Know Yourself; Stick to your Routines

It is so easy to fall into the trap of doing what others think we should be doing — from the kind of bins we use to organize to how we manage our days. The truth is there is a pattern for you that works for you. And when you find that pattern it is much easier to manage your home. This is how I flow from roller coaster to sloth and still manage to keep a home that is relatively orderly.

I have ebbs and flows in my life. I go from being like a rollercoaster that races through as fast as possible creating and generating ideas and projects to a sloth that hangs out and rests. I have very little in between. It is my natural patter, and rather than push through it, I own it.

This is the second Spring that I have slothed. And I am marking this slothing, so that it doesn’t surprise me again.

Here is the thing, my home is not out of control…despite my slothing around. This is because I have very ingrained routines that keep my home running even when I am slothing a bit. These routines are strong because I listened to my natural instincts. I created systems that match me and my family.

Recently, after an organizing session, my client emailed me. She said, “You are a miracle! Things are staying where they go and it feels so nice.” It is really always so lovely to get these kinds of compliments. The reality is that I just helped the client find their own life pattern, and encouraged them to follow it.

I come to client work ready to listen to client needs, and then I implement strategies based on those needs. For example, when I was working with this particular client she asked me about where to store the sunscreen. I turned the question back on her and asked, “where would you look for sunscreen?” She said she’d look for it with her travel gear. This client indicated that she takes a lot of beach trips, so this makes a lot of sense for her. Thus, I told her to store it with the travel gear.

I had another client asked me if clear or opaque bins were better. I told her it depends on your purpose. If you want to see the contents, then clear bins are best. If you want to hid the contents (or want a cleaner look) then opaque bins are better. We decided on clear bins for her kids’ room and opaque bins for her room. Also, the bins in her kids room would have changing contents, so it was nice to see what was in them. The bins in her room did not change as often, as such she could label them.

Jenna Kutcher talked about this on her blog aptly titled, “Screw Morning Routines, Do This Instead!” Here, this 7 figure earning mom-boss, shares her resistance to the early morning routine. She gives her readers a list of other ways that you can reset. And she admits (gasp) that she has a fluid routine that she is open to changing as the seasons of her life change.

It really is easy to do what you see others doing and think that will make your life “perfect”, but the truth is, our lives are so much better than “perfect”, they are real. And just like the seasons, it is natural to change and shift. I find that the best way to manage our homes is to be aware of those changes and shifts, and then use them to your advantage rather than resisting them.