Right now is a difficult time for the entire world as we grapple with the rapidly spreading virus. As events and schools close down we are being asked to practice social distancing in our communities as much as we can. According to authorities this may be the key in containing the spread of this virus. And, as a result, may allow our health care systems a fighting chance at keeping up. So many of us will find ourselves spending more time at home looking for a distraction from the worry and fear. I thought I’d prepare a post today with suggestions of five organizing projects you can do in the waiting. I’m not trying to make light of the world’s current situation but simply wanting to help you with ideas for passing the time.
Before I proceed I just want to say that if you or someone in your life currently has the virus I’m so sorry. Please know that I am praying for a quick recovery for everyone affected. I’m also praying that this unites us all as we share kindness and support with one another through this trying time.
Weekly Organizing Projects Challenge
This week your assignment (should you choose to accept it!) will be to do these five tasks over the next week. And then next week I can give you another five organizing projects if there is interest. I don’t want to overwhelm you all at once :). If you decide to participate, I want to see what you are up to. Tag me on Instagram with your before and afters!
*I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.*
1. Organize Your Freezer:
With my son’s Soccer Provincials being cancelled this weekend in the city, the first thing I want to do at home is organize my deep freezer. I’ve been buying extra frozen foods a little at a time in preparation and just dumping everything inside. Now it’s a mess and needs some serious loving so I can actually see what I have. My way of organizing my deep freezer beast hasn’t changed much. The freezer organizing method I wrote about way back in 2014 is still the same one I’m using.
Other freezer posts you may find helpful:
Easy Freezer Fix to Double Space in a Stand Up Freezer
Organizing a Top Freezer
Upright Freezer Organization
2. Organize Your Books:
Now don’t hate me with this task. Everyone gets freaked out when it comes to the idea of parting with their books. But like many other things books can slowly start to take over a space if we don’t stay on top of them. So this week my assignment to you is to gather up all your books into one space and go through each one. Touch each one and decide if it still sparks joy for you. Visit THIS POST to see how I tackled my own books a couple of years ago. It’s definitely time for me to do it again!
Ask yourself these three questions if you need additional help to downsize your book collection.
3. Organize Your T-Shirts:
Remember last year when Marie Kondo’s Netflix series came out and was ever so popular? I decided to be wild and crazy and fold my t-shirts in thirds the way Marie recommended. I honestly thought it would last a month at most because it seemed like so much work. And here I am a year later STILL using this method because I love it. For real! I especially love being able to quickly grab the shirt I want and I can store so many more. If you haven’t tried it yet, I highly recommend it.
First grab all your t-shirts and purge the ones you no longer love and wear. Fold the rest into super cute little packages. Here’s a video how to if you are unsure of the steps.
If you need some help deciding what to keep and what to let go of, check out my helpful 11 Rules for a Successful Clothes Purge (with free printable) post.
4. Organize the School Papers:
Now is the perfect time to organize your child’s school paper piles. The report cards, the special projects, the class pictures, the awards, and so on and so on. The stuff just seems to breed in the night am I right? The system I use to keep it all in order and divided by grade is super easy to set up and maintain. You can check out my post right HERE.
5. Organize Your Pantry:
I love organizing kitchen and pantries so much. They are so easy to divide up into practical zones and containerizing makes a world of difference to set boundaries.
To help you tackle this project check out the post I did last summer on how I organized my sister’s small pantry.
I also recently organized a friend’s walk-in pantry and in that post I shared some free printable pantry labels.
And finally I might as well share my own cupboard pantry with you as well to give you even more ideas.
So there you go. Five organizing projects to tackle in the next week while you are stuck inside and keeping your distance from others. You can easily get your kids involved too. They love sorting!
So what do you say? Are you ready to accept my challenge for the week? It’s time to stay home and organize! That’s even a great hashtag for us #stayhomeandorganize.
As always if you have any questions for me, please leave them in the comments. I’m happy to help!
Ready for Part Two? Check out my next post with 5 more organizing tasks to do at home.
You’ll find many of my favorite organizing products in my Amazon shop (affiliate link).
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Erin Duncan says
Thanks for your helpful email. I was figuring that social distancing means that we have to stay home and finally clean all the stuff, finish projects, and clean the heck out of our homes. Best wishes. Keep praying. Praying is at its best, positive vibes. Right back at you. Enjoy. Erin
Laura Wittmann says
Thank you Erin for your lovely comment 🙂
Sheri Nelson says
I’m also organizing and purging my home of all the useless stuff I’ve collected over the years. I haven’t done it in a while. My rule of thumb is if I haven’t used it in a year, away it goes! As far as my books were concerned I had a few rules: Am I going to read them again, do I enjoy the writings of the author, and do I really want to take the time to dust weekly. I’ve also been doing a Swedish Death Purge which is pretty much the same principle for cleaning out my books. The inspiration was when we had to move my Aunt from her home of 50 years to assisted living and we discovered she was a hoarder! So far I’ve taken 3 loads of my stuff to Goodwill and more on the way. Then I’ll organize what was left behind! My goal is to live a minimalist lifestyle!
Laura Wittmann says
Good for you Sheri, way to go!
Cheryl Strachan says
Hi Laura,
Thanks for the uplifting post. Was looking for something non-pandemic related to do today. An organizing project is perfect. Thank you for the inspiration. Best wishes to you and your family.
– Cheryl
Laura Wittmann says
Thank you Cheryl, so glad I can help in some small way 🙂