By Christina Morton DesAuguste
Christina is the founder of The Organizing Company and has been organizing professionally since 2013. She is currently loving Grüns daily supplements, her electric fireplace, and the Olive & June gel system.
No A.I. copy & paste here! All our blogs are still written by humans.
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As you may know, I hosted an Organizing Challenge this month. One of the things I made sure to focus on for each and every area of the house was how to maintain it.
This is not the sexy part. This is not what people want to see reels about. This is the part that people skip because it isn’t fun to implement. Because it doesn’t make great before and after photos. But it is the final piece to make sure that all the hard work you do wasn’t for nothing.
Of course you start to set yourself up for success by how you create the order in the first place. Where do you determine homes for most used items? What containers do you use? Do you have buy-in from all household members? And is the home organized for your preferences, or for what will actually work for your family?
Thinking through all those things and using a proven organizing method are going to help you create beautiful order.
But organizing isn't complete without a system to maintain it.
If you don’t have a plan in place and expectations set, it won’t magically maintain itself. It will look pretty for a few days, or a few weeks if you’re lucky, and then the chaos will creep back in and leave you feeling defeated and hopeless.
Sound familiar?
Of course it does. Because no one talks about this. You don’t see organizing methods that include a step for this very often. It’s an afterthought, not an intentional, strategic, crucial part of the process.
Unless you’re going through my process. Then it is impossible to ignore. The students in my Challenge have probably heard me talk about “new rhythms” at least 20 times during our Office Hours sessions. It’s central to the process.
So let’s talk about how to Maintain It, whatever ‘it’ is.
How are you going to keep your kitchen counters clear every day? What will you do to make sure clothes get put back properly in the closet instead of just crammed on shelves? How can you make sure you don’t spend your entire life picking up toys in the playroom?
I’m glad you asked.
I like to have clients answer these questions (it’s best if you actually write down your answers):
Who will be responsible for maintaining the organization in this space?
I can’t tell you how you should divvy up responsibility in your home, but I will say that it helps kids and teenagers build self-esteem and valuable life skills by requiring them to do chores. Teaching them to be responsible for their areas/stuff is a gift that keeps on giving.
For each area, determine whose responsibility it is to keep it tidy, and get them involved in the following questions as much as possible to create buy-in/ownership instead of it feeling like mom is just imposing new rules.
Why do you want to keep this space organized? Why is it important for you and your family/roommates? How will it benefit everyone?
Have each person share at least one benefit of staying organized. Remind yourself of why you did all the work to get organized in the first place. This will help keep you motivated to prevent things from regressing to their former state of disorder.
What are the 3-5 biggest areas in this room that will need the most upkeep? What gets used the most? What areas tended to get messy the fastest in the past?
Common answers here might be:
Dishes in the sink/on the counters
Supplements/pantry items left on kitchen counters
Trash piling up or left on counters
Laundry on the floor or overflowing baskets (including clean laundry left in baskets)
Toiletries left on the bathroom counter
Travel items not put away after a trip
Holiday items not put away promptly after the holidays
Cords and devices left on counters/coffee tables
Piles of “to do” items
Piles of returns
Piles of stuff on the landing to go up/downstairs
Piles of stuff right inside the garage door to put away in the garage
Toys all over the playroom floor
*Note: this is a good time to double check that you’ve implemented a solution/organization to help with some of these things. That could be extra trash cans, better sized hampers, or a bin to hold/carry returns and act as a boundary. Make sure you have the physical organization taken care of and then return to working on the maintenance piece.
What new habits do you need to build to keep things organized? Think of a habit as something you do immediately in order to prevent disorder.
For example, cleaning as you cook, putting the scissors back right after you use them, making sure to put your shoes back on the shoe rack when you take them off, etc.
