- Home >> Lifestyle: Organizers:
Just 4 Easy Steps to
Clear Clutter at Home (That Anyone Can Do)
Most of us don't want our homes
to be a cluttered mess. We don't consciously say 'I like living
in the midst of clutter, and it makes me happy'. And we certainly
don't enjoy spending an extra 15 minutes searching for our sunglasses
and keys, that matching sock or the misplaced pile of bills that's
going to be late if we don't pay them today. Where is the fun
in any of that?
But while you may not plan
to be disorganized or plan to have a home full of clutter, you
certainly need a plan to organize your home and banish clutter
from it. Here's that plan...
STEP 1: MAKE A LIST
List-making, especially to-do
lists, can be a waste of time. But not this list. This list kicks
off your home organization plan. It's a list of problems that
need solutions. Don't list items or places you want to organize
in your home or how you'd like your bedroom closet to resemble
that million dollar mansion home decor photo in the most recent
consumer magazine. Instead, list SPECIFIC problem dilemmas in
your home that result from disorganization.
EXAMPLE: Don't list organize bedroom chest
drawers. Write missing sock pair matches. Write...paying bills
late monthly and getting late fees. Late for work three days
a week because can't find keys. Tripping on piles of dirty laundry.
Remember, if it's not an organizational
problem, it doesn't need fixing and shouldn't be on this home
organization list.
STEP 2: CHECK IT TWICE
Go back through your list and
prioritize the items in it. You can break items into three categories:
"most important", "needs to be done sometime"
and "least important". Then take your "most important"
category and number items in numerical order with number one
being your highest priority organizational matter. Each number
gets used once. So if you have 10 items in the "most important"
category, you'll use numbers one through 10 each once. Later
you can do the same for the categories of "needs to be done
sometime" and "least important".
STEP 3: SCHEDULE IT
Write priority item number
one in your planner or on your calendar. Schedule it for a 15
to 30 minute increment. If you prefer to spend a longer period
of time on it (or it will take longer to complete regardless
of how long you "want" to spend doing it), schedule
a longer period. Or schedule these shorter 15-30 minute increments
but over several days during the week. Most of all, keep the
organizational problem/task on the schedule as home organization
priority number one until it gets done, even if it takes you
a week to finally complete this organization task. Your goal
is to finish it BEFORE you move onto home organization priority
item number two.
By scheduling time to do this
task (and visibly writing it in your planner), you're really
making it a concrete appointment. If you know you'll need more
accountability than making an appointment with yourself in your
private planner, tell a friend. Then have them bug you periodically.
Whether you're trying to lose weight, prepare to run a marathon
or organize toiletries in your bathroom, telling a buddy---one
who will hold you accountable to your goal---is the way to go.
STEP 4: START
If you do not yet have any
ideas of how to solve this organizational dilemma, the first
place to start is with research. Go on the internet and put your
organizational dilemma search terms into your web browser.
EXAMPLE: "organize pots and pans",
"lid storage ideas", "bill organization",
and so forth. Try phrasing your organizational project different
ways to get different results (and using different search engines
like MSN.com and Ask.com; don't just "Google" everything.).
Also set and use a kitchen timer. If you allotted 15-30 minutes
per day to this task, don't spend three hours perusing the Web.
The Web can be very distracting. What you don't find in 15-30
minutes on the Web, you probably won't find in three hours.
Other research material that
can give you ideas for organizing your home hot spots includes
home organization books (buy online or borrow from library),
television shows about home/personal organization and magazine
articles you copy or tear out and save with articles or photos
useful to your home organizing project.
Also, don't overlook home organization
stores. "Buy the wheel" if it's affordable. There is
no reason to spend five hours re-creating a $7.99 home organization
product that you see in a store that could help solve your organizational
dilemma just because you can do so. That's called arts and crafts.
It's a hobby. A hobby is what you'll have time for AFTER you
finish getting your house in order. Spend $7.99 for that organizational
helper that will last you 15 years (and probably save you 15
hours of search time). That's an expense of .53 cent a year (the
price of a pack of gum).
Once your research provides
you with a home organization solution for your specific task,
start implementing the organizational solution. Test your organization
solution for several weeks to a month. Then if it's still not
a solution, change it until you find a home organization solution
that works for you.
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Author: © COPYRIGHT KAREN FRITSCHER-PORTER |
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Karen Fritscher-Porter publishes
http://www.EasyHomeOrganizing.com
where you can read hundreds of free tips with home organization
solutions, shop for home organization products and subscribe
to two free home organization newsletters.
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ARTICLE POSTED
MAY 2, 2006 |
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