Are you familiar with the physics term “entropy”? This is the principle that things are gradually moving towards disorder and chaos, and nowhere is this more evident than in a home (or maybe just MY home)!!
At the end of June I was feeling VERY stressed by the state of our home, especially with knowing we were starting school in July and wanting to have things in order before then! I kept waiting for a whole day when I could declutter, clean, and organize all day (yeaaaahhhh…), but that day never came!
So on July 1, I texted my mother-in-law and sister-in-law to see if they wanted to join me on a daily organization journey! They both said yes (and, seventeen days in, they might be regretting it…), so we started that day! Each day we do one organization project. The goal is that the tasks are things that can be accomplished in 30 minutes, but some larger projects have taken (at least me!) longer. And then other days I get on a roll and spend more time just because I want to! Must be that late pregnancy nesting instinct kicking in already.
Thus far we have organized:
-bathroom cabinets
-junk drawers
-first aid supplies
-under the kitchen sink
-under couches and cushions
-top of the fridge
-laundry area
-party supplies/paper plates/napkins
-kitchen cabinets (a few… we’re still working on those 1-2 at a time!)
-dresser tops
-clutter in the master bedroom
-linen closet
-and more!
We text before and after photos to each other (and believe me, what happens in that group text stays in that group text… it’s a judgement-free zone!!) and encourage each other’s progress!
I’ll share a few of my “after” photos as inspiration to you and what you can also accomplish working in SMALL time increments. Remember, you probably won’t have a HUGE chunk of time to “get organized,” so even 30 minutes each day can make a big difference!
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!!
Everything looks great! I have had the organizing itch lately, too. I need to do one thing at a time, like you!
Same here! Today I tackled the linen closet and ended up with one grocery bag of trash and one large bag of donations snd my oldest room. He keeps all kinds of papers and trash so I was able to get rid of 5 grocery bags of trash!
My house was a total disaster area at the end of June too – I blame it on the end of gardening season when all my energy is focused outside! That and back problems tend to make housework slack too. 😉 I’ve been kind of doing the same thing but much less purposeful. Just trying to bite off one bit of “the elephant” every day or two during nap/quiet time. My husband thought I was nuts today because he came home and I was like … “LOOK HOW MUCH BETTER THE JUNK DRAWER LOOKS.”
What a fantastic idea to do this with a couple other women who can encourage you along the way – I love it!!
Those little plastic drawers have so many uses!
Thank you for the encouraging post and pictures!