How to Stay Organized

The Job as a professional organizer is not only to organize a clients home but also to teach them the tools and techniques necessary to help them stay that way. Some people are naturally organized and don’t need much help at all. Others don’t have the knack for it and it is not their cup of tea.

The good news is that for those who don’t have that natural organizational gene in them, they can always be taught with how to be organized. Here are a few quick tips to help you stay organized:

Be Decisive: Most Clutter comes from procrastination. Items that we could do today but have put off until tomorrow. This is where it starts. So instead of putting things off, be decisive about what you want to do with certain items. Make the decision if you want to keep an item or toss it. If you do want to keep it make a home for it and make sure it stays there.
Give everything its own place. I bet you know exactly where your socks are right now. Probably because they are nice and neatly placed in their own drawer. Everything should be like that, even if you don’t use it you should have a home for it when it is not in use. When you do need it you can go right to it and use it immediately without having to spend time looking for it. Once you are done, return it to where it belongs. A floor map is a good idea if you are just beginning to put things in its place. Group items that are relative so you don’t have to remember where everything is but at least the general area.
Make sure to plan ahead. Proper planning can make all the difference in the world. By being prepared you can save yourself time and headache. What will you need? Put it all together so you are ready for when the time comes. Being proactive is a big part of being organized.
Everyone is Lazy. At one time or another even the most avid of clean freaks go through some form of laziness. It’s in our blood. We want everything to be easy or even better done for us. That would be a perfect world. Unfortunately, we don’t live in that world. Think of organizing like jogging. Your first time out you wouldn’t go and try to run a marathon. You would try to jog what you could to see how far you could go and then stop. The next time out you would try to go further and further. The same with organizing. Do not try to overwhelm yourself the first time out. Know what you can handle. Create a plan that you know you can stick to and grow it from there. Avoid procrastination and laziness as much as possible. Reward yourself when you stick to the plan or achieve obtainable goals.
Place things where they make sense. This might be common sense but a lot of people don’t really think this way. Try to be as efficient as possible. Place things that you are using most of the time where you use them most. You wouldn’t put pots and pans in the bedroom or your bed in the kitchen. Now those are extreme cases but you get the picture. Try to keep the things where you use them most.
Duplicate only when necessary. Don’t keep more of one item unless it is absolutely necessary.
Become efficient. I know this is not something that most people like to do but by becoming more efficient you can find ways to do things faster. Group tasks by room or location, try to plan and track how long it takes you to do your chores or each individual chores. You can make it a game to see if you can beat your old time. The more efficient you become the more time you will have for yourself, or family. Ultimately, this is what we want. More Time!

I hope these little tidbits will help you out.

Keep it Clean!