Home organization has become way too complicated. There, I said it. From TV shows to billions of Pinterest search results to entire lines of products at Target, organization is now less about systems and more about flashiness. I'm pumping the brakes on all of it.
Today, I'm going to give you 6 simple and highly effective ways to keep your house organized in as little as 10 minutes at a time.
Here’s what you’ll hear in this episode:
Why being “organized” doesn’t mean what we think it means.
How to change your mindset and “become” an organized person
6 simple strategies you can use today to keep your house organized in 10 minutes or less
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EPISODE 281 TRANSCRIPT
Well, hello there, friends. Welcome back to the Mother Like a Boss™ Podcast. Here we are. Again, it's your host, Kendra Hennessy. I'm pretty excited for this conversation today because it involves one of my favorite topics and that is organization. Staying organized, getting organized, being organized, all the things before we get into all of the stuff that I have for you.
I do want to say that there is a huge misconception about what organization actually means. And it's the reason that getting organized and quotation marks my air quotes, feel so difficult. It's the reason that there are people that feel like they're just not naturally organized and then people feel like they are naturally organized.
Now I do think that there are, obviously just like there are different personality traits and people have different strengths. There are some people that may think in a more organized fashion, uh, for some people being organized is just the way that they think it's also the way that they stay.
It's the way that they fight off stress, I'll say is when, when things are organized in a certain fashion, then it helps them to feel like they're more in control. And for some people it's just not how they think. And they don't really care that much. But I will also say that anyone can learn to be organized.
We have to get away from the notion that organization is about the tools that you use and that it is about. We have to separate organization from hyper organization. Now, hyper organization is the kind of stuff that you see when you're looking on Pinterest. So say you did a search for organized pantry on Pinterest.
You're going to get a lot of search results that have hyper organized pantries, meaning. They have gone to the container store or target or gotten off Amazon, you know, all of these plastic containers that hold their different kinds of cereal and pasta and rice and oats and flour, and they all are matching and everything is coordinated and labeled with really pretty labels.
That's hyper organization. There's nothing wrong with it. That's wonderful if that works for you and you have the time and the energy and the bandwidth to. Awesome. That's not what makes something organized though. Those are tools. Those are supplies, dozer, things that visually make your space more appealing, but they don't keep you organized.
Organization is about systems. It's about how easy is it for me to. Find something when I need it. How easy is it for me to put something away when I'm done with it? And if someone else were to come into my house or my space, my phone, digital, whatever, if they were to come here, Would I be able to with pretty good accuracy, let them know where something is.
Would they be able to find it? That's how we know if something's organized, it doesn't have to look nice. It doesn't have to look like everybody else's it doesn't have to have pretty labels. It doesn't have to coordinate organization is just a matter of systemizing making a system for something that makes it easier to find and clears up some of the.
Uh, obviously we don't want to be organizing clutter. So the first step in an organization is just decluttering getting rid of the things that we don't need. Um, but a lot of times there's this. Anti organization when it comes to decluttering, like, oh, you don't need to organize just like declutter. Well, the two go together because it really doesn't matter how much you declutter, if the rest of your stuff that you have in your house, isn't organized.
So for example, you could go through all your paperwork and be like, I am only now keeping what I need, but if you have no file system for that, and it's not easy for you to find what you need, doesn't matter how much you get. No, the two work together really well, but we first have to understand what organization is.
I talk about this quite a bit. So when I was thinking about this episode, uh, I kind of just put together like, I don't know, like a smorgasbord of a mishmash of six simple ways to keep your house organized 10 minutes at a time. So these aren't things that are like, well, if you do this in 10 minutes, you'll never have to do them again, but I am all about creating moments.
I'm all about taking five to 10 to 15 minute pockets of time, getting things done in them. And then moving along with your day, because most of us don't have hours and hours or an entire weekend or an entire week to dedicate to just organizing. So what if we just did 10 minutes at a time? So it's not like step-by-steps not like six steps.
It's just six, sorry. Six simple ways that you can. Get this stuff done and get organized. And these are six things that I have done in my own home either have done in the past when my kids were younger or still do like the, I practice what I preach. If I wouldn't be. I don't talk about it. If it's not something I know about, I usually bring on an expert or I find someone else, but I don't talk about things that I don't do or give advice on stuff that I wouldn't do, because to me that seems really hypocritical to be telling people you need to be doing this.
And then in the background, I'm not doing it at all. Okay. And I also love to learn, uh, Doing. And so sometimes I do things for a little while and then realized, I don't know that this is the best way to do it. And so I like to talk about that as well. So let's get into it right now, the first way that I have written down here.
Cause I just keep notes so that I don't forget things. Cause there's no way I'm going to remember. All six of these is creating a home for everything. Everything in your house should have a home. It should live somewhere. And that. It's not the kitchen counter. I mean, unless it's a toaster then yeah. It lives on the kitchen counter or your bread basket or your blender, maybe that does live on the kitchen counter.
