Full House Organization
Uncharged laptops in every room. Charging cords in random outlets. Scrap papers with scribbled assignments on the table, desk, and on the living room floor. Cups – all the cups – everywhere! Nope! Not the leftover evidence of a frat party. Just reality that our homes have become schools, recreation facilities, all you can eat restaurants, business offices, and the only 4 walls many of our kids have seen in over a month.
With all this activity in our homes, how on earth can we keep the clutter at bay and maintain some level of organization? That’s the challenge lots of us up against these days. How do we get the people in our homes on board with keeping our homes from being trashed 90% of the time? Want to know my thoughts on this issue? Like you have a choice!
Lower Your Expectations
Yep! The first battle you have to overcome in this fight is your own mind! For the most part, your kids and mine don’t care about the messes. They don’t get why you’d need to pick up the dirty laundry and wet towels off the carpet in their bedrooms. Their noses have gone “nose blind” to the smell of sweaty, muddy clothes and shoes.
Come to grips with the fact that your house isn’t going to be in the same shape it is when you’re home alone during the week or when you have your house cleaner come through to clean. It’s just not. Learn to be okay with that for this season (and for the summer!) Figure out your clutter tolerance and lower it just a little!
Get Your Kids (and spouse) Involved
The biggest untapped resource in your house is your kids! Seriously! Sure they’re not always going to complete tasks to our acceptable level, even our lowered acceptable level.
Every evening before bedtime – maybe as a condition for getting their bedtime snack – set a timer and have your kids help reset a room or the whole house! Tell them for 20 minutes they’re going to put things away, sweep the floor, wipe the counters, etc. Make it a game! If everyone is involved, there should (should) be less griping and complaining!
Assign your kids regular tasks. My kids are in charge of unloading the dishwasher every day and doing their own laundry. It’s not much, but they know these are tasks they are responsible for completing.
Have your kids get in the routine of putting their school stuff in the same place when they’re finished each day. This will require you to establish a home for their school supplies. Give them a bin or basket to keep their personal supplies in. Have them clean the table off and put the communal supplies back in their cup, bin, or drawer.
Designate Time For Your Own Tasks
By now, you likely have some sort of flow to your days. You know how involved you need to be in your kids’ distance learning endeavors. You know how much you need to be available for your own job. You also probably have a growing list of projects you’d like to get done with all this time you’ve been gifted.
Find time each day to work on your own tasks. Get your kids settled with an activity or TV show (No guilt, Moms!) that will keep them mostly occupied for a few minutes. Set your own timer and work on your projects! Realize that you’re not going to have hours of uninterrupted time to dedicate to your project so work on it in bite-sized chunks. Every little bit of progress is still progress!
Complete Your Big 3
The Big 3 I’m referring to are those 3 tasks that you need to complete every day so that you feel like you have some semblance of control!
My Big 3 are
- Making The Bed
- Running The Dishwasher
- Doing a Load of Clothes – Floor to Drawer
To me, these are the bedrock of keeping my house from feeling totally out of control. Dirty dishes and dirty clothes often provide big stress at our house. Petty, I know, but think about all the heated conversations you’ve had with your kids over not having clean socks or pants! Or not being able to find a clean water bottle in the morning because the dishwasher wasn’t started before everyone went to bed! Bingo!!
Decide on your daily BIG 3 and get those tasks completed Every.Single.Day!
Stay At Home Orders or just summer time, these are a few good guidelines for keeping our homes under control while they’re full of people! What do you do at your house to keep the clutter at bay with all your kids and spouses home?
Karie
May 4, 2020 at 5:37 PMLove the idea of the big three. I felt like with 3 boys in the home doing chores I had to lower my expectations but now that they are grown up they do a fantastic job when they want. It was with baby steps that they were taught and eventually do more without feeling overwhelmed. I love the suggestion of lower expectations for new moms.
Jen Wade
May 4, 2020 at 8:06 PMOh yes, new moms definitely need to give themselves grace and keep their expectations of clean house in perspective!
Debbie
May 4, 2020 at 5:58 PMThe big three is a good idea!
Jen Wade
May 4, 2020 at 8:05 PMThanks. It’s a great place to start!
Danielle Ardizzone
May 4, 2020 at 6:05 PMLove the idea of lowering your expectations, and tackling the big 3 each day. Great perspective!
Jen Wade
May 4, 2020 at 8:04 PMThanks! The Big 3 is definitely a good starting point!
Linda Egeler
May 4, 2020 at 9:52 PMI’m good with the Big 3. It’s the stacks of papers that seem to multiply when I turn my back that are the trouble!
Jen Wade
May 5, 2020 at 1:40 AMPaper is definitely a struggle to maintain if you don’t stay on top of it!
Tricia Snow
May 4, 2020 at 9:56 PMI like the big three. If you can keep up on that then that is most of it. At least things will look somewhat tidy. Thanks!
