If you’re like me and so many others, the walls of clutter are closing in on you. You may say, “I don’t have time to organize everything with my busy schedule,” but, if you really sat down and took the time to organize everything properly, you wouldn’t have to worry about time and honestly, you might feel better about the space around you. Being organized helps oh-so-much with stress.
I know for me, when my space is clean and organized, I feel more at ease and I can finally breathe. After hunting around the internet, I’ve discovered a few organizational hacks that will definitely help you (and me) stay more organized and at ease about the space around you.
1. Make a Plan
One of the best ideas I found was to make a plan for essentially everything. Make a daily checklist of things that you need to get done. Include this in your daily routine and you’ll have more of a sense of accomplishment when you check things off as the day goes on. Try keeping a calendar, planner, or notebook with daily to-do’s that you or your family need to accomplish. Try making a daily chore list thats kept in a central place everyone can see it.
2. Don’t be a Packrat
Closet overflowing with clothes that you don’t wear anymore? Kids have too many stuffed animals that they don’t do anything with? These are signs that you need to get rid of stuff! If you have clothes you don’t wear anymore but can’t find the heart to get rid of anything, try hanging your hangers with the hook facing outwards. After you’ve worn something, hang it back up in the normal fashion.
After about a month, if anything still on an outward facing hanger, donate it. I’ve done this, and it actually worked really well for me. Also, try implementing a “one-in, one-out” rule with all of your items. If you purchase something, or someone gifts something to you or your children, make the effort to remove similar items and donate them.
3. Learn the Difference Between Want and Need
Another great way to keep clutter from building up is to buy less stuff. Organized people tend to be simplistic and don’t get things just because it was on sale or they could get it for free (if its something you need, by all means save money and get it). Learn the difference between want and need and your life will easily become free of clutter.
4. Find a Home for Everything
Probably the most important habit for an organized home is finding a place for everything. Simple hacks such as putting organizers in drawers (you can make these using empty cereal boxes or other cardboard boxes, or you can even find drawer organizers at places such as Target), will prevent things from getting lost or piling up around you.
If you have metal things in your bathroom, such as toe-nail clippers and hair pins, try implementing a magnetic strip to make those once elusive things easier to find. For mail and other papers, try setting up a central area with file boxes. Once you have a spot for everything, be sure to put it back once you’re done. If you purchase anything new, make sure it gets put in its place as soon as you get home.
5. Give Every Room a Purpose
This one is fairly obvious for places such as the kitchen and the bathroom, but some rooms need to be designated for certain things otherwise they’ll just be clutter rooms. Some rooms may serve multiple purposes, and to prevent this room from just piling with junk, you need to carve out “zones” for each purpose. Use dividers such as bookcases, cubbies, or couches to create a space for each purpose you may have in mind for a room. In children’s rooms for example, try giving them a play area, a study area, and a slumber area.
6. Label Everything
Using a label maker, or even printing off labels helps remind you of where things go. Label everything from spices in your kitchen to shelves in a closet. This will help you and your family find things they need with ease and know where they need to be put when they’re finished using them.
7. Keep Surfaces Clear
Ever notice that when one thing gets set on your kitchen counter, more stuff is added to over time? Clutter attracts clutter. If it’s something you use every day, keep it on a counter or dresser, if it’s something that seldom gets used, put it away.
8. Never Leave a Room Empty Handed
Every time you leave a room, grab something that needs to be put away. For example: if there’s an empty cup on your coffee table, grab it and put it in the dishwasher. If there’s a coat hanging on a chair, grab it on your way out of the room and hang it up. If you don’t wait to put these things away, you’ll be able to find them easier later on when you need them.
9. Keep Like things Together
If you keep your food items organized as if they were in a store, finding specific ingredients is a breeze. Try keeping like items together in line, for example; in your pantry, keep all your canned corn in line with your canned corn and your beans in line with your beans and so on and so forth. Same goes with your bathroom, if you keep all your styling products together in a caddy, your search will be shorter and your counter will be clear.
10. Organize your Wardrobe
Try organizing your wardrobe by type of clothing and then by color. Also, try to utilize space with cubbies for shoes and other items. Utilize things like over-the-door pocket organizers for items like jewelry and scarves
If you want to become more organized, these simple tasks need to become habits. Once they’re habits, you shouldn’t have a problem keeping your house – and your life clutter free.
Sources:
Operation Organization By Heidi
TheNest.com
SheKnows.com
This article was written by Amanda Rickert. When Amanda isn’t creating content and writing for FindAFax.com, you can find herplaying with her cat Lola Boy and binge watching shows on Netflix. To read more of Amanda’s work, feel free to take a look at her Google+.
