Floor Clutter
Don’t let things touch the floor. Reserve floors for feet, furniture, and shoes. This helps reduce clutter buildup on the floor, especially in kids’ rooms.
Tag Archive for: Organizing habits
Organizing Small Spaces
My house is small by today’s standards, but it’s a perfect fit for me and my husband. I love my tiny house, but organizing small spaces can be challenging. There is no room for excess and storage is limited. Little messes can appear to take over an entire room and a small amounts of clutter can seem like a mountain of clutter. So when working to facilitate and maintain order in my tiny home I rely on organizing systems and habits. Here are some tips that I use to help me organize my tiny home.
- Reclaim order everyday.
Organizing is like laundry and dishes. It’s an ongoing cycle of order followed by natural disorder followed by the important step of reclaiming order. Schedule 15 minutes a day to reclaim order by picking up and putting things away. - Be choosy and selective. Keep treasures and things you love but get rid of the rest. If everything is special, nothing is special; so keep only what’s really important to you. When you do bring things in, ask; Can this server multiple functions? Is it a duplicate of something I already have? Do I have room for it? Where will it go? It also helps to practice the one in, one out guideline.
- Be consistent with placement. Have a specific spot for your keys, handbag, mail, etc. and put them in that spot every time you set them down (again, and again, and again). Consistency is key. Establish a home for on-going projects and things you leave out as reminders. Don’t let items touch the floor unless that is where they belong (shoes).
- Have a 5 minute return-home-routine. Allow 5 minutes when returning home to organize what’s coming in. Have a do-it-now attitude.
- Be a decision maker. Give yourself time to decide what to do with unused, outdated, and unwanted stuff. Schedule time to edit and reduce. Weekly, monthly, seasonally, and yearly reducing prevents clutter buildup and disorganization. Get rid of duplicates and items that do similar things? Live for your current lifestyle. Remove or fix broken & damaged items immediately. Give up the fear of getting rid of something. Purge paper daily.
- Be a giver. If you’re not using it, or you don’t want, or need it, ask yourself, “Why not let someone else benefit from it?”. A giving person is greatly appreciated by charities, the less fortunate, and the needy. Establish and use a donation bin.
- Be creative with storage & utilize space wisely. Make full use of the space you have. Use furniture that has multiple functions like a small dresser for a night stand or end table, an ottoman that has built-in-storage, a bench at the end of the bed with built-in-storage that can be used as a chair. Use under the bed storage, organizers that attache to the back of a door
and cupboard. Make adjustments to cabinets to create more functional spaces. Customize closet with shelves and product that help you maximize it’s storing potential. Store like with like to keep track of how much you have.
I hope these tips will help you organize your small spaces or tiny home.
©March 2018 Janine Cavanaugh, Certified Professional Organizer All Rights Reserved
Get It Done Today
Ask yourself at the beginning of each day, “What is the most important thing for me to get done today?” If the most important thing you have to do today requires more time than you have to devote to it, ask, “What is the first step I can take that will get me closer to completing that one thing?” After answering these questions, take action before doing anything else.
Reaching the Finish Line
During my class on Conquering Clutter With Confidence we discuss reaching the finish line. In order to do this, we first discuss what it means to reach the finish line. It means doing things from start to finish, and knowing when that finish line has been crossed. For example, in my house, the finish line has been crossed, while doing dishes, when there are no dirty dishes left unwashed, and the sink and counters have been wiped clean. In your family, when is the finish line crossed while doing dishes? What about the laundry? When is it reached with new purchases or gifts that have been received? Where does the receipt go, and what do you do with the box? What happens to the gift bag, tag, and tissue paper? Establishing when the finish line has been crossed will help reduce clutter.
Reaching the finish line also means completing the organizing process and reclaiming order. Putting things away and picking up after ourselves are important parts of reaching the finish line. It is what helps us maintain order, and is best accomplished with practice. For example, upon returning home after being out, I spend time putting things away. My keys and coat go on their hooks, my shoes go on the mat, and my pocketbook goes on the desk. Practicing reaching the finish line with this daily organizing routine helps me maintain order. Other daily organizing routines that can benefit from practice are dressing for the day, processing the mail, undressing at night, project clean up, and picking up toys.
In your home, do you want to reduce clutter and maintain order? You can by reaching the finish line. What finish line is waiting for you to cross it? Will you know when you’ve crossed it? Also, take a closer look at your daily organizing routines. Can you improve them with practice? If you think you’d be more successful with a little help from me, please ask.
©December 2017 Janine Cavanaugh, Certified Professional Organizer® All Rights Reserved
Organizer Friendly Gifts
In a gift giving situation, I do my best to give a gift that will not add to someone’s clutter. I call these gifts, organizer friendly gifts. I give intangible things, like tickets to events, memberships to museums, gift certificates to restaurants, and gifts of time. Another option is to give things that get used up, like bath and beauty products, food baskets, and liquid refreshment.
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