Decorating Efficiency

When I go about decorating my home for any big event, holiday, or season in general, I like to take it one room at a time if at all possible. For me, this allows a sense of progression to happen, and I can feel encouraged to see an entire room complete without feeling overwhelmed as if nothing is done yet despite all the hours I’ve poured into decorating.

Think about it. If you tried tackling your entire house when decorating for the fall or winter holidays, you’d be exhausted after 6 or 7 hours, and you may not have everything done in any particular room. I find this to be discouraging more often than not, and when I get to feeling that way, it makes me want to stop for the day. And when I try to begin again, it feels like a chore and you don’t know where to begin.

So, this is one of the first things I account for when decorating my home. Another big one that happens to be underrated, though, is planning out a schedule for when I’ll actually be decorating. My mom has always gone with a spur of the moment style of putting decor up, but one thing I’ve learned from her is that she takes time off work to make an extended weekend. This directly puts it all on her schedule, meaning there’s no room for “getting out of it” on those days off. Rather than working, she’s decorating, but she views it as a job that should be focused on. Once you’ve scheduled that PTO, you’re far less likely to say “I’ll do it a different day”.

It can’t be understated how beneficial planning things out like this really is. When something is on your calendar, you see it every day and start to internalize it as a definite and concrete plan. This is the natural way of things. But if you let your whimsy guide you and say you’ll decorate eventually, the truth is you may not ever decorate as much as you wanted to.

Another thing that’s absolutely essential is the right packaging supplies. Without the proper packing tape, twine, cardboard boxes for storage, and other materials you may need that go unseen and remain behind the scenes, you’re going to be far less efficient with your time and money spent. So, I encourage you to get quality packaging supplies, even if they only serve to up your storage game in the off season between holidays.

Getting Your Life on Track

It’s always a great idea to get your house in order if you’re looking to right the track of your life. What I mean by this, mostly, is that it’s tough to stay on track regarding health, fitness, diet, good habits, and other things like hygiene if you have a messy home littered with all kinds of stuff.

Oftentimes, I’ve found that the two parallel each other in my life. When I’m letting my diet slip, drinking more, working out less, and being lazy when it comes to washing my clothes, well, my apartment reflects that. And in a way, it should. Why would someone have a spotless home if the rest of their life was falling apart or pretty lazy?

Recently, I’ve begun getting everything back on track. I’ve changed up my diet drastically (much for the better). I’ve started to run long distance at least 3 days a week. And my mental health and sleeping schedule has been realigned to fit the rest of my daily routines.

However, I’ve noticed that our apartment is still somewhat messy at times. I’d of course far rather have everything in my life to be healthier than have a spotless apartment, so I’m glad that the former is on track. But I feel if I don’t clean up my home some, I’ll start to slip back into those bad tendencies that can foster unhealthy habits.

So, my solution is to get things in order around the house. That can mean a lot of things, really, but cleanliness is a big one, and so is organization.

Luckily, I’ve got some old packaging supplies from my wife’s dad, meaning it’s easy for us to pack up the things that are strewn about and can be thrown in the basement as storage. Just as well, it’ll help to put to rest a lot of the clothes we don’t wear that still happen to find themselves laying around our room upstairs.

All it takes to enact this sort of change is a will, some time, and the right materials. Thankfully, we’ve got all the time in the world, a drive to change everything for the better, and packaging supplies suited for the job. Not much else is needed except for a little effort during the evenings to get the place cleaned up.

Just remember: it’s good to have both your home and your life on track if you want each of the two to be in good shape. Let one slip, and the other probably will too.