Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
Getting to Neutral
If you’ve been tracking your inventory and blocking out your time, you should be ready for your next habit. I like to call it Getting to Neutral.
Think of it as a “Last sweep before Bed,” the idea being to spend a few minutes at the end of the night straightening up the common areas of your home. It’s not cleaning, not filing: just a quick reset. Just take a few minutes to get things close to where they belong—taking the tea cups from the living room to the kitchen sink, tossing the socks your kids left on the couch into their rooms—so that you can wake up to an orderly home.
We’ve all heard that every day is a new opportunity, and I’m here to tell you that you’re going to be in a better position to avail yourself of that opportunity if you don’t have to wake up to piles of paper on the dining table and knapsacks in the middle of the floor.
This isn’t organizing—you have to organize a room before you can build this habit. This is a maintenance habit, because lots of people can get organized, but can’t stay organized. “Getting to neutral” will help you maintain that organization. If you just get stuff close to where it goes (papers on desk, kids’ stuff in kids’ room, ditto spouse’s stuff) then, when it is time to really tackle an area, you’ve already done step one. You only have papers on the desk, not on the desk, the kitchen counter, the bedside table and the bookshelf. Also, if you are looking for something, even if it looks like you have a mess, it’s a presorted mess—so you can feel confident that your daughter’s soccer cleats are in her room, even if her room looks like a hurricane hit it.
Life is messy, I (grudgingly) accept that. But waking up to a serene and sock-free living room really helps me sail through the chaos of kids and work and life without losing my sense of humor, or my mind.
If you can do this step for 30 days, it will stick, and you’ll thank me, because it will make a difference immediately. And if you want to thank me publicly, feel free.
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