Forced to stay at home due to Covid-19 is your opportunity to eco organise, with time to rethink shelves filled with recipes you never cook, filing cabinets filled with paper, magazines cluttering the coffee table and never read and tale time to rethink important things such as health, happiness, home and friendship.
- Start Small
Never waste the urge to organise your home and always start small- one box or drawer at a time. The common downfall to completing an organising project is the idea of starting large: garage-kitchen-bathroom-wardrobe.
- Return, Recycle, Rubbish
With charities closed, donating unwanted items at this time is out of the question, although there 3 options available to help you to organise your home.
The simple task of returning things to their correct home will help reduce the build-up of clutter and maintain the space you want. The trick is to spend 10–15 minutes a day returning things to their correct home.
Remember the filling cabinet, they one you dare not open! Self-isolating is a good time to take one file at a time and declutter, let go of old receipts, old university notes that are no longer relevant, old tax documents (individual 5 years, business 7 years) brochures, business cards can be recycled.
Removing rubbish from your home helps create space and will soon put a stop to clutter creep.
- Discipline
Set limits on how much you bring into your home and what you bring into your home. No point bringing more food and consumables into your home if you cannot store or consume before they spoil.
- Zone Your Space
For a home to function well consider zoning the space. Without zones we tend to waste time walking around looking for stuff which definitely wastes time and energy.
Let’s use a busy room like the kitchen to explain.
The zone around the kitchen sink has the task of washing the dishes, filling the kettle and washing fruit and vegetables, just to name a few.
To save time and energy we generally store things we need to carry out those tasks in that zone, such as detergents, rubber gloves and brushes and sourer pads because storing those items on the opposite wall or in another room will waste time and energy.
- Finesse Your Zones
Positioning items within your zones helps save time and energy
1st position: Things you use many items in a day. Example: Medications and kettle.
2nd position: Things you use a couple of times a day. Example: Compost and recycling bin.
3rd position: Things used a couple of times a week. Example: Cloth shopping bags.
4th position: Things used once a week. Example: Materials to write shopping list and meal plan.
5th position: Infrequently used items. Example: Christmas items.
- Shop Your Wardrobe
Worried about missing out on “sale” or “buy on get on free” consider organising your wardrobe and cupboards to discover what you, it will be just like Christmas, discovering things you forgot you had, things you have never worm, things that need to be returned or repaired.
Still worried and stressed about missing out of stuff check out blogs FOMOS Fear of Missing out on STUFF and JOMOS Joy of Missing out on STUFF
- Reorganise Your Home
Our homes don’t come with elastic sides; try reorganising to fit within your current footprint, before buying storage containers, adding an extension or hiring a storage unit. Move things around to create a fresh new feel or easier to move from one space to another.
- Storage
Repurpose what you have before buying new, example: the dog needs a bigger water bowl, check your cupboards first before buying another. Baking dishes that clutter the cupboard make great storage.
- Be kind to yourself
Each day do something you love, be kind to yourself and share positive messages with others of how you have eco organised your home.
- Stay motivated and connected
Without structure and purpose, sudden isolation can lead to time wasting activities, it’s well-known that staying active helps ward off depression and stimulate creativity. Consider connecting with a neighbor, family member or housemate for a social distancing walk.
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