Life Management Strategy: Back To Ready

     This time of year brings change.  Seasons change, school years are end, schedules and priorities shift.   Change is great, but these changes and the summertime lack of structure can leave our homes and offices disorganized.  Here's a simple idea to keep things in (relatively) good shape:  "Back To Ready". 

      We used to call this strategy Back To Normal, but as my 7-year-old always asks, "What is Normal, anyway?"  It is a favorite for myself and my clients (I've suggested it to 2 clients just this week and one suggested I share, so I am!).  It is a proactive, positive step to manage our lives and spaces, and it prepares us for whatever the week throws our way.  We can’t control what comes up, but we can control how we deal with it.

      Working from home, it’s difficult to focus on work when my home feels cluttered and unfocused, though in my defense, to a casual observer my home would not look cluttered.  But I know when things are left undone, and because of who I am, I have a very low tolerance for disorganization.

     "Back to Ready" is very important for my success!  What does "Ready" look like?

• Beds made; Bedrooms tidied up / surfaces cleared off;
• Clothes and shoes dealt with- Dirty ones in the hamper, clean ones put away;
• Breakfast dishes in the sink or dishwasher, table wiped off;
• Bathroom cleaned up, towels hung up, surfaces clear,mirror wiped clean;
• Papers gathered together for me to work on them, or purge or shred them.

     "Back to Ready" takes 30 minutes on a Monday morning (or occasionally Sunday night) for us, but you can pick your own day!  It involves starting laundry and the dishes, then going room by room and collecting clutter, emptying trash and vacuuming.  I start the process while the kids are still home, so they can clean up their messes and put away their laundry.  We choose Mondays because we are very hard on our home on the weekends!

      Don’t waste time and mental energy wondering "Where to Start?", choose one spot, and start there every week.  You can choose the easiest room, or the most public room (the entry way and living room), or the hardest room (kitchen) first.  It's up to you, just choose.  And remember, only a few minutes in each room-this is not major cleaning, this is maintenance and preparing for the week ahead. 

      I carry a notebook to jot down the random ideas that occur to me during this particular exercise.  The ideas could read "Need laundry detergent, snacks for baseball, new sneakers for son #1, bake cookies for friend, change smoke detector batteries, etc."

      Look around your home this week, determine 5 or 6 tasks that would help you and your family prepare for the week, and complete those tasks early to get you and your home Back To Ready.  Summer is a great time to change up your routine, so give it a try!

Copyright (C) 2012 M. Colleen Klimczak, CPO