Hello, and welcome!
Today we are excited to share some tips with you all that have led to some serious relief from the messy homes Eric and I were so used to earlier in our lives. At some point–if you are drowning in clutter–you may think to yourself, “There has got to be a better way to do this.” And there is!
The feeling that you get when you walk into a clean, tidy environment is a feeling that never gets old, and it’s something we want to help you achieve so you can feel good in the place you call home. In today’s video, Eric and I are sharing 3 ideas we hope will help you to minimize the piles and create more order and structure in your home. Simply hit “play” below to get started, or scroll down to skim the show notes!
How It Started (and My Story Growing Up):
I grew up in a home where we had what my mom called the “dropsies.” We would leave dirty dishes out, we’d drop our backpacks in random places, and our house was always messy because we never put the “stuff” away.
Once I became an adult and had my own family, I realized it was really hard to have piles of clutter and no system in place. I didn’t want our house to feel like a museum or for everyone to be stressed about keeping it clean. I knew that I wanted it to be clean enough to be healthy, but messy enough to be happy!
Over the years Eric and I have learned to create a system so it doesn’t feel like a lot of work and there’s not just one person doing all the cleaning. Now, we work together to create a home where we feel like we can invite guests at any moment.
3 Ideas to Help You Minimize the Piles and Create More Structure in Your Home:
In the video, Eric and I share 3 simple steps you can easily adopt to help get yourself in a better situation. We want you to live pile-free and be able to have the space, clarity, and organization to pursue the things you’re excited about! So here are our simple steps to get started:
#1. Do a declutter of the house. (If you have years of clutter to go through, it’s not something you’ll get through in a weekend.) But you can just start somewhere that will give you momentum, like one room, drawer, or desk.
#2. “Reset the room!” This idea came from the book “Atomic Habits.” This habit can help create awareness among the family. When you leave a room, you look around to see what needs to be done to leave the room looking like it did before you originally went in there. You may need to put dishes away, fold blankets, throw away trash, etc., but in 60 seconds or so you can keep the clutter from piling up over time.
#3. Training the family! (Yes, it can be done!) You don’t need to force it, but when you have conversations with your family around keeping your home clean, you’re able to address issues you may be facing and building systems and routines to solve the problem. Look at cleaning as a relationship-building activity–time you can spend together as a family that is fun and positive instead of a punishment.
The “Karate Kid” Idea: Here we mention a friend of ours who took the idea of conditioning from the movie The Karate Kid. In order to get her daughter to get into the habit of hanging her jacket up on the coat rack when she came home from school (as opposed to dropping it whenever she came in), she had her hang her coat up multiple times to condition the motion and routine in her mind.
Our Challenge to You:
However you choose to address the habits that lead to clutter in your home is entirely up to you— but we encourage you to start where you can and involve your whole family! Your house is meant to be live in and enjoyed, and we hope these steps can help you feel like it’s a warm and happy environment for everyone.
If you’ve been looking to make that change in your home, we encourage you to take an account of where you are now and what you’d like your future environment to be. Then figure out a few simple steps you can take in order to achieve that relief— and prepare to enjoy the tremendous benefits of a structured and tidy home!
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I just love you guys. You are really helping me.
Oh, I am so happy to hear that, Paula! Keep up the great work!
I’m not sure resetting the room would work for my younger children. But one thing we do to keep the house manageable is pick up each evening – mostly all the toys and books out on the floor. This helps the house stay presentable and keeps it from getting too messy most of the time. It helps that we have decluttered so there is not too much stuff to begin with. Keeping things reasonably tidy helps keep my stress levels low and gives me the mental space I need, too.
We’re using the resetting the room concept
Wish i knew about that when i was raising my kids
We too would put on fun music and run around the house to clean it up when the kids were little.
Sounds like you made some great memories in the process of raising your children! 😀 So glad you are here with us!
I keep paying month after month, but have not been following. It has been so anxiety-producing to do this that I just hold on sometimes, to you.
Now, I am still in and am getting somewhere. I have noticed that the foundation of my anxious feeling is that I will find a lurking disaster and will have to face a sad thing such as a check that never got deposited and now is no good.
Well, ty Jesus! I am still here, I am still IN! No disasters have taken place at all.
Many many thanks to you!
We are so happy you are here, and we promise you’re not alone in those feelings of anxiety. I’ve found that it’s helpful to recognize the GOOD that those feelings represent. You don’t want to waste money, you know that there’s something better out there for you and your family, you want to use your resources wisely…. Those are valuable desires and characteristics, so your mind wants to hold onto the anxiety in order to be true to those feelings. Dr. Burns’ book “Feeling Great” taught me about the magic dial. You learn to dial those feelings down so you can still honor what they represent, but you don’t paralyze yourself. You are here and moving forward, and the whole community is here to support you! Keep moving forward! 🙂
Random question. I really like your white tray that you have your fruit in. Where did you get those from?
Hi Carlie! They were at Sam’s Club years ago. It’s a tray set for serving a nice dinner, but we just use it for all our produce. ❤️