducting a ritual.
If your curbside garbage pickup is on Monday, have a declutter session on Sunday. This is the time to toss old magazines, newspapers, and mailers that have piled up. It’s also a good day to stick your head into various closets and see if everything there really has to be there.
Don’t go nuts, but if you establish an hour one day a week devoted solely to tossing out clutter the day before your trash and recycling are picked up, you may find yourself with more living space and less overall stress from having too much about.
This is also an ideal time to go through the fridge and ask, “Is anyone going to finish this tuna fish sandwich? It is a tuna fish sandwich, isn’t it? I think it just growled at me.”
Encouraging a Dish-Free Sink
I mentioned that my wife habitually begins the day by making the bed. I end the day making sure no dishes are left in the sink overnight.
I’ll usually do them by hand if it’s just a few dishes. If there are a lot, I’ll set the dishwasher to run overnight. I’ll empty the dishwasher in the morning while my coffee is brewing. It’s a good way to make sure I have a clean coffee cup at the ready.
This is something else you can treat as a ritual if it helps. If you do this shortly before bed, you’re ending the day with the same sense of order you try and begin the day with.
Neat how that works.
Enjoying Your Home
Engaging in mini-chores and rituals go a considerable way in making our home nicer to live in. I feel calmer and work more productively with less clutter and untidiness.
We also entertain more now. A very welcome change as Covid (hopefully) continues to wind down.
Mind you, It’s not like we were surrounded by filth. The big chores were always seen to.
But the extra clutter and mess are gone. The chaos is under control.
And we prefer it that way.
So there.
And you can do it, too.
Cheers!
About John Teehan
John lives in Rhode Island with his wife, son, and dog. He specializes in tech, health, business, parenting, pop culture, and gaming. Visit wordsbyjohn.net for more info and rates. Twitter: @WordsByJohn2.
Do you like poetry, short fiction, and general oddities? Check out my new book, Life Among Psychopaths: an unexpected potpourri, now available on Amazon.
