Organizing is a big challenge. Without a good game plan, it can seem extremely overwhelming. One of my big goals this year is to go through my house, garage and shed, room by room and completely organize and dejunk everything. We have been doing the 30 bags in 30 days declutter challenge and I am loving how much stuff we have been able to get rid of this way. But there is still more to be done.
I am blown away by how much excess we have of things we have outgrown or don’t use anymore. It feels so good to let the items find a new home either through donating or selling them. Organizing your house is something that you will relish having done – but it can be daunting to get started. Just do a little bit at a time, baby steps, and eventually, you will start seeing a big difference.
Here are some tips that you can use as you go through the process:
- If you haven’t used it for at least 1 year – get rid of it or sell it
- Just do one area a day – even a small area
- To see which clothes you ACTUALLY wear, turn the hangers backward, and as you wear them, put the hangers in the correct way. After 1 year, get rid of all the clothes that are still on backward hangers.
- Start shredding old/new papers, bills, and other unnecessary documents to cut down on paper clutter. Take pictures or scan important receipts, papers, etc and file them on your computer.
As I have been doing this for a while, trying to get my house under control, I want to share what I have learned to hopefully help you be more efficient in your organizing efforts.
5 ways to organize your house without feeling overwhelmed
- Start at the beginning. As you walk in your door, pick the first space you enter – your entryway. If it has a coat closet, shelves, shoe rack, etc they are all included.
- Don’t feel like you have to do the whole space in one day. You can take a few days to clean it and make sure it’s done the right way.
- Get boxes or bags and fill them up with donation items, items to sell, garbage, etc. Keep things organized as you go so it’s easier. You can list things as you go or do it once a day, or week. Whatever works with your schedule.
- Don’t get distracted with other areas until the area you are working on is done. One thing that I do that helps is picking a spot, like in the garage, to put your bags/boxes with your donation/selling items so they are out of the way.
- Take things that you use seasonally (like camping gear, snow sleds, etc) and store them on hanging shelves in your garage in totes, or on shelves you build. There are also hanging/overhead tote storage racks you can install.
Just take it step-by-step and do a little at a time – but be diligent about doing something every day or week. I would love to hear your tips and tricks and what helps you stay on track and organize.