But if it doesn't need to be there, why is it living there? And I have kind of a bold question for. Which is, if you can't find a home for it, why do you have it? Why do you have something in the first place? If there's no where for it to live? Now, I want to discuss the fact that not everybody lives in a house or dwelling, where there is enough space for them to keep everything.
For example, When I first got married, um, when my husband and I were dating and then got engaged, had her first baby got married, all that stuff. We lived in a small townhouse, like tiny, maybe 900 square feet ish. Um, It was the, I think our bathroom was bigger than our kitchen because the bathroom was converted from an old porch.
Like they had like a porch, you know, years and years and years ago, probably 30 years ago. And they converted that porch into a, they ended up taking that space and making it a bathroom. So it was actually pretty big. Our washer and dryer was in it. It was bigger than our kitchen. Our kitchen was very. The pantry area was very small.
I think we had like two cabinets. There was just no space. So we had to make, do with this space that we had, meaning that we got, um, you know, we got this like shelving unit that we put things on. That's where we had our coffee maker and the toaster and things like that we had to make do. Cause we didn't have a lot of counter space.
But the other thing I will say is that I didn't. A lot of appliances when I lived in that house, because if I wasn't going to use it on a very regular basis, I did not want it cluttering up my kitchen. Now we have a much bigger kitchen. Um, and we have a lot of pantry space, a lot of storage space. So I don't mind having some things that maybe I only use once or twice a year because I have the space to store them.
But we have to get really honest about the space that we. So that's the first thing I just want to make. I wanted to make that statement because it's really easy to say, you know, just get like, just get rid of stuff, get rid of everything when you live in a bigger place. But if you're in a smaller place, it's like, well, I still need a toaster.
I still need a, or I still want a, uh, a coffee maker. So I got to figure out a place to put that. Right. But everything in your home should have a place to live. And this goes for toys. This goes for knick-knack things. I'm just like picking up my right now. You can hear it in the background. Like I'm picking up my headphones and it's like, okay, I need my headphones, but do my headphones need to sit randomly on my desk.
No, they don't that they don't need to live here. There's a small little dish that I have that I keep my stuff in on the side of my desk here. And it's so easy to just put those small things. So everything, having a home is a way to stay more organized without actually having to do a ton of work, figuring out where do these things live, going through the clutter.
If you have clutter right now on your countertop, what you can do, you can do this 10 minutes at a time. You can sit down with all of that clutter and say, where does this. Where is this supposed to be? If I don't have a place for it, and I know that I'm not going to use it, why am I keeping it? So we, these, this is how we make better decisions and this takes a lot of practice.
So it is okay if you're like, this is really overwhelming at first and I can't do it. This takes practice. I am really ruthless with stuff. I hate clutter. I have no use for it. I have no use for keeping extra crap in my house that we don't need. My husband is the same way and my kids are becoming the same way too.
Um, I don't need to have things just to have them. If I don't have a purpose for them, get rid of it, recycle it, sell it, donate it, whatever. At this point in my life, I donate most things cause I'm like I don't have time to put things on the market. I don't have time to sift through the messages. Sit at home, have someone maybe come over.
No, thanks. I'll just give it away. Um, it just, I don't like clutter. I've been very, very clear about that because it causes me a great deal of stress and anxiety. And I know that about myself. I would rather have less stuff and know that the stuff that I have is serving us. And so because of that, it's much easier to find a home for things.
So this is kind of too. If there's no home for it, why do we have it? And also, is there no home for it because you don't have space if you don't have space, is it because there's too much clutter, but even just taking a few minutes and asking yourself in the cluttered areas of your home, why do they get that way?
Usually they get that way because it's like every. Just ends up there. Count I say kitchen countertops. Cause that's where it happens the most, but they end up there because there's either no designated place for it. Or, um, it hasn't been made clear where that stuff goes. So just having a home for everything, I'm a big advocate for that.
So I just figured I'd put this in here doing five minute decluttering spurts. I am all about going through your stuff. Five or 10 minutes at a time. Now a decluttering weekend is a beautiful thing. My husband just did that in the garage. He kind of is the out outside of the front door, the garage door.
Like once you leave the dwelling, he kind of takes care of stuff. He likes that. It's what he enjoys. He's a fabricator. So he works in a garage in his own shop. And so he loves keeping those areas, tidy and organized and things like that. So I kind of leave that up to him. And the other day I came home and he was going through everything, getting ready for the winter.
You know, we had to move like the pool stuff inside the pool is closed now. And just moving things around, getting his motorcycle inside. Cause it's probably only going to do like one or two more rides for the year. And so. Going Doug doing that all in one day is great. If you have the time, but on a day-to-day basis, one of the greatest things you can do is just five minute decluttering, just going through one area for five minutes, paperwork, toys, clothes, your bathroom.
