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How to organize your home routine
How to organize your home routine
Photo by Alvaro Reyes on Unsplash
Most of us just do something when we’re organizing our routines. We pick things in the order they occur to us or in what appeals to us. For some people that works well as different things appeal to them at other points of the day and so they actually manage to get everything done. For the rest of us, however, it can lead to certain tasks that we particularly loathe piling up. And as that often just makes them worse this can lead to all sorts of problems.
And of course, that’s a problem. Because our living environment becomes less and less agreeable when we don’t do everything that’s necessary. And that, in turn, affects our living quality. For that reason, it might be time to inject a bit of rationality into your home routine so that you get more done and have more free time to boot.
Embrace minimalism
If you want to spend less time cleaning or running your house affairs, then make sure you have fewer things that actually require your attention. First of all, get rid of all those cluttering junk that you’re never going to use and don’t really need – like old magazines and other random stuff that you never use.
Even better, sell stuff. There are tons of platforms where you can get rid of unwanted furniture or electronics, like Craig’s List, eBay and more. So offer what you don’t need there. This will get you a bit of extra money as well as free up a lot of space in your house and – more importantly – your schedule.
Start with the automated tasks
Whenever you come home from work or are about to start doing something that will take a few hours – be it clean the house or watch a movie – set your long-lasting automated routines to run. Here I mean the dishwasher, the washing machine or a computer back up. Often, these tasks do need you in the vicinity but largely run on their own. That means they’re not demanding your time but do need you to be around.
So get in the habit of starting one of these before you plop on the couch for an evening of Netflix. In that way, they’ll be pretty much done by the time you turn in for the night.
Reorganize your kitchen
Consider what tools you use together during meal preparation and then place them closer to each other so that they’re always within easy reach. This will make cooking quicker and more effective. And as you spend so much time cooking, just winning five minutes per day can save you hours per year (three, as a matter of fact).
To help yourself and the rest of your family, consider putting up sticky notes for at least a short while so people know what the new order is – otherwise you’re going to lose all that time you won readjusting to the new way things work.
Have a whiteboard (and use it)
“Learning to write things down on a whiteboard can really help organize your life and make sure everybody knows what is going on,” shares Donna Schroeder, a content manager at BestUKWriters. So buy one, put it in a central location and start using it! Here are some ways that you can easily organize your life using one of these.
- Create a schedule. If some people in your house aren’t pulling their weight, then create a schedule here. In this way, people can easily see what needs to be done and they can’t pretend they didn’t see or hear you. Even better, force people into the habit of checking or crossing off their tasks as they move through them so you, in turn, can see what tasks aren’t getting done (And who isn’t doing them).
- Create a to-do list. By writing tasks on the board as they come to you, it doesn’t matter if they slip your mind as they’ll still be there on the board. In this way, you’ll recall before it’s too late. As an added bonus, you can see how much you’ve done (as can everybody else).
- Communicate. If you’ve got important messages for the rest of the family that you don’t really want to send by text or through the web, go old fashioned and put it on the board. This way, even if you live partially past each other you can still be on the same page.
Eat that frog
Most of us are at our highest energy first thing in the morning. So why not use that time to get rid of one of those tasks that you really don’t like doing. In this way, you’ll get it out of the way faster and as an extra bonus, you won’t have it hanging over your head for the rest of your day. That can really add a spring to your step.
So drink that coffee, moan a little bit about how much you hate washing the dog/ cutting the grass/ writing that important email/ calling your mother in law. Then get on with it! Eat that frog! After all, often the anticipation is worse than the task itself. Even if it isn’t, once it’s done it’s done. And that’s that. Suddenly your day is wide open for nicer and more pleasant things.
Last words
The smartest thing you can do to create a good routine is to actually have a routine. As Jared Pham, a lifestyle blogger at FlyWriting puts it: “Do your things in a specific order that makes sense and where the tasks follow quickly one on the other. If you learn to do this, you’ll soon find yourself doing these tasks on autopilot which in turn frees up your mind for bigger considerations – like what you’re going to do with the extra free time you’re winning.”
Routine is an incredibly powerful tool if correctly utilized. So go for it. Get your life in order. Your future self will thank you for it. And that’s always a nice person to have thankful.
This article was written by a guest author, Chris Mercer.
