Organization Tips

Are you interested in organizing your life?

Are things getting a little out of control? Don’t worry, you are just like the rest of us. Getting organized is not difficult, but it does take some practice- Practicing something makes it a habit and then it will come naturally with time.

Mrs Clean is here to help you with her favorite organization tips.

Everything has a place:

This is the number one organization tip. If you just abide by this rule, everything else will come easy when it comes to your disorganized home. So this means that every item in your home has a place, or home base that it belongs in. The hair dryer is in the drawer in the bathroom. Books belong on the bookshelf. Duh, right? Well the trick is putting them back, and putting them back right after you have used them. If you don’t have a place for certain items, find one. As you are doing this, consider if you really need it. Many people’s homes are cluttered up to the ceiling with junk- actual items that they’d happily donate or sell if they went through their stuff.

There are some really great organizing books that have been written by professional organizers they have additional tips to help get you started.

For everything that you own, designate a place for it. You can even label some of those places, to make it easier to remember. Find something that doesn’t have a place? Designate a place for it. Then simply put things back where they belong when you’re done using them. It sounds simple, but it actually takes a lot of practice to get this habit down.

Junk and clutter pile up and before you know it you have a huge mess. Take a pass through your home and determine what can be donated, tossed, sold and what should stay. The less “stuff” in your home, the easier it is to clean and organize it. There are caddies, drawers and organizers that are useful to finding a place for your knick knacks and items that don’t have place that they belong. (just yet!)

Just take a small step:

Everyone has difficulty with certain things. No one is perfect. Don’t expect to change everything all at once. If you do, you’ll likely feel discouraged and quit. Select an area to organize n your life and practice improving that area until it feels natural and is not a chore to you. After you have one area “fixed” then take on the next area of improvement.

Create a schedule:

Make a schedule and stick to it. This is so much less stressful- I promise you! Life gets crazy and the best way to stay in control is to make a plan on how and when things are to get done. Thing of how a business is run, clients are billed on a certain day, employees are paid, inventory is ordered.- All on a schedule. There’s no reason you can’t do something like this too. Put out a grocery list and add to it all week for the grocery shopping that you will do on Saturday. Pay the bills on Wednesday night. Wash clothes on and fold clothes on alternate days. Then you know when the job is done so really can spend some time relaxing-without feeling guilty.

Clean as you go:

This is my favorite. Instead of letting the cleaning go and the little mole hill of a mess get as big as a mountain. You clean up the mess right when you make it. Quickly washing the dinner dishes takes 10 minutes, ignoring the dishes until there are 3 days worth of dirty dishes in the sink could take an hour or more- Not to mention the dread that you have to deal with because you know you have such a large task ahead of you. So take care of the mess when it’s small and don’t let it grow out of control.

The cleaning bible is a great start to get your house clean.

Put things away right now:

If you are done with something, put it away now. Most people have good intentions, and lay things aside with every intention of putting it away later. Humans don’t work that way. Before you know it thing is piled up sky high. So make a resolution to put things away, right when you are done using it. no exceptions

An inbox is not just for email:

Get yourself a real old fashioned inbox (or old shoe box!) for papers that you need to deal with. Put mail, bills or other important papers you need to address there. The point is not to have one more pile of papers. But one organized area for the important stuff that you will review and take care of. -No more scrambling around the house looking for that bill you misplaced.

Keep a calendar:

Many a catastrophe has been prevented at my house my marking important events on a calendar. You won’t find yourself unprepared with an emergency appointment that you forgot about. It doesn’t matter what kind of calendar- paper calendar or electronic- Just use one to keep appointments straight.

Create a drop zone:

When I get home, I empty my pockets and put everything onto a desk next to the door. Keys, purse, wallet, cell phone, anything. This way it doesn’t get scattered around the house, so we don’t lose things or forget them when we leave.

My kids take my car and know where to find my keys- Most important, they put my keys right back there when they return home so I can find them too