Life changes. Good changes. Bad changes. In-between changes. With these changes physical and intangible systems, that might have worked before, can falter. I encountered this recently upon moving to a new home. My laundry system was failing, and my clothing was consistently clean, but still in the clean basket when my partner needed it for their clean laundry. One issue was that I had created systems that worked for one person but did not properly consider the other person sharing the space. They would not think exactly like me or take actions in the timeline I had in my head. A system needs to consider all who share the space. The second issue is that I had made what seemed like innocent changes to my prior successful systems, without thinking through the ripples.
It had been some time since I had hired myself as an organizer, so I did. This began by looking at the differences in the physical spaces in my old & new places: my washer and dryer were twice as far from my bedroom, I was now sharing a closet, the closet doors did not open up very far (oh bi-fold doors, I hate thee!), and I had to time my wash & dry cycles around someone else.
I also had a different dirty clothing sorting system in my old place than I had set up in my new place. My previous place had a nice triangle of laundry/bathroom/bedroom which meant fewer steps. I had also scaled down from two hampers to one due to space, which meant larger loads of laundry to wash and sort. The issues with my system proved that I do much better when I sort my dirty clothing into smaller categories.
Since taking this time to examine & update the system, I’ve been sorting dirty clothing into 3 categories: underwear/socks, workout/sleepwear, and regular clothing. With this system, I can easily wash a small load of essentials before I run out. There is less sorting/work when everything is dry because it’s like with like. I found smaller baskets to sort into instead of larger baskets, which take up about the same footprint. Smaller loads washed more frequently mean less to put away at the end. Additionally, I changed the direction of the hangers in my closet – after 30+ years I now hang my clothing facing right instead of left. Since updating my systems to fit my new life, things have been flowing much smoother. I am no longer dreading the laundry process and my partner is much happier! Bonus!
What systems in your life are no longer working and need a change? Reach out today to discuss with CRUX!
Yours in organizing,
Laura
