Take control of everyday disorder. With strategies for everything from keeping track of mittens and scarves to combining two households, Donna Smallin takes a personalized, nonjudgmental approach as she explains how to assess different situations and decide where to start organizing. Whether you're craving a more functional closet, having trouble planning meals for your family, or trying to make sense of your finances, this straightforward guide offers proven techniques for living an efficient and clutter-free life.
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Donna Smallin is the author of many Storey titles with a total of more than 928,000 copies in print. She is a frequent contributor to major national women's and home magazines and has been a guest on the CBS Early Show, Better TV, HGTV, CNN, and Fox & Friends, as well as numerous radio programs. For the past decade, Smallin has been a spokesperson for such companies as Bissell, Kaboom, Staples, 3M, Keurig, and others. Chapter 4 - Staying Organized
Staying organized is even more challenging than getting organized, because you have to train yourself to do things differently. It takes twenty-one consecutive days to establish a new habit, by making a conscious effort every day not to do the same old thing. Once you've uncluttered your home, staying organized involves picking up, putting away, and discarding excess stuff on a regular basis.
Simple Everyday Strategies
The best way to stay organized is to take care of today's things today. It's easier to keep up than it is to catch up. Procrastinating usually makes more work later, not to mention more time, more stress, and sometimes even more expense. Following are some simple everyday strategies for staying organized by taking care of the little things.
- Don't put it down, put it away. Before you put something down, ask yourself, "Is this where it belongs?" In the beginning, it will feel like work, but if you keep after yourself, it will soon become second nature to put things away. Take dressing and undressing, for example. Even when you're in a hurry, remind yourself that it takes just a minute or two to put away clothes after undressing - far less time than it takes to pick up and put away several weeks' worth of clothing. And it's not just that time and work you save when you put away clothes immediately. How often have you had to launder or iron an article of clothing because it was left on the floor overnight or for a week?
- Lay down the law with household members. Whoever makes a mess is responsible for cleaning it up - now, not later. That means everyone cleans up their own bathroom mess, their own kitchen mess, and their own bedroom mess. Set minimum standards at first, especially for younger family members, then raise the bar.
- Unclutter as you go. Every morning or evening, walk through your home for five minutes with a basket or tote bag in hand, collecting stray items and returning them to their rightful homes. When you go to the basement, attic, garage, or upstairs or downstairs, take something with you to put away. When you file something in a folder, flip through the folder to see if you can toss anything. A few minutes here and there every day can add up to uncluttering in no time.
- Leave your "campground" cleaner than you found it. Make it your policy never leave a room without improving its appearance. Toss the newspaper in the recycling bin. Straighten pictures and lampshades. Close cabinet doors and drawers. Put dishes in the dishwasher. Make your bed after your morning shower or breakfast - it not only makes the room look nicer, it feels nicer to get into a made bed. If you share a bed, make it a rule that the last one up makes the bed. If you get up earlier every day, you may never have to make the bed again!
- Make it easy to stay organized. Designate a "drop off" box for library books and videos t
