Getting Organized For 2014

One of the things that I love to do at the end of the year is clear out the old, in preparation for the new.  All year long, people ask me about ways they can stay organized both at home and at work.  This post is to provide you all with a structure for ongoing organization.  For me, these actions are prompted by the end of the year, and the excitement of the upcoming year.   However, they are practices that I actually schedule in my calendar on a quarterly basis to ensure that I keep my environment organized.

Basically, the key is to schedule certain "events" in your calendar...occasions on which you will work on certain things around the house.  The most critical ones that I recommend to my clients, and that I practice myself are as follows:


1. Wardrobe Day: On this day, my 13-yr-old daughter and I go through our dresser drawers and closets.  We weed out things that are too small, or that we haven't worn in the last 18 months.  For this, you must be strong, those pieces that are "kinda cute" but that you NEVER wear, go ahead and get rid of them...you're not going to wear them!  We use two garbage bags, one for donation to Salvation Army (or wherever you choose); and one for trash...for those items that you'd be embarrassed to give someone face-to-face.  If they are in such bad shape that you wouldn't hand them to someone, don't pass them off in a bag, just throw them out.

2. Junk Drawer Day:  On this day, go through all the junk drawers in your house.  Group like items from all the different junk drawers together.  Keep them together in an organized way...for example:  I always find tons of pens and pencils around, especially in junk drawers.  While I have two desks in my house, one in my bedroom and one in my office space, which both have a mug with pens, pencils, highlighters, etc. I still have had to create a shoebox (the plastic kind) for all the extras.  Also, keep small items together too, in ways that look presentable: I keep paper extra clips in a small jar (a baby food or mustard jar works); I keep safety pins in a small sandwich bag which I keep in the sewing kit.  If you have one-of-a-kind items for which it is hard to find a home, you can buy a drawer organizer like the one in this picture to keep in one of the junk drawers for those kinds of things. 



3. Book Day: Both my daughter and I love, love, love books.  I recently started downloading my books on Audible.com, but there are certain books that I consider treasures, and I have a hard copy either in my office space or on the book shelf in my bedroom.  Between the two of us, it
is very difficult for us to let go of books, but we make an effort, and we always get rid of a few when we go through this process.  So you might be saying "what do I do with them?"  Well, here are a few ideas:  http://www.booksforafrica.org/books-computers/donate-books.html;

You can also sell your books on Amazon.com.


4. Kitchen Day:  Go through your kitchen cabinets.  Do you have too many take-out food containers?  Do you have 10 plastic tops that don't go to any containers??  How many pots, pans and skillets do you have?  What kind of shape are they in?  Are there some that can be tossed?  How many do you need?  Are you fortunate in that you can donate some and still have plenty?  How many crockpots do you have?  Blenders?  Bullets?  Toasters?  This even applies to flatware, plates, tumblers, etc.  Get the picture?? 


5. Toy Day:  If you have a little one, when they are out at that birthday party next month, that will be the perfect time to go through their toys and get rid of the ones they don't even remember, but would have a fit if they ever witnessed you trying to throw them out.

And the big one...the one we all need to constantly work on is.......   

6. Paper Day:  At my house, I only allow three file drawers: one for business files, one for financial stuff and critical documents, and one for miscellaneous stuff like health, education, etc.  I don't save statements past 6 months (utility bill statements, credit card statements, bank statements).  If you need more than that, you can always get them from the bank or utility company.  As for my business files, when the drawer gets full, some get moved into storage, but I don't keep any business or client files older than 7 years.  My storage is very small, so small that it only costs about $55, and I refuse to get a bigger one, it would only be a magnet for more stuff.  After all, even though I'm an organizer and I live by my own rules, I'm still human :)



The bottom line is, this quarterly purge of paper prevents a situation where I have boxes and boxes of paper at home or in storage, it's just not practical and causes massive clutter over time.


Well I hope this post has motivated you to get your house in order for the New Year.  It is always my pleasure to share tips and tools with my readers and followers, that increase effectiveness, and improve quality of life overall.

Wishing all my readers, followers and clients a joyous, prosperous and abundant 2014.