Astronaut Chris Hadfield reveals 7 out-of-this-world organizing tips from living on the International Space Station – they’ll transform how you tidy your home

Astronaut Chris Hadfield is one of the world’s most revered astronauts and test pilots, and his extraordinary knowledge about living well in space isn’t just applicable outside of earth’s atmosphere.

In fact, the organizational lessons Chris learned whilst living in cramped, zero-gravity conditions on board the International Space Station for six months, and manning multiple space missions where the crew slept, worked and ate in tiny shuttles, are surprisingly applicable here on earth, and will truly transform how you streamline and tidy your home.

I’ve interviewed a lot of professional organizers but these organizing and decluttering tips from Chris, who has orbited the earth 2650 times, bring a truly fascinating and unique perspective. Buckle up for Chris’ brilliant advice in three…two…one…

Brilliant organizing tips used by astronauts in space you can apply here on earth

1. Use inventories

Chris, who is author of bestselling book, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, available on Amazon, says, the unique conditions aboard the ISS need strict rules and lists to keep things in order, which is something you can utilize at home.

He explains, ‘The ISS is an unusual place to live. It has rotating occupancy, and people are there for six months to a year. There’s typically seven people living in a space the size of 7 city buses linked together. There’s no up or down, no gravity, no shelves, so it’s quite a different thought process to stay organized.’

One of the things Chris and his crews did to maintain order in this complex temporary home was to have an ‘extremely detailed inventory on board.’ He explains, ‘Everything is bar coded or has an RFID, so if you are looking for that one thing you can check where it is.’ Delivery vehicles from earth arrived sporadically so the ‘extremely careful filing system’ was a must for organized space living.

You can employ similar brilliant technology in your home with a QR code labeling system on your storage ideas, even in tiny homes, which tells you via an app what items are inside. Of course, you will need to maintain it for the system to remain efficient.

If that is too complex, a simple label maker, available on Amazon, can not only help you identify what is where, but help your household easily stick to the organizational system you put in place. I use this personally to organize my herbs and spices cabinet. This way, when my husband cooks, he knows exactly where to find what he needs, and where it should go back to. Implementing a strict label system means I haven’t had to reorganize my spice cabinet once in the four years I started using this organizing method.

Chris Hadfield

Chris Hadfield was a top test pilot in the US Air Force and the US Navy. In 1995, Hadfield became the first Canadian to walk in space, and the first astronaut to operate the Canadarm. He has flown in three missions, built two space stations, performed two spacewalks, crewed the Shuttle and Soyuz, and in 2013, became the commander of the International Space Station, living for six months off planet.

Catch Chris Hadfield’s upcoming FANE speaking tour, A Journey Into The Cosmos.

2. Designate areas of your home for certain activities

Chris compares living on the space station to a ‘lab meets monastery’, posing a particular set of challenges for functionality. He explains, ‘Regions of the space station are designated for activities. We’d exercise in one module, eat in one or two places, keep a pantry of food, with one table or wall allocated for eating food. That’s both for pragmatism and also for the necessary social aspect, because it was nice to eat together. And then a lot of the station was kept quite pristine for the 200 experiments running.’

Designating different areas for particular activities in your home will help make it multi-functional, without the items needed for each causing chaos. It will also help you decide on what is helpful to have, storage wise.

Professional organizer Ben Soreff, of House 2 Home Organizing adds, ‘With many people working at home, in an apartment or a home with limited space, it is often the case that one room is doing double duty. We have seen people convert their dining room (since it is often underused) into a workspace. We have also seen bedrooms serve as the home office.

'In all these situations, in which a room is doing double duty, organizing first is the most important step. Once you have the quantity of items living in the room, you can then design the separation, and even use existing furniture, such as a large bookcase dividing the living room to make a playspace, or install a flexible room divider.'

The Windermere folding room divider from Wayfair can be easily put up or away.

3. Share common resources to reduce duplication and volume of items

If you find you have lots of ‘stuff’ in your home and it’s hard to keep things organized, try finding the common resources you can share with others in your household.

Astronaut Chris says resource sharing is common on the space station. He explains, ‘We had a common resource of clothing, as not everybody brings their own clothes on board. That would be immensely inefficient. All standard items of clothing were provided and it was like a discount store, you could grab what you needed. Our clothes stayed clean because it’s a clean environment, and you don’t push on them. You can wear the same shirt for months in space and it’s clean. On earth, you push and sit on them, and body oils go onto the clothes. But, without gravity, your clothes just hang on you and last a long time. We wear them till we throw them out.’

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of clothes on earth, and can lead to a need to do laundry every day, but the sharing of common resources is a brilliant tip. This might include exercise equipment, hobby materials, bags, suitcases and other bulky items.

Chris says the crew shared something surprisingly vital on the ISS. ‘We had a wrack of spicy stuff. Without gravity, your sinus never drains and that mutes your taste, your sinuses are all clogged up and your tongue is swollen. Bright flavors found in hot sauces and wasabi were always in our communal cupboards.’

Ben Soreff, professional organizer adds that resource sharing is helpful in busy households. He says, 'There are numerous household items that work for everyone using one space. For example, all cleaning supplies, including paper towels, and certain linens, like pillows and blankets. Most basic medical and health items can be shared across family members, as well as basic beauty products, like soap and shampoo. Almost everything in the kitchen is suitable to share with all family members. In some cases, items in categories like sports, art supplies, office and school supplies can be shared. Holiday decor typically belongs to everyone.'

