Learn how to create margin in your life when it feels like it’s spinning out of control!
Getting organized and staying organized may seem like the hardest task in the world. Maybe you have sick family members or a crisis at home. You have work to do and a house to keep clean. You have bills to pay and stress coming out of your ears.
Day 27 is here in the 30 Days to Less of a Hot Mess Challenge! We’re clearing clutter, getting organized and letting fresh air into a home we love. New here? You may want to begin at the start. Affiliate links are included for your convenience.
I recently heard back from many of my readers (thanks to a mistake I made when I accidentally asked them all whether they wanted to unsubscribe!!). It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because so many women wrote back and shared the struggles going on in their lives. (I love hearing from you!!) Let me just say that you have a lot going on.
And I get that! I run two businesses and have 2 small kids and a husband. I sleep 5-6 hours a night because I make myself go to bed to get those hours. At one point I was sleeping 3 hours a night and ran myself down. I don’t recommend that!
While I knew when I started this challenge that most of you don’t have all day to organize your home, the idea was that it would be a challenge (hence the name) to keep you accountable for doing some kind of decluttering and organizing at home. (And I’ve heard from many people that it has been exactly that, so I’m thrilled! It’s kept me accountable, too!)
But what if you really don’t have time to declutter and organize your home and life right now – or any time in the foreseeable future? What can you do now?
Let’s talk about the most basic things you can do right now, no matter how busy you are, to create more margin in your life. And someday when you have more time, you can go back and actually declutter and organize the pantry.
Simple Ways to Create Margin on Busy Days
1. Nail down your routines. I’ve said this time and again, but it bears repeating. Pinpoint the most stressful part of your day, then figure out what would make it easier. For me, it’s the morning, when we’re getting up and getting ready for the day. Then there are the afternoons, when it’s time to figure out what’s for dinner. Setting routines that immediately ease the stress is the first step in creating margin.
To help with my crazy seasons, I set up 3 morning routines (devotions, unloading the dishwasher and planning dinner) and evening routines (loading the dishwasher, picking up the living room and writing my to-do list for the next day).
For you, that might look like packing lunches the night before. Or it might mean going to bed earlier so you can wake up early and work out before your kids get up. Whatever it is, write it down, put it where you see it every day, and then do it!
2. Make a Daily Essentials List. Endless household chores can literally drain the life right out of me sometimes. The laundry never seems to get done (which it doesn’t, so my observations are accurate). And every time I turn around, the floors need sweeping and vacuuming. Not to mention the pile of clothes that needs ironing and the toilets that need scrubbing.
It’s time to pick 3–5 simple chores you can do each day to get your home clean enough. For me, that means clearing the kitchen counters and wiping them down every night, vacuuming the living room every 1–2 days, doing something with the laundry daily, picking up toys in the main room every night and sweeping the kitchen almost every day.
Once you have these daily essentials in place, move on to the more intense cleaning. And if you can swing it, hire it out!! Set up a cleaning service to come in once or twice a month for the deep cleaning if you don’t have the time.
3. Create a Place to Download Your Brain. If you find yourself overwhelmed all the time, designate ONE spot for your to-do list or what I like to call a “brain dump.” When I don’t write things down, everything jumbled in my head can cause anxiety and feel overwhelming. I like to write everything in my planner, but it could be a notebook or a pad of paper you keep next to your computer. Getting things onto paper creates margin in your mind and your heart.
4. Just say no. Take a serious look at your life and weed out the unimportant. First, let’s figure out what is important. I’ll help you – it’s your people. Saying yes to the people you love most is always a great place to start. And that means saying no to otherwise good things that take away from your people.
Does your child have to be involved in 3 different sports that leave you ragged and eating out every night? Wouldn’t a casual family dinner around the table be nice? I treasure our family dinners and guard them fiercely. P.S. No TV or cell phones at dinnertime either. It’s all off, and it’s just us talking.
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Say no to more emails. Unsubscribe with a vengeance. Somehow I end up on every single mailing list if I so much as glance in a company’s direction. So it’s an uphill battle. But when you open your inbox and see only 3 new emails, and they are important ones, it’ll all be worth it!
Say no to nearly every request that lands in your inbox. Sometimes I feel bad turning down yet another chance to volunteer as the coordinator for the preschool yearbook. (I made that title up, but I get requests like this all the time.) But no matter how I feel, I just don’t have the time! I volunteer for 4 positions right now, and all but one are directly tied to my kids. Anything else I’m asked to do is off the table.
Say no to parties for friends. I am a huge fan of work-from-home mompreneurs, and so many of those women sell products at parties or events. I love that and do it myself, but I’m telling you that if your life is crazy, you just don’t have time for them this season! If you still want to support your friends (and genuinely love the product and want to buy it), ask whether there’s a way to place an order online right then. That way you’ve “shopped local,” supported your friend and didn’t have to take time to attend the party. Best of both worlds! If you aren’t interested in the product, politely decline. Don’t feel guilty, and move on!
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Wow! I had a lot more to say about that than I expected. In the end, set your must-do routines and clear as much as you can so you can gain a little margin. As you gain that margin, start tackling the clutter. And once you’ve cleared a little clutter, you’ll have more and more margin in your life. It’s like a margin snowball!
The Messy Work: Say no to something today! (It may be that thing you’ve wanted to turn down for a long time but haven’t found the courage to. Go for it!)
Messily yours, Laura
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