Discover which scientific principle is being tested in your home laboratory and learn the formula to tackle it.

H ypothesis: Home management is a science that can be learned so running your home doesn’t have to be an experiment with unknown variables.

Scientific Principle # 1

Law of Conservation of Mass: This fundamental principle of physics states that the mass of a collection of objects never changes, no matter how the parts are rearranged or transferred.

Household Application

The Law of Conservation of MESS: The mess of a collection of objects never changes, no matter how the parts are rearranged or transferred. Aha! Reorganizing a mess or moving it from place to place will not help you eliminate it. Stuffing all the clutter in the living room into a garbage bag on Erev Shabbos may improve the look of the room, but not the situation. Making decisions about the mess, dealing with what’s there, and removing what’s unnecessary — that will take care of the problem.

Formula for Resolution

M= 2D

Mess = Do it Differently

To get rid of the mess once and for all, the process needs to be adjusted:

• The piles of paper from the dining room table which were moved to the drawer Erev Shabbos and then back to the table on Motzaei Shabbos need to be dealt with and filed away. Re-do the filing system to make both filing and retrieval more convenient. Set up a convenient inbox to dump papers in so that they will still be in your line of vision without cluttering up the table.
• Stop reorganizing messy toys in the closet. The half-life of a toy closet which hasn’t been decluttered recently is about five minutes. If the toy closet isn’t working, come up with an entirely new system. Something has to change. Throw away broken toys. Rid your home of unused oversized toys. Transfer all toys to uniform clear containers, especially the ones that come in funky non-stackable containers — no need to hold onto those. A drawer system may work for toys with lots of pieces, or try keeping toys out of your children’s reach and just bring down a few every day.
• Don’t keep refolding the same clothes. Make changes in the way you store clothes. Cut down the supply to items people truly like and wear. Separate smaller items by dividers, or purchase drawer inserts to maximize the space of big shelves.

Scientific Principle # 2

The Law of Entropy: According to this second law of thermodynamics, everything in the universe, when left to itself, tends towards more and more disorder, and eventually chaos — unless new energy enters into the system.

Household Application

What a relief! It's not just you and your home, getting cluttered, dirty, disorganized over time … it's the entire universe! Order naturally diminishes unless someone or something gets involved. Our homes get messier and messier because they are following the laws of physics. What we need to do is introduce “new energy” into the system.

Formula for Resolution

E=H²

Energy = Healthy Habits

Despite the action and craziness each day brings, do something, anything, for one minute to keep the house in shape. Adopt some of these healthy habits into your daily routine to increase order and prevent chaos from taking over:

• Rid your home of a few pieces of clutter each day.
• Wipe down the bathroom sink each time you walk in there.
• Throw away torn books.
• Throw away broken toys.
• Wash a dish instead of putting it in the sink.
• Unpack your travel bag as soon as you get home.
• Throw the dirty sock in the hamper instead of stepping over it.

Scientific Principle # 3

The Law of Inertia: Newton’s first law of motion states that an object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will remain in motion until outside forces act upon it.

Household Application

So that’s why piles of dishes are at rest in the sink and mounds of laundry remain in the hampers — no outside forces (AKA Mommy) have acted upon them yet. The basement full of musty hand-me-downs, old baby contraptions, and Grandma’s old sheets and blanket covers “just in case” have become virtual graveyards. Someone has to sort through them every once in a while. (Who — me? I don’t have time!) When the house is flying (“object in motion”), it will continue to fly unless the pilot prepares for landing.

Formula for Resolution

I=ct

Inertia = cyclic tasks

To combat the law of inertia, all home management tasks have to follow some sort of cycle. The home’s laundry needs to be tackled daily or weekly. Dishes need to be washed after each meal or in one big session at the end of each day. The bathrooms need to be refreshed on a daily basis and thoroughly cleaned on a weekly basis. What is your home’s cycle? The more tasks which make it into the cycle, the less mess will remain at rest.

If you gave it a good try and can’t get home basics into the cycle — delegate to other family members or to your cleaning help. You also need to create a yearly cycle for all those non-urgent tasks that keep the house running. Try spring cleaning before Pesach, basement purging after Succos, and hand-me-down sorting every Chanukah.

Scientific Principle # 4

The Law of Gravity: Gravity pulls everything down. All objects on Earth — whether they’re falling, thrown, or even sitting — experience the effect of gravity.

Household Application

Things get put down in the most convenient spot available. And what is put down, stays down. You know, the contents of your husband’s pockets on the edge of the bookshelf. The last two months’ worth of magazines on the armrest of the couch. Shlomo’s socks at the edge of the bed.

Formula for Resolution

G=e/c/d

Gravity=eliminate / cover / design

Make sure the places where objects gravitate are actually where they belong. Fight the forces of gravity with these three strategies:

Eliminate or cover spots which invite the forces of gravity to work. Coffee tables, end tables, any table or empty surface near the front door, night tables, open bookcases … any convenient spot which calls out “Dump on me!” If you don’t want to get rid of the piece entirely, cover it in some way — put a big plant or large decorative piece on it, purchase a bookcase with doors, or cover an empty surface with framed photos.

Design the dumping spots containing stronger gravitational forces so that what’s dumped there actually belongs there. Put a magazine rack right next to the armrest of the couch. Store the hamper next to Shlomo’s bed. Put a decorative inbox for papers on your kitchen counter or dining room table, a small basket to collect loose change on the bookcase, and a pretty tray to catch jewelry on the bathroom counter.

Scientific Principle # 5

The Law of Dynamic Equilibrium: A concept in chemistry describing the harmonious adjustment of different elements or parts. Although they may appear inactive in a test tube, molecules are actually involved in continuous reactions creating balance.

Household Application

Sorry, equilibrium doesn’t mean tranquil or quiet. It means all the forces of the house are actually very busy, working together. Routines are flowing, reactions are occurring, parts are moving, everything is working and everyone is happy. A balanced home is actually a dynamic place of successful reactions between people and objects. Ever wonder how the working mother of many children manages to also host Shabbos guests every week? She’s successfully created a dynamic equilibrium in her home.

Formula for Resolution

formula: Eq=ƩS

        Equilibrium = the sum of multiple Strategies

To achieve equilibrium in the home you must have a strategy.

We all strive for equilibrium in the home, but it will not manifest on its own. In order to achieve the “harmonious adjustment of all the different elements and parts” of a home, you must create a strategy for every area. A home strategy is more powerful than simply following a routine. Routines naturally evolve within our homes with or without much thought — sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. A planned strategy is the formula for complete success in the home.

Laundry, Shabbos preparations, meal planning, clean up, and all other areas of home management need careful consideration as to how each “element” should work. Do you want your kids to have household chores or just take care of picking up after themselves? Do you want Shabbos guests every week or only once a month? Can your family handle your work schedule or do you need to cut back on hours? What type of outside help would be most helpful — a cleaning lady, a babysitter, or a laundry service?

Instead of being reactive to the latest “emergency” of the day (“Oh no, it’s already dinnertime!” or “You guys are still up? Get to bed!” or “Where’s that pot? I guess I’ll have to wash the dishes.” or “We’d love to have you for Shabbos!”), be proactive. Plan how you would like the day and week to flow. Analyze the different elements which comprise your home and make educated changes. That will create every homemaker’s goal — a dynamic equilibrium.

Yael Wiesner author of How Does SHE Manage? (Feldheim 2012 & 2016) is a home-management consultant, director of her Professional Organizer Training Program, and presenter of the international “Be Yourself” Homemaking Strategies Teleconference series.

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 530)