Sometimes I just do that in my bathroom. I go through, or my, uh, my vanity where my makeup is. I just, you know, I'm doing my makeup. I go, I'm going to take five minutes. This has expired. I don't need this. This is almost empty. Throw it out, throw it out, throw it out. And in just that five minutes, I feel better.
I didn't have to take a special day to do it. Just those five minutes, even if all I've gotten rid of is four items who cares, it's four less items you have to contend with in your home. And one of the greatest ways to stay organized is to constantly be asking yourself is what I'm keeping, what I actually want.
And five-minute decluttering spurts is the way. The next thing that I just think is so great. Especially when you have young kids is to do a 10 minute nightly dash, which is the cleanup and putting things away. So this is, and can be an entire family. Event that you do, which is just before bed or before, maybe before your nighttime routine starts before the, the baths and the brushing, the teeth and the reading, the books and having the snack.
It's okay. Guess what? It's time for it. It's time for our 10 minute nightly dash, where everyone just takes the things that end up around the house all day. You know exactly what I'm talking about, right. The toys that ended up in the living room, the stuff that ended up like in our house, in our kitchen, we have four seats, like four stories.
As we have that kind of kitchen and we have four stools and my son sits there. It's like Everett spot where he sits. And he'll just like, bring a blanket from downstairs to sit and watch his iPad there. And he'll bring a toy in the tutorial, fall on the ground. And it's like all these little things that throughout the day, just end up where they don't belong.
And if you just do a 10 minute dash of putting that stuff away and everybody is helping, it's not only keeping you. Your house clean and more organized, but it's also a great way to teach kids about putting things away and like, how do we know where things go? Well, things that does not go on the kitchen counter, that doesn't stay on the coffee table.
It actually goes somewhere else. And that will make it easier to find when we need it. So something really great to kind of keep your house clean and organize and get everyone involved. This next one is one of my favorite things ever. And I've done this since I was younger, without even realizing it. I didn't realize that this is what I was doing, but having a, do we need it basket.
So I know that there are some things that you have when you're decluttering or trying to organize that. You're like, I don't know if I need this. Like, I'm not really sure. And so having a basket or a bin, like even one of those plastic totes that you can. Things in for a certain amount of time. So say it's three months and you just keep it in your basement.
And what you do is you set like an alarm or something like that. And you say in three months, we're going to go through it. And we're going to say if I didn't need it in these three months, Then we can get rid of it. And sometimes what happens is that we think in the moment we need something and we're giving ourselves the grace not to get rid of it right now.
And coming back to it later. And our emotions may be very different now that it's sort of out of sight where now we're like, yeah, you know, after three months I realized I don't really need that. Or six months, whatever it is for you, it can also be just a small basket that you keep handy. Like it could be something that you.
You know, in your home, somewhere in the living room, it's like, we're just kind of having a, do we need it basket and things go in there and then they don't have a home. And then after, you know, once a week, you go through it and go do any of this guys, is this something we really need? No, you can also do this for paperwork.
So a great way to keep yourself organized with paperwork is put away the stuff, you know, you need immediately, but then also. Having a, you know, almost like a, I look at it like a holding place. It's like a holding place for, uh, not sure if I'm going to need this. I don't know how I feel about it right now.
I don't have the emotional or mental or physical energy to deal with it right now. So I'm just going to keep it here. And then once a week I go through it or once a month or once every two months, however you want to figure. Is is fine. Uh, but this is such a great way to stay organized with the things that don't quite fit, or you're not quite sure about another thing I love to do, and this can take you 10 minutes to set up again, 10 minutes at a time is utilize your vertical space. Most people do not utilize the vertical space they're using the horizontal space and horizontal space is clutter catching, right?
Anything with a horizontal surface tends to just collect stuff because it's a place to set things When your hands are full, but we very rarely utilize that vertical space in our home, the walls, the backs of doors to keep things organized, especially in small, uh, dwellings houses, apartments in close quarters, using that vertical space is so wonderful because you're getting, uh, more space that you can keep things organized.
So for example, um, Baskets that you hang on the wall filers. So like the metal or plastic file holders that you can set up in a mudroom in an entryway anywhere where you have the vertical space to hang something on the side of your cabinets in your kitchen, which is what I have done for years in our old house.
Our last home, we did that because we didn't have a lot of space in the kitchen to put things on the wall. So I just put it on the side and. That's a secondary tip, which I talk a lot about, which is using your prime real estate. So that's prime real estate because it's the place that the papers end up right on the kitchen counter.
Well, now I have an organization system. Where that happens. So I'm taking the habit that I already have, which is setting stuff on the kitchen counter. And now I'm, I have a system, an organized system for putting it away and I didn't really have to do much work. I didn't really have to do that much more work.
