Did You Know That Getting Organized Is One Of The Top Ten New Years Resolutions?

However, organizing isn’t just something that happens once. IMHO it’s something that we all “should” do every day. Maybe it’s a load of laundry, or dropping off a bag of donations or tossing something that is broken. Spending just a few minutes every day on something/anything will help you get organized and stay organized.

We all have the same 24 hours in a day. We all have choices about how to spend that time. When it comes to organizing, you can do it now (as you go about your life) which will help keep things neat and organized OR, you can do it later when the piles are high or you find that you can’t find what you want or need.

Examples:
Now: Every time you take your clothes off they “should” be put in the laundry or put away. If you’re putting them away, you “should” either hang it up or fold it and put it where it belongs.

Later: If you decide to throw your clothes on the floor, eventually you will have to pick them up and do one of the following: put it in the laundry, hang it up, fold it and put it away. Note: By throwing your clothes on the floor, you’ve actually added an additional step (having to pick them up and determine what to do with them) which will ultimately take more of your time.

So, save yourself some time and just do whatever you can, when you can. Take a few minutes every day to stay on top of things. Clean the dishes or put them in the dishwasher, fold the laundry and put it away. Just do something around the house every day so things don’t build up and get out of control.

Food for thought…why not just make organizing a part of your daily routine. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time. Just a few minutes each day. It’s still the beginning of a New Year. Why not just try doing things differently for one month to see how it works out? As we’ve all heard… “The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result”. Why not stop the insanity and try selecting one area, one small area, that needs to be organized? Take a few minutes (since it’s a small area) and organize it. Here’s how:

• Take everything out, sort things into categories
• Get rid of the trash
• Make a pile of donations if applicable and then decide what to put back into that space.
• Start putting things back into place so that they accessible and functional.
• Put like items with like items.
• Use supplies if necessary (bins for laundry, boxes for donations, new hangers so that things look cohesive, labels so you can find things easily).

I can assure you that you will be more inclined to keep that area organized (at least for a while) because you’ve put in the time and effort to organize it.

Now, all you have to do is maintain that area. If you take something out, put it away when you’re finished. Put it, whatever “it” is, where it belongs. If something doesn’t belong in there, DON’T put it in there.

It’s that easy. Organizing isn’t rocket-science. It just takes time. Take the time and get organized little by little. Eventually you’ll get there.

Here are some ideas to help you get started:

• Check your schedule and make time in your day that works best for you to get things organized. Put it on your calendar. Make an appointment with yourself.

• If you don’t want it or don’t need it… get rid of it. You can sell it (whatever “it” is) or you can donate it and get the deduction.

• Learn to say “NO”. It will free up some time to do the things that are important to you.

• Delegate. If you don’t want to do something, give it to someone else to do. Sometimes you’ll have to pay someone else but that’s okay. You can’t do it all!

• Ask for help. It’s okay to ask for help if you want it or need it. Let me repeat… you can’t do it all.