Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Get ready, Organize!

Do you have an area in your house or office that "talks" to you every time you look at it?  Is it telling you that it needs cleaned or that there are things that need to be done there?  If you do, and we all have these pockets of clutter, it is most likely a great source of anxiety and stress.  The effect is subtle but overtime the stress and anxiety will build until you may be avoiding the area all together or have given up on doing anything with it.

Decide how you want the space to look or function.  In a perfect world how would you imagine your space.  This is the beginnings of making a goal for the space.  Do you want a kitchen table that is used for eating rather than being a home to piles of paper?  Is the closet an overflowing mess rather than the tranquil place to get ready?  You get to decide what you want the space to be.  How it looks and functions is entirely up to you.

Begin making small changes that work toward your goal.  For a clear kitchen table, begin by making the conscious decision to not add more to the table.  Find homes for the items that would normally land there.  Then pick a group of items that are on the table and put them away.  For instance, the children's school papers are usually are left on the table and remain there for long periods of time.  Decide ahead of time that you no longer want papers on the table.  Find a suitable location or container for the papers and begin placing them there.  Then gather up all the school papers from the table and add them to the container then as new ones come in place them in the new location rather than the table.

Use easy access.  Some items just naturally collect in one spot.  This is the clue that the natural home for those items is very near where they collect.  Do hats, coats, keys and shoes all accumulate at the door?  Then make a home for them there where it is easy for them to be put away correctly with out thinking about doing it.  Use the closet for out of season coats and accessories that aren't being used.

Organizing is a process not a final state of being.  Most of us can't just become organized then magically stay that way.  We have to work at it, little by little, always working to make things better and the way we want them to be.  Much like tending a garden you have to continually "pull" the clutter out and put it in it's place.


Stuck and need help getting started?  Simply Andi can help.  740-334-1928

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