If a disaster happened right now would you be ready? Do you know what you will grab? Where everything is? Do you even have batteries? If you are like most people, the thought of being ready for a disaster is overwhelming.
In reality, most of us won’t have to deal with life threatening weather, or natural disasters but what about a house fire or you’re like me living close to the US border some other kind of disaster could be coming soon.
When you think about having your house, yourself and your family ready for an emergency it can feel pretty overwhelming, well let me tell you; it’s not that bad! In this series I will help you get ready for the worst.
Having an organized house is a great place to start. “A place for everything & everything in its place” one of Benjamin Franklin’s greatest quotes, probably not intended for the purpose of organization but it certainly works. When you know where everything is in your house, it makes it much easier to find things. Organization is one thing that could be the difference between life and death.
Start with the little things.
Use It or Lose It
Does a closet seem like an overhaul? Let’s make it simple, take all the clothes on hangers and flip them so that the hook is facing you. Each time you wear something and hang it up with the hook facing the fall, this way, 4 seasons later you can go back to the closet and see which clothes have been worn and which have not, didn’t wear it? Toss it. Or what about all of those old clothes that you have for “when I lose 50 lbs.” If you have been saying this for a while, chances are all of those clothes are no longer in style. It’s time to get rid of them and treat yourself to a new wardrobe when the time does come. Have things sitting around in your basement or attic that you forgot you had? That’s also a good indicator to start donating.
Consolidate and Condense
Take a look under your sink; do you have 3 open bottles of cleaner? It’s time to put them all into one and recycle the empties. What about your spices or breadcrumbs or cereal? Purchase some containers and get rid of the extra.
Do you have three different types of windows cleaner? Choose your favourite (there’s a reason you have three) and toss the others.
There is a difference in be prepared and being over prepared. Do you really need twelve packages of 48 roll toilet paper? Or five cases of coke? Or seven cases of water? Use what you have and only buy what you need.
Keep It Together
If you feel you do need multiple of things, keep them in a general location. Keep the ketchup with the ketchup, the mustard with the mustard, the TP with the TP, not only is it going to be easier to find things but it will also save you money and help know what you really need to buy.
Once you have everything where it should be, it’s important to keep it this way. It may require some time upfront but in the long term it will give you clutter freedom. Train your children now to put things back where they came from.
Keeping an organized home makes it easier to know where everything is. I may be a but OCD with putting the olive oil back in the same place each time I use it, but I could easily find it in the dark if I had to! Same goes with batteries and matches; everything having its own place and knowing where everything is makes difficult tasks simpler.
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