4. Use activity rituals to stay efficient

Whether you know it or not, you are probably already using activity rituals at home, and building on this can boost organizational efficiency. For example, you might be like me, always putting your clean laundry away before you get into bed, or always picking up new mail and putting in a certain spot.

Chris says activity rituals are a vital element of living and working in space whilst staying organized. He says, ‘We have rituals to keep regular cadence of life including arrival and departure like a naval ship. We keep a brass bell so you can ring the bell for a ship arriving and departing, and you put up the emblems of your mission to maintain that feeling of specialness and tradition. You are not earthlings anymore when you’re in space, and earth becomes a collective ‘what did earth say today?’’

Rituals back down on earth may not be as meaningful and poignant, but they can be crucial to nailing down your home’s organizational functions.

For instance, if you always do a closing down shift, tidying up your home before going to bed, it can reduce overwhelm and stress as you’ll wake up to a tidy living room, organized bedroom and a clear and clean kitchen sink.

Professional organizer, Ben Soreff, adds, ‘Organizing is not about stuff, it is about time and manual labor. Therefore, having locked-in habits that you use daily is the only way to maintain any organized system. Now that you have a home for all your items, actually putting them away is all about habit. Here, it is best to use the two-minute rule. If a task takes less than two minutes to do, just do it. Don't write it down or leave it for later.'

In space, everything is scheduled. Chris recalls, ‘It’s a very scrupulously scheduled existence, down to five-minute increments for the entire six months. Every day, there is a schedule across your screen for everyone. It’s the only way to stay efficient. We have a whole team of people, with mission control teams across continents, all working together.’

It’s a habit Chris has very much brought home. ‘I do the same here on earth. Then I don’t need to worry and I can make the best use of my life. I don’t want to lead a haphazard or inefficient life. I only get 30,000 days and I don’t want to waste it.’

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I can attest that our interview ran to a tight schedule and as we were approaching the end, Chris agreed to the four extra minutes he could spare.

Keeping a keen eye on your schedule will help you complete the tasks you want to do. Putting chores and household jobs in your diary, especially the more sporadic ones such as cleaning your vents, or scheduling maintenance tasks means they will not fall off the radar or force you to make time when you don't have it.

If, like me, you live in chronic pain or have chronic fatigue, illness or mobility issues to contend with, adaptive pacing will help manage tasks without injury or flares, and it starts with finding your baseline by keeping a detailed diary.

5. Collectively agree which holidays to celebrate

This can also apply to activities, games and other hobbies where you’ve been hanging onto items, and need help to declutter the entryway, organize a basement, or clear out the attic where themed items are taking up valuable storage space.

Chris says, ‘On the ISS, we collectively choose which holidays we’re going to honor.’

In our home, we make space for both my Iranian customs, such as Iranian New Year to mark the spring equinox, and also Christmas, Easter and Halloween for our daughter. We allocated space in our attic to store the necessary items so they’re not under our feet all year.

We keep festive or seasonal items in large lidded plastic containers, available at Walmart, to protect them from mold, condensation or pests. They are safe and well and out of the way till we need them, making them fine to keep in a garage, attic, or basement, as long as they’re stored properly.

6. Learn to declutter sentimental items well

We have suite of content about tidying when overwhelmed and decluttering sentimental items because many people struggle with it. But, there is a knack to it and it starts with mindset, though it’s important to understand why our sentimental items hold such value.

Chris explains, ‘I think having an orderly and productive existence that you take pride in is important. Touches of home and memories that are important to you hold value, but the earth is abundant with stuff, so put your name tag on some of it, if you want, but you have to be true to yourself. What’s important to you? Find a way to be comfortable where you are, content where you are, and don’t let the place define you.’

He advises considering what you are going to put on the wall, how are you going to use this space, and how you will make it your own ‘but not in a way that inconveniences anybody else.’

Chris explains, ‘Mostly it’s internal. You have to find a way that is comfortable and productive for yourself, and that makes you look forward to getting into your space. When I get into a small cockpit, I always feel like I’m at home, really understanding how it works.'

You can apply the same sense of ownership in your home by understanding, as Chris advises, ‘How does the heating or electricity work? Learn, so you can take ownership of the space, whether it’s a cave, house, or whatever.’

7. Consider how your actions effect other people

When I asked Chris about the most important things he learned about keeping your living area tidy, clean and organized in space, his answer was immediate:

‘Expeditionary behavior: your actions affect other people,’ he said. ‘In space, where the consequences can be life or death, you think about it differently. It’s not fun, it’s service. It’s deadly dangerous. You have to deliberately think, what is the purpose? How do I put others' needs above my own to be successful as a group of people? When you launch you have no idea when you come back, no guarantee, and it’s often for a long duration. So, if you find a way to love every single day of it all, it’s not hard to do.’

Whilst most of the time, the decisions you make in your home are not going to be a matter of life or death, there is a lot to be said for thinking about other people’s needs in your home, as well as your own. This can seep into design too, for instance when designing a family room to make time together better.

There you have it – seven tips for organizing, straight from the International Space Station.

If you could still do with further guidance on getting organized, one of our tried and tested decluttering methods from the Homes & Gardens Decluttering Library may hold the key. The 40+ methods are categorized according to how much time you have, how deep a decluttering session you'd like to hold, and even if you are a serial procrastinator.