Do you ever walk into your living room once the kids are in bed and think a bomb went off?

Toys.

Water cups.

Coloring pages.

A crusty piece of bread.

Someone’s dirty clothes.

You want to reset your space, but thinking about where to start is overwhelming. One of two things will happen. You’ll either grab every single item in sight only to throw it all down and go to bed or you’ll immediately walk out of the room to do something else––out of sight out of mind, right?

Enter, the Five Things Tidying Method.

According to this method, there are only five things in a room: trash, dishes, laundry, things that have a place, and things that don’t have a place.

When you need to tidy up an area, focus on one category at a time. This allows you to see your space in a different way, and gives you a simple, clear process to follow.

Toss all trash away, put dishes in the dishwasher, etc.

Practice this tidying method with your kids. If you find the task of “cleaning up” overwhelming, chances are your kids feel the same way. Break the larger task into smaller, manageable chunks. Work through each category together or assign one category per child.