First Steps To an Organized Home

The key to getting started is not to start organizing all your stuff.  Surprised?  The key is to tackle the new things coming into the home every day:  paper, information and things.  You need to make a place for everything and then you can put everything in its place.

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Here is the first step to a new life:

Step 1 – Control the Incoming – Don’t start by reorganizing a messy closet; get a handle on paper, information and stuff coming into the house first. Take notice of what is coming into the house that has no pre-determined storage place, or "home". By identifying these things, you’ll identify the majority of what is cluttering your home and stressing you out.

• Shop Smart – Don’t bring another thing into the house until you’re organized! The more you bring in, the more storage you’ll need. Share this with the family. Post a "To Get" list on the refrigerator and encourage family members to use it. Plan menus and add required items to the list. Don’t grocery shop when you’re hungry and get only what is on the list. Start a list of gift ideas and get gifts when you see them or when they are on sale. Store all gifts in one place marked with the intended recipient. Don’t start buying all kinds of storage containers. You don’t even know what you have to store yet!
• Start at the Back - Reorganize and add storage to the area by the family entrance. Decide what you want to store there and what you don’t. Designate places for shoes, boots, keys, purses, cell phones, brief cases, backpacks, lunch bags, coats, hats and gloves. All the things that come in the back door need a place to rest. The floor is now officially off limits!
• Organize Incoming Paper and Information – You’ll probably find that most of the clutter (stress) is paper. Identify the different kinds of paper and where you use them. Make places to store newspapers and magazines, shopping bags, receipts, bills, school notices and homework near where you use them. Establish an Information Center. Have one place for family communications, mail, household paperwork, schedules and reference information. Decide how you want to sort the mail and make it someone’s daily responsibility. Have a place to store mail prior to sorting if necessary. File household papers directly into a household filing system. Make a tickler file for dated materials and action items such as invitations, bills and birthday cards. Be sure everyone knows where everything goes.
• Get hold of time and schedules – Have a calendar or planner for your schedule and use it. Put everything in it – from to-do items to soccer games. Schedule time with yourself to get organized. Post a family schedule. Make a perpetual calendar for birthdays, annual and monthly events, seasonal tasks, etc. Keep this information in the Information Center.
• Address the Rest – Analyze your situation.  Is there still something coming in that’s continually left sitting around? What is it? Why doesn’t it get where it belongs? It is a seasonal issue? Is it something that has no place to be stored? Get creative and address it! Start a clutter carton for things that have no home. Can you toss the item or do you need more storage space? Is there one family member with bad habits? Offer to help make space for the items. Implement banish boxes for each offender. Explain the banish box rules. Regularly put their "homeless" items into the banish boxes. Dump them into the trash weekly. Be careful about dumping and have some empathy; it takes 21 days to develop a new habit!
• Get a partner – Find a friend who wants to get organized. Plan, share ideas, set goals, console and encourage one another. Organizing is fun when you have someone to share it with!

If you are interested in a workshop based on this article, click here.  (You will be taken away from this page.)

Good Luck!  If you need help getting started on your home, contact Cattail Pond!

Shop Smart

Start at the Back Door

Organize Paper and Information

Control Time and Schedules

Analyze your Situation

Get a Partner

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