Keeping Home Tidy with Simple and Sustainable Rhythms in Mind

“Every day I’m shufflin’”

LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem

Simple and sustainable rhythms help us keep our homes tidy.  A home that is organized and a home that is tidy are often thought of as the same thing.  Without giving it much thought, we often use the words “organize” and “tidy” synonymously.  But we see them as two separate pursuits: Organization is “set up” and tidying is “keep up.” Each one makes the other significantly easier!

Keeping home tidy is an ongoing rhythm

Tidying a home is not a one-time task (obviously 😜) but rather, something that is ongoing. Once a space is “set up,” keeping a home tidy can become a sustainable, ongoing rhythm.  It is the process of upkeep, which we want to keep as smooth and automatic as possible.  We can most effectively keep our homes tidy when we lean into daily, ongoing rhythms! Keeping these rhythms in mind helps save time, relieve stress, and opens up space for other passions.

Tackling “a little at a time” generally feels less overwhelming than trying to do “a lot all at once.” But sometimes, we just can’t keep up with the clutter in our homes throughout the day.  On these days, I sometimes say to Ben something like, “ugh, the house is falling apart.”  Yes, I know … a bit dramatic 🙃  But that is how it can feel to me when clutter accumulates. When our possessions are scattered, it is just not conducive to a clear mind.

Experience peace by keeping home tidy & minimizing clutter

With sustainable rhythms in place, we can minimize chaos and clutter, and cultivate calm and peace.  By creating small, but impactful habits, we can keep on top of tasks and things in our homes without having to designate a lot of time to them.  The thing is, the same tasks are going to come up again tomorrow, and the next day, whether we want them to or not! So, managing them in an ongoing way keeps these tasks bite-size.  Again, tackling “a little at a time” is more sustainable than doing “a lot all at once.”

We believe our homes are meant to serve our families, not the other way around. And we find the space in our minds often mirrors the space in our home. If our home is cluttered, our minds often feel that way too. 

We want to minimize clutter and cultivate clarity in our home. In our experience, keeping our home tidy is not the only answer, but it sure helps! Being mindful of curating the best working practices possible will help us limit the chaos at home and lean into peace.  Here are a few examples of how.

4 Tips for tidying

1. Tidy as you go

• When something is out of place, take it with you next time you’re headed in the right direction. Even getting things closer to their “home” helps!  It takes discipline at first, but eventually you won’t even notice you are tidying.  You will notice, however, that the clutter accumulates less.

2. Have a catch-all basket or designated spot where you can toss random items throughout the day

• You won’t always be able to keep on top of all the stuff that gets used, moved around, and brought into your home each day.  But, having a designated spot where all the stuff gets put in the interim helps. It’s likely this stuff can be batch-tidied later, and during the busy day you can still keep the clutter at bay.

3. Lead by example  … and be consistent!

• If we are inconsistent with the rhythms we’ve established as a family (e.g. put shoes in the closet when we get home), our kids will be too.
• If we complain about putting something away that we got out, or cleaning something up that we used, so will our kids.  
• Modelling a positive mindset about keeping the home tidy will (hopefully) inspire our kids to follow suit. 

4. A “re-do” is better than a “you-do”

• We all get distracted at some point and skip over (or “forget” as the kids will say 😜) some of the tidying rhythms we have established as a family.  For example, the kids might leave their coats laying on the floor inside the front door rather than hanging them up on the front closet door handle (which is their temporary “home” until the kids are big enough to reach hangers – once the coats are on the closet handle, a parent will hang them up for them).
• When we notice a rhythm being missed by our kids (and also each other 😉), we initiate a “redo.”  This is our opportunity to pause what we are doing, and redo the rhythm correctly.  We’ll say something like “Oops, Selah, your coat and shoes are in front of the door still.  Please come for a redo!” 
• Most of the time, it would probably take less time and less effort for a parent to quickly hangup the shoes and put the coat away themselves.  But that won’t help the rhythm stick. After doing a number of rhythm-redos, we will all be more likely to remember in the long run.  

Encouragement

Like most things in life, if we do something thoughtfully at first, it can become subconscious and automatic over time. Which of these 4 tidying tips is the next one you want to move from “thought-required” to “automatic?”

Much love from,

Brianna and Ben