What is “Organized”? There is not a right or wrong answer to this question. Everyone thinks differently, so the answer will be as individual as we are.
Getting organized is not a final destination, being an organized person is. Once you feel comfortable with your organized space, you have to maintain it. This is where creating habits to support your organized space is important. It takes effort, frequency, consistency, and time to create this new habit. Once you make changes, staying organized will be more natural and one day you will wake up and just “do it”. You will not have to think about it or plan or make a list to do something, it will just happen. That, my friend, is when you have created a habit that has changed you and your future.
The book Atomic Habits, by James Clear, is a wonderful breakdown of creating new habits and getting rid of bad ones. If your goal is to get and be organized, you have to do small things every day to support that goal. It is the compound interest of your efforts.
5 Ways To Stay Organized and Tidy
- Create a space limit for your items. If it does not fit, you will have to get rid of something else. For example, if you decide the bottom shelf is where coffee mugs go and you get another mug and it does not fit then you have to get rid of one, NOT start another shelf of mugs.
- When you leave a room, take something that does not belong there to the correct room.
- Twice a day take 5 minutes to tidy up.
- Label, label, label. Even if you live alone, a labeled bin or shelf almost guarantees you will take the extra 10 seconds to put the item in its home.
- Schedule time to review your space and get rid of things that no longer serve you or make you happy.
I highly recommend checking out this book, “Atomic Habits” by James Clear.
Happy Organizing!
