We’ve all heard it, New year, new me… well I call bullshit! How many times have you made a resolution only to have it fail by the 10th? This year let's try something new, instead of changing yourself let’s change the systems that aren’t working. 

Begin by picturing your ideal home. 

Consider what it looks like and how it feels. Do you prefer a vibrant, energetic atmosphere, a peaceful, minimalist aesthetic, or a combination of the two? Is your home calm? Can everyone find what they need when they need it? Next it’s important to think about where you want to spend your time. I know you’ve heard that being organized saves you time, so where are you going to spend the time you’re getting back? Will you prioritize family time, or take on a hobby to make time for yourself? This exercise helps in the times when you are feeling frustrated with the progress you’ve made. Look back and remember why you started and what your goals are.

Creating sustainable organizing systems in your home

In each room, identify where you typically drop items. This is critical because it will help you to target areas that require attention and it will get you looking at how you and your family deal with the things in your home. The goal isn’t to change everything but to add systems that make sense for you. A system could be anything from adding a basket or hooks, or just labels so others know where things go. The key is to make it easy and give everything a home (one touch point if possible so you don’t have to move something else to put it away, you also want to avoid temporary holding places.

Determine the areas that cause the most frustration and start there. For example, it could be your entryway, kitchen table, an island in the kitchen, or a closet. Analyze what's causing the chaos and brainstorm easy solutions to help restore order. For instance, if papers from school or non-urgent mail are piling up, a hanging file folder above where they are dropped could be added to collect all of them and get them off the surface. Then, pick a time once a week to go through them.

Keep in mind that organizing strategies are unique to each individual or household. It's not a one-size-fits-all solution. It has to make sense for you and be practical for your household to maintain. It's not about buying a lot of pretty bins and hoping for the best. It's about creating solutions that work for what you're already doing.

Let’s Organize

Now you can start organizing, but remember to start small. It can become overwhelming quickly so start one space at a time. That might mean one closet, one drawer or one room.

1. Group similar items

Here’s the part where you have to empty things. If you find things that don’t belong in the space, take them to where they will live and drop them- don’t try to organize that space too, just drop them. This part can be hard because you’ll be seeing progress in one space but creating a mess in another, but in the long run you’ll be able to see exactly what you have to make better decisions when you declutter, and also better decisions about how to use your space.

2. Declutter

Part of being organized is regularly decluttering the things you don’t love or use. Once you have things grouped you can see the volume of what you have so you’ll be able to make decisions about what you want to keep in your home. You’ll also be able to see what space you have, and how to best utilize it. It could mean keeping everything or it could mean you have to let go of a lot.

3. Measure, Contain and Label

This is where you can buy the pretty baskets, or you can repurpose what you already have. Take the groups of items and give each one a home then, add a label so it helps the whole house stay organized.

4. Maintain

Remember the goal is not to blitz your entire house, it's to create realistic changes that are easy to maintain and will last long term. So what does that mean? Try the don’t put it down, put it away method. On a daily basis instead of dropping things, put them in their new home. Add a fuck it basket for the things you know won’t be fully put away at the end of each day- hi toys! Have a one in, one out rule where every time something new comes in something old has to go out. Add a weekly reset; on Sundays spend 20 minutes as a family putting everything back where it belongs to start the week fresh. And add a seasonal declutter session to keep things under control. Remember it’s not about a perfect house, it’s about making it work for you!

Happy Organizing!

-Jocelyn