Working from home can be stressful and distracting. Your home-based business is important but something always stands in your way. How to get organized while still having the flexibility of doing business from home?
Getting organized takes effort, but it’s worth it in the end. When your house is in a state of disarray, it is distracting. In fact, studies have shown that people who are more organized (and have less clutter) are overall happier people—this one of the easiest ways to get a happiness boost. There is simply no reason to hang on to old, unused, worn out stuff. You can hire a professional to eliminate your clutter, but the best way to get organized is to do it yourself!
First, decide that you really want to become more organized and make a commitment to yourself to see it through within a certain time period—maybe one space per month.
Tackle One Area at a Time
It is best to break down your overall project (organizing the entire house) into manageable sub-projects: organizing one room or space to start. Pick one area—a “starter” area. You can start small (spare bedroom, hall closet, etc.) and work your way up to the more daunting projects such as your bedroom, kitchen, or family room. You can even separate one room into more than one project. For instance, your closet can be considered one area. From there, you can move into the rest of the bedroom.
Figure Out What You Need
Once you choose your first work space, take an assessment. What will you need to get organized? What types of organizational accessories will help you in your task? Some ideas include bins with matching lids, boxes, shoe racks, closet organizers, a bookcase, CD rack, file storage system, drawer trays, etc. Regular shoe boxes are even helpful for storing greeting cards and photos. You can repurpose any container for different items.
Sort Your Space
Empty the room completely. As you go, sort the contents of the space into these categories:
- Stay: For items that are relevant to the room’s purpose, are in good condition, and are often used.
- Move: For items that belong in another room and should be relocated.
- Share: For items that are in good condition but haven’t been used in over a year or are duplicates. Give these items to charity or someone you know. You can also start a separate “sell” pile for items you can sell for extra money (clothes or furniture in good condition)—take them to a consignment store or sell them online.
- Go: For items that are garbage. Throw them out!
Your goal is to fill the Share and Go bins more than the other two. Now that your items are sorted, reinstating items from the Stay bin in the appropriate places.
Reassemble Your Space
As you return items, organize them according to type and function. If you are working on a closet, hang whatever needs to be hung and fold the rest (depending on available space, more items might be hung than folded, or vice versa). Just refolding everything into neat piles can do a lot for the organizational feel of a space. Put like items into containers and label them.
Now that your space is organized, all you have to do is keep it that way!
Helpful Resources:
- Read this guide on living a less stressful life from Zen Habits – especially tip #8
- Innovate your interior and save – bookmark this Pottery Barn Coupons page to track free shipping offers from them;
- Subscribe to this blog to get regular updates on organizing your home;
- Browse through home organization ideas from HGTV;
- Good luck!
