Tips to Get (and Stay) Organized at Home

In today’s fast-paced world, keeping your home organized can be challenging. Perhaps you’re a busy professional or a parent juggling multiple responsibilities. Whatever the case may be, finding the time to get and stay organized at home is actually possible with some helpful tips and a consistent approach. Here are some effective strategies to help you get started.

Create a Manageable Plan of Action

Before diving in, identify areas or rooms that need the most attention. From there, create a list of tasks and prioritize them based on urgency and importance. Setting clear goals with dates and times that you can commit to will help you achieve your organizational goals bit by bit. If you’re schedule is really full, it helps to break goals into smaller, more manageable tasks that you can accomplish in smaller blocks of time. For example, you could block out 30 minutes during your work day to tackle your dresser or your kids’ closet full of old clothes and forgotten toys. Or, perhaps you can set aside one hour every Tuesday night to set a timer and organize the clutter in your garage, deciding what to donate, recycle, or store in labeled bins. You may feel like you need an entire day or more to even begin to tackle your organizational to-do list, but we can often achieve quite a bit with smaller, achievable goals.

Apply the One-Year Rule

It is easy to create bins of what to keep, recycle, donate, and discard. What can be difficult is letting go of items you think you may use or fix down the road – even though you haven’t used or fixed them for years. We all have good intentions when it comes to someday repairing that old bedside table stored away or wearing those jeans that don’t fit and haven’t in years. But there comes a time when we have to step back and honestly ask ourselves if those items are worth holding onto or not. The one-year rule can really help with this. When debating about whether to hold onto something or not, ask yourself if you’ve used it at all within the past year or not. If not, it’s usually time to get rid of it because you can clearly live without it.

Obviously, we understand holding onto mementos and heirlooms that may not be used that often, but hopefully those cases are exceptions that aren’t filling every storage space you have in your home.

Use Effective Storage Solutions

When it comes to storage, there are many shelves, bins, baskets, and drawer organizers that can keep items neatly stored and easily accessible. To ensure that they won’t become a catch-all for all kinds of things, try labeling them and/or using dividers. By doing so, only specific things will go in that particular bin or drawer and they are always returned to that spot after you’ve used them. This will also make it much easier to find what you are looking for quickly.

Also, you may want to consider purchasing some multi-functional furniture. For example there are great ottomans with hidden storage and beds with built-in drawers to maximize space. Additionally, storage benches are perfect for entryways, bedrooms, or hallways. Other creative ways to store needed items include installing shelves in your bathroom(s) and garage, and buying kitchen cabinet organizers or closet organizers.

Make Each Day Count

The biggest key for maintaining an organized home (or even just an organized room) is to put things away every single day. A small amount of effort spent putting things in their designated spot each day will save you time in the long run. No one wants to be late to work because they had to search for their wallet under piles of stuff. Beginning your day digging through your messy closet wastes time and can create stress. If you spend a few minutes in the evening tidying up, you’ll benefit from it the following morning.

Use Incentives if Needed

If you have children, building clean-up time into your daily routine as a family will show them the value of consistency. It will also help them create healthy habits. Your home may not be spotless, but it’s important to recognize any improvement made in a week and even more so after a month. If you or your family members operate best with rewards, then set up a rewards system to incentivize this new approach to getting and staying organized. Create a sticker chart to reward your kids when they’ve kept their rooms clean or when they’ve consistently put things back where they go. When they’ve earned a specific number of stickers, take them to a museum. Or, get them some new art supplies or a new game. For older children, build it into their weekly chores. You can also involve kids in the process so they’re problem-solving with you. These creates buy-in and a sense of ownership. If you know you operate best with rewards too, treat yourself to a massage after you’ve organized the garage or go to a fancy restaurant after you’ve kept your newly organized office neat and tidy for a few weeks.

We know getting organized can look differently for different people because our homes and lifestyles can vary greatly. But we hope these ideas have given you a helpful place to start.