How to stay organized at home – the lazy way
If you’re looking for the quick and easy tips on how to stay organized at home then you have come to the right place.
In this guide I will be talking you through all of the shortcuts I take to keep home life organized as a very busy person. All of these tips are things that I actually do and products that I truly recommend so you can count on them to make your life easier.
Moreover, as a Mindset and Productivity coach, it is literally my job to provide you with the best most efficient value. If you are feeling overwhelmed and stressed by the thought of keeping your life at home organized then this blog post is for you.
So lets begin!
Habits and behaviour to help you stay organized at home
The 5-minute rule – version 1
If you learn one thing from this blog, please let it be the 5-minute rule! And I’m not talking about eating food off of the floor after a certain time frame because that is the 5-second rule. Let it be known, if you are eating food off the floor after 5 minutes then I think you have bigger problems than staying organized at home!
There are 2 types of 5-minute rules and I recommend that you use both of them.
The first 5-minute rule is pretty self-explanatory: if you have a task that will take 5 minutes or less then you should do it now.
What is the point of adding it to your to-do list and then agonising about how you have so little time and so much to do? Keep it Simple, Stupid (KISS).
For example, here are some 5-minute tasks that you should NOT add to your to-do list:
- Making your bed
- Picking things up off the floor
- Wiping down a surface
- Putting an item back in a cupboard
- Sending a quick text to a friend that has crossed your mind
- Putting an item in the dishwasher
- Drinking a glass of water
- Filing a piece of paperwork
Related Post: How to be productive every day – 13 ESSENTIAL mindset shifts!
The 5-minute TIMER rule – version 2
The other 5-minute rule is to help you start working on those difficult annoying tasks that you have been avoiding.
All you need to do is identify a task that you need to start and then set a timer to focus solely on that task for 5 minutes. That is it!
For example, here are some things I use the 5-minute timer rule to help me with:
- Yoga
- Writing blog posts
- Starting my homework
- Studying for exams
- Practising singing
- Practising drawing
- Tidying my room
- Reading a book
- Putting away my clean laundry
- Updating my coaching programme
- Stretching after a workout
You might find that once you start working on the task you get into a good momentum and actually make a lot of progress on it.
Or you might want to stop after the 5-minute timer goes off which is fine too.
Either way, you would have tackled something that you’ve been avoiding for a long time and I think that is a big achievement in itself.
You could even try to implement the 5-minute timer rule throughout the day to help you keep on top of your to-do list.
Both of these 5-minute rules help you beat procrastination and allow you to work towards your goal of staying organized at home.
Related post: How to organize your life in ONE WEEK!
Time blocking
Every single productivity expert is going to mention timeboxing and it’s for a good reason.
It works!
You achieve way more when you dedicate time to complete a task than when you wing it and hope for the best.
Here’s how you should block your time throughout the day:
- Identify your daily non-negotiables (the tasks that you NEED to do no matter what)
- Find out what time of day you are most productive (e.g. are you a morning person)
- Add to your calendar time-bound tasks (e.g. dentist appointment at 3 pm)
- Schedule your daily non-negotiables – breaking the task into smaller chunks if needed
- Schedule any other tasks in your day
- Stick to the schedule!
I like to time block the night before so that I wake up in the morning with a very clear idea about what I need to do on that day. Many people like to time block for the week and amend as they go on. Others, like to set up recurring Google calendar events to help them speed up the process.
Do whatever works for you.
If you don’t like using online calendars then I recommend that you try out Cal Newport’s time blocking method.
I’ve tried it in my bullet journal and it was great but I am too lazy for all of that. I like that I can just drag and drop an event if I need to rearrange it in Google Calendar.
Declutter every quarter
This, this this!
This is how you’re going to stay organized at home. You’d be surprised at how quickly junk and miscellaneous items pile up in the house. So it is important that you declutter EVERY SINGLE QUARTER (e.g. March, June, September, and December).
Obviously, you can choose which months you want to dedicate to decluttering the house but I recommend that you stick to a rough schedule. If you declutter often, then it is a small task to do each quarter. If you don’t declutter every quarter, the items pile up and it feels like an impossible task.
Ask yourself these questions when decluttering:
- Why do I have this item?
- Have I used this item in the past year?
