1. Attitude …Enjoy being organized and look at it as a treat for yourself instead of a chore that you need to do!
2. Finances…Create a financial budget and follow it.
3. Time Management…Create a schedule for your time. Don’t forget to schedule time for family & friends and organizing maintenance!
4. Maintenance…spend some time each day putting things back in their place.
5. Incoming paper…open your mail and your children’s school paperwork over the garbage can and throw out what you don’t need right away.
6. Strategy…start in one spot and stay there until it’s finished. Pile things that belong in other rooms near the door and put them where they belong at the end of the session.
7. Categorize…Keep, Give Away, Move (to another spot).
8. Containers…think about the types of containers that you need and then purchase them instead getting containers first and trying to make them work.
9. Purchasing…buy what you need when you need it…buy what you want after careful consideration.
10. Manage the project…plan the project (what to do, what to contain, what to sort, etc) and break it down into small pieces (one closet, one corner of a room).

Author's Bio: 

Karen Koedding is a Professional Organiser and the founder and CEO of A Little Elf. A Little Elf is a Professional Organising firm that was founded in 2004 and works with clients in Sydney and New York. Karen is a member of NAPO and AAPO, the professional associations for Professional Organisers. Her firm specializes in creating organised, functional, aesthetically pleasing spaces for clients by providing ideas, information, and teaching new skills. A Little Elf offers hands-on organising, relocation assistance, one-day re-design, and consulting services for residential and small business clientele.