Often we make getting organized harder than it needs to be! Here are 5 ways to make it easier on yourself
Don’t plan on organizing all day long. Instead, plan to organize for 2 hours a day over a couple of days or over a few weekends. When we plan to organize all day, we are most likely to burn out after a few hours due to decision-making fatigue, and walk away from our project, leaving a bigger mess than when we started.
If you are organizing papers or documents, cap that organizing session at one hour. Organizing papers is some of the most tiring organizing that you can do, so it’s best to do this in short spurts so you can retain your focus and productivity.
Don’t micro-organize before you macro-organize. Are you getting bogged down sorting out a tiny cup of paper clips, rubberbands and binder clips? Sounds like you are micro-organizing instead of macro-organizing. Macro-organizing should be your first step in organizing, and it consists of just getting things into broad categories and into the correct rooms of your house. Micro-organizing is doing the detailed sorting, and it should come only after the macro-organizing is done. If you spend most of your time micro-organizing, you may not have much to show for your time and effort after a couple of hours!
Don’t feel like you have to stick to one of the popular organizing solutions if it doesn’t seem to work for you. For example, Instagram is full of pictures of pantries where all of the granola bars and juice boxes are taken out of their boxes and lined up into little matching baskets. But if you struggle to maintain this system because it adds on an extra layer of tedium and time when you buy groceries each week, then don’t feel obligated to use this system! It’s perfectly fine to stick the box of granola bars on the shelf.
Be sure to allocate time at the end of your organizing session for putting things away, so you aren’t left with a big mess. It’s easy to get excited about the sorting and discarding of things, but oftentimes, people don’t leave time at the end to deal with the things they want to keep. So be sure to give yourself about 20 minutes for this part of the organizing project.
Organizing can often go faster if you work with a buddy. It’s amazing how having somebody else there to help you and bounce ideas off gives you more energy. Afraid your buddy will judge you and your piles of stuff? This is why working with a professional organizer can be so useful! We don’t judge your or your stuff, and we know all the best tips and tricks for making your project go faster and be easier on you.
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