Many people struggle with getting and/or staying organized; Whether it’s in the kitchen, the garage, the bedroom…It doesn’t make a difference. I have techniques that will work the same for any room or area that needs organization.
If it has been a long time since an area has been cleaned out, it can be a very daunting task. “Where do I begin?” is almost always the first question people ask themselves.
My advice on where to begin is the floor. If you have items placed and piled amongst the floor, they are obviously going to restrict you from getting to other areas, and so it should be cleared first.
The main thing to organizing and cleaning any area is to separate the items based on four categories: Keep, Donate, Toss, Unsure. Boxes labeled as such can be used or just create piles. The main focus is to eliminate some of the things that are cluttering your space.
Keep: These are items you for sure will be keeping. If you are unsure, use the unsure pile for now.
Donate: These are items that you no longer need or want, but are not necessarily ready for the trash. Books, clothing, furniture, knickknacks, etc, can be donated for use by the less fortunate.
Toss: These are obviously things you don’t need or want, including random trash that may be around, broken items, etc.
Unsure: This is the moment when you need to realize that those things you “may need/use in the future” have been there for a long time and have not been used. You can place items in this pile that you will go through again later to determine if your feelings have changed since you began your clean up.
The first step to the cleanup is to go through the entire space until all items in the room have been placed into one of these categories. Once you have cleared the room of toss and donate items, you can begin to look at the things you have decided to keep.
Now you must categorize these items as well. If you are working in the garage or basement, group all like items together: Tools, Storage boxes, Screws and Nails, Lawn Care items, etc…
If you are working on the living room or bedroom areas, do the same thing: Children’s Toys, Entertainment (DVD’s, CD’s), Office (Computer, paperwork, books) Once you have like items together it is easier to see how much of something you have to determine where it will fit well and how large or small of a container you need to store it.
It may be a lot of work at first, but as you start going, you will see how much unnecessary stuff you have and getting rid of it will get easier. Then you may go back to your Unsure pile. Do you feel differently about these items now that you have seen how things are beginning to clean up? You may now find yourself tossing even more items out. And fewer items equals less clutter!
Once you have weeded out all unnecessary items and trash, your space should just be full of items that you use on a regular basis. After this is complete, I recommend using containers, baskets, and totes to keep your items together and orderly, rather than thrown about on counters, shelves, and floors.
One final tip is to have a box for items that you haven’t got the time or energy to sort through at that time. It may be a mix of items – whatever you didn’t get to that day. One box full of clutter is better than clutter all over the place.
Now you have this box that needs attention. When you have a few minutes, start emptying the box by putting the items away. Sooner or later your box will be empty and your work will be complete!
