Start Small and clear the clutter

Getting organized and creating a functional system of order for your home or business is no simple task. In fact, it’s a series of smaller tasks that accumulate to eventually give you more flow in your day-to-day life.

Raise your hand if you’ve purchased a few organizing items like drawer organizers, plastic tubs, filing cabinets etc., but you still feel the chaos of an unorganized home/business and the disorder that somehow leaks over into other aspects of your life. We tend to function better as humans when we have less visual distractions within our frame of vision throughout the day. Our brains are working hard to put things in order, and whether you’re aware of it or not, that excess clutter and lack of organization is sucking up brainpower.

So, my first two suggestions for getting started on your path to becoming an organization enthusiast: start small and clear the clutter.

Start Small

Make a list of each room in your house. Write it down or visualize each room if that’s more your style. Within each room, identify the areas that need improvement and start tackling those smaller areas as you have time in your schedule. Most people don’t have time to devote a few days or weeks to getting their entire home, garage and office organized and efficient, so don’t put off getting organized because of time limitations. Just take on one small task at a time, and eventually you’ll enjoy a streamlined life.

For example, you’re starting with your bedroom. The areas that need help are two nightstands and the closet. Your list might look like: bedroom

*closet

-shoes

-hanging items

-accessories

*nightstand 1

-top drawer

-bottom drawer

*nightstand 2

-top drawer

-bottom drawer

Simply start with one small area on this list. For example, go through one drawer in your nightstand. Go as small as possible and hone in those skills. Be honest with yourself about what you’ll use again. Donate what you’re comfortable parting with. Start a box for donations and get started letting go of the excess, which leads us to our second point.

Clear The Clutter

William Morris famously said “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

If you’re a maximalist, live your life! But for those who want to cut the clutter, anything beyond what you know to be useful or beautiful needs to go. Here’s a starter list of things to consider clearing out:

-items you have two or more of

-items you haven’t used and have no real future plans of using

-broken items

-expired food and medicine

-gifted or inherited items you’re keeping out of guilt

-empty boxes from new phones, iPads, Amazon purchases, etc

-things that don’t quite function or fit properly

-holiday decor you haven’t used in years because you’re bypassing it for the stuff you actually like

Letting go of the excess will allow you to move on to the next step of pairing like items together. Still organizing that nightstand drawer? Sort out what needs to be there and what doesn’t. Ask yourself what serves you best in this area? Use drawer organizers to separate things that belong together. Don’t have drawer organizers? That’s ok! They are so simple to make out of literally any box like cereal or pasta boxes, or find a treasure trove of drawer organizers at your local dollar store for cheap! Luckily, organization products are trendy and finding inexpensive gems is one of the perks.

Don’t be hard on yourself through the process of getting organized. It can feel overwhelming. Most people don’t know where to start or how to begin, so know that you’re not alone in the battle against excessive belongings and disorder. If it truly feels like too much, contact your local professional organizer who can help. Sometimes just getting time with a professional is all it takes to get motivated and start taking charge!

Brad Wantt is a professional organizer and owner of In Flow Organization. He can be reached for all manner of home and office organization projects by calling (530) 591-2832. You can also visit him online at www.infloworganization.com