- Have I had the opportunity to use/wear this item in the past year and I have chosen to use/wear an alternative?
- Does this item bring me joy?
- Would I notice if this item disappeared?
Related post: How to organize your life in ONE WEEK!
Stylistic choices to help you stay organized at home
Become a Minimalist
A lot of people struggle with staying organized at home because they have too much stuff. It feels like an impossible task to keep on top of the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room and personal to-do lists because there are just way too many things to do.
Adopting a minimalist stylistic choice for your home significantly reduces the amount of things you need to organize in the first place.
I’m not saying you need to be extreme and get rid of all personality in your home but I am saying that you should consider a more simplistic approach to your home décor. Also, having a minimalist mentality can help you focus on the things that are actually important to you. It will help you shift your mindset from being very materialistic and externally focused to seeking alignment with your values and internal happiness.
The benefits of minimalism
- Fewer things to clean
- Less things to buy so you save money
- A tidier home so less things to organize
- Every item has a place
- No more clutter
- Much easier to organize
- Less stress and a clearer mind
- Helps you focus on what is important in life
If you would like to find out more information about minimalism, check out The Minimalist blog.
Related post: Start living a values based life to be successful
Stick to a colour scheme
I have found that sticking to a very obvious colour scheme to be a useful tool that helped me stay organized in my home.
It made everything in the house seem a lot more cohesive and it made it so much easier to stay organized because things that were in the wrong place stood out like a sore thumb.
It also makes you think twice before you purchase a random ornament that is going to take up space in the house and add to the list of things that need cleaning.
Useful products to help you stay organized at home
Okay, now we are on the list that you have all been waiting for. The ultimate lazy cheat sheet for staying organized at home is using products that will speed up the process.
I used to move house often which meant I needed to learn quickly how to keep things organized and readily available. Here are my favourite products to help me stay organized at home.
Storage boxes
I am a sucker for a good storage box. Storage boxes are great because they come in all different sizes and colours. They also have completely different purposes. For example, the storage box I use on top of my wardrobe looks completely different to the storage box I use inside of my wardrobe.
To help you stay organized, I recommend you label your storage boxes and only put things related to that label in the storage box. Don’t jam everything into one storage box because you’re only just postponing the problem to another day rather than tackling it head-on.
There are many types of storage containers
- Clear plastic boxes
- Wardrobe drawer dividers
- Wardrobe hanging storage shelves
- Footstool storage box
- Underbed storage
- Fridge shelf storage boxes
My 2 favourite types of storage boxes are:
I love this box because I got it in the same colour scheme as my room and it has 2 purposes. I mainly use it to store my art equipment and then when I have guests over, I use it as an extra seat. Very handy!
Buying a wardrobe hanging shelf has changed my life. I know it sounds dramatic but I used to just dump everything in the bottom of my wardrobe if I didn’t know where to store it. Now I use the hanging shelf to store my blankets, slippers, belts, shoes, and miscellaneous wardrobe items. I can’t recommend this style of product enough!
Files and folders for paperwork
This is a must! Once you reach adulthood, you have no excuse not to have a filing system for paperwork. I recommend buying a simple box file where you can put your financial, educational, property and health-related paperwork. You can buy a pack of 5 on Amazon here.
Wall hangers
Not enough of us are using the vertical space that we have. I love hanging items up on my wall because it makes room for more floor space. It also helps the home look a lot more organized and clearer (as long as you don’t overdo it!).
I’m currently in the process of deciding where to hang my guitar and keyboard on the wall since I don’t use them often enough to justify them occupying precious floor space.
You don’t have to hang instruments up on the wall, it could be anything you want.
Wall planners to stay organized at home
I recently bought a wall planner and it has helped me stay on top of my home chores so much easier than before. I used to only keep track of things using my bullet journal however, having all of my chores on a massive A2 wipeboard wall planner has made it impossible to ignore.
Also, I get so much satisfaction from ticking off a task or wiping the ask off of the board.
This is the one that I am currently using: A2 weekly wall planner whiteboard – pink
Related post: The ultimate minimalist bullet journal for busy people
If you have any questions or would like to add additional tips to stay organized at home then drop me a comment down below!
Why not check out these posts too:
- How to be your best self in times of uncertainty
- How to organize your life in ONE WEEK
- Start living a values-based life to be successful