Managing a home on the daily has its ups & downs – one day you’re feeling energetic & can tackle every corner, other days you just want to close the door to the playroom & pretend you didn’t see the mess. During Ramadan this can be even more complicated because of the way we feel whilst
fasting, the precious time we spend on spirituality & the expectations we place on ourselves.
There is however, options to make it less complicated. It begins with planning, it continues with taking action & ends with consistency. This means that you need to know what part of your home needs your attention the most, beginning to organise that room or space & then consistently
staying on top of it.
It’s Ramadan though, right? Who wants to do all that now? Well, I challenge you to only 20 minutes a day of DCO, which stands for declutter, clean, organise. The first 5 minutes is spent emptying the space, the next 5 minutes is spent sorting the items into keep, dispose or donate piles, the next 5 minutes is spent cleaning, & the final 5 minutes is spent organising everything in a functional & purposeful way.
Spaces you can do in 20 minutes (or under) include:
- Bench tops
- Desks
- Shelves
- Drawers
- Handbags
By looking at home organisation as one space at a time rather than an entire room, the feeling of overwhelm is reduced & you will feel more capable in’sha’Allah. Metaphor time: taking gradual bites of an apple, rather than eating it whole.
Still feeling incapable? Then break the spaces again into smaller areas, like one side of your desk, one half of your bench top. The idea is that you have a starting point.
So now let’s take a look at the essential steps to home organisation (or any project) – planning, taking action & consistency. I’ll explain why each step is important & what you can start doing today.
Planning
Planning is all about creating a “roadmap” – what needs to be done & why, as well as the how & when it needs to be done. There’s no need to get too fancy with the planning stage, just determination & a paper & pencil.
Firstly, list all the spaces in your home that you can re-organise, think small, for example: your side table drawer not your entire bedroom. Then once you’ve listed all these spaces down on paper order them by priority – simply rank them in order from 1 to gazillion with 1 being the most
important.
If you’re unsure about priorities, ask yourself these questions:
- What unorganised space bothers me the most?
- What space, if organised, will help me save more time?
Even though I’m suggesting a continuous block of 20 minutes a day for this, I understand that’s still not easy for everyone. If necessary then, break it up into two 10 minute blocks but don’t do any less than that.
Next, is the how you will organise the spaces. Will you do it alone? Will you follow my concept of declutter, clean & organise? All that matters is that this works for you & the end result is what you are expecting.
And lastly, the when will you organise. Will it be during the fasting hours or after maghrib prayer? Will it be when your youngest child has a nap or when your spouse is at work? Write this all down.
Taking Action
Taking action can sometimes be the hurdle that differentiates someone from having & not having an organised home. It’s all good & well to plan to do something but if you don’t take the necessary steps, it simply becomes words written on paper.
Always remember your why. Why do you want to have an organised home? Make it personal not superficial because if it’s for vanities sake, you will eventually lose motivation, however, if it’s for your own wellbeing you’ll find the determination within yourself to start.
All you have to do is follow the plan you mapped out & begin. Feel committed, feel determined & take that first step. Once you start, it really does get easier. Each 20 minutes of organising you do a day, will encourage you to do more because of how it feels once you’re done.
You may start to feel relief, clarity, accomplished & grateful. Relief because the space was bothering you when it was disorganised, clarity because you don’t see clutter when you’re working with or in that space, accomplished because you completed the task & grateful because you’re one step closer to focusing on how you spend your time.
Consistency
Doing things once doesn’t mean it will stay like that forever. So consistency plays a big role in ensuring you stay on top of things. This doesn’t mean you need to make a big re-organisation often, it just means consistently following certain principles & routines.
This includes:
- Putting things back where they belong
- Getting the family involved & responsible
- Not buying unnecessary items
- Creating daily routines
- Following a cleaning plan
A cleaning plan is a great way to upkeep your home. You can list what your focus will be for each day, either by room or chore. Also share this with other family members so they can play a role in maintaining a clean & tidy home.
When you’re not consistent, for example: not placing items back where they belong, this is where clutter can accumulate & you may need to re-organise again. It can be like you’ve returned to the starting point & you don’t want that – you want to tackle that clutter before it gets too far.
After Ramadan
So what about after Ramadan? Well, if you find you have more energy & time after Ramadan you can accelerate how many spaces you re-organise. It all becomes a matter of priority – whether you want to live more organised or not. Only you know the answer to that.
If you’re saying “yes” to more organised living, then always remember these three parts – planning, taking action & consistency. By doing so, you’ll be well on your way in’sha’Allah towards a functional & purposeful home because it’s decluttered, clean & organised.
To learn more about living an organised lifestyle consider looking into my free Printables Library (https://byfatima.com/printable-library) which contains over 30 resources to help you plan & track your progress.
May you have an organised & blessed Ramadan & Eid in’sha’Allah
Author Bio
Fatima is a working mother of three children with a love for living an organised lifestyle. She shares all that she has learnt on her website & social media to encourage other women to be more time conscious & go from cluttered spaces to visual bliss.
