Home organizing projects to take on (or not) during quarantine
Here in WA state, we are in our second week of an official “stay at home” order, and my business has been shut down for three weeks. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been in a bit of a fog during my time at home. Everything feels both a little ordinary and yet totally upside down.
My social media feeds are the same. A mix of brands and experts telling me all the ways to be the most productive with all of my extra time, and other brands and experts reminding me that these are, in fact, not normal times, and I should be doing nothing but breathing and finding my inner calm.
We’re all taking this in our own stride, and there are no wrong steps. You do you in the way that feels best. Here at Wilson Home Organizing I am not offering any virtual options at this time. There are several factors that contributed to that decision, but the main one is this: As a professional organizer I do not recommend tackling a large home organization project during this crisis.
If you’re newly trying to work from home, have kids home who need homeschooling, and/or are managing unexpected tasks like unemployment filings, dealing with new financial or health needs, or taking care of sick family members, this is a terrible time to drag a bunch of stuff out of closet to try to organize it. Your capacity for good decision making has probably reached its limit, and even if you did make some good progress and end up with a pile of items to donate, all of the places to take them are closed. Here where I live, even the dump and recycling stations are closed.
With all of that in mind, I do NOT recommend trying to use this quarantine time to organize your entire house. However, if you are itching for a project or looking for something that makes sense to tackle during this - here are some ideas:
PHOTOS:
Spending time looking through and sorting boxes of photos is time consuming and often set aside as a project to do “when we have time” or while we’re watching TV, etc. Now might be a fun time to sit down with the family all home together and relive memories, tell your funny stories, or introduce your kids to people they haven’t met. You can also get the littles to help sort out any duplicates or blurry photos to dispose of, and decide how you want to keep your photos. This box is one of my favorites. https://www.containerstore.com/s/iris-16-case-4-x-6-photo-and-craft-storage-carrier/d?productId=11004246&q=4%20x%206%20photo%20box
If you’d like to digitize your photos, our digital organizing expert Kyle is still offering scanning of photos and digitizing of VHS tapes and DVDs. If you’re interested in this service while you’re at home (we can arrange for no-contact pick-up) email me and I’ll give you all the details.
COMMAND CENTER:
With a pause in school papers and schedules, now might be a good time to overhaul (or create) your family command center. Sort through any piled up paper or mail and discard what’s not needed, make a pile of items that need action, and file away anything that you might need to keep for later. Make room to post your new daily schedules for homeschooling and routines during quarantine.
If you’re setting up for the first time, your command center doesn’t need to be complicated. The essentials are: a drop zone for papers that need action, a shared calendar for family schedules and activities, and a cork or memo board to post important information. It also helps to have a recycling bin nearby so you can immediately discard anything that’s no longer needed.
DIGITAL DETOX:
I’m sure I’m not the only one that’s received a million “How we’re dealing with COVID-19” emails, many from places I don’t even remember sharing my info with. Now is a great time to unsubscribe from email lists. Kyle wrote a very helpful blog about managing your email inbox that you can read here.
To go along with your physical photo sort, you can also spend some time cleaning up all of the photos on your phones. Discard duplicates, back-up what you want to keep, and message all of those photos you intended to send to friends and family but never did.
I miss spending time with you in your homes, and I can’t wait to start back up. In the meantime, if you have any questions about projects you're working on in your home, feel free to email or text and I’m happy to offer any advice. I wish you and your families health and love and look forward to seeing your faces in person soon.