5 Organizing Habits to Minimize Mental Labor
Life is busy, and at Horderly we want to do everything we can to help bring you peace of mind. Below we have outlined five practical ways you can streamline your processes to remove additional mental labor and decrease mental fatigue.
Organize Your Paperwork
Clearing off surfaces in your home will help create a clearer mind. Tackle those paper stacks by creating a system so that all papers have a place to land. When you bring your mail inside, immediately toss all trash and sort the remaining items into “To Do”, “To File”, and “Memento”. We love using decorative bins on higher shelves for mementos and stackable paper trays for the “To Do” and “To File” categories. Create a schedule for working through these trays so that they never become burdensome! Checkout our blog on paper organization for more details.
Create a Cleaning Schedule
A little work up front will go a long way for taking the mental labor out of cleaning day! Consider creating a cleaning schedule broken down by days of the week and by task. If you have multiple people living in your space, you can also break this down by person so that everyone knows what they have to do without the additional mental labor of someone delegating day of. Keep the schedule in an area where everyone in the home can easily view it, whether that be digitally or having a printed copy hanging up. If you want to keep it tucked away and still accessible, try placing the schedule inside of your pantry, cleaning closet, or laundry room door!
Find Ways to Enjoy Chores
Let’s face it, chores can be a bore. Often that is something that stops us from wanting to do the necessary steps to create a clean and comfortable environment for ourselves. Instead of suffering through, we recommend finding ways to enjoy your time whether that be turning on your favorite podcast or listening to music! Next time you have a big pile of laundry to fold, switch on your favorite TV show or movie and fold while you watch. There is nothing wrong with bringing a little more joy to the mundane parts of life.
TIP: For kids, try turning chores into a game! “How fast can you put all your stuffies into their basket?” or “Let’s put away all the blue toys that are on the floor. Now let’s find all the yellow toys and put them away!”
Create A Donation Zone
Having a place for donations is a great way to streamline the sometimes lengthy editing process of organizing. When you have a basket or bin already assigned for donations, you can purge clothing that no longer serves you as you do your laundry or get dressed in the morning. Doesn’t fit and makes you feel bad about your body? Toss it in the bin! Scratchy material that you know you will never want to wear? Toss it in the bin! Hate the color? Toss it in the bin! Items in your home pay rent with their usage, so it’s time to evict those pieces that have been skipping out on their payments!
TIP: Set up a schedule for taking donations so you never have to think about when you “should” take them. Set a reminder on your phone to take your donations to Goodwill in a time frame that works for you! This could be annually, every four months, monthly- whatever fits your lifestyle!
Outsource
You do not have to balance everything by yourself- it’s okay to ask for help! This is why we have professional organizers, cleaning services, personal assistants, technicians etc. These professions exist to help get things off your plate if/when you are able to utilize them. And because we do this everyday, we are experts at coming up with customized solutions that suit our clients best. Whether a task is out of your area of expertise, or you simply have too much going on, outsource when you are able so you don’t burn yourself out!
An organized home is a great way to help create mental clarity, and we are here to help. Reach out to find out more about our In-Home and Virtual organizing services to bring you peace of mind!
For more information on all things Horderly- including lots of great tips, tricks, and other #HorderlyHabits- check out our blog or reach out for more information!
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