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Some people are born organizers and some people live in chaos. There are varying degrees of organization between the two, but in general, you’re either organized or you’re not. Lacking organization isn’t a sin, of course, but if you long for a more peaceful existence, getting organized is a huge stress reducer.
So, is it possible to go from a daily scavenger hunt for your car keys to “a place for everything and everything in its place?”
Sure it is! And, we’ve got the tips to show you how. From setting goals to tidying up as you go, here are six things highly organized people do that you should do too.
1. Understand Why Organization is Important to You
Highly organized people always have a plan in place and a reason why they do what they do. Whether it’s to create a more relaxing home environment or to speed up a morning routine, there’s always a reason for making that extra effort to stay organized. Once you understand why it’s important, taking the steps necessary to achieve organization gets easier with each passing day.
2. Set Rules and Stick to Them
Rules exist to eliminate chaos, and when you live in a household sans rules, it’s easy for things to dissolve into mess and stress. You can become more organized on a daily basis by setting rules you know you can follow easily.
For instance, set a rule that you can’t go to bed until all the dishes are done and put away. It’ll be a challenge at first to stick to it, but after a week of doing this every night, it’ll be more of a habit rather than a chore.
3. Put Things Away When You’re Done with Them
Make it a priority to assign everything a home. And no, the kitchen counter is not a good place to put your keys and wallet when you get home. The fastest way to declutter a space is to put things away as soon as you’re done using them.
4. Avoid Buying More than You Need
It may seem like a good idea to buy multiple items when they are on sale, but if you’re trying to be more organized, less is more. Try to avoid the temptation to buy more of something than you need at one time. For instance, don’t buy more toilet paper until you need more, no matter how cheap it is on sale. No one needs 12 bottles of shampoo at any one time, either. Having excess only serves to cause stress and disorganization when you don’t have the storage space to keep it.
5. Tidy Up a Space Before Leaving It
Before you leave a room, take a few seconds to tidy up. Take that empty glass on your end table to the kitchen. If you’re heading to bed at the end of the day, fold up the blanket you were using and grab your slippers before turning off the lights. Doing these simple and hardly-time-consuming chores as you go greatly reduces the amount of clutter you have to deal with later.
6. Purge Unnecessary Things Regularly
One of the key factors to being organized is not holding onto things you no longer need or want. It’s very easy to accumulate a lot of stuff by shoving it in the back of a closet or in the rafters of a garage only to forget about it for the next several years. Organized people don’t let this happen, because they regularly get rid of the things they no longer use.
Whether you choose to recycle, donate, or otherwise dispose of the things you don’t need or want anymore is up to you, but plan a day once a month or so to purge your home of these things. If you haven’t used something in a long time, but you simply can’t part with it, consider putting it into a storage space facility near you for safekeeping.
Just because you weren’t born an organizer doesn’t mean you can’t become one if you want. It’s a matter of setting your mind to the task and following through with the things highly organized people do listed above.
