I’ve had the opportunity to be part of several organizing makeover shows (as the organizer, not the client, mind you) and really enjoy seeing the client’s excitement as they view their transformed space for the first time. While you may be hoping there’s a television crew about to knock on your door to announce that you’ve won an organizing makeover, odds are that’s not about to happen. So here are some quick tips to help you jump start your own home organizing makeover:
•Choose a small space to get started, such as a kitchen drawer, linen closet or under the bathroom sink. This will give you a sense of accomplishment, as well as the confidence to tackle bigger spaces. As an alternative, choose the area that bothers you the most, such as the entryway that makes you hesitate to open your front door for fear that your cluttered home will be revealed to the outside world.
• Schedule regular organizing sessions to keep yourself moving forward. Try setting a timer for 20 minutes a day to chip away at your organizing transformation .
•Find an accountability partner – someone who will check in with you to keep you on track and remind you to honor your commitment to tackle your clutter bit by bit.
•Gather all of your random piles of paperwork and put them in a box or bin (or maybe it will take multiple boxes and bins) to be gone through during your regular daily organizing sessions. You’ll enjoy the instant lift you’ll feel as the paper clutter is cleared from your surfaces, and will be able to see visible progress as the piles in the boxes and bins get smaller and smaller.
•Schedule weekly pickups by a charity that makes house calls to effortlessly move out the items you choose not to keep, and to motivate you to honor your daily de-cluttering sessions and let go of things that don’t enhance your life.
•Promise to reward yourself as your reach significant milestones, such as a cleaning out a closet or finishing going through a box of papers. The reward should be something you find motivating, as long as it doesn’t mean bringing more stuff into your home.
•If necessary, schedule someone to watch your kids during your organizing sessions so you can stay focused on organizing.
If after a few weeks you aren’t making the progress you’d hoped, or you feel stuck or overwhelmed, it may be time to call in a professional. I can’t promise to transform your home as seemingly effortlessly as the television shows make it look, but it will be faster, easier, and possibly even better than working on your own.
Wishing you simplicity, harmony and freedom.
Internationally known professional organizer, author, and speaker Sue Becker is the founder and owner of From Piles to Smiles®. She enjoys helping people from around the world live better lives by creating customized systems to overcome their overwhelming paperwork, clutter, and schedules. She specializes in helping people who are chronically disorganized - those for whom disorganization has been a lifelong struggle that negatively impacts every aspect of their life, especially people with AD/HD. Her hands-on help, as well as her presentations, have helped thousands of individuals create substantial change in their lives.
Sue is Illinois’ first Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization. She co-authored the book Conversations on Success, and has appeared as an organizational expert on NBC News and the national TV show, Starting Over. A CPA, Sue has an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.