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Get Organized In the New Year
Are you ready to get organized this New Year? Many people start the process and give up because they start with very high expectations. Here are some reminders when making a resolution to get organized:
- Be realistic about the time involved in getting organized. If you have been disorganized for a long time, it will take a while longer to get better organized.
- Find someone who can support you in the process. You may need someone to physically sit with you while you tackle some of your clutter. Another idea you can consider is to have a friend sit with you on the other end of the phone and talk with them while you focus on one project.
- Start small in your projects. If tackling an entire basement feels overwhelming, start with a hall closet.
- Begin by taking the contents out of a space and sort the items by their category. For example, put sporting goods together, jackets together, games together, etc.
- Get several boxes for sorting. Get boxes or bins that would be labeled - ‘go elsewhere’, ‘trash’, and ‘give away’.
- Evaluate what you will keep. When you have the items sorted and everything is in its category (sitting in big piles or spread out around the room) then you are ready to clarify the use of each item. Before you just keep every item, ask yourself, “is this useful?”, “is this beautiful?”
- Find second homes for unwanted items. Those items you no longer need could be recycled or donated to a second home or favorite charity.
Before you simply put all the desirable items back in the space, evaluate how often you reach for certain items in the space. If you pull an item out daily, then it means that the item earns the right to be accessible. If you only pull out an item weekly, then you could store it a little higher or lower than your most accessible item. If you pull out an item monthly, then the storage space for these items could be accessed by using a ladder or step stool.
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