A few years ago we shared the habits of organized people and how they maintain their spaces. As we approach another year of working with all types of clients, we have some additional insights to share.
Even if you are not naturally an organized person, you can practice good habits on a regular basis. You truly can become more organized, less stressed and more efficient in your day to day life. Below is an expanded list of habits that we guarantee will work!
Create habits that run on autopilot. Don’t rely on willpower and don’t overthink things. Just establish everyday routines. Whether you are recycling the mail as soon as you get it, making your bed when you get up, or updating your calendar to-do list each morning before breakfast, finding time for small, productive routines will allow you to later focus more energy on big things.
Don’t leave a room empty-handed and push things to their final destination. In the morning grab that empty cup of tea that is on your nightstand and bring it downstairs to the kitchen. Can you bring something to the basement on your next trip down? If you do things continuously during the day, items have less chance to pile up and your home stays tidier with less effort.
Set goals (but make them realistic). Goals help you stay motivated, focused, and avoid procrastination. If you need to organize your entire kitchen, make a goal to declutter one drawer this weekend. Want to organize your closet? Start by donating clothes you know you will never wear again. Small bite-size goals are the key to moving your bigger goals forward.
Have a place for everything. Establish a designated spot for each thing to avoid wasting time finding it. When you walk in your home with a new item you should know exactly where that item will live. You should be able to find your tax documents, scissors, batteries, and gift cards immediately in your home.
Put things back where they belong right away and deal with paper clutter ASAP. Don’t set something down temporarily. Procrastination leads to a massive clean up later. Take a few extra seconds to hang up that coat, put your hairbrush back in its drawer, and put the dog’s leash back on its hook. Bills, mail, and important documents should be sorted, filed, or shredded immediately to prevent paper piles.
Purge often. Highly organized people are habitual declutterers. They periodically assess their items, like white t-shirts, pantry spices or kids’ soccer cleats, and donate, sell or recycle those they no longer use, want or love. This helps you avoid buying duplicates and gets more use out of what you already have.
Tidy often. We like the two minute rule: if something takes just a few minutes to do, you should do it right away. Clean up items on the kitchen table, put dog toys back in their basket, and hang your bathrobe back on the hook.
Monitor what comes into your home. After you do a big declutter, if you are not careful about what comes into your home, you will end up right back where you started. And no surprise, it is easier to manage things if you have less and fewer things for you and others in the house to keep tidy.
Most importantly, keep it simple and don’t worry about perfection. Real people don’t live in staged spaces. They live busy, chaotic lives with kids, partners and animals in homes that get messy. You do not have to have complicated systems that are hard to maintain.