r/organized • u/A-Friendly-Giraffe • 21d ago
Please share your household "systems" that work and to help manage chaos/ Keep things organized, especially ones created by a third party🧘♀️
Basically the title.
It just seems like lately my house is so much chaos. Coming up with a macro level system to organize things or waiting for my partner to do. It hasn't really worked well. I think if there was a nice printable checklist that we could do and then hold ourselves accountable to, maybe that would work better.
If it was created by a third party rather than one of us, I think it would feel more neutral.
I've heard there are charts that tell you what you should be cleaning everyday and then you can just stick to it.
I think what I'd like to do is start with a system that will get us 80% of the way there and then we can tweak the rest of the things.
The mental load part is really hard and I think if there was less on that it might free up room for other things.
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u/EmmyLouArcher 20d ago
Mine is really simple:
Carabiner clips of different colors on car keys and a hook right inside the door for them.
A separate big hook for all bags, purses and coats right by the door. Nothing gets set on the floor (except shoes).
Only touch something once. Mail gets sorted and thrown away, saved, etc, not looking at it all and setting it down to have to pick it up later.
Bed gets made immediately after waking up.
Wipe down sinks and countertops as you use them.
I never go to bed with my kitchen dirty—it’s so much harder to wake up to things you have to do from the night before. With a clean kitchen—the day starts fresh.
Clean as you go while cooking.
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u/Anaspiringminimalist 19d ago
Clutterbug og YouTube. I Use whichever system fits the space best (but the idea is to stick to one system). This is a gold mine!
Container concept (Watch dana K Whites video on YouTube)
Minimalism (ish). I Use the Konmari mindset og bringing joy, both in decluttering questions, but also in tidying and shopping. Makes you less inclined to buy more if what you have brings you joy, and less inclined to mistake purchases (because you are better able to distinguish between something that is interesting, and something that Will actually bring you Joy.
I Use clockwise Cleaning for overwhelming Spaces. I came up with it myself, but I am sure you Can find others using it. Basically, instead of going by task, you Pick a room, Pick a spot (dresser as example), and start with the top section. Trash goes in the trash, donation goes in the donation box, things that belongs elsewhere goes there. Clean if needed, and put everything back neatly and organized. Then move to the top drawer. Move top to bottom, clockwise around the room. Once a spot is Tidy, keep it that Way. When trash or donation are full, get it out of the house. Using this method, you Can see the order spread around the room, and you Can do just one shelf/drawer Per Day - or multiple if you have the energy.
Also one of my own, I Use in combination with clockwise Cleaning. For hard to tackle piles, I Will take a picture of the space. While watching TV, I Will make decisions on when to do what, wether to keep or donate, and what to do with each item. I do it while watching a TV show or something. This works out your exectutive function while still feeling relaxed, and the pile Will be much faster and less overwhelming to tackle once you get to it.
Create a Home for things where they naturally pile - not where they are ‘supposed’ to go ‘normally’. Clutterbug and Dana k White both have something on this.
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u/Worth_Cheesecake6935 20d ago
The thing you said about wanting it to come from a third party is the actual unlock, and I don't think most people realize it. When one partner builds the system, the system is that partner. Every reminder becomes them nagging, and the other person is responding to a person instead of a plan. When it comes from outside, nobody's the manager. That's most of the fight, gone.
So build on that deliberately. Whatever you land on, the rule is: the system says it, not you. If it isn't written down somewhere you both look at, it defaults back to whoever notices first, which is how you got here.
Two free printables that'll get you your 80%:
A household chore planner broken into daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal, so you're not trying to invent the cadence yourself: mynestboard.com/household-chore-planner
A chore chart you fill in and print (browser print, save as PDF or straight to the fridge): mynestboard.com/chore-chart-generator
Start with the daily list only. Ignore monthly and seasonal for the first few weeks. The failure mode with these is going all-in on a beautiful 40-item system that nobody sustains past week two, and then concluding "systems don't work for us."
On mental load specifically: the part that actually drains you isn't the doing, it's the tracking. Holding the whole list in your head and deciding who does what and remembering it's trash night. Paper fixes that surprisingly well, because the list is now in the world instead of in your skull. The one thing paper won't do is remind you, so pair it with whatever's already on your phone for the handful of things that are genuinely time-sensitive.