I just had to, instead of putting them on the counter, put them in the filer. So great. So like so easily. But using that vertical space allows you to be organized, uh, without having to use more of your horizontal space or having baskets and things like that. Like sitting on horizontal space, which then ends up cluttering that, that area up even more so utilizing the hooks and, um, yeah, like anything, a basket related.
The other thing that, you know, Search on Pinterest or Google and see, which is wonderful is using the, uh, over the door or behind the door. A lot of people use in closets. The shoe organizers, which are the, just the plastic over the door shoe organizers, which people use for many things, other than shoes.
Many of you may use this in your pantry for snacks, putting snack stuff in, especially if you don't have a big pantry, but I've seen people use it in their bathrooms for, uh, holding different things like shampoos and lotions. Towels and things like that, that they can put in there. If they don't have a lot of space, if you don't have a linen closet, uh, for art supplies, for toys, this is a way to utilize all that vertical space.
That's just sitting there, you're not using it. And it's a way to stay organized without cluttering up any other space. And that can take you so little time to set up and it really doesn't take a lot of time to maintain either. And then lastly, one of my favorite ways to stay organized in the kitchen.
And this is less about, again, this is less about the stuff. Notice that I didn't say go out and buy a whole bunch of stuff. Uh, this is more about how I maintain organization. And one of the ways that I do that is before I go grocery shopping, spending 10 minutes going through the pantry every week.
Sometimes it's only a few minutes because if I just went grocery shopping five days ago, I don't need to do this, but going through your pantry, Every week and reassessing what you actually need. It's life-changing how many of you I am. I know I'm not the only one. How many of you write down your grocery list?
You know, you're going to make such and such this week. Okay. I'm going to make chili this week. Great. So you write down the ingredients that, you know, you need, you go to the store, you buy it, come home, and then you realize I already had three cans of. I forgot. I had three cans of beans, cause I didn't go through my pantry before.
So just giving yourself the time to do that is a great way to not have to buy more than you need, which helps you stay organized in. Uh, in your kitchen, it also helps you to assess what you actually have and what you don't have and what you need more of and what you don't need need more of it's kind of like inventory.
I look at it like inventory and taking inventory is one of the greatest ways to stay organized because taking inventory of what you already have allows you to not have to buy more of something, which keeps clutter up. Which makes you makes it easier to stay organized. It's a beautiful cycle. Okay. And so those are just the six, very simple ways to stay organized in your house.
10 minutes at a time. Again, I didn't get too far into organized systems, how to actually organize every space in your house, because I wanted these to be really broad. I wanted these to be things that people could start implementing right away in, again, less than 10 minutes. But I also know that for many.
You need, you know, like the next step. Okay. What comes after this? I really just need, like, step-by-step, I'm looking for extra support. I have an incredible program. Um, it's called go organize yourself. Fun fact. It was the first course I ever created back in. Summer to fall of 2016. It was a first course ever.
Um, it's been redone now because believe me, you did not want the first version blessed. The three people that brought that first version five years ago, it has been redone since, and we've updated it, but go organize yourself as a DIY course to help you organize. Your home and your family one space at a time.
So if you want more information and to come join it's at this moment, it is only $39, which is a bananas price for this course for how much you're getting. Go to motherlikeaboss.com/goy. That’s motherlikeaboss.com/goy for the deets.
You're going to get my unique seven step process for organizing any area of your home in life. And we go from understanding your goals to creating a system, to deciding what fun supplies you do and don't need this process has helped thousands of moms get and stay organized. So this isn't just again about hyper organization and making things pretty.
This is about staying that way. There's 35 plus audio lessons with hours of valuable content catered to meet you where you are in your home. You're going to get an entire module with lessons on specifically organizing every area of your home, including digitally. So I go through. The kitchen, the bathroom, the living room specifically after we go through the seven steps as well.
I also put in pep talk lessons, which are designed to kind of give you that boost of confidence. We have lots of bonus lessons in there, including like how to create your own principles for staying organized in Canva. And the greatest part of all of these is that you get lifetime access. Um, so you can go through it at your own pace, but this truly is the simplest way to get organized and stay organized.
No matter what season you're in. And we're going one space at a time and we are not talking hyper organization here. We're talking organization that fits your family and your needs. Even if you're someone that says that they're not organized, even if you've never been organized before in your life. Okay.
So go to motherlikeaboss.com/goy and join us. I appreciate all of you being here. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. If you are loving these, I would love you to leave us a rating or review. We love those five star reviews here at the mother, like a boss podcast, and appreciate them.
Share this out with a friend. You can tag me on Instagram at mother like a boss, and I'll shout you out. Um, but I'm just so grateful. I know I say that every episode I will not stop saying that I am grateful for all of you who listen. I appreciate all of you so much and just love you from the. Of my heart and as always go forth and mother like a boss.
