When do you find the time to organise?

[Needlifeorganising]

Just read another thread about organising cupboards and drawers etc and I’m desperate to go through our house and do this. Every time I open a drawer I think I really need to clear this out. But… I just don’t have the time and the very little time I do have I just don’t have the energy or the inclination.

AIBU to think that with young children constantly in your care and other things happening in your life that it’s just impossible to get and stay organised?

Or do people really manage it? I’m not talking stay at home mums who’s children are school age (no disrespect intended at all as I know how hard the majority of stay at home mums work).

If you do manage it, and believe IABU, please tell me how you manage it.

I read exactly this when I opened this thread. While we are here, would be good to discuss methods to organise this too..

I am very minimalist at home, and that makes it all so much easier.

Aside from that, lots of proper storage, and every year I take two days holiday to spend in the house on my own (don’t tell another living soul) and I go through absolutely everything and have a huge declutter and tidy. It sounds excessive but it frees up all that headspace for the whole year where I don’t have to worry about it.

Short bursts - little and often is the key. Set a timer for 10 minutes a day to declutter just one drawer or shelf. Get in to the habit of getting rid of at least one old item you don't use before buying a new item.

I'm a big believer in 'ten minute tidy' sessions. We put a timer on and just do a big blast - if there are two of us, or three or four that turns into 20,30,or 40 minutes, you'd be surprised how much can get done in a 10 (20/30/40)minute blast.

Recently I've started doing a 10 minutes per room challenge. So, I'll focus on doing 10 minutes in each of the lounge/kitchen/dining room/hallway/kids room per day. Soon adds up, and you can squeeze in 10 minutes everywhere over the course of the day, even if it's just one drawer or shelf at a time. I was skeptical but after just a couple of weeks I'm seeing a difference. This morning I emptied and wiped the cutlery drawer while the kettle was boiling, tonight it's shoes in the hallway as soon as we all get in. I'm planning on an hour focus per week too, so sort the box of doom in the bedroom, tidy the shed, full wardrobe sort out etc.

I'm hoping to keep chipping away so that by Christmas I'll have a completely tidy and decluttered house. (I know it's months and months away, but I've tried BIG decluttering before and I get really overwhelmed). I can do 10 minutes here and there every day, and that's an hour a day over the course of a day, just in teeny steps.

@JobChangeSoonPlease yes we must prioritise! We need to be dealing with sorting the right drawers!