Household Management, Media Contributor, Time Management, TV Appearances

If you have found yourself with extra time on your hands due to COVID, seize the opportunity to improve or change your life. You may never have it again. Don’t let it pass you by!

Now may be the perfect time to organize your house once and for all!  Before you dive into organizing an area that you have been wanting to do for years, first consider organizing an area that will help you adapt to being confined to home. Perhaps you need a home office or a school workspace for your child. If so, work on that area first to make the area conducive and productive to what transpires there.

Next, consider organizing an area that would require a lot of time to complete or an area that needs the help or input of a household member, like a child or spouse. If you have a lot of free time, consider large projects like a garage, attic, basement, kitchen, paper management or keepsakes. If you want to take advantage of having your children at home, this may be the perfect time to go through and organize kids’ closets, drawers, rooms, and toys. It’s also the perfect time to teach your child the benefit of being organized.

When I realized that so many people where home with the opportunity to get organized but possibly not knowing how, I wanted to turn COVID-19 into something positive and productive for everyone.  The very next day I began doing Facebook Live videos to show people how to get organized. To date I have done over 30 videos showing how to organize your home and how to make better use of your technology.  Side note: I have no video production training. 🙂

When organizing, remember these simple steps:

1. Sort the items by category. For a garage you might have the categories of sports, tools, cleaners, auto, toys, and lawn/garden.
2. Give away, put away (elsewhere), and throw away should also be categories you use. Then you will see what you have left to organize.
3. Set up a system that will work for everyone and requires little or no instruction from you.
4. Containerize appropriate items to keep them contained and to maximize space.
5. Maximize your space by using vertical space – stand items upright, uses shelves, or hooks on wall.
6. Consider labeling to help everyone find what they are looking for.
7. Maintain what you have organized for the next 21 consecutive days. This will form a habit. Make sure all household members participate in forming the habit.