Organize your
Home One Room at a Time
January 11th, 2006
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Now that a new
year is here, many of us have decided to get organized. If you find
that your house is in a constant state of chaos, and you cannot find
what you need easily, it is time to organize.
Sometimes it is a
clutter problem that is afflicting us. We held on to everything and
we now literally have piles of stuff without a place to put them.
This is a daunting task and it is hard for us to be motivated about
cleaning it up. It just isn’t fun. It was more fun getting the
stuff. But unfortunately if that pile looms, it will bother you day
after day. It is unused living space that has become the black hole
in our house sucking up even more things that we can’t find any
more.
Fortunately,
there are things that you can do to tackle the daunting task and
make it more fun. First step that you need to do is sit down with
your calendar, the one that you look at everyday. If you don’t have
a day planner, you likely have a calendar that you look at on the
wall everyday. You need to schedule the day that you will work on
the black hole pile up. Give your self a couple of weeks ahead of
schedule so that you don’t accidentally over book yourself. You can
plan out for the event in advance, collect up some handy boxes for
sorting and not over schedule the day.
If you have young
children, you might consider having extra babysitting help on the
day of the clean up. It will help alleviate the stress of
organizing and trying to feed the baby at the same time. You will
have focus, and this is important. Don’t allow yourself to visit on
the phone with a friend if that is your scheduled clean up time.
Pre-plan your meals for the day ahead of schedule so that you won’t
be working in the kitchen on your meal breaks. Order a pizza to be
delivered for lunch as a treat.
If you have older
children and a husband, get them involved in the project by
delegating jobs. Have each person work on a corner of the room
giving everyone some space to work so that you are not tripping over
each other in the process. Put on some music that everyone enjoys
to lighten the mood. Alleviating stress during organizing is very
important, because fights can ensue if you are not careful.
If you find that
you can’t focus for long periods of time and you get worn out
easily. You can get your timer out and set it for 15 minutes. Tell
yourself you only have to focus for 15 minutes. You then can take a
break afterwards. By setting a timer you will find that you will go
beyond the 15 minutes and work much longer. Getting started on
organizing is the hardest, and once you get started you can keep on
going.
Set up boxes for
the organizing process. With a marker write on the boxes, KEEP,
TRASH, and DONATE. Don’t worry at this point where you will put the
items you are going to keep. If you know they go in another room,
don’t put them away until you are completed with the room you are
working on.
Donating items
can be a good way to let go of items that are of value that you
can’t seem to through out. If you haven’t used the item in the last
6 months you need to ask yourself if you really need to hold onto
it. Try to let go of at least some of the black hole collection of
stuff. That way you can look forward to having more living space,
which is a useable item too.
If you have old
magazines, chances are you need to throw them in the trash. Most
book and library donations do not want old magazines. So save a
step in moving them around one more time. If you haven’t read them
by now, you probably won’t get to them.
After you have
cleared your room, you can look at what you have kept; you might
need to go to the store to purchase cabinets or shelving to put away
the items in a systematic method. By putting the items away with
thought, you will be able to find your items without stress in the
future, and you will increase the likelihood of using the items you
have. There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to find
something you know you have but don’t know where you have put it.
Drop off the to
donate items as soon as possible, put them in your car right away
so that the next time you go out to the store you can drop off the
items. If you have a large amount to donate you can call your local
Salvation Army and sometimes they can pick up for you. The goal is
to donate the items before they find a way back into your home.
When organizing a
home, start with one room at a time. Do not try to organize your
whole home as it might take a few weekends to accomplish. After a
while, you should have a cleaner, more organized home to live in.
By
Nicole Wilson
Best Syndication Staff Writer
Organizing Storage at
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