3 Tips to Organize and Prioritize: Holiday Cleaning
The holiday season is here. As we enter this busy time of the year, one of the best ways to make this time more enjoyable is to organize and prioritize. Because, we want to enjoy this season, here are some easy tips to complete tasks both in the short term and long-term.
For many of us, this is an even busier time of year than usual. We have extra events to attend, gifts to buy, and meals to plan. One of the ways we can enjoy the season a bit more is to make sure we have a plan for our home.
I know there will be more clutter as we prepare for the holidays, think of extra food, gift-wrapping materials, cards, and gifts. We have less time available and more options to fill the time. I know everyone wants their home to be a place of calm and comfort. We can make that a reality with a small amount of planning and intention. Organization tips for the holidays are important and I have written about this before in 5 Quick Organization Tips for the Holiday Season.
Tip # 1 Look At The Big Picture
The first of the tips to organize and prioritize holiday cleaning involves looking at the big picture. Using a holiday planner or task list with due dates can help you feel more organized and accomplish more. The systems-level view or bigger picture view can help you create a timeline for larger cleaning tasks. Considering the overall timeline can assist you with time management to ensure urgent tasks are completed and not left undone.
This overall plan or list of tasks may start a couple of months before the holiday season is here. We try to do a Spring cleaning and a Fall cleaning. We have four seasons in the midwest and this allows us to prepare for the upcoming seasonal needs. As a result, if we use this time to plan and complete more complex tasks, the end result is a more manageable work-life balance.
The goal should be to arrive at the holiday with an organized and clean home and have enough time for the fun aspects of the holiday season. This goal can be reached if you establish some good habits upfront.
If I have a big project, I always break it down into smaller more manageable chunks. This is an effective way to ensure the top priorities are met each day. This method creates less stress and accounts for unexpected issues that might arise.
If you have a long to-do list, you might consider grouping similar tasks together. Make sure you consider the task's priority level. For example, if I am hosting a holiday party the common areas such as bathrooms, living rooms, and the kitchen are more important to me than my closets, laundry room, and mudroom. I may not focus on the low-priority areas as I prepare for my holiday get-together.
Tip # 2 Divide Tasks Into Smaller Pieces
Another one of the tips to organize and prioritize holiday cleaning is to divide tasks into smaller tasks. I try to break up any time-consuming task into smaller tasks. Large tasks can seem overwhelming. However, a large task divided into smaller tasks is often much easier to accomplish.
Kids Rooms
One example for me is organizing the kid's bedrooms. This is a large overall task and one of the important things I need to do to be organized for the holidays. One of the biggest challenges for me is that this could take several hours and I do not have several hours at one time to do this. I chose a high priority area in the kid's rooms to begin with. On my task list, I chose the closet as a top priority.
The reason this is a priority is that I use their walk-in closet in several ways. I use this area for toy storage such as dolls, dress-up clothes, wooden train tracks, and games. The closet is used to hang the current clothes for 3 kids, clothes they have outgrown, and winter gear.
The first day I worked on this area, I had a clear purpose in mind. I wanted to move outgrown clothing and rarely used toys to boxes destined for a garage sale or donation. It is easier to clear out unneeded items before starting the organization process. After I removed the unneeded items, I had more space to work with and less clutter. It took minimal time to complete this single task.
The kids' closet is just one example of this method. The first thing to do is to choose tasks with the highest priority. This will be different for each person. Choose the specific project or area that is a higher priority for you.
Project Management
We all do some project management every day. Try to have realistic expectations about what you can accomplish in the time you have set aside. You may not accomplish everything you intend to do. My personal and work to-do list is rarely all accomplished in one day. I often prioritize my tasks at home and work. There is a sense of accomplishment for most of us as we cross items off our to-do list.
Tip #3 Create A Plan To Stay Organized
Another one of the tips to organize and prioritize is focused on creating a plan to stay organized. Once you have organized your home in a way that is pleasing to you, you need to create some best practices to keep it that way. As an end result, I always have such a sense of accomplishment when I look around and my home is tidy.
It is never perfect, but it is nice to not worry about unexpected visitors dropping by and seeing my messy house. I have had that happen to me. Furthermore, my house does not have to look perfect, but for me to enjoy the visit, it should be tidy. I do not want to feel like I need to apologize to my guests for my less-than-tidy home.
Organize and Prioritize
Daily priorities can usually help you stay tidy and organized. Again, this will vary from person to person. For me, laundry is usually a daily priority. The reason laundry is a priority for me is due to a very tiny laundry room which has almost no storage space. This means I do laundry from start to finish daily. Your daily priorities will undoubtedly look different than mine.
Place for Everything
Another method that helps me keep clutter and disorder at bay is to ensure every item has a home. The other part of this equation is making sure all family members know where each item resides. If I know where the pens and pencils are supposed to be, I can return the stray ones I find all over the house.
Next whenever I leave a room I try to do a quick scan to see if there are items that need to be returned to the correct location. I should say this is my intention. I am not always successful at this step. One of the ways to make this easier is to do a quick scan before bedtime and do the same thing. If there are many items out of place, I bring along a basket to put things in as I journey to the next location.
My home is small and I can do this fairly easily. I have a one-level home and I can get to each room quickly. If you have a multi-level home, you could have a small basket at the top and bottom of the stairs to deposit items that need to go to the other level of your home. Find a system that works for you.
There you have it. Tips to organize and prioritize holiday cleaning. Three tips to help with prioritizing and organizing that just happens to arrive in time for the holidays. If my prioritization methods work, please use them. Working on these tasks daily makes it easier to prepare for bigger events like the holidays with less stress. Less stress means we can find more time to enjoy family and friends. Task prioritization allows us to use our time productively.
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