Then there are the times when you have to pull your home together in a hurry, you know, because company is coming. Like for Thanksgiving or something.

Normally here’s what you do: shove all the stuff out on all the counters and all the piles in all the places into one or two concealed locations (a drawer, a closet). You tell yourself you’ll come back to it after your guests depart.

Then here’s what happens: you never go through the stuff again.

With that in mind, I present unto you 3 tips for when you find yourself in such a scenario. It should be noted that these are not standard LS operating procedure. They are, rather, aimed at injecting some LS into your method of madness.

1. Deal with it

Anytime you clear surfaces in grand, sweeping moves and then cram the piles in places like drawers, cupboards, or bags, you run the risk of creating mini-disasters that are hugely difficult to decode after the fact. When there’s no rhyme or reason to a collection of stuff, there’s no roadmap for you to return to.

As much as possible, deal with things on the spot.

If it’s a stack of papers on the kitchen counter, do a fast sort (it’s possible, promise!), separating the papers into piles such as:

– Toss

– Bills

– File

– To do

Etc.

Post-it notes are hugely helpful; write the category heading on your post-it, slap it on the corresponding papers, and then stack the categories horizontally and vertically, then horizontally (you know how it goes).

Doing so makes a world of difference in your being able to retrace your steps once your visitors have departed.

It should also be noted that if you actually call upon yourself to do a fast sorting method such as the one outlined above, you’ll be in for an additional 7-10 minutes, max.

2. All hands on deck

If the areas in need of straightening up are shared spaces (likely) then the stuff laying around it is bound to belong to more than just one person in the household.

Make it known that all troop members are expected to gather in the living at, let’s say, at 08whatever, in order to pick up their respective belongings. Direct each one of them to deal with it (see 1) as well.

Divvy out other tasks to them while you’re at it.

3. You have options 

When preparing your house for guests, it’s good to be conscious of things like surface clutter and so on. People walking in will notice that straight off.

It’s important, as well, to consider the other things they’ll undoubtedly notice within moments of entering your abode. Pertinent suggestions here might include: smells, sounds, temperature.

Of course you’d like to shine on all fronts, but there are times when it’s equally worthwhile to buy some fresh flowers, light a candle, and turn on the tunes as it is to clear what might appear to your guests to be innocuous clutter.

The point here being: consider whether it’s really worth shoving all those papers away in a drawer and leaving yourself with that mayhem to (not) deal with later on, or whether you might compensate for the issue with some hot jams and crumb-free carpets.

(LET’S BE CLEAR, YOU WILL BE DEALING WITH THE CLUTTER SITUATION PROPERLY COME VISITOR-DEPARTURE DAY, I’M JUST SAYING DON’T MAKE THAT FEAT HARDER FOR YOURSELF THAN IT ALREADY IS.)

That’s it from me this week, homies. Wishing fellow-Americans a happy Thanksgiving and the rest of you a happy life.