Get your life reorganized

Reading time – 3 minutes 

Remember to donate items to charity and not to put them in the garbage.

Being organized is not about being perfect. 

Anyone can learn to be more organized.  It is a set of skills that can be taught.  Organization creates efficiency and effectiveness, making your life and surroundings perform optimally for you.  When you start organizing remember these tips:

  • Accept your limitations on time, space, energy and money
  • Be consistent,  do a little at a time on an on-going basis
  • Acknowledge your successes.  Success breeds success motivating you to do more.
  • Take it one day at a time

How do I decide where to start?

I tell my clients:

  • to start with the space that is bothering them the most.
  • sometimes you may need to start in an area of your home that you  are going to use for storage.  Organizing that space first will give you more places to store items that need to be removed from other rooms.

How do I start?

Get some boxes and bags for :

  • garbage
  • recycling
  • things to go to other rooms – put them in a container and take them after you are done working in the space your are organizing.  If you leave the room you might never return
  • things to be returned to other people – put them in a container and return them to the correct owner after you organizing time is over.
  • don’t buy organizing products – wait until you know what you are storing, where you are storing it, and how much you have to store.  Then you can the best container to hold the items.

How to I get the room looking nice?

There are 5 steps to follow:

Step 1 Sort 

Sort everything in the room into categories.  The categories depend on what is in the room.  You might have:

  • electronics
  • books
  • tools
  • computer items
  • dishes
  • food categories
  • cosmetics
  • paper supplies

Figure out the categories of things you have in your room  and sort the things you can see and then work in the drawers and cupboards

Step 2 Part with items

Part with items you no longer need  and donate them to charity

Step 3 Assign a home

Find the best place to store the  item , close to where you use them and so you access them easily. Things you don’t use very often can be stored further away and in less accessible places.

Step 4 Containers

Now is the time to get the right container to store the items.  Anything can be a container:

  • boxes
  • wine boxes cut in half
  • magazine holders
  • jars
  • tins
  • plastic bins
  • bags

 Step 5 Evaluate

Use your system and then see:

How do I remember all this?

Easy it spells SPACE

S – sort

P– Part with items

A – Assign a home

C – Containerize

E – Evaluate

If you need some help with your organizing book a 50 minute break through organizing session .  Click on the link to book your complimentary appointment, and speak with me to get helpful tips to get you unstuck. Organizing Break Through session 

Julie Stobbe, professional organizerJulie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, in person and virtually. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situation. She uses her love of physical activity to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you to manage your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.

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2 Comments

  1. Janet Barclay on March 26, 2019 at 11:27 am

    Doing a little at a time works well for me. The only problem with it is that I’ll probably never be done, because by the time I get to the last area, the first one will likely need to be revisited. I suppose it would help if I didn’t wait so long between steps…

  2. Julie Stobbe on March 26, 2019 at 6:43 pm

    Hopefully when you revisit an area it won’t take long to get it back into shape because you did most of the work the first time.

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