Get ready to Get Organized in 2013!
Well the New Year is upon us and for those of you that have decided this is the year to get organized, you are at the right place! I have 10 golden rules of organizing that I live by, work with my clients on and would like to share with you. This blog is going to be a series of 10 rules to help you get organized in 2013! Each week I will present a different rule and review it so that you can truly understand why and how it works. Are you ready?
There is a great quote from Sandra Felton that I like to share with my clients and it is “Failure is seldom caused by a major catastrophe. It is a series of little failures. Success is the same way.” What this means is that organization is a series of small habits that lead you to the ultimate habit of being organized on a regular basis. It may feel like it takes a little longer to get organized on the front end, but I guarantee that it will save you an exponential amount of time and money on the back end!
So, let’s start with rule #1 for this week! The theme and/or rule is “Everything in Your House Needs a Home!” I know that you have heard it time and again, but it is truly essential to have a home for everything as well as getting it back to its home on a regular basis! I can’t tell you how many times I hear “I just went and bought another ones of those” or “I knew I had one but I couldn’t find it!” Does this sound familiar? If you think in zones or “like things” it is much easier to categorize the items in your home. Are all of your candles pulled together in one area of your home? What about tools? Can you locate your batteries if you had to? If you keep all like things together, you will always know where to look to find something.
The other side of this rule is that if you use something, it needs to go back to its home so that it can be found again…and by anyone in your household! I try to get things back into their homes on a daily basis. Some days that is easier said than done! If you have small kids, give each of them a colored basket and throughout the day collect items they have scattered. At the end of the day, have each kid (big or small) put their items back into its proper home.
It is one of those things that everyone has to help with so that the clutter doesn’t build up over time and than becomes a project to do! These projects then tend to go on the back burner and soon becomes the dumping grounds for other things in your life! Start small and give it a try. If it takes less than 30 seconds to put the item back…just do it! You will be happy that you did…
Happy Organizing! Bridges