You’ve just said goodnight to your kids. You close the door and you’re so excited that you have the rest of the night to yourself, and all you want to do is unwind and relax from the day. But when you walk into the living room, kitchen, bedrooms, or bathrooms there is stuff everywhere. The last thing that you want to do is figure out how to muster up the energy to dive in and get your house back into working order. That is why we’re going to talk about the number one way to keep that from happening. We’re talking all about how to have a reset system so you can relax at the end of the day with a tidy house. Grab a pen and paper and let’s dive in.
Listen below for the entire episode on The Systemize Your Life Podcast
Resets and Tidy Cues
Today we’re talking about what’s going on inside your house right now. What are your habits and patterns? If your house looks like a bomb went off, it probably didn’t even take a full day to get there. So we need to talk about how to keep your house tidy all day long, like repeatedly.
We are looking at how often you need to have a reset in your day. A reset is putting a place back exactly how you found it and doing that as soon as you are done with the activity. You need to begin to train yourself to do this.
I sometimes refer to these as tidy cues and I teach them inside the Systemize Your Life Academy in week 3 which is my systemized way of handling resets. The whole Systemize Your Life Academy will get you from overwhelmed to organized in just four weeks. But in this post what you can take away is being able to sit down and really look at where in your day and in your time blocks you need to have a reset.
In My Life
In my life, I’m thinking about this reset from moment to moment. When I was single this was not a habit that was ingrained in me so I’ve been having to teach myself and my kids how to do it. Some people are much tidier than others but I know moms have a lot on their minds. If I go through an entire time block without resetting I’ll turn around and the place is a mess.
Just in my morning routine, I’ve made coffee for my husband, a drink for myself, I’ve gotten my makeup out, my devotionals and journals, my clothes, and that’s a lot. You absolutely should be reserving time at the end of your time blocks to do a reset tidy cue but if you are doing these resets as you go that will keep it from getting too overwhelming, which is our ultimate goal.
At the end of the day, you are tired and ready to unplug. The most exciting parts of my day are when my kids wake up and I get to greet them and when my kids are finally in bed and I get to come downstairs to a completely reset home and I just get to recharge and take care of myself or hang out with my husband.
“You absolutely should be reserving time at the end of your time blocks to do a reset tidy cue but if you are doing these resets as you go that will keep it from getting too overwhelming, which is our ultimate goal.”
Inventory
If you have been listening to my podcast or reading my blog for any length of time now you should be at a place where you are routinely making your time blocks and layering in all the things that need to be in there which includes your tidy cues. If you are struggling I want you to sit down and inventory where you are at in every single part of your time blocks. Figure out what you are leaving undone which you should not be leaving undone.
For me if I don’t get to my before school routine inside my AM block soon enough then I have to leave to take my kids to school before I finished my kitchen reset which leaves a whole domino effect through out my day and then we are having take out for dinner.
Maybe your problem is clutter. You have too many clothes in your closet, you can’t get your makeup drawer shut, or there are so many water bottles you can’t find what you need. Then you should probably start there.
Leave it Better
We have a motto “Leave the space better than you found it,” and I am a walking talking advocate for that. I ask my girls to leave the living room they come to play in better than they found it. It’s that all day long, even to myself, and I want you to start telling that to yourself as well.
Come share with us in the Facebook page where you are going to start having resets in your house. The micro-parts, the little pieces of your day where you can be resetting your spaces before you move onto a different part of your day. Until next time, I look forward to hearing from you over there!
Frequently Asked Questions
What are tidy cues and time blocks?
Time blocks refer to my 5 block time management system. You can set yours up with my free time blocking working book. It’s about segmenting your day into five time blocks: morning routine, AM block, work block, PM block, and evening routine. At the end of each of these time blocks before you transition into a new one I suggest you have a reset or tidy cue. A time that you clean up the spaces you were in and have it ready to go for the next day when you come back to it.
