Many people say that getting organized is their number one goal or resolution for the new year. You’ve spent your entire January purging, sorting, and organizing the entire house. Then what happens? Life. All of that hard work has gone out of the window with a few busy weekends and long days when you’re just too tired to do anything except put on your pjs and turn on Netflix.
You’ve organized everything, but how do you STAY organized? This was the number one question from students at Catholic High School’s Career Day. “What about when your clients mess everything up that you did?” “How do your clients keep their things organized after you've left?” This was the students’ number one concern. It’s my concern, too! My clients spend good money for my help, and I want it to stick! I not only help them get organized, but I create a system that will work for them when things get messy again. And believe me, THEY WILL.
Here are some simple tips to help you stay organized.
1. Label everything.
Label everything. It sounds very juvenile, but it helps everyone in the entire family know the expectations of where things go. It takes out the thinking when you are quickly tidying up.
2. Put back things after you use them.
If you use the extra minute to just put something away instead of putting it down, it will save you hours later on. When I’m pressed for time and want to leave the mail on the dining room table, I think to myself “will it take me less than a minute to go through this?” If the answer is yes, then I do that task right then and there. Don’t have enough time right now? No worries! You can accomplish it in your weekly reset.
3. If you try it on, hang it back up.
Why is hanging clothes back up so hard!?!? We all have that chair in our room that is covered with clothes that aren’t dirty, but we may wear again or clothes that we tried on and just weren’t feeling that day. We end up spending 30 minutes to an hour later on in the week hanging everything back up. What if we took 1 minute to hang up our clothes immediately after taking them off? It saves so much time in the long run.
4. Don’t overbuy.
This one is hard because it is a mindset change. A lot of times when we’re shopping we just pick up and grab things we think we may need. We end up overbuying which means more stuff that we have to find space for in our homes. As you’re shopping, I want you to really think about what is needed and what is just an impulse buy. I always think to myself “do I really need this?” “Is there something I already have that I can use instead?” or “Where am I going to put this in my home?” If I can’t answer these questions, then I don’t buy the item. Now, I’m not talking about necessities, I’m talking about that fifth bottle of moisturizer that you see in Target that has a cute label. Plan before you shop. Look through your closets, cabinets, and drawers first to make sure you don’t already have those items that you need. You may be surprised at how much you already have that needs to get used! I made a pact with myself that I wasn’t going to buy any toiletries until I’ve used all the ones I had. I HAVEN’T BOUGHT SOAP OR BODY WASH IN A YEAR, PEOPLE.
5. Schedule time for a weekly reset.
Most people try to get their lives together on Sundays, but that doesn’t have to be the case for you. Choose one day of the week to schedule a weekly reset. Set aside 30 minutes to an hour depending on what tasks you want to accomplish. Make a list of things you need to get done to set up your week for success. In that reset, make sure you add “return items to their home.” The more you tidy up during the week, the less you will have to do during your reset time. You can then take this time to focus on other weekly tasks such as bills, laundry, grocery shopping, school lunches etc. For an example, here’s my weekly reset list:
Laundry (wash, fold or hang, and put away)
Meal planning and grocery shopping (sometimes I even cook everything if I’m feeling up for it)
Write out my weekly schedule in my planner, set alerts, and coordinate any dates I need to with my husband.
Schedule my workouts with my gym buddies
Put all items back in their homes
Surface cleaning (wipe counters and sweep)
Some weeks I get everything done and others I don’t. I strive to accomplish all of these things BEFORE my week starts, especially if I know it will be a busy one. If I don’t have an organizing session scheduled, I may do my reset on a Monday. Make this work for you. A little prep ahead of time will save you so much stress during the week. I PROMISE!
If you need help setting up systems in your home in order for you to keep it tidy and organized, call me, beep me, if you wanna reach me! Kim Possible throwback :) Actually please don’t beep me, I definitely don’t have a beeper.
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