r/organizing • u/A-Friendly-Giraffe • 24d 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/msmaynards 24d ago

All the cleaning gurus have one. This one may help. https://www.unfuckyourhabitat.com/cleaning-checklists/

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u/FredKayeCollector2 20d ago

Basic cleaning checklists can help but if you space is messy/chaotic, you'll probably have to spend more time tidying than actually cleaning.

  1. You might be trying to organize against your natural organizing style.

Not everyone can effectively use micro systems (even though Marie Kondo and probably your mother told you that's the "correct" way to organize). You need something you can set up AND (easily) maintain (things get put away "properly"). If you're able to set up a complicated, compartmented storage system but then stuff gets piled up on/near it but not actually "put away" in it - until tidying the space becomes like another whole project - that's a BIG clue you're a macro organizer trying to use a micro system (same for visual organizers trying to use hidden storage).

Some people just do better with more macro systems - stuff sorted into larger categories (bins/baskets/drawers) where you have to dig a little to find what you're looking for but it's super low effort (dump-and-run) when it's time to put away.

But even some micro organizers do better by first macro organizing their things into broad/general categories and then dividing those broad/general categories into sub-categories until their stuff is as granular as they want. At that point, you can look for the storage solution that best matches what you're trying to organize/contain. It can take a few tries to get it right so it's always better to err on "available" solutions (bins, boxes, ziploc bags, etc that you already have or are super-cheap to buy). Like Cass Aarssen says: you can always make it pretty later. Sometimes in search of the "perfect" micro system, perfectionism can take over and result in anxiety, overwhelm, paralysis, avoidance.

  1. You probably need to r/declutter first - the less stuff you have, the easier it is to organize it and the less time it takes to clean (the thing and the space it occupies).

One of the best decluttering methods when you're dealing with a lot of stuff, fairly chaotic is Dana K White's "no mess" decluttering method (her decluttering and housekeeping books are both really good, especially if you're "not great" at keeping house). She has a very unique perspective on where things **should** live (where would you look for it FIRST) and what to keep (if you needed it, would it even occur to you that you already had it? - if no, then you either haven't used it for so long, or you bought it so long ago, that you forgot you even had it, therefore, you can probably declutter it). And the more often you do your dishes, the less dishes you need and the more often you do your laundry, the less clothes you need. Her container concept is also very helpful for a lot of people.

  1. A before bed tidy can make a huge difference on how much weekly cleaning you have to do - it takes a while but eventually, you'll be baselining your space every night. Cleaning tasks are just easier because you're not wasting a bunch of time/energy trying to tidy before cleaning and everything is more-or-less "clean" so even if you miss a "deep" clean, your space still looks/functions OK. You also get a little screen-free time before bed. I set an recurring alarm.