Tidy Habits
10 Tiny Things You Can Incorporate Into Your Routine To Make Keeping a Tidy Home Simpler
When I talk with Moms who are struggling to keep a tidy home, it always comes down to two things: time and stuff. Life with littles (and middles and bigs) is busy, and no one wants to spend their weekends rage-cleaning or purging the piles of stuff that incited the rage-clean in the first place. The truth is that life is going to keep being “busy”, and unless you love an afternoon cleaning-session, we need to find a way to maintain a home we enjoy without going crazy.
One way to do this is by embracing tidy habits. These are little things that you incorporate into your routine to manage the mess of daily life simply and easily. These habits will help you create a calmer home while helping you feel like you aren’t cleaning up all the time.
10 Tidy Habits to Make Cleaning Up Simpler
When I’m on my game, I embrace a few of these habits at a time; so don’t feel like you have to go all-in from the get-go. Try one of the tidy habits below that speaks to you, and see how it goes. And as always, these are just ideas, not rules. You know your family best, so take what works for them and leave the rest.
1. Pick a Tidy Time. Choose one consistent time of day where you do a quick tidy of the house. Put away the books on the shelf, toss shoes in the closet, clear the counter, and get the kids to put their toys away. Set a timer, listen to a short podcast, or play three songs and get ‘er done.
2. Create a Bye-Bye Bin. I know that I’m not the only one who has done this: You realize the shirt that your kid is wearing is too small, so you make a note to get rid of it next laundry day. But you forget. And the cycle repeats for far too long, until you can literally see their belly button peeking out. The answer? A bye-bye bin! I keep one in each kid’s room because they are growing like mad, and one in the garage. Anything that I come across that’s too small or needs to get donated, I put it in the bin. When the bin is full, it’s time to take it to Goodwill.
3. Make a Put Away Pail. Okay, I’m maybe being dorky with the alliteration, but this works! We all have a place where clutter accumulates. Maybe it’s the top or bottom of the staircase with things that are meant to go up or down, or a counter corner. Our clutter-spot is at the bottom of the stairs, so I’ve put a basket there. As I find things during the day that need to go upstairs (like random socks the kids take off), I toss them in the bin. Then when we go up later, the bin comes too and things get put in their place.
4. Stop Buying Duplicates. I blame Costco for this, but most people don’t need to fill their pantry with 6 jars of salsa or buy a nine-pack of deodorant. It will take a year or more to use it all, the food may even go bad by then, and it takes up so much space! Also, out of sight often equals out of mind… which can lead to more over-buying. “Are we out of salsa? I’ll buy more just in case”... but it’s really hiding in the back of the pantry behind 18 cans of corn.
Not over-buying also reduces the number of choices we need to make, another thing that takes up mental space. What if instead of 8 different packaged kids’ snacks, there were only 2? Or instead of 3 types of cheese all slowly going bad, there was just one? Then as you use it up, buy something new.
5. Use Time Intentionally. We can’t get away from it; there are things we need to do as adults, and stress shows up when we’re overwhelmed by it all. Are there things you can say “no” to, so you can make your home a priority and enjoy it more?
Scheduling your time to create the home you want (and then maintain it) shouldn’t be at the bottom of your list. Your home is where you are raising your family, their safe and happy place, and where you want to feel relaxed. The longer you put it off… the more you have to deal with. The first step to intentionally caring for your home, however, is usually doing a top-to-bottom declutter of the house. Once things are organized, it’s easier to set up habits to keep it that way.
If you’re ready to rip off the bandaid and simplify your home so you can love living in it, get on the waitlist for The Harmonized Home!
6. One In, One Out. I love this rule because it helps avoid accumulation. It’s so easy to upgrade or replace something… but for some reason we feel the need to hold on to the old one, too. If you buy a new spatula because the old one is bent, toss the old one into the bye-bye bin or trash. Our culture tells us that we need to keep upgrading to the new, better item, and Target sure makes it easy to want them! But ask yourself, do you need it? And if so, what needs to go to make room for it?
7. Find your Laundry Rhythm. If you leave it up to the laundry pile to determine when it gets done, you’re going to die under a pile of smelly socks and damp towels. Instead, pick a rhythm for doing laundry that fits your life. You know your own family and the way you use clothes or when certain items need to be cleaned; match your laundry days to that! Some ideas could be: sheets on Saturdays so the kids can help strip the beds, towels the day after swimming lessons, or alternate days of washing/drying and folding/putting away.
8. Trash Day Tidy. Yes, more alliteration! I’ve started trying to find 100 things to throw away each trash day. It’s amazing all of the little things taking up space that you can get rid of when you look. Here’s a reel of me making the most of this tidy habit.
9. Don’t Leave a Room Empty Handed. All the former servers and waiters out there know this one: full hands in, full hands out. If you’re leaving the playroom, grab that empty snack bowl and bring it with you to the kitchen. Take the hair-clip sitting on the couch to the bathroom to put away when you go. This doesn’t add any more time to your day at the moment, but you’ll thank yourself when it comes time to clean up later.
10. Have a Home for Things. Clutter often accumulates because we just don’t know where to put things. If this speaks to you, The Harmonized Home will help you create a place for all of the things… so they don’t need to live on the counter anymore.
When your home is cluttered and messy, so is your brain… and it manifests as stress. On the flip side, staying on top of the clutter keeps you sane. When you know when and how things will get done, it frees your mind up to think about other things - like being present for your family and doing activities you love a heck of a lot more than sorting a mountain of recyclables.