If disorganization is congesting your life and you're feeling scattered and frustrated as a result, it's time to get organized. To achieve organization on the outside, you will need to take steps on the inside, by clarifying your priorities, objectives, and how you want your belongings and lifestyle arranged. Try to keep stuff where it belongs. Know what you need/want to do, when you are going to do it, and avoid the stressful situation of not knowing what needs to be done. Organization takes time, but when you get into the habit of it, life becomes so much easier!
Organize your space. Whether it's your home, bedroom, kitchen, home office,computer, closet, desk, or locker, you need to see what's in there, throw away anything you don't often use (or put it efficiently in storage), and give everything else a convenient and clearly designated space.
Put it back. Right now. Once you establish where everything belongs, you need to get in the habit of putting it back there as soon as you're finished using it. Don't put it on the kitchen table or on the couch and move onto something else, thinking to yourself that you'll put it away later. That's a big no-no.
Reusable plastic baggies (like Ziploc bags) are your friends. Store away items in plastic bags. This way, the items will be compact, clean, and dust-free. But they will also be all over the place if you don’t have a storage system! Place the bags in closets, desk drawers, cabinets, and other places. Ziploc bags are convenient, useful, and cheap, so use them!
Use a calendar. Get a calendar and put it in a place where you see it every day, preferably in the morning. For most people, that's on the refrigerator, on their desk, or on their computer desktop. Wherever you put it, make it part of your routine to refer to it every day. For example, you can put it on the inside of the bathroom cabinet where you get your toothpaste. Every morning, while you're brushing your teeth with one hand, touch today's date on the calendar with the other, and look to see what's marked for today and for the upcoming week.
Use a planner. A planner is especially useful if you have a lot of appointments and your days are so varied that you have trouble keeping track of your schedule. For example, if you travel a lot or attend classes at various times of day, it's much easier to carry a planner with you to consult frequently--you can't do that with a calendar. You can also usually fit more information in a planner.
Organize your space. Whether it's your home, bedroom, kitchen, home office,computer, closet, desk, or locker, you need to see what's in there, throw away anything you don't often use (or put it efficiently in storage), and give everything else a convenient and clearly designated space.
- Organized doesn't just mean tidy. The purpose of organization is to be able to find, exchange, and evaluate items quickly. However, organization can also help keep them tidy by providing a quick, logical system for adding and removing things from easy-to-use, somewhat uniform-appearing groups, and by preventing unnecessary purchases on account of misplaced items.
- Clean out your belongings before you think about organizing (organizational tools, furniture, etc.). Don't do it the other way around. You can only really accurately know what space you have when you've cleaned up. If you don't really take a hard look at what you're stuffing in your spaces, you'll waste time and money organizing stuff you don't need anyway.
- Observe how you use your things and work out how to use your space efficiently. If it's inconvenient to get to things (or to put them away), your organization system is more likely to fail. Make it easy to get to and put away the things you need most often. In that vein, put things where you use them most. Pots get stored near the stove, envelopes and stamps are stored in the desk, stain remover and bleach goes in the laundry room or linen closet. (It sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people just put things "wherever" and then are surprised when doing anything is tremendously inconvenient.)
- Do you have items in your house that just take up space? Be sure to de-clutter regularly. Good questions to ask yourself in deciding: Do I need this? Will I need this in a year? Have I used this in the last year? Do I really love it? Is there someone else who could use this more? Do I have more than I could reasonably use in foreseeable future? Will I miss this if I don't have it? If I do happen to need it, can I replace it with an equivalent easily?
- Know what "organized" looks and feels like. Organized spaces are simple to use. They have enough room for the items there. It makes sense. Every item in your home has a location. Organized spaces also feel calm, open, and welcoming.
- Use timers. Set a timer for how long you think a cleaning organizing task should take then work like crazy to get it done in the allotted time.
- Have a spot for all bills. Open all mail immediately and dispose of the outer envelope with the junk mail. Keep only the bill in a prominent location.
Put it back. Right now. Once you establish where everything belongs, you need to get in the habit of putting it back there as soon as you're finished using it. Don't put it on the kitchen table or on the couch and move onto something else, thinking to yourself that you'll put it away later. That's a big no-no.
- Always put your keys in the same place.
- Always put your cell phone in the same place. Have a cell phone charging station set up.
Reusable plastic baggies (like Ziploc bags) are your friends. Store away items in plastic bags. This way, the items will be compact, clean, and dust-free. But they will also be all over the place if you don’t have a storage system! Place the bags in closets, desk drawers, cabinets, and other places. Ziploc bags are convenient, useful, and cheap, so use them!
- Try drawer organizers for drawers that are enclosed. You can purchase a wide selection or make your own by slicing off the tops of empty plastic bottles of various sizes. Milk jugs are handy because they are fairly square, but any bottle or jar will do if you can trim it so it fits in the drawer.
Use a calendar. Get a calendar and put it in a place where you see it every day, preferably in the morning. For most people, that's on the refrigerator, on their desk, or on their computer desktop. Wherever you put it, make it part of your routine to refer to it every day. For example, you can put it on the inside of the bathroom cabinet where you get your toothpaste. Every morning, while you're brushing your teeth with one hand, touch today's date on the calendar with the other, and look to see what's marked for today and for the upcoming week.
- Keep your calendar close at hand when sorting papers. Often, you can file or even toss the announcement for an event if it is recorded in your calendar. Your calendar can remind you to do things on time. There's no need to rely on that stack of paper.
Use a planner. A planner is especially useful if you have a lot of appointments and your days are so varied that you have trouble keeping track of your schedule. For example, if you travel a lot or attend classes at various times of day, it's much easier to carry a planner with you to consult frequently--you can't do that with a calendar. You can also usually fit more information in a planner.