Back home after the holidays, where do I start?

How hard is the return from vacation. Dirty clothes, a car full of food scraps, toiletry bags that multiply, bags everywhere, an empty fridge... Where do we start? Let's start from the basis that getting the house ready and unpacking after a few days or weeks away is a cumbersome task for almost everyone, but since there is no other choice, the most practical and realistic thing to do in these cases is to follow the advice from those who know the most about organization to resume the routine in the easiest way possible. "The key is to have the correct order, because if we do things as they come our way, the only thing we will achieve is to spend the little energy we have left, frustrate ourselves and allow ourselves to be invaded by laziness and discouragement", warns the professional organizer María Leániz.

Before getting to work, the experts advise not to get carried away by toxic thoughts of the type: 'the good stuff is over', 'I'm too lazy to start working', 'I can't go back to the routine' and strictly apply the maxim of Do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today. "Don't ruminate, act. By the time you realize it, you will have the house in order and you will see the return to normal life with more encouragement. The spaces will be organized and will give us the peace we need to start the course with more calm and enthusiasm, "says the founder of Atelier del Orden.

The first thing to do is put the washing machine. Yes or yes. “It is a good idea to take the suitcase to the place where we do the laundry, without giving ourselves time to collapse on the sofa to think about the good days we have had,” insists María Leániz. Open the suitcase or laundry bag, apply the stain remover to the clothes that need it and go inside. «As it is most likely that several washing machines will have to be used, it is advisable to use the 'eco' program, unless one of the garments is urgently needed. In that case, select a quick wash”, they add in The Home Academy, the first school specialized in home organization.

"Laundry is one of the tasks that overwhelms us the most when we return home," the experts agree. If we have a lot of clothes accumulated, another option is to take them to a laundromat. «The important thing is that it is done as soon as you arrive from the trip. If you leave it for later, the stains of saltpeter, sand, chocolate, sweat... will end up being embedded in the garment and will be more difficult to clean, not to mention the nuisance of having bags with dirty clothes all over the house for days. », warns María Leániz.

The next step is to take the suitcase with the clothes that we bring clean to the closet. “The most convenient thing is that each member of the family takes care of unpacking her own luggage,” they advise in The Home Academy. One of the tricks to make this task easier is to have put dirty clothes on one side of the suitcase and the toiletry bags and clean clothes on the other. “We will take out the ones that we have not used, we will air them for a few minutes and if they do not need a review of the iron, they are placed directly in the cupboard”, Leániz specifies.

Now that we have the clothes more or less organized, we continue with the rest of the luggage. “Again, the recommendation is to act without thinking too much. Because if we take a look at the half-full suitcase, the bag with the remains of food from the trip and the amount of packages that accumulate, we will get overwhelmed and we will let the deception of the armchair catch us, that false illusion that makes us think that if we we take a break lying on the sofa for a while we will gather strength to continue. Reality shows us just the opposite. As we sit down, there will be no one to pick us up, especially if we have a mobile phone or a television remote control nearby, "argues the founder of Atelier del Orden.

The order to follow is simple. The first thing is to throw the leftover food in the trash or place the containers in the pantry if they still contain food that can be used. Second, everything back to its place. "There are no short cuts. The belt, to the belt drawer; the toothbrush, to the glass in the bathroom; the necklaces, to their hanger... I admit that this task is tedious, that's why the 'time packages' work very well. That is, a time is assigned to each task: half an hour to empty the suitcase. You put the timer on your mobile and you dedicate yourself to it as if you were in a contest and the prize was 500 euros. You'll be surprised how much time lasts for you. Then, you move on to the next task and activate another timer: ten minutes to empty the toiletry bag in the bathroom. And so on until you finish”, advises María Leániz.

If the organization of clothes is one of the tasks that gives us more laziness when we return from vacation, it is not the only one that we have to face. Going to the supermarket is another essential. “My recommendation is to have a standard 'come home shopping list' that we can use for any getaway, vacation or trip we take throughout the year. That list should include the basic foods that are eaten every week. In my case, there is no shortage of olive oil, milk, bread, some tomatoes, lettuce, onions, some fruit, chicken breasts, eggs and some frozen fish", lists María Leániz. It is also advisable to buy something simple to prepare for lunch or dinner on the day of arrival. A grilled chicken breast with salad or some fried eggs, for example.

Finally, "and we can do this relaxed on the sofa", we will put digital order. “It is basically about 'cleaning' our mobile of everything we have generated during the summer: deleting repeated photos, emptying WhatsApp groups that no longer have activity or uninstalling applications that we are not going to use.”