A Professional Organizer's New Year’s Resolution

It is the new year, time for a setting goals and making resolutions.  Charting the top of many lists is the goal to organize our homes. If this goal is on your list, here are some ideas to help you make and keep this goal.

What is your motivation?

Before we commence our home organization project, let’s ask ourselves why we are doing this. When we figure out the “why,” we will be more motivated to keep moving forward.

  • I want my home to look better.

  • I want to find things more easily.

  • I don’t want to spend so much time shuffling piles.

  • I want more peace.

  • I want to buy some time.

When we have a structured and organized home, we spend less time searching and shuffling and more time doing those things that are valuable to us… spending time with family, pursuing our hobbies, or relaxing with a good book or movie. When our homes are organized, we are more excited to spend time in our homes and we have more peace in our lives. Whatever your objective, keep it in your mind and it will help you stay motivated as you move forward.

Make a Realistic Plan

In order to accomplish our home organization goals, we need to make a realistic plan. Break the plan down into monthly and weekly goals. Work on one room each month. For those months that are especially busy (holiday months like November and December), you might consider working on rooms that are smaller and require less time, i.e. bathrooms or small closets. For those months where you may have more time and family support (summer months like June and July), you might consider tackling the larger areas, i.e. kitchen or bedrooms. After selecting which spaces you will work on each month, set weekly goals. If you are working on your bedroom, this might look something like this:

  • Week 1 – Dresser

  • Week 2 – Closet

  • Week 3 – Shoes

  • Week 4 – Jewelry and other accessories

Empty, Sort, Purge, Replace

The organizing process has 4 basic components:

  • Empty the space… yes, remove everything from the space. Then, assign a purpose to the space. Is this drawer going to be just for socks? If so, do not allow any other item to be placed in the drawer. If its assignment is pajamas, don’t throw your receipts in there.

  • Sort – Place all “like items” together. This means all similar items. If you have socks throughout the house, gather them all up and put them together.

  • Purge – Discard those items that are broken, overused, stained, torn and that are no longer functional. Also discard or donate those items that you no longer love. And if you have an excessive amount of one item, determine what is a reasonable amount to keep and discard / donate the rest, i.e. “Do I really need 60 pairs of socks?”

  • Replace – Place the items that you are keeping back into the assigned space. Sometimes it helps to place “like items” in a container, bin or basket. Select containers that meet your budget, personality or design aesthetic.

Stay the Course

When your energy is faltering and you are losing momentum, remember your motivation. This will help to sustain you as you move forward with your home organization project.

Lisa Hettinger