To quote the humor of Joy Behar, “So what, who cares?” rings so true in many cases. For you, spring cleaning may be one of them.
What the heck is spring cleaning anyway?
For years I’d heard the term but it had virtually no meaning to me. I guess that’s because I am a Florida native and the weather is pretty consistent in South Florida. With little delineation among seasons other than a date on the calendar, there wasn’t much environmental change bringing awareness to this time of year.
I’ve actually learned from my clients who hale from up north that they used to have a need to change out their wardrobes from closet to closet between winter and spring.
If you need motivation to tackle that nagging clutter in your home or office, then “there’s no time like the present” as my mom used to say. Time for procrastination and denial is over.
Studies prove that clutter is de-energizing, distracting, depressing, causes extra work moving it around, trying to clean around it (or not cleaning at all in some cases), costs money in hiring someone to help declutter (like me), and costs you time to experience all the above. Your time is valuable. Some use that as their excuse to avoid decluttering.
I am here to get you to re-focus, view it from reality, turn around your thinking and realize what the clutter is actually costing you. The longer you let it go, the worse it is. Of course much of this negative impact is subliminal and therefore easy to ignore or deny. But, take my word for it, with twelve years of experience in the organizing business, ignoring the clutter will eventually catch up to you.
It appears that one day for whatever reason, my clients wake up and suddenly realize the vastness of their clutter issue.
Not being able to sleep on your bed, not wanting to have company come into your house, not being able to get into your closet, not knowing what you have or where to find what you have, all these are serious clues it is time to stop ignoring the clutter. Do things fall out of your cupboard every time you open the door? Do you have to turn sideways to get past the clutter? Ignore the signs no longer.
Feeling guilty that you “should be able to do this on your own” won’t motivate you to get it done. I think I “should” be able to change the oil in my car, but why? Isn’t it more productive for me to have an expert do that? Of course. It’s the same with organizing. Hire a professional, get it done better and faster. You’ll learn something along the way with the “tools” an organizer will teach you to help contain the organized areas and maintain in the future.
So spring is here, put organizing on your list and tackle a little at a time.
Here are 25 simple tips you can implement to conquer your war on clutter.
Clearing Clutter
- Follow the “one in, one out rule.” When buying new clothes or toys, always get rid of an equal amount of existing clothes or toys.
- Clean out closets annually. Doing one section at a time avoids overwhelm.
- When organizing your closet, donate clothes that you are not proud to be seen in or comfortable wearing.
- We wear 20% of our clothes, 80% of the time. Turn hangers backwards until the item is worn. Anything not turned the correct way after six months is a candidate to be tossed.
- To minimize clutter, avoid saving things just because you or someone else might need them “someday.”
- When shopping, never buy anything unless you can answer both of these questions: “What am I going to use it for AND where am I going to put it?”
- Designate a home for everything. Put items back in their homes as soon as you are done using them and they’ll easily be found next time. Car keys are a good example.
- Recycle purged items by giving to friends, donating to charity or selling on E-bay, Craig’s List or at a garage sale to avoid waste.
- Bring re-usable bags to the grocery store to help save the planet avoiding waste of all those plastic bags usually brought home.
- Group like items together on shelves, in closets, and in rooms. Store lesser-used items in the garage, attic or basement.
Controlling Paper Clutter
- Pare down file folders of outdated material allowing reuse of the same files and drawers each year. Be ruthless.
- Refer to ‘retention guidelines” (found online) in conjunction with your tax professional to determine how long to save specific papers.
- Store tax returns and inactive files away from the active files area.
- Use of colorful file tabs and folders make your system attractive to use as well as up to 50% easier to locate individual files.
- Open mail daily. Sort for appropriate next action- pay, file, read, respond or toss.
- When ordering by mail and paying by check, write the company’s name, address and phone number on the back of your check so you can easily contact them if there’s a problem.
- Keep travel size items in plastic, self-sealing bags, ready for any trip.
- Pay bills on the first and fifteenth of each month (or any two dates 14 days apart) for efficiency. Note the dates in your calendar as a reminder.
- Maintain an area with all your bill-paying supplies together (stamps, envelopes, check register, return address labels, etc).
- Keep one calendar for the entire family to track schedules. Color-code each person’s activities.
- Maintain a personal calendar for yourself to coordinate business and personal appointments and events.
- Photocopy two copies of everything in your wallet, in case of loss or theft. Keep one copy at home and one locked up at work.
- Clip coupons, recipes and articles only if you plan to use them and have a system for cataloging them.
- Maintain a grocery list, keeping a running list of items that need replacing as you run out of them.
- File photos in original developing packages from the store, in a photo box with a lid. Date and note the event on the outside of the packet.
Happy Organizing!
Diane Hatcher, CPO®, the only Certified Professional Organizer in South Florida, owns Time-Savers Professional Organizing Services and is the author of Don’t Agonize, Organize Your Office Now! Contact her at (954) 252-7511 or www.timesaversUSA.com.
