4 ways to make your organizing goals work in 2024
January is often thought of as a “fresh start”, which lends itself to being the perfect time to set new goals for yourself. Right up there with working out and eating better, getting organized is one of the common resolutions people aspire to in the new year. If getting more organized is a goal for you and your family this year, read these tips and tricks from a professional organizer to help you stick with this resolution.
Develop a plan
The best way to start any project is to first come up with a plan! This is especially true for getting organized. When I work with clients, I have them describe what they want their space to look and feel like once we have finished. If you ask yourself these questions, you will start to develop the “why” behind your goal, which will help to motivate you throughout the organizing process. Your plan does not need to be super detailed, but it should include a list of the areas you want to organize in order of priority and a timeline for when you want to accomplish this goal. It will also be helpful to think about who might be able to help you, whether that is a friend or family member or a professional organizer.
Put decluttering on your calendar
Once you have a solid plan of what you want to organize and why you want it organized, the next important step is to schedule it on your calendar. A common sentiment from my clients is they feel it helped knowing I was coming over to help them declutter for our scheduled session. It was on their calendar, so they made plans around it. This step can be true for most, if not all, New Year’s resolutions people make. If you don’t make dedicated time to do the “thing”, then that “thing” just won’t get done. When scheduling this into your calendar, it is important to remember organizing will always take longer than you think, and starting small is the key to gaining momentum. When I organize with clients our sessions are usually four hours long, but if you organize by yourself, I suggest you set smaller blocks of time. Organizing is like building up muscle; you need to start lighter and add more as you get stronger. Starting with something too overwhelming can do more harm than good to your motivation and determination to get organized.
A helpful tip for decluttering is to avoid buying any organizing supplies or bins until you have finished the process. Only purchase organizing supplies when you are ready to put things back in an organized manner. At this point, make sure to measure the length, depth, and width of the spaces where you want to place the bins or containers, to ensure they fit properly.
Make a home for everything you own
Mis-en-place is a French culinary term meaning “to put in place”. It is a practice all great chefs follow. Besides being fun to say, mis-en-place can also help you have the organized home you are hoping for. When everything has a place in your home you can find things quickly, but also put them away quickly. When considering where each item’s “home” should be, think about where you typically use that item and how quickly you need to be able to grab it or put it away. As you declutter each room, or area, of your home, make sure you are intentional about where each item will “live”.
Create new routines
January is the perfect time to start new daily, weekly, and monthly routines. These routines can also be the key to having a more organized home and life! Here are some routines that are helpful for getting, and staying, organized.
Daily: Set up an intentional space for people to drop backpacks, keys, and mail as they come in the door. Use hooks and baskets to help corral all the items. Every home needs a “landing zone” whether you have an intentional space set up for this or not.
Weekly: Assign weekly tasks to different days of the week. Don’t try to do all the household chores on the same day. Instead, try doing laundry on Monday and Thursday, meal planning on Saturday, and grocery shopping on Sunday. Also, pick a day to sit down with the whole family and go over the upcoming week so everyone knows what is happening and what needs to be done that week.
Another weekly task that is great for families is to have a “put away” basket for each family member in a central location of the home. As you find random things that belong to a family member, toss them in their basket and then take one day a week as a family to empty your respective baskets.
Monthly: A great monthly routine is doing a donation run once a month. Keep an empty bin in each closet and throughout the month, as you try something on you no longer love, or if it no longer fits, throw it into the bin. Take an hour to gather all those items once a month and drop them off at a local donation center. If you put this into your schedule, it will force you to take at least one load of stuff out of your house each month. This is a huge help when trying to stay on top of decluttering.
Over the years, as both a teacher and professional organizer, I have observed the transformative power of developing new habits to become more organized. Organizing is not a one-time task, it requires consistent effort and intentionality. To reach your goal of becoming more organized, it is critical to establish routines and systems that are easy for everyone in your household to follow.
If you have a New Year’s resolution to get more organized, Simply Spruced can help you meet your goals.
Happy Sprucing!
