How to Organize a Crowded Living Situation
How to Organize a Crowded Living Situation
When you’re living in a crowded situation, it can be frustrating and stressful. One of the best ways to relieve some of that stress is to organize your space and daily life in such a way that you work with each person you are living with. Whether you live with 2 people or 20, organizing your situation can make things simpler and easier for you. Check out these tips.
Designate Laundry Days
Laundry can be a point of contention when you and everyone else living with you wants to do it at the same time. The key is to schedule time slots for doing laundry. Sit down with the people you are living with if they are old enough to make such decisions and figure out a workable schedule for everyone. Be sure to schedule everyone at least two slots to get their laundry done each week.
The important thing is to make sure that everyone understands that if they skip one of their laundry days, they will have to wait until their next one. This scheduling only works if everyone sticks to it. If one person skips their day then decides they will just take the next day, it bumps someone else out of their time slot and throws everything off.
Be sure to hang up a copy of the laundry schedule near the laundry area so everyone can see it. Each person should have their own laundry baskets and hampers that they are responsible for.
Limited Dishes
When things are crowded and there’s too much stuff, it can become very cluttered and messy. Dishes can get out of hand in no time at all. Limit the number of dishes available so that each person has one place setting and a drinking cup for every day use. Each person should be responsible for their own dishes and will need to wash them out after each use.
Minimize Belongings
The only way to survive when living conditions are tight is to minimize the amount of things you have. Take a good look at what you have versus what you need. Do you really need 20 pair of jeans? Is it necessary to have five coats? If every person in the home has way too much stuff, it can become overwhelming.
Alternate Schedules
To make the situation work, every person will need to work out alternating schedules for various other things like showers and bathing, sharing chores, television and computer use, etc. When you create schedules for laundry, set up schedules for other activities. Sort out chores and decide who will take care of what and when.
When living conditions are crowded, the key is cooperation and compromise. Working together with a little give and take and a lot of organization and planning will help everyone get along and not feel overwhelmed by the tight quarters.
If you are in need of better organization skills in general, then we have some things here that will be sure yo help you out! Check out our guide to Getting Organized! If you find that you are still having organization problems, then you might want to try this book on organizing inside and out!
