Home Management during Life Transitions

In the last post we looked at spaces that have physical transitions - entry ways and pantries. Now, let's take a look at how life transitions, such as a birth, moving, death, divorce, etc. impact the home management.

A dear friend of mine hired me to come organize her closets. She had a new job, a new baby, and a new apartment in the last 19 months. (Plus…2020!). Additionally she indicated they planned to move again in the next two years.

As I worked with her, I quickly realized she had both theoretical and practical knowledge of home organizing. She’d read many of my favorite authors and listened to many of my favorite pod casts. I brought a fresh set of eyes to her space and I brought knowledge of products. Additionally, I acted as her accountability partner.

But, honestly, what she needed most from me was a real truth - she is in massive transition, and organizing her home might not be the solution now. I know. I know. Stay with me. For example, she had her desk pushed up against her bookcases. In this case my recommendation was to go vertical by putting up some floating shelves over the the desk. This would allow the desk to be right up against the wall. But then as we were talking she said her desk had been moved in front of the book case to make room for the crib. She planned to move the crib soon and then she would move the desk back. Additionally, after initially liking the idea of the floating shelves, she realized it would be a lot of work to install shelves when she planned to move within a year or two.

Ummm, can you say COMPOUND transitional time?!! Rather than try and do a massive overhaul of her place, I pointed out to her all of the transitions - both past and future. I walked her through how those transitions impact space. We crafted a plan to mitigate the frustration she had with her space. This included strategies for living through those transitions.

That being said - these transitions can be incredibly hard to plan for. These are transitions you live through.

As I did in my last post, I want to highlight the power of transitions. This is where growth and change happens. But that can be messy. If you are in a space of life transitions, then I hope you will give yourself grace to grow in that transition. And, if you are thoughtful with yourself, you can learn more about yourself and your home management needs.

When it comes to transitions - I offer you three tips. These tips are more about your mindset than any action you need to take.

- Plan for transitions. If you are in a space, like my dear friend was, make an actual plan of what you will do when. For example, after her baby left her room, she was able to move her desk back into its original space.

-Don’t buy any products for organizing. It is incredibly tempting to buy a bunch of products to organize your space. But I implore you not to do this while you are in transition. Rather, use things like reusable bags or cardboard boxes to organize your stuff. You don’t want to have bunch of organizing tools you cannot use after the transition happens.

- Breath through transitions. That is hard. If you struggle to live through the change — reference your plan. It might get you through the struggle you are going through.

Overall, respect the power in the transition. Transition closes a door, yes. But it also indicates the opening of a new one. Let that new space and time emerge. Sometimes the transition comes due to a loss, and it is real to mourn that loss. Let’s also try to enjoy the new space that is created.