Today, I wanted to talk about organizing yet again. It’s just one of those things that needs to happen in order to maintain a clean and tidy space. De-cluttering, organizing, and finding a place for your things helps you keep tidy because everything has a “home”. When your space is orderly, then the whole energy of your environment shifts. You’ll find that you can think more clearly, feel more at ease, and just feel less anxiety overall. De-cluttering and organizing will ensure that your home stays tidy while you’re waiting for your next scheduled cleaning services. I’ve found a great article about 3 mistakes that people make when it comes to organizing.
“The 3 Biggest Mistakes People Make When It Comes to Organizing
My goal is for you to be uber-successful on this journey to getting organized and optimized. Your success is my success! Unfortunately, not everyone is born with this organization gene; I’ve discovered that the majority of people have to work hard at it. So don’t feel bad. It is definitely a learned skill and as you use this new skill, you will become better and better at it. Just know that even if being organized wasn’t something you were taught when you were younger or in school, you still stand a chance. In working with and observing others, I’ve noticed three common mistakes that people make on their journey to getting more organized and I want to save you from these mistakes before we begin.
Mistake #1
People Organize without Decluttering first Organizing can be fun and exciting especially when it involves shopping at places like “The Container Store” for fancy bins, baskets, containers, and even complete organizing systems. The intention is good. We do need systems and organizing bins and containers to put our stuff in because it helps us to find things and assists with sorting items out. However, before we get to this part, we want to declutter FIRST.
When you organize first without decluttering here is what happens… You are ready to start organizing your closet, full of books, clothing and shoes that are years old. You go to your favorite retail store and are excited because you have an idea of how you want to reorganize this space. You decide to buy various storage bins with bright, vibrant colors. Your goal is to have a color-coded system to attack this mess in your closet. When you get home, you empty out your closet and reorganize the same stuff by sorting it out and placing that “old” stuff into your “new” colorful boxes and bins. You now have dozens of stacked boxes in your closet that look pretty but take up way too much space. Your belongings are hard to get to and now you are just storing things you haven’t used in months or years and probably aren’t ever going to use again. I don’t want you to waste money on organizing materials that you don’t need. Whether you are organizing your computer files or your bedroom closet, you MUST declutter and get rid of things you are not using.
If you haven’t used an item in 12 months, I would highly recommend getting rid of it. It’s easy to think that organizing and decluttering mean the same thing, but they don’t. Decluttering is removing things from your home (or devices) that you are not using and will probably never need or use.
Organizing is creating a system and a space for the things you do use and need.
Mistake #2
When you are repeatedly organizing the same space over and over. It’s frustrating to have to continuously keep organizing the same space. For example, if your office or bedroom gets disorganized after a few weeks or even if you found yourself needing to reorganize that space after just recently fully cleaning it up a few months ago, that’s a red flag that you have too much stuff in that space. One thing that can help is to have a friend who is good at organization or decluttering come over and help you get rid of things.
A friend of mine was very sentimental about all of her belongings and had a hard time getting rid of stuff. One area that was constantly a disaster was her garage. So, she asked me to help her clean out the garage and I happily agreed. Lucky for her, I am very fast at making decisions. My method was to give her 30 seconds to make a decision and if she didn’t make a decision, that item went in the trash. She had 30 seconds to decide: trash, keep, or donate. When she said “keep” I would then ask her when the last time she used that item was and to give me a reason why she should keep it. This made her logical brain kick in, instead of her emotions, and before you know it, the garage was decluttered and subsequently organized.
Mistake #3:
Dreading Organizing Your Space.
For many people, the process of organizing and de-cluttering is seen as a chore and they want to avoid it like the plague. However, consider the amount of time you spend and waste looking for stuff you can’t find. Also, if you have a great deal of disorganization in your home, then you probably aren’t feeling very peaceful, serene or calm. Studies have shown that clutter and messes cause anxiety and stress on a physiological level. So, let’s make a mind-shift and instead of viewing organizing and de-cluttering as a chore, let’s look at it as a way to add more peace and serenity to your life as well as “time.” Wouldn’t you love walking into a beautifully organized home where you are able to find everything you need and when you need it, instead of feeling frustrated and angry because you don’t know where your stuff is? You need to have fun organizing your stuff and remove all that unnecessary anxiety and stress from your life! My favorite way to relax before I begin organizing or de-cluttering is to have a glass of wine. Wine is a great way to relax and get in the mode of de-cluttering and organizing!(Jackson, From Stressy & Messy to Organized & Optimized: How to Win the Never Ending Battle With Your Stuff 2019).”
I hope that this will find this helpful, and don’t forget to schedule your next cleaning services