Marianne
May 4, 2020 at 10:46 PMAbsolutely love the idea of the big three. My husband thinks I bite off more than I can chew when I make myself, or him and the kids, a long to-do list!
Jen Wade
May 5, 2020 at 1:39 AMIt’s easy to get ambitious!
Eva Keller
May 4, 2020 at 11:04 PMGreat tips! I just have a little apartment that my husband and I live in, so luckily when we just do a little bit each day, we never have to spend too much time getting things done. We enjoy tidying up together which makes things easier too. I’m sure if one of us was having to do everything it would be a lot more stressful.
Holly
May 5, 2020 at 12:46 AMGreat advice! Sometimes we try so hard that it makes it harder to complete the tasks we are trying to do!!
Diane Kurzava
May 5, 2020 at 12:55 AMIt’s only myself and my husband and if I don’t make a to-do list every day, our house looks like the one you described at the beginning. How does that happen with just two of us?
Jen Wade
May 5, 2020 at 1:39 AMIt’s amazing how quickly things can get out of hand, isn’t it?
Tiffany
May 5, 2020 at 1:10 AMLOVE the big three idea! Think mine would be kitchen counters clean, beds made and all clutter pick up.
Hillari
May 5, 2020 at 1:52 AMBAH! You hit it right on the nose – I definitely needed to hear the first one in your list. Changing my expectations is SO hard, but I am trying.
Lisa Manderino
May 5, 2020 at 1:54 AMThose are my big 3 too! priorities.
Barbara
May 5, 2020 at 2:09 AMGreat advice, thanks!
Crystal
May 5, 2020 at 2:09 AMSuch a great idea to have 3 big things to make sure get done everyday. I get overwhelmed thinking I need to go to bed with a clean house. My 3 kids all under age of 8 are walking tornadoes and sometimes it seems too much!
Jen Wade
May 5, 2020 at 2:35 AMHang in there! I remember those days.
Angela
May 5, 2020 at 3:14 AMOh yeah, getting the family involved helps.
Sara - Seek Discover Learn
May 5, 2020 at 4:20 PMI have recently started utilizing my kids more and it’s made a big difference. I tried having my kids work together to clean certain rooms/areas but it ended up being too distracting for them to be together. So now I give them different zones of the house – they each have to pick up, put away, vacuum and mop their area. Like you mentioned, they don’t do it perfectly, but it’s better than nothing.
Sandi
May 5, 2020 at 7:29 PMBe kind to hubby, be kind to the kids, and yes, thanks for the reminder – be kind to me. That cutting yourself some slack thing is hard somedays. Thanks for sharing
Charlene
May 6, 2020 at 12:02 AMGreat tips! Although I feel like I have gone too long with lowered expectations. I always get overwhelmed when I try to look at my house through someone else’s eyes.
Santana
May 6, 2020 at 1:02 AMI always have big plans to clean everything. It doesn’t always get done, I’ll tell you that! I overestimated my ability to maintain the house after having our first child, for sure. I’m learning to lower my expectations a bit. 😂
Suzan | It's My Sustainable Life
May 6, 2020 at 12:01 PMGreat suggestions & I especially love getting the kids involved!
Tonya | the Writer Mom
May 6, 2020 at 4:38 PMGreat tips! We just moved into a new home, and I’m on a mission to get it organized….it’s a big job!
Kendra
May 6, 2020 at 9:06 PMOh boy! The struggle is real! My son’s desk area is way out of control with dishes, wrappers, chargers, computer peripherals, and his myriad of instruments (banjo, 4+ guitars, & a trumpet)
Jen Wade
May 9, 2020 at 9:05 PMIsn’t it, though? It’s easy to let clutter take over without being proactive (and insisting our kids do their part!)
Alice
May 7, 2020 at 3:59 PMI live alone and work full time and rarely have two days off together.. My apartment is a constant disarray. I would love to have someone come and organize my apartment but I am never home enough. The cat is no help!
Jen Wade
May 9, 2020 at 9:04 PMSend me an email jen@yellowcottageliving.com and let’s see if there’s some way I can help you or find someone close to where you live that may be able to.
Megan
May 9, 2020 at 2:58 AMLive this! I’m always looking for new ways and systems to use for organizing.
Jen Wade
May 9, 2020 at 9:03 PMHope you find these helpful!
Cindy
May 10, 2020 at 12:47 AMI love the daily Big Three! Mine are make the bed, wipe down all counters, a clean kitchen before bed.
Melissa Jones
May 10, 2020 at 4:52 AMGreat tips!
Ruth Iaela-Pukahi
May 18, 2020 at 12:07 AMOh, I really needed to see this! My home looks like a disaster almost always! I like the big 3 ideas, wondering what I should make my big 3 to be. You are right, if I have everyone tidy up together everyday for just 20min, it makes a huge difference. I need to be consistent and do it! Thanks!