A Start to Living Organized

One of the shows i watch is Clean House.  I am always amazed at how much stuff people have that just clutters their homes.  You will see people that talk about having to hide their shopping from their spouse.  People who have so much money sunk into things that they are willing to have a TV show come and sell off their junk to reorganize their lives.  You don’t need a TV show to reorganize your life.

To get started organizing there are three things you need

• A calendar – The calendar is for keeping track or important dates and events.  Organization for the days of the year.
• A planner – If the calendar keeps the days of the year in order the planner tracks your events throughout the day.  Organization for the time in the day.  Most calendar software applications will double as as both the calendar and planner
• A system for filing things – You may need 2 systems.  One for files on your computer and another for items around your home or office.  A place for everything and everything in its place.

I recommend starting first with just a calendar.  Add important dates, birthdays, anniversaries, work functions, school events, etc.  Then move on to the planner.  If you are using Outlook of Google Calendar do these two steps together.  Now move onto just one area of your house.  Move everything that does not belong in that area out and keep it organized for one week.  You can move on to the rest of the house later.  We are talking about a start here.  Once you know you can keep it organized you can move onto a second area.

Once you get started you will begin to have less stress.  Having an organized area leaves you feeling better about yourself.  You will have more time not having to search for things.  You will be able to declutter items you have multiple of or no longer need.  It will be easier to identify these items.  You can save money by eliminating duplicate purchases.  There are plenty of benefits to living organized.  The best might just be not appearing on a show like Clean House where the entire nation knows of your organization and clutter problems.