This is where you can set the general expectations of “this is how we do it in our house”. These things should be simple and very easy. Make sure your expectations are reasonable and realistic. Expecting someone to take any piece of recycling directly to the big bins on the side of the house every time is unrealistic. There needs to be a place to collect recycling inside the house that is then transferred to the outdoor bins. So the habit in that example would be immediately cutting down boxes so they fit in the indoor recycling receptacle and no recycling is left on the floor, etc.
If you involve your family in coming up with what is realistic you will have better luck at it succeeding than if you just tell them what to do. :)
What new routines/rhythms do you need to implement? Think of a routine or rhythm as something you do around the same time every day/week to restore order.
Habits are the first line of defense, but we know life gets crazy and sometimes things aren't put back immediately. Building a routine into your schedule makes sure that you have time set aside to restore order and keep things from getting out of hand and needing a huge overhaul.
I like using the term ‘new rhythm’ because the word routine often feels very restrictive and structured. That doesn’t appeal to everyone. But a rhythm to your day just means you do things in the same order every day, even if the specific time is different. It means you’re making room in your day for tidying and cleaning and working, and it just becomes a normal part of your life and lifestyle.
Here are some ideas you can steal and adapt:
Designate a day of the week for different tasks/chores, such as mail and bills day on Mondays, kids laundry day Tuesdays, etc.
Establish a morning and evening routine for yourself and your kids. Do the same things in the same order. Not only will this help keep you organized and make sure you have time for everything each day, but it’s also been shown to help with better sleep and productivity. List everything from making your bed to getting out the door.
Build a ‘welcome home’ rhythm such as: Hang coat, put shoes away, empty backpack/workbag as needed, decompress/snack, etc. Think through what needs to happen before dinner gets made, etc.
Have a 5-10 minute pick up each night with the whole family. Set a daily alarm on your phone to go off right after dinner and everyone does their areas before you gather back together to watch TV or play a game. This is great for kids of all ages and adults. The key is everyone is taking responsibility for their own stuff and you’re all doing it at the same time. No one feels singled out and it emphasizes the community aspect of living together and taking care of the home together.
Implement a clean up rule before leaving the playroom for the next activity. Your kids can get in the rhythm of always picking up their toys before they leave the room/area to go to school, or eat lunch, or take a nap, or go to a friend’s house. It can be a normal part of their daily routine.
Loading the dishwasher each night and unloading each morning.
Folding and hanging laundry the same day it gets washed. This means planning the time on your calendar to allow you to get through each aspect of doing laundry instead of just enough time to wash and dry and then pull a few pieces out of the dryer for the next day.
Now that you've thought through what needs to happen and when it needs to happen, add these tasks to your daily calendar or routine list/chore chart as a visual reminder.
Set recurring reminders/events, make a chart to hang on the wall, and make it all official! It’s easy to forget your intentions when you don’t see them. Building these new habits and rhythms will take time, so really do make sure you give yourself and your family the visual reminders needed to have success.
What seasonal maintenance is needed? ie changing clothes out for winter/summer, summer toys more accessible in the garage, spring cleaning the kitchen, etc.
Add these to your calendar now too. Even if dates change, it will remind you to reschedule around that time. It’s easy for a year to go by without revisiting things if you don’t have reminders in place, so make time to plan ahead today.
What rewards or incentives can you give to keep things tidy? Include rewards for yourself, too!
This is a great thing to let your kids set what motivates them! And rewarding yourself for hard work is just as important and impactful, so think about what would be motivating for you.
I know this may seem like a lot and it’s probably not the fun stuff to work on, but it is SO very worth it and you will be so glad that you took the time to set yourself up for success. Especially if you’ve tried to organize in the past and everything went back to the way it was before.
This time will be different because you’ve gone through the whole process this time. Great work, friend!
Happy Organizing!
Christina
PS: If you haven’t gotten yourself organized yet and are wondering where in the world to start, my free guide will walk you through each step of the organizing process so you can finally create order and calm in your home. Get it free here.
January 31st, 2025
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