ASK THE ORGANIZER: I'm overwhelmed! Where and How Do I Start?
Q. These last two years have been very difficult. Between work, taking care of my sick mother, and raising my kids, I haven't had time to take care of the house and now it’s a complete mess and I’m embarrassed when guests come over. I feel very overwhelmed by the thought of trying to get all these rooms organized and clean again and I’m not sure where or how to start!
A. First of all, feeling overwhelmed in this situation is perfectly understandable. Working, caring for a sick relative, and raising children are all full-time jobs. When you combine all three, it makes sense that there were simply not enough hours in the day to also keep your house organized. It’s important to give yourself grace and know that the process of reorganizing will take time. If you let your house go for two years, it’s going to take longer than a week to get it back together, and that’s okay!
Start small and slow, and before you know it, you will see progress in your home. Below are a few simple steps to get you back on track.
Do a quick clean - Take a large trash bag to each room of the house and throw away obvious garbage (old papers, food, broken items). Then gather any dishes or cups you see around the house and put them in the sink or dishwasher. Sweep your home for dirty
laundry and bring everything to your laundry room or put it in laundry bags for washing. Simply completing these three tasks will reduce the clutter in your home and light up that feeling of achievement in your brain, which will help you keep going!Start small and slow - Label three bags or boxes, ‘trash’, ‘donate’, ‘put away’. Don’t try to tackle a whole room at once; that will lead to overwhelm. Instead, choose one small area like your kitchen table, one drawer, or one shelf. As you’re going through the items, be
honest with yourself. If you haven’t used something in a year, get rid of it. Right now, it’s far more important to clean out your space than it is to keep every little thing you’ve acquired over the years. Every day, do one small area and don’t push yourself to do any more. After a few weeks, you might feel ready to take on two or three drawers in one day or ask your kids (if they’re old enough) to help you with a sorting project. Every time you finish an
organizing session, take the trash out and bring the donation bags out to your car, or ask a friend or family member if they’d be willing to take them for you, so the clutter continues to leave your space. If you know where things go in the ‘put away’ bag, put them there
immediately. If you don’t have a designated spot for them yet, put them in the room where you eventually want them to go, and once that room is decluttered, you can find a place for everything.Work with your brain, not against it - Negative self-talk, beating yourself up, or shaming yourself for letting your house get messy only makes it harder to create positive change. Be kind to yourself, encourage yourself the way you’d encourage your best friend or your child. Life is hard and messy for everyone; no one is perfect! Give yourself credit for all the things you’re doing well in a day and know that change takes time. And don’t be afraid to ask for
help. It can make all the difference to have help from a friend, family member, or community member, even if they are just sitting with you while you sort through a pile of papers. Turn on your favorite show or movie and go through that catch-all bin. You don’t have to suffer through this process. You have my permission to make it fun!
Remember to take it slow and give yourself time. I’m rooting for you and I know you can get your home organized again! ~ Jolie
