Someone's popping in? How to clear your WFH mess in seconds.

You've been working from home for a while. Only your family has been allowed in your lockdown mess. You get a call: a colleague is popping around to drop off some papers.

You look around the room, your makeshift office, and realise that all that obsessive tidying at the start of lockdown has stopped. What a mess! Everywhere you look stuff has piled up in the corners, papers lie around needing chucking or filing, the bedding hasn’t been folded, the clean laundry hasn’t made it to the cupboards. While you’ve been focused on your work deadlines, drowning in Zoom overdrive (with a neat bookcase in the background) the house has been laughing behind your back, stocking up stuff to be cleaned, sorted, tidied or chucked.

You're tempted to meet your colleague on the front step and chase them away, citing social distancing as an excuse. But you've offered them a cup of socially distanced tea and you don't want to be rude.

Here are some quick tidy hacks (with apologies to those who already have perfectly-tidy-homes; I’ll never understand, and this article is not for you).

A credibility caveat: I spent many months sorting my parents’ home after they passed away, and learnt some great techniques that I apply to my own home when speed-tidying is needed.

1. Top-to-bottom, left-to-right.

Scan the room. Decide where left is and where top is. Then start at the top and work top-to-bottom, left-to-right.

2. Macro first, micro later.

Group things. Use containers. All the stationery here, all the papers for sorting there. All the trinkets here, all the books there. Lump them into groups. This is not the time to read the papers as you put them in the box (micro). Anything that looks like you'll miss it today or this week goes into the 'important stuff box' (macro). Then close the lids, and decide when you'll do the micro sorting later.

3. Big baskets are your best friend.

If you've to almost no time to clear stuff, you reach for the desperate measures option. Whisk everything on any surface into a big basket. Label it the date and hour that you placed it there, then put it in your wardrobe or your bathroom; somewhere where you will see it every single day until it’s sorted. Preferably sort within 48 hours (see 3 above - macro, micro) or you’ll find it there a year later.

4. Get some help: Make friends with a robot

Here are a few of my favourite things: a leaf blower (amazing how quickly you can ‘sweep’ inside and then just brush up the bits from the corner) and a robotic vacuum cleaner. Just perfect. Oh, and there’s the automatic pool cleaner (a quick skim of the top leaves and the cleaner will do the rest).

Now you're all set to open the door to your colleague or friend.

When you get around to it, be sure to make the micro sorting delightful.

Settle in to sort the big baskets and the macro containers with delight. Enjoy it. Music. Coffee. Even a chocolate or two is allowed. Outside is ideal. Maybe even on your favourite rock overlooking the water. Take the equipment you need: staples, envelopes, small boxes, labels, pen, a recycling bag, a give-away bag. That way you can deal with it all at the time, not later.

You might find yourself chanting under your breath:

“Top to bottom, left to right,

macro before micro and get some help”.

These things really work. Trust me, I know. I do it all too often. And that big basket in the wardrobe? It's still there.