Let’s Get Organized
Are you someone who gets overwhelmed just looking at the state of your home? Let me tell you, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. On the heels of a nationwide quarantine, let me raise my hand and say “I, Emily, a professional organizer, let my house get disorganized” but I guess a global crisis can do that to a person. Some days it looked like a gaggle of minions from Despicable Me decided to have a rave. No joke.
When the quarantine was issued I thought, “oh yes, homebodies everywhere rejoice! I’m going to get SO. MUCH. DONE”. I thought “in this righteous fight, if my one job is to stay home and play with my kid, consider it done.” I had lists on lists. Lists for me, lists for my husband, lists for the toddler, heck I even gave the cats a list of what they needed to get done. We had a schedule, a meal plan, a routine. It was so great....for about 2 weeks then all hell broke loose in the Shepherd House. Cameron was deemed essential and going to work so his schedule didn’t really change. Remy was sick of being inside, sick of being in his carseat on my coveted drives to just get out of the house. I was glued to my phone during his nap time, just looking for contact with the outside world and wondering what was happening. Dishes piled up. Laundry piled up. Cabinets became disheveled. Did anyone else feel like Rick Grimes and Michonne were going to charge down the street any minute? I sure did. If I’m being really honest, I still expect them to show up any day now. 2020 amiright?
All of that left our new home in chaos. I think it’s important to address for a moment the emotional impact this is having on everyone. Whether you’re on the frontlines of it or safely in your home. Whether you’re going through it with children or you’re at home by yourself. This ain’t easy. It’s okay if your to do list didn’t get done. Let me repeat, your to do list will still be there. But, if you’re a perfectionist, productivity junky like me, this can feel like your biggest failure. Let me tell you, at the end of the day my son was tucked safely in his bed and we’re all still healthy. In the grand scheme of things, this is a huge, huge blessing. And not #blessing, a true, let me hit my knees and raise my hands to the Lord to say “Thank you, Jesus!” blessing. I know this is a luxury not everyone has.
As the season starts to change and we develop a fresh rhythm for life, maybe it’s time to look at the house and say “okay, house! You’re up!” If you’re not ready to tackle your house, hey, that’s totally fine. But if you think you’re ready to tackle a mess, let’s walk through it together. I’ve started a routine of picking up before bed and teaching my son how to pick up his mess. Thankfully, he’s at the age where he LOVES helping. These were two really easy steps to take to get control of my house. In times like this, we can only control the controllables. I can control the state of my home, I can control what I teach my child, I can control how I participate in conversations with my husband.
My next steps for getting control of my home was to tackle clutter. I organized my pantry, tupperware cabinet, glass cabinet, and so on just a little bit at a time. 15 minutes at a time, one day, one bite at a time. Getting organized can be so overwhelming but taking baby steps to accomplish a big, overwhelming goal makes the process less daunting. Having an organization or group in mind that you can give donations to helps immensely. Here in Cleveland, Habitat for Humanity is accepting donations and some groups on Facebook let you post for porch pick up. Facebook Marketplace is also a great place to sell odds and ends.
Stay tuned for more tips! I truly hope you’re all doing well and staying safe.
Here are three other things helping me right now:
Music from my youth - I have to say, listening to my outdated iTunes has put a smile on my face! Showtunes, emo music, oldies... ah, the soundtrack of my youth!
Homemade Cold Brew - So easy and so inexpensive. I put grounds in a paper filter, tie it with a rubber band, and let it steep in water for 12+ hours. Boom, done. So good.
Leaving my phone in the other room - Leaving my phone in the other room or on silent for a chunk of time while I work or play with Remy has made a huge difference for my mental strain. I’m not mindlessly picking it up or checking it at every ding. This gives me uninterrupted time to be with family or concentrate on a task, like blog writing! I’m also competing against myself each week to get that pesky screen time report down.
Currently reading: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn and The Power of Moments by Dan & Chip Heath