The theme this month is Organizing Your Life, Home, and Office for more Fun and Flow. This month, we’ll comb through the main areas of your life and put some simple, actionable routines and practices into place and, as a result, you’ll get to see firsthand how everything flows better, faster, and easier!

Think about one corner of your house that tends to collect clutter…

For me, it’s that tiny piece of kitchen counter next to the coffee maker where all the post-it notes and things that simply don’t have a place gather, creating a mile-high mess. It starts off all nice and tidy, then things that come in via Amazon get waylaid until we put it away. Husband has to keep out his meds or else he’ll forget. Assorted masks. Earbuds that I use when I go on walks, pencils, paint brushes, a ruler, business cards, papers, magazines… It all goes here and then on Friday, when I do my decluttering and cleaning, I put away the obvious things but the paper magazine pile gets bigger.

Maybe for you, it’s a child’s messy bedroom or even your home office.

How do you feel seeing that clutter? Do you just close the door because it’s too much to think about in that moment? Do you just want to swipe the papers into the trash can without looking for anything important? Does your body have a physical reaction when you enter the room, such as a brief tightening of your chest?

Clutter is chaos and it most definitely affects the energy in our home and our physical energy.  In this episode, we are going to clear out those energy blocks by creating a cleaning routine.

Welcome to a new Systems Sunday! The theme this month is Organizing Your Life, Home, and Office for more Fun and Flow. This month, we’ll comb through the main areas of your life and put some simple, actionable routines and practices into place and, as a result, you’ll get to see firsthand how everything flows better, faster, and easier!

I am Lisa Wells, Your Virtual Assistant Trainer.

Today’s episode is Cultivating a Clean and Happy Home.

Think about one corner of your house that tends to collect clutter…

For me, it’s that tiny piece of kitchen counter next to the coffee maker where all the post-it notes and things that simply don’t have a place gather, creating a mile-high mess. This is what it looks like at the end of the week. It starts off all nice and tidy. Then things that come in via Amazon get waylaid until we put it away. Husband has to keep out his meds or else he’ll forget. Assorted masks. The earbuds that I use when I go on walks, pencils, paintbrushes, a ruler, business cards, papers, magazines. My dog’s CBD goes here for now because it’s convenient because my new adopted dog likes to go after the other dog’s food so I can’t leave them for a minute and I give them their CBD right after morning feeding. It’s the place where everything gathers and also the first thing I see when I walk into the house.

Maybe for you, it’s a child’s messy bedroom or even your home office.

How do you feel seeing that clutter? Do you just close the door because it’s too much to think about in that moment? Do you just want to swipe the papers into the trash can without looking for anything important? Does your body have a physical reaction when you enter the room, such as a brief tightening of your chest?

Clutter is chaos and it most definitely affects the energy in our home and our physical energy. So, let’s clear out those energy blocks by creating a cleaning routine.

We all know how distracting a messy desk or home office can be or how impossible it is to get anything done when there are dirty dishes in the sink. Try the following tips to eliminate the distractions during your day:

1. Designate a “Deep Clean” day. You’ll want to keep up with smaller tasks during the week, but instead of trying to clean everything, every day–try choosing a Deep Clean day each week. You can choose to deep clean your whole place, or deep clean just one room and rotate each week.

2. Develop a daily cleaning routine. Is there one area of your life that tends to collect clutter or drive you crazy when you see it? Devote 15 minutes a day to keeping that one (or a few) spaces clean.

As a small business owner, this might also be your desk–or the “hot spots” around your house that tend to always collect clutter.

In your home office, think about how you feel walking in and seeing a clean desk. A neat office means it’ll feel nice and cozy, and you’ll actually WANT to spend more time there. It’s worth the 15 minutes a day! Clear the papers, spend some time shredding, empty the garbage, and avoid your office becoming the “throw all” room for clothing donations and anything else that is not business-related.

Another distraction for many people is in the kitchen. We downsized a couple of years ago and went from a fairly large kitchen with double sinks and lots of counter space to a pretty small one. I love it because I can actually stand in the middle and access all the cupboards and drawers with minimal effort. But this also means things can pile up even after just one meal.

Full disclosure, I enjoy cleaning but if a messy sink is your downfall, decide how often you’ll do dishes. My routine is that at the end of the night, I put away any leftovers, load the dishwasher, add coffee to the coffee maker for the next morning, wipe down countertops, and spray the sink with disinfectant and wipe down. What is something that you can create that you can do every night a dishes routine, not a lot of time, so that don’t ruin your life and productivity? Think about that.

3. Tackle your never-ending piles of laundry. Do you live out of laundry baskets and/or feel like you’re never caught up? Between everyday clothes, workout clothes, and kids’ sports uniforms, this chore can seem never-ending. Couple this with kids who don’t know how to place their dirty clothes in the hamper yet and you have one more source of clutter.

Start with these laundry organizing tips and then tweak them to serve your life and your schedule:

• Choose a laundry day or choose to do a load every morning. This will vary depending on the size of your family, how much laundry you normally go through, and whether or not you have a washing machine in your home or have to go to a laundromat. Either way, pick one and stick to it.
  • Pro tip: Do the “hardest” load first if you choose to do a laundry day. This includes if you do at-home dry cleaning, or items that need a special type of wash, etc. Fold it and put it away before moving on to the next one. Then, work on the “easier” laundry like towels, etc.–they all go in one place, and they’re easy to fold vs. other loads of laundry. This will ensure you have the energy to get through all of it and get it put away in one day.
• Enlist your family to help. Littles can sort whites, colors, and towels. Older kids can certainly help fold and put away their laundry. Growing up, we used to live in trailers and apartment complexes. When we finally moved into a house when I was in the 6th grade, this was my thing. Not having to spend an entire day at the laundromat or making multiple trips to the laundry building in the apartment complex was heaven. I find doing laundry very zen and it definitely fit in with my personality of loving to do lists and being able to check things off.

These are just a few examples of things that cause clutter and chaos. If these aren’t your problem areas, by all means, tackle something that causes you stress and chaos. And don’t overthink these plans. Overthinking can either lead you into “analysis paralysis” or will make a plan much more complicated than it needs to be. Think about how can you resolve your problems spots in as few steps as possible?

If you enjoyed this episode and want more tips and strategies, check out my new Organize Your Life, Home, Office & Routines Training system. In this training, you’ll learn how to organize everything from your home office to your self-care routines (and all the things in between!) with just a few hours a week, so you can accomplish both what you need to and what you’d love to. You can find the product below or head over to my VA Business Builder Boutique by clicking on Shop in the menu bar.

Join me next week when I’ll give you more organization strategies and how to refuel your spirit with regular routines. See you then!

Catch up on other “Organizing Your Life, Home, and Office for more Fun and Flow” episodes:

• [Video] Refueling Your Spirit with Regular Routines
• [Video] How to Build a Less-Stressy Business Day
• [Video] Finesse Your Finances

Did you enjoy this episode and want to put it into action? Check out this action kit!