Pesach 2023 is over and now is the time to start planning for next year. "NOW?! I'm still trying to locate items from the pre-Pesach kitchen turn-over and enjoying my chometz-dik pizza." Yes, now. While everything is still fresh on your mind. Here are five tips to help with your post-Pesach organizational endeavors.
Make a file. Name it with key words that you will remember such as Pesach 2024, Passover 2024, or Pesach Notes. The file can be on your email. It can be on Google Docs. It can be in a folder or notebook. Whatever works for you. It isn't the time to try something different, meaning if you prefer to keep notes on your phone, don't use a pen and paper system.
Create different lists and then add them to the file. Lists can be titled Menus, Shopping Lists, and Things to Buy for Next Year. You know NOW that for next year a hot water urn or an extra set of burners or plastic table covers is needed. Write it on the 'Things to Buy for Next Year' list. Once this system is in place, recycle it from year to year and update as needed.
Take photos. Never trust your memory. I shouldn't say never, but I know that even one week post-Pesach there are things I can't recall where that "good place, I'll remember" is. For the life of me, I couldn't find a specific bowl after a day of searching. We found it inside an extra-large soup pot and I have no recollection of putting it there. I have a friend who confided that they were still trying to locate an item from last year. It happens...so photos help jog the memory. The photos can be sent to your file and will be your road map how to keep order before and after, and b'ezrat Hashem, reduce stress by taming the guesswork and chaos for next year.
Plan to shift things over the next few weeks or months. 11 months a year I have a system and everything fits. After the holiday, I have a lot of overstock and I personally this personally is difficult. I don't like overstock, because there is limited space to put it. As the stashes get whittled down, I can put them back into their regular places. It's a lot of continuous shifting to get back to the normal, so I'm validating the over-stock and re-framing it as a blessing we have these items which will be utilized in due time. Homes need tidying. Teeth need brushing. You may have done these things yesterday, but today is a new day. Organizing is a process.
Give away/Donate what you don't need/want/use. While applicable to all reading this post, I stress this point with my pre-aliyah crowd, those moving in the future, and also my senior readers who may consider/soon be considering downsizing. You know what you always use and are constantly washing. Those occasional usage or never-used items are taking up real estate in your kitchen. Shoving something into the back of a cabinet isn't going to make you use it more. Declutter it. Free up some space. It's less to move, less to clean, and it focuses on your essentials, not the extras.
After having read these tips, my suggestion is to chose one or more and incorporate into your pre-and post-holiday organizing.
All the best,
Karen, The Klutter Koach