Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Organize It: How to Become Organized

I have loads of people ask me for tips on how to become organized; so I wrote this post in repose. Organizing, decluttering, and cleaning a house can be a small task or a humongous task. It all depends on the severity of your house, the size of your house, and how much you own. Don't believe that you can get organized now. Proper organization of a home requires time, determination, and a bit of creativity. 


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Getting organized is simple enough in theory, but like so many other things, can be tainted by our human errors or small unforeseeable bumps in the road. But like most things in life that are worth doing/having, being organized is something that can save you a ton of time, hassle, and headaches. Unfortunately, getting organized and living a simple life isn't quite so simple. But if I can do it, anyone can (I promise)! 

It is simply finding a system or solution that works for you. A lot of work goes into organizing your house, and even more work goes into maintaining it. I'm sorry to say that organizing your home is just a small step in the process. Make sure that you always put things back in their place (no matter how tired you are)! I'm guilty of cleaning, organizing, and decluttering a space, and then completely trashing it afterwards. 

It's tempting to just leave an empty plate or pair of dirty pants in the floor. Initially, I will begin to argue with my self. On the one hand, I consider the time and effort I put into making my room look nice. But, after a hard day at work, working on my blog, and everything else I just don't feel like walking into the kitchen to just place a single, dirty plate in the sink. Here are some tips and techniques on how to become organized. 

1. Go through everything that you own and determine if you want to keep it or kick it to the curb. If you are having problems cleaning out the things that you don't need, visit my article: How to Declutter Anything and Simplify Your Life

2. Take all of your unwanted items to Good Will or read my article: Sell Your Clothes Online 101

3. Make lists to make sure that you always complete every task when it needs to be done. 

4. Place a large bowl and hooks by the front door. You will always have a place for your keys and any little knickknacks that were being stored in your pockets. 

5. Keep copies of every important document and store the originals in a safe. Store the copies you made somewhere that will not be difficult to locate at a moments notice. 

6. Have a trash can in every room of your house. This is especially true in any bedrooms, bathrooms, and laundry rooms. 

7. Develop a mail in and mail out system to manage your paper mess. 

8. Hang a calendar on the fridge and put important dates, appointment dates, and emergency phone numbers at the bottom. 

9. Every item you own should have a proper home to go to after every use. 

10. Make an emergency bag that is left in your car at all times. Try to envision anything you might need for any situation you could encounter. For starters, grab an umbrella, an extra set of clothes, sunblock, sunglasses, a flashlight, a lighter or box of matches, 

11. Know what your priorities are and stick to them! 

12. If an item is used everyday, put it somewhere that can be easily accessed. It is a really bad decision to put an item that is used every day somewhere that out of the way and hard to reach. 

13. Try to leave some extra free storage space. Trust me, it will come in handy when you bring home new stuff. 

14. Whatever storage solutions you use, make sure that it works for you. If not, just think about your problem and the easiest way to fix it. For instance, if you have a problem with mail collecting, stand over a trash can the next time you sort through your mail. 

15. Keep all of the basic tools handy in your house. When I say basic tools I am referring to tools such as, a hammer, a Flathead screwdriver, a Phillips head screwdriver, and a pair of needle nose pliers.

If you would like me to write a post about a specific topic, just send me an email. I promise that I will respond and get to work on the post as soon as possible. Also, if you have an questions or comments, feel free to leave a comment below!

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