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Ideas to organize your house (and your life) during confinement
Quarantine is a key moment to establish order routines in our day to day
When the quarantine initiated by the coronavirus crisis that we currently live in, many even saw it as a good opportunity. The time had come to finally put order at home, to do all those things that they always excused themselves for, claiming they didn’t have time.
A month later, with most of the country confined to home, the reality comes out: not only we have not done those things that we thought we would do, but keeping the house tidy is already a challenge that we do not always overcome.
Vanesa Travieso, a professional organizer trained with Marie Kondo and an organization coach, is clear about it: order is one of our pillars in life and now, more than ever, we must strive to achieve it.
The professional goes back to the beginning to start talking about order, and she explains that, if it is difficult for us to achieve it, it is because nobody has explained us how to do it. «When you are little they teach you to write, to walk, to say thank you … but not to organize things, the other way around! Even a culture of attachment to material objects is transmitted to us, the idea of not throwing anything away “just in case” we need it in the future, “says the professional. That is why Travieso jokes that later “one day we became independent and we have a bag under the sink full of bags without knowing why.”
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Order is more than our home. The organization coach comments that its benefits go further: helps us focus on the important things of our life. But even so, the starting point is our home. The professional explains that our house is “our refuge, where we cry and laugh, where the most important things in our lives happen” and that is why it is important to take care of it. To show the wear and tear that accumulation can cause, he gives as an example those objects that we have been given or inherited and, although we do not like them, we keep. «There are times when we have things that cause us discomfort. It is important to learn to throw things away, to let them go, ”he says. Once this is achieved, the virtues of order pass to another plane of our life: «Thus we learn to recognize what is important, not to get overwhelmed if our plans change and to be able to restructure it without falling into hysteria, for example ».
“There are times when we can even feel fear separating ourselves from an object,” continues Vanesa Travieso, who gives as an example “that dress from twenty years ago that is no longer valid for us.” “Even if it brings back good memories, maybe someone can take advantage of it if we donate it. In our closet, all we have to do is take up space, ”he says.
“Order helps you to live calmer, to prioritize, to work better, even to save!”, Says the organization coach, who relates that, throughout our lives, we make thousands of important decisions but later, when we have to make a change from a closet, we are not able to decide what to do with certain things and what not. “Learning to order is learning to live without so many attachments, without fear and only leave close to what we like, what we have decided to be like that,” he sums up.
Order during quarantine
Focused on the quarantine situation we live in, Vanesa Travieso assures that it may be the perfect time to order some things in our house, since “we always make the excuse that we do not have time” but that is not the time to start ruling out things “in Marie Kondo mode.” «We can’t go crazy to throw things awayWe cannot go to take them to the clean room, for example, but it is a good time to tidy up our closet or, for example, put documents in order, “he explains.
When it comes to maintaining order in our day-to-day life during the confinement period, the professional points out that the most important thing is to achieve a solid routine. “It is important to get up, shower, get dressed, have a quiet breakfast now that we can … all of this will help us start the day,” he explains and adds: “The morning routines are the most important, if we don’t follow them we get into a loop and we are getting worse and worse ».
The organization coach recognizes that now that our home “is the office, the school, the park and the gym,” following a routine is difficult, but it is important to strive to achieve it. Also, the other advice of the expert is “Focus on today” and not thinking about tomorrow, applying the concept of mindfulness to our day to day. “It’s the way to keep ourselves in spirits,” he says.
Finally, Vanesa Travieso emphasizes how we can take advantage of these days to tidy up our home: “And there is no excuse not to hang up that painting that has been waiting for months or to review what we lack and what we have left over.” “Yes indeed, it is important not to be strict and put more things on our backs than we have. We must set realistic goals, “he concludes.