Organizing space can have positive impacts
Think about the purpose and feel of each space
During these days of physical distancing, many homes are assuming new roles, including places to work, and the clutter you promised to banish as part of spring cleaning has become more than an eyesore. It’s also impacting your family’s ability to function properly and even your ability to enjoy being home.
Clutter overloads your senses, creating stress that can leave you feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, isolated, ashamed and even depressed. It can negatively impact your ability to think clearly and make good decisions and can also decrease your performance, explain the folks at Professional Organizers in Canada (POC).
Especially during these uncertain times, organizing your space can have positive impacts. “It gives you control over something, and we all benefit from feeling a bit more in control right now,” says Clare Kumar, a consultant and coach who helps busy professionals optimize their performance.
“That’s especially true if there’s someone in your house who’s bothered by clutter. Now’s a really good time out of generosity for their well-being to figure out how to do this and get at it because everyone’s going to feel better with a little more order in their space.”
Lack of time and having too many projects on the go are common reasons why you may fall victim to clutter, according to POC. Other possible reasons: you’re storing items for someone, you’ve gone through a big life event (such as a divorce, move, new job or new addition to the family), you lack systems to keep things organized and/or simply don’t have the space to store all of your belongings.
Getting organized isn’t for the faint of heart, so be careful not to overwhelm yourselves.
Kumar recommends bite-sized projects that will give you quick return on your investment of time and energy.
Rather than tackling an entire dresser, for example, clean out one drawer at a time.
“You know there are things that will go back in the drawer, things that will go elsewhere, and things that you can put in the garbage or recycling or that you will donate,” she says. “Set up the bags, bins or baskets to capture each of those decisions and you won’t get stuck with a mess that can’t move.”
Still not sure how to begin? Consider Kumar’s PLAN method:
PRIORITIZE
Consider your priorities for a space, which may now serve a variety of purposes, such as a study, work and video conferencing space by day and a place to watch TV by night. “What do I want to do there and how do I want everyone to feel? Those are the two questions to ask of any space,” Kumar says.
LIBERATE
This step is about letting go of the things that no longer serve the priorities you’ve already identified for a space. That might mean getting rid of things, relocating them to a place where they’ll be useful or putting them into storage if you don’t currently need them.
ARRANGE
This step involves designing the furniture, tools, accessories and storage pieces so you can be as efficient and effective as possible while also enjoying the space.
Think about how you want to feel there, Kumar advises.
NURTURE
Think about the behaviours and rituals you need to establish so you can restore order to your spaces. A plan that allows everyone to chip in will go a long way to reducing frustrations in shared spaces.
“Work as a team to co-create what that plan looks like and be prepared to make some tweaks,” Kumar says. “It’s not about aiming for perfection but aiming for something that works.”
She encourages parents to be “really intentional” about transferring life skills to their children and suggests this is an opportune time to redesign your chore list to empower even the little ones to contribute, such as sorting laundry by colours. “I really want people to think of their family as a team getting through this and everyone has got something to offer.”