How To Make Good Decisions In Your Home
On The One Hand…
We love the expression, “choose your hard”. We don’t remember where or when we first heard it, but it was definitely in reference to weight loss and health. As in, exercise is difficult but so is being out of shape…choose your hard. Or making healthy food choices can be challenging but so is being overweight…choose your hard.
On The Other Hand…
The more we thought about it, the more we realized that it applies to our work as well. There’s no question that running an efficient home is easier said than done. Decluttering is hard but so is not being able to find anything to wear. Cleaning the bathroom is the worst, but so is living in a space that makes you miserable.
The Struggle Is Real
If making good decisions were easy, we’d all be living lives of ease and perfection. But, obviously, life is a constant struggle between what we want to have and what we want to do. Unfortunately, we don’t have the answers for every area of life. There are people who have been studying and researching this topic for their entire careers (we love Gretchen Rubin and James Clear), and we are always learning and trying to do better. But through all our years of working with clients, we have come up with a few strategies to help you make the right decisions in your home.
Find Your Why…
Laser focus on the reason why you want to have a well functioning home. Is it because the clutter is causing your stress? Is it because you’re wasting money repeatedly buying things you can’t find? Or maybe it’s because you don’t have a social life because you’re embarrassed to have friends over. Whatever the reason, be clear with yourself. If you have a purpose, it will be easier to stay on track. Don’t feel like clearing off your kitchen counter? We get it, it’s hard work. But then you’ll have to cancel plans for the dinner party you want to have, and that’s hard too.
Create Good Habits
Choosing to have a home you love doesn’t mean you’ll have to give up every spare moment to cleaning and organizing. Consistent habits can be game changers when it comes to efficiency. One of our favorite habits is to empty the dishwasher while the coffee is brewing. It requires zero thought and in the few spare minutes it takes for that magical elixir to finish, we have already completed a task that will make the day run more smoothly. Similar habits can be created with laundry (throw in a load while the kids are getting ready for school) or cleaning off the counters (wipe them down every night before you turn off the lights). Choosing to implement simple repeated tasks turns hard jobs into manageable ones.
Set Yourself Up For Success
Using the example of weight loss, it wouldn’t make sense to load up your freezer with ice cream. There’s no point in making a situation as difficult as possible. Similarly, you can make choices that will ensure success in your home. For one thing, watch the front door. Be extremely intentional with the items you buy and bring into your house. It will be nearly impossible to maintain a decluttered home if you’re continually adding possessions. Then follow the one in-one out rule. If you found the perfect pair of new shoes and decided to bring them home, another pair has got to go. It may be hard in the moment to pass up that marked down shirt, but it will also be hard to shove it into your already full drawer.
Make It Easy On Yourself
We understand that knowing what to do doesn’t mean it will be easy. But the truth is, not doing something can also make your life hard. When we have to choose between two difficult choices, we try to choose the one that will ultimately lead to success. Organizing our garage when we’d rather be out enjoying the spring weather can be a drag, but not having a place to put all the gardening tools and sports equipment will make the summer less fun for everyone. When you’re trying to create a better life for yourself, weigh the hard vs the hard and choose the right one!
