Streamline Your Life: 12 Essential Steps to Get Organized
Streamline Your Life: 12 Essential Steps to Get Organized
Who has time to spend 20 minutes searching for a piece of paperwork or a pair of shoes? I sure don’t. Whether you’re a business owner, on the go mom, or want time for family and hobbies, it’s essential that your home and office help efficiency. I recently had the privilege to interview Jodie Zimmer, professional organizer and owner of a Sense of Place, on the Real Estate Ready Podcast. Jodie shared her 12 steps to streamline your life through organization.
1. Set your intention and mindset. Answer the following questions:
Why am I organizing?
How am I going to organize? Will I use these twelve steps or a different system?
What value with organization and decluttering bring to my life?
2. Reflect on your values, limitations, and priorities. Identify the areas of your home, office, and life that most need streamlining. Also, clarify your expectations. You won’t do it all in one day. You may not even do a room in one day. That’s okay. Ignore shows and social media that promote a merchandized aesthetic. That’s not realistic for most people – especially if you have kids or pets! Give yourself wiggle room. Knowing where things are and how to access them is more important than appearance. (Though, your house will most likely look cleaner and neater after this process!)
3. Assess what you have and take a visual inventory. Walk through your home/office room-by-room and take stock of what you have. Identify duplicates and the areas most in need of attention.
4. Identify who will help. Is your spouse helping? Will you involve your kids? Do you need a professional coach to walk you through the process of organizing?
5. Gather supplies. You need trash bags, recycle bags, donation bags, storage bins, and labeling materials. You will have one primary pile for things to keep. Everything else should go into the appropriate bag or box immediately. You don’t want to end up with lots of secondary piles. In other words, the only two piles should be the pile from which you’re sorting and your keep pile. Everything else goes into a box, bag, or bin.
6. Clear out everything. First, decide where to start. There are seven organization categories:
· Wardrobe/accessories
· Kitchen/entertaining
· Household supplies/toiletries
· Paperwork/home office
· Hobbies/Sports/Toys
· Sentimental items (gifts, greeting cards, letters, photographs, etc.)
· Décor/Furniture
Once you pick your first category, remove everything from in that category and spread it out in one place.
Bonus Tip: Start with the least scary category. Suppose you’re dreading organizing paperwork, ease-in with your wardrobe and accessories. If you’re attached to your kiddos’ toys and baby clothes, start in the kitchen. Once you get organizing and see the benefits, it’s very empowering and motivating to keep going.
7. Sort and edit. Edit as you sort things! Editing is essential. In the words of Jodie: “Having less to organize is what helps you stay organized.”
8. Label. You should be able to glance at a box or storage bin and know what’s in it. For example, be able to scan boxes in your attic and know which holds Halloween decorations.
9. Store. Think about how often you use something when determining where to store something. Reserve the most accessible storage areas for the things you need to use frequently.
10. Donate. This is an important step for you and, if you’re a parent, your kids. This is when you get to give back and see how your hard work to organize not only helps you but helps others, too. It’s a meaningful part of the process.
11. Sell. Sell things online, like on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. You can also hold a garage sale.
12. Maintain. Maintain the organization mindset. Remember your why. Cut the stream that brought all the things to your home in the first place. Assess why you are buying something. Before purchasing, ask yourself: Why do I need this thing?
Bonus Tip: If the price is the best thing about what you’re buying, you probably don’t need it.
Organization will empower you to save time, decrease stress, and increase efficiency. Remember, it doesn’t have to be Pinterest-perfect to have a significant impact.