Organizing for the Unorganized – Spring Cleaning Anyone?

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“We did it.” I smiled giddy at my husband as I surveyed our newly cleaned and organized kitchen.

I couldn’t contain myself and so I posted pictures on Facebook. I even tagged some friends who know what my kitchen normally looks like so they could see my hard work.

543844_4805549730783_1357155936_n-1I didn’t believe this was possible – to see my island and not have piles of papers, books, toys, etc hiding in the guest room. But it was possible. I thought I didn’t really care. I mean I know I am not organizationally gifted and so why try? But let me tell you it feels fabulous. And it is still relatively free from clutter nearly a week later.

Some of you organizational ninja types are thinking that is so not difficult. I hope you leave comments to tell us your secrets because organization is like a foreign language to me. It looks beautiful, but it makes no sense.

So for you unorganized folks who really want to know my secrets for getting it clean and then keeping it that way for a whole *gasp* week, here are my tips.

  • Just do it. It looks like it will take a whole day to unearth your kitchen, office, play room? It probably won’t, but it is ok if it does. Just carve out some big chunks of times and be ready to say I can finish tomorrow if you don’t finish with the first chunk of time.
  • Don’t just shuttle papers/toys/etc to another part of your house. Decide where you want those papers/toys/etc to be. Choose a spot and make sure your family knows where their things belong.
  • Consider giving away or throwing away some things. Hoarding is the opposite of organizing. Take a deep breath and let go of some stuff. It really won’t hurt and once you get started you may even find cutting loose of some things makes you feel better.
  • Get the trash or stuff to give-away out of your house fast.
  • When papers, mail, toys, etc are found where they don’t belong get the owner of the items to put them where they belong. That may mean making yourself take care of somethings or asking your kids to pick up after themselves.

Now for you organizational ninjas or some of you who really need more structure to keep things organized. . . Have you heard of The Fly Lady? She has a wonderful system (that I adapt for myself) to help you get and stay organized. I am not an affiliate and I do not receive any compensation for mentioning her, but I appreciate her system. I think you may like it too.

So how do you stay organized at home? Please share your secrets…I need help and other do too.

by Angela Mackey – the organized wanna-be

 

Stephanie Shott
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