Make Space First: A Holiday (and Life) Strategy That Works

My first inclination was to title this article and episode “Stop Touching Things”. But that doesn’t sound kind and it doesn’t fit with my usual positivity.  So the kinder and gentler gist is, as you prepare for anything, anything in life, but especially the holidays or the end of the year or having people over just because - I mean, I don't want this to be just about the holidays - put stuff away before you take more out.

Put things away before you take more out. 

And, yes, I am talking about the items on your kitchen counter or on the table by the front door, but I am also talking about putting things away from a productivity standpoint, like finishing items on your already overly busy to-do list without adding more, or closing loops on tasks or projects at work before starting more, or filing papers and supplies at the end of your workday before starting on tomorrow.

I had the pleasure of presenting my “Organize Your Holidays” presentation at the Riverside Public Library early in November.  It was a lovely small and intimate group, so as we wrapped up and people were lingering and chatting, I took the opportunity to ask them what tips or ideas from my presentation had resonated with them.

I mean, I had just talked for an hour about all the things - setting our intentions, communicating with family, decorating our homes, planning for get-togethers, baking, Christmas Cards, gift buying and wrapping and giving, etc., and I hoped they had at least a few ideas to try!

What delighted me is that the answers, which I will share over the next few weeks, were truths that apply to the holidays, of course, but also to life, and even to productivity practices!  (I told you, I was delighted!)

One woman shared that what she thought was advice that she would implement first was the “Put things away before you start decorating” chestnut.

Before you decorate for December holidays, before you hang one light or bring out one candle or do anything, the advice is to put away what is in front of you first.

Many folks - and no names, here! - push things aside on a tabletop or on the counter to put the new stuff out instead of clearing the space first. Pumpkins and Jack-O-Lanterns mingle with the Christmas stuff. Or, not holiday related but still applicable this time of year, sandals and sunscreen and baseball caps mix at the back door with snow boots and hats and gloves.  Or, from a productivity viewpoint, unfiled completed papers and project folders vie for space on your desktop with today’s work and today’s papers and today’s projects. 

And of course, then we don’t really enjoy the decorations as much as we could because things look jumbled. It’s difficult to focus.  And at what can be an already overstimulating and overwhelming time of year, we have made things worse instead of better.

And… there’s another phenomenon…and we don’t always want to admit to it.

I can't tell you how many houses I go to or organizing clients I work with who sheepishly admit that they had company over for dinner three months ago, and in preparing, they did the thing that people do - you know, the thing - of holding the shopping bag or laundry basket at the end of the counter or the dining room table and taking one big broad arm and and sweeping all of the stuff that isn't for today's event into the laundry basket, and then hiding that laundry basket for a month or three until they come across it in the back of a closet, or they realize that things have gone missing and they remember to go and find the hidden laundry basket to find that piece of mail or extra charging cord or extra set of car keys (I kid you not). 

Yup.  If this resonates, I see you.  And you’re not alone.  It’s ok.

So, when we don’t put things away first, those surfaces stay cluttered, or the work goes missing because it’s probably in the laundry basket that you are hiding in your laundry room or in the guest room closet or in the garage or Lord knows where. We get those DOOM piles, “Didn’t Organize Only Moved”, and they linger.  And where are we getting all of these laundry baskets?  Seriously! 

But back to the point - when we don’t put things away first, we’re setting ourselves up to fail, in holiday decor and life and productivity.  We set ourselves up for failure by CREATING clutter. More clutter means life overwhelms us faster, our visual field gets cluttered, we lose important items and we miss deadlines!  

OH my goodness, as I sat writing this article on a Friday morning, a client just texted me to thank me for the work I did on her paper files, and she said “I was looking for an important document in my files this week… and it was easy to find! The thing about important documents is that you don’t know that they’re going to be important until they are.”

Truth.

As you transition to Fall.  OR prepare for Thanksgiving. Or decorate for Christmas. Put things away before you take out one more thing. So you can find those things again some day, and to start with a clean slate.

I know some people will go straight from Halloween decorations to Christmas, and that's fine for them. I like a little undecorated time between, personally. Clean empty counters make me happy, or a clear server in the dining room, but that may just be me. But please, please, please spend a little time putting away before you take more out. You will do Future You such a favor by employing this strategy instead of just complicating the mess and adding to it. 

What also happens for many of us in busy times and especially around the holidays is that, similar to not putting things away before we take more out, we don't close the tabs. Literally and metaphorically. We don't close the tabs on our computer for work and whatever else we might be working on before we open like 20 more for shopping! Instead of finishing our work, we can’t even find it anymore because of the stuff, literal and metaphorical, we’ve piled on top. Halloween and Christmas decor battling it out on your dining room table is one image, but the same goes for our tasks.  Finish the projects and put the related documentation AWAY before pulling out more (As I file the estimates for a new roof until next Spring).

There is one more aspect of this topic for today, since we’re talking about visual and mental clutter: finally, don’t let the items on your surfaces take the place of a to-do list.  

I am sharing this article Thanksgiving week. Imagine with me that as you prepare to cook dinner for 10 people (or none or 20, just stick with the analogy), you pull out EVERY ITEM you think you will need to cook that meal. The turkey roasting pan comes out of storage and is now taking up a huge spot of counter space.  As though you would somehow forget to make the turkey if the roasting pan wasn’t there to remind you.

Silly, right?  The better idea is to make your list of what you need, check in on your pantry for ingredients and your cabinets for pots and pans and serving dishes to make sure you have what you need, and then NOT take things out yet, at least not to clutter your kitchen counters that you need to use for cooking and prep.

Here’s another holiday themed example: Let’s imagine it is mid-December, and the UPS delivery person just dropped off the rest of the gifts you’ve purchased for your friends and family.  Woot woot!

First, bring them in off the front steps before they get rained on.

Second, do not believe the voice in your head that says “I’ll just leave this huge pile of things by the front door to remind me that I have to wrap these presents.”  Friend, you do NOT need to step around a huge pile of anything for days to remind you that you need to do something with the pile. You need to write yourself a note on your to-do list, schedule time tonight or this weekend to start wrapping, and you need to move that pile OUT OF YOUR WAY. 

I mentioned recently the 7 different books I use on any given weekend to sing at Mass.  I DO NOT have all 7 laying on the workspace to remind me that I need to rehearse.  I put them away after every use so I know where to find them when I need them.  I don’t need a visual of a pile of books to remind me.  I have an item on my to-do list and a block of time on the calendar.

And, leave yourself notes for after Christmas or consider starting the January list.

So, my friends, what did we learn today? In Thanksgiving prep, in holiday prep in general, in the workplace and in life:

• We learned: Put things away before taking more things out.

• We recognized that our environment can be already cluttered, already overwhelming, and that to save Future You and Me from trouble later, we should spend a little time putting things away before we take more things out.

• We also learned that while we are not alone if we do the one-armed sweep of things off of a surface before hosting an event or just to gain some clear space, this practice can backfire and we should consider spending a little more time and putting things away instead of hiding our stuff from ourselves!

• And, we learned that we don’t need to have EVERYTHING IN FRONT of us to actually remember we need to do something.  That is what notes and to-do lists and time blocked on the calendar are for.  And it all goes back to:

• Be kind to yourself, today and in the future, and put things away before taking more things out.

Happy Thanksgiving!