Life gets insanely busy sometimes. Whether you’re running your kids back and forth to activities or dealing with a lot in your career. It’s hard to find time to clean, let alone get your home organized. Thankfully, there are plenty of quick and easy organizing tips you can use to keep your home tidy.

It all comes down to timing. Your goal is to find little pockets of time here and there where you can implement a few of the tips below. We’re not talking about major cleaning sessions here. We’re talking about things you can do in five minutes or fewer.

Let’s look at some quick and easy organizing tips you can do throughout the day

#1 — Clean as you go

One of the main areas that never seem to stay tidy is the kitchen sink. Dishes pile up faster than you can keep up with. And when you’re in the middle of cooking, the last thing you’re thinking about is cleaning the dishes.

But cleaning as you go is a great way to avoid a major dish pile-up.

You do this by cleaning the dishes in the sink while the food cooks. Instead of checking your phone, use that time to clean up the dishes you currently have. Put what you can in the dishwasher and handwash the rest.

If you use that time to set the table, delegate the task to someone else. A spouse, partner, or child, for example. The more hands you get helping you clean as you go, the better you’ll stay ahead of the clutter in your kitchen sink.

You can also use this easy organizing tip for when you do the laundry, work from home, or just about anything. Your aim is to stay ahead of any mess before it gets too big that you don’t want to bother cleaning it up.

#2 — Take 10 minutes each night to tidy up

One of my favorite quick organizing tips is to implement a nightly tidy-up routine.

I’ve mentioned this in previous posts, but it bears repeating because of how life-changing it is. Studies show that insomnia comes from having too much on our minds. This includes all the cleaning tasks we have to do or keep putting off.

When you take 5 or 10 minutes each night to tidy things up, you’re going to have less on your mind and thus sleep easier.

And again, we’re not talking about a major cleaning. Simply walk through your home and check areas you know get cluttered quickly. Pick up anything off the floor. Remove items from surfaces that don’t belong. Check that everything is put away properly.

No dusting is required. No vacuuming. This nightly tidy-up routine is something everyone in the family can do. Encourage kids to do this each night before bed. Split the house with your partner so you cover everything.

Once you do this for a few nights, it’ll become so second nature that it won’t feel like you’re cleaning.

#3 — Have a home for everything

This is another thing I’ve mentioned in previous posts. More times than I care to admit, but it’s the motto in the organizing industry. “A place for everything and everything in its place.”

When you take an extra minute to put something away where it belongs, you’re saving yourself an extra ten minutes later. How so? Well, this quick organizing tip goes hand-in-hand with the one before.

When you start doing a nightly tidy-up, the main thing you’re going to do is put items away where they belong. And you may find a lot to put away. But if you put them away the minute you’re done with them, you’ll have less to clean each night.

This also helps you find things faster in the morning. If you dedicate a home for your purse, wallet, and keys, you won’t spend the morning wondering where you left them the night before. Use this same method for storing children’s backpacks and lunches so you move seamlessly through the morning rush.

You’ll find that when you take an extra minute to put that item away, ‌you’re going to have less clutter in your home.

#4 — Declutter as you go

This easy organizing tip has a similar tone to clean as you go except you’re focusing on decluttering. It will happen—-more times than you’ll realize—-that when you’re cleaning, you’ll find things you no longer use or need.

When that happens, don’t set the item aside and say you’ll deal with it later. Deal with it now. Dedicate a box, basket, or container for decluttered items. This way you have a home (see what I did there?) for the items you want to get rid of.

Once it’s full, make a plan to bring it to your local donation center or see if you can sell or gift anything.

By having a dedicated decluttering box, you’re able to keep all the things you want to get rid of together. There will be times you fill it quickly and other times you’ll fill it less frequently. Either one is fine.

What matters is that you get in the habit of deciding whether something holds enough value for you to keep it. Remember, everything you keep takes up real estate in your home. If you don’t use it or love it, why waste that space?

#5 — Wipe down kitchen counters

This tip piggybacks off of clean as you go too. In what way? Well, think about how much your kitchen counters deal with on a daily basis. You use them to prep every meal. They house your coffee maker, dish soap, and more. With all that, it’s no wonder they get so dirty.

That’s why one quick organizing tip you can do each day is to give your kitchen counters a simple wipe-down.

Keep a cleaning solution nearby (under the sink is ideal). Before you do your nightly tidy-up routine, take a few minutes to spray and wipe your kitchen counters. This will keep any germs and bacteria, as well as food particles, from building up.

Another area you may want to use this rule in is your bathroom. Kitchens and bathrooms are two of the most commonly used rooms in homes. It’s important to keep them tidy to avoid germs from causing unnecessary illness.

So be vigilant in keeping them clean by taking a few minutes each night to wipe them down.

When it comes to quick and easy organizing tips, these five are simple enough to follow through on each day. All they ask is for your commitment and consistency. Because tha‌t is what keeps your home organized.

Consistency.

So the next time you find yourself scrolling through social media, look around instead. Are your surfaces cluttered with things that don’t belong? Put them away. Are your kitchen counters a little too sticky? Wipe them down.

Once you do these tips a few times, they’re going to become a regular part of your routine. Before you know it, your home will be consistently tidy and neat.

What’s your biggest issue when it comes to keeping your home organized? Is it time? Consistency? Could be that your current methods and systems no longer work.

If you’ve noticed your home getting a little out of order lately, schedule a complimentary consultation call. My expertise lies in helping you build seamless systems that work for your current lifestyle. Book your call today.

Patricia Ramos

Photo: Spacejoy