5 Tips to Feeling Organized

Do you admire others’ tidy homes or office spaces?  Do you wish you knew how they do it?...Without a lot of blah, blah, blah, here ya go!

1) Don’t make a mess all day every day and expect it to magically disappear with 15 minutes’ worth of attention. When you move into or re-organize a space (desk, garage, patio, closet, etc.), ensure EVERYthing has a specific place to go. Don’t mix items with a dismissive ‘I’ll sort that later’ thought in mind. It won’t happen and you won’t know where to put things later. It really is an ‘everything has a place and everything in its place’ proposition.

2) Cleaning supplies: Always have back-ups. Don’t let the lack of a new sponge, a canister of cleanser or you-fill-in-the-blank for preferred supply, stop you from acting on that sudden impulse to clean the sink, floor or ceiling fan. (It really CAN happen!)

3) Don’t go to bed with every room needing to be tidied. Dinner dishes in the sink? Sure, if they’re rinsed and stacked. No one’s going to die…Ingredients all over the counter – nope. The bigger the mess remains, the more subliminal permission you (and everyone in your household) receive to make it bigger. That aforementioned 15 minutes? Goes right out the window in this 1(!) space.
       *  Undressing to go to bed? Have a hamper within throwing distance – poof!
      *  Eliminate the excuse for not throwing things in the trash as used - put a waste basket in every room.
     *  Family room scattered with jackets, backpacks, shoes, pillows, remotes…Make their owners accountable every night.  Hopefully, the struggle to create this habit /expectation will be minimal. It’ll definitely be worth it!Do not openly store anything on the floor. (See #s 2 and 3.) Hang things up and put them in the appropriate spaces every day. This includes books, sorted papers, glasses, remotes, clothes, shoes…What can be on the floor – storage bins for shoes at the most used door, mail in-basket (to be sorted no less than once per week), 1 bin for blankets used for tv watching, and 1 bin for toy overflow.

4) Do not over decorate. ‘Totally get you want to add pops of color, reflective surfaces and knick-knacks that make your house a home. But, the more there is on a surface (kitchen counters, end tables, coffee tables, nightstands, entry tables, etc.), the more cluttered the space appears and feels, and the more likely these decorative items will become meshed with otherwise overlooked dishes, pens, papers, clothes, to-go containers, etc. It all just starts to blend (and collect unnecessary dusting) after a while. So, clear the surfaces minus the used every day items and a minimal amount of decorative items, (size and number dependent on surface size, usually 1-3 items).
      *  Kitchen: Coffee maker. (Put the ‘fixings’ in the closest storage space.) And/or possibly the toaster or blender. If you only use these once a week or so, store them instead (even if that means adding a shelf somewhere).
      * Bathroom: Soap/soap dispenser. Oral hygiene products should be stored if within water splashing area of toilet.
      *  Bedrooms: Lamps and no more than 1 item on nightstands.

You get the picture…Speaking of which – if you have a TON of family pictures make a gallery of them in 1 space. If you need to update the wall, insert the new picture on top of an existing one. Don’t create a cluttered wall. It will only add to the mind’s vision of a cluttered room.

Bottom-line: The less cluttered your space/s appear, the less disorganized (and stressed!) you will feel. By spending just a few minutes a day ensuring things are tidy by day’s end, the more likely that 15 minutes of tidying can happen should someone announce they’re on their way. AND, just as important, you’ll actually be more organized because you’ll know where to find everything. Ta-da!
If you need help – just contact us. It really can be that easy.