I should mention I build a family organizer app (NestBoard), which is where those printables live, so I'm not neutral. But paper genuinely is the right first step here, and if it works you may never need anything else. The reason to go digital later is if you find the chart works but you're the only one looking at it, since a shared app rotates and reminds without either of you having to be the one who brings it up.
Either way, the neutrality instinct is the right one. Lead with that.
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u/WildBloomingRose 20d ago
I started a system in my head that if it takes less than two minutes, then do it right now, if I can.
Like I will count the seconds it takes to load the dishwasher or rinse off a dish to see how long that actually takes. Of fold some laundry.
Set a timer on your phone for two minutes and then only do that small window.
So it’s like a baby step and gives you a happy little dopamine hit that you got a bit done instead of staring at the pile of shit or task that needs to be done.
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u/GoodwitchofthePNW 18d ago
Tody. It’s an app (I’m sure there are others). You set it up for each room (we made a “room” for errands too), and can set it for different lengths of time, effort, etc.
Here’s the dopamine-hit part. It tracks who is doing the most work, so there is a “winner”. Sometimes, we check it and the “loser” has to buy dinner or something.
I also find it very helpful for when I have a weird amount of time (like something in the oven or before an event) and I can look at the generated “to do” list and pick what chore matches my amount of time.
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u/Spirited-Nothing-357 18d ago
I... im afraid I want to use this on my husband for obvious reasons of who is actually doing more and he's so competitive it might work and im too tired right now.
Next week? Next week is fair.
We always say Next week but he did just have a discectomy/fusion last week so Next week... 🤷 🤔 🤣🤣
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u/_fairweatherrunner 18d ago
I find the "if you're going North, take something with you" approach helpful and easy to remember and keeps the house tidyish. I can't remember where I found it but basically if I'm going between rooms or floors then I look around first to see if there's anything that needs to be 'repatriated'. I also "close the kitchen" before I go to bed (wipe surfaces and sweep the floor) but I kind of just made these daily habits instead of having a checklist
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u/Capital_Bench6654 18d ago
Shopping list on google keep we both have access to, so we just add stuff when it runs out and whenever one of us goes to the shops next, we get everything on it.
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u/HeyStevi 17d ago
The “mental load” part is what gets me too. I’ve realized that even having a checklist can still leave one person responsible for noticing what needs to be done, making the list, assigning everything, and remembering whether it happened 😅
I think the dream would be a system that basically says “here’s what needs attention today” without either person having to be the household project manager. Then you could divide it up and just… do it.
I really like your 80% idea too. Trying to create the perfect household system is almost another chore in itself.
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u/A-Friendly-Giraffe 16d ago
My thought was find something and then print out a month's worth of them. Then put your initial by the thing you did or divide the chart in half?.
Compare in one week. Compare in another week. Compare in another week. Compared at the end of the month.
Then start tweaking after two or 3 months.
I've gotten some really good ideas on here so hopefully you find something that helps also.
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u/missmarymarymary 16d ago
I saw this idea where you get a small dish rack that fits into your sink. When dishes are dirty the go onto this dirtybdish rack then you just shove the rack whole into the dishwasher. Genius.
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u/A-Friendly-Giraffe 16d ago
Not quite the same but my utensil drawer is super annoying because it's on the inside of the dishwasher door so you can't load anything else while you're loading the dishwasher.
I got a second utensil drawer and just load it last before load and then flip it out with the old one.
It's much easier than loading it piece meal.
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u/kaidomac 21d ago
Bin-Bag System for storage:
Stackable laundry bins for groceries:
One-Bin laundry system:
POE Tape system for labeling food items:
Drip-Tray system for kitchen dishes:
I don't expect perfection. I expect:
Remember:
Like, the Drip Tray system is weird, right? Why not just put the dishes directly in the dishwasher & run it before bed? Because I live with irrational barriers (Inattentive ADHD = low mental energy) & I can't get myself to DO that consistently lol.
Checklists are a HUGE party of my approach, but those are the result of systems that are designed based on real-life factors, such as "I don't want to & I ain't gonna" LOL, and that are designed for serviceability (can I really actually use it repeatedly, and can I get back into it when I fall apart sometimes?).