There are 3 things that have really been game-changers for me when it comes to tidying.

The first is cleaning up the kitchen immediately( for the most part) after cooking or prepping food. Washing the dishes in the sink then air-drying them in the rack and then putting them away soon after. Since the dishwasher still isn’t working we’ve had to do all the dishes by hand. Actually, it’s kinda nice to make it a zen moment of being in the now of hand washing the dishes. So, if there are dishes in the sink, DO THEM!!

The second is whenever I leave a room I look around to see what needs to be brought back to where it lives. For example, we fold our laundry on the bed. So after it’s done there are often piles (like dishcloths) that need to be put away. If I’m putting towels away I might not get back to the other items right away. So when I go back in the room I pick up what’s there and take it out to it’s home. I do this in all the rooms actually. I think I started doing this when I had my foot fracture so I was limiting how much I walked around and so I started carrying anything in that room that didn’t belong there out.  I think it’s a good practice and it makes sure things go back to their proper places.

Also, and thirdly, I am adamant about everything has a place to live. That’s where it goes and needs to be put back after use. In the really great book”Decluttering at the Speed of Life” by Dana  White,

she talks about decluttering in a very humorous way. But one thing that stuck with me is to ask yourself WHERE YOU WOULD GO LOOK for an item. And then to put such item in that spot. For instance, we have a drawer where ALL the batteries go. Not some here and there, but all of them. So whenever anyone needs one, they know to go to the top drawer of that dresser( it’s the one in my office area).

These are at least 3 ways that I keep( and hopefully others) the house tidy and clean.