How To Keep Your Table Tidy

In my last blog post, I advised on the steps you can take to clear off your dining room table. But how do you keep it tidy? You can put a few habits in place to ensure your table is not an eyesore in your home.

Collecting Incoming Paper

Handling incoming paperwork is one of the most common struggles with keeping the dining room table clear. The table tends to be a resting place for the mail and other documents that need evaluation. While the so-called "ideal" scenario is to handle the mail immediately and put all wanted paperwork where it belongs, that is often not achievable when bouncing from task to task. A more feasible tactic would be to quickly look through the mail you receive to pitch advertisements and other obvious garbage. Then, consider having a basket that will keep the mail in an organized pile for when you are ready to go through it.

Setting a "Reset" Time

With the clear table, you often use it not only for dinner time but for setting down bags when you arrive home, as a placeholder for items you are organizing, and for a workspace. Many things may stay on the table after each use due to the habits we've created for ourselves or because our attention is pulled away while in the middle of the table's use. 

Set a reset time to prevent clutter piles from growing on your table. Setting the time for about a half hour at least once a week will likely be all the time you need. You may accumulate stuff on your table at a rate where a half hour once a week won't cut it. In that case, you may allocate a reset every few days or even every day as a nighttime routine. 

Suppose you need an alternative to a regular reset day. In that case, you can incorporate a few minutes to clear your table after each use. After dinner, make it a point to clear the table. Worked on a craft at the table? Set an alarm to wind down and clean up. While this method may not cover the times you get interrupted and pulled away from what you're doing, it will keep the build-up of stuff at bay.

Whatever method you use for your reset time, the key is to set an alarm that will remind you to clean up. Alarms are handy for reminding you of the habits you are working to build and will pull your attention back from interruptions that keep you from maintaining your organizational efforts.

Use Your Table

If you lived with a cluttered table for a long time, you may have learned to not use it. You've eaten dinner on table trays in the living room. You've spread out your latest crafting project on the floor. Even with the table clear, you may need help to settle back into the habit of using it in the way it was meant for. 

Start by making it an inviting place to settle for a meal. You could add a small centerpiece, placemats, or even more comfortable chair cushions. 

Then, make a date with yourself and your household to sit at the table for a meal. Many people in your home may be rushing to and from appointments and meetups, so find a date that everyone has available and make it an event. While not all your dinner times need to be extravagant affairs, having an appealing opportunity to sit at the table will start showing how pleasant it can be. This can inspire interest in using the table more often.

When you start using the table for eating, gathering, and working instead of a black hole to swallow up your stuff, you'll shift your perspective about its value. Once that perspective shifts, the maintenance of the table organization will stay more front of mind. You'll be more apt to pick up an item occasionally rather than let it accumulate into an unruly mess.

Keeping your dining room table clear can be attainable with a few adjustments to your routine and working on a mindset shift. Your habits may have made tables unusable in the past, but creating reminders and making the table appealing to use will help you create new habits that will make maintenance and organization a breeze. When you can keep the table clear, you'll build your confidence to take on other organizing projects.