Marilyn Bohn(1,398) Marilyn Bohn Get It Together Organizing Log in to become a member of Marilyn Bohn's Fan Club!
Clutter, clutter, mutter, mutter. As a professional organizer I work with many people who don't want to stay home because their homes and lives have become so cluttered with things. Clutter can creep up on us so slowly we don't realize our homes are cluttered until we become overwhelmed with things. It is time we take a good look at every room in our homes and evaluate how our things make us feel and if what we have lights us up, has a purpose and has a home.
Here are 8 tips on how to organize clutter to give us more time to do the things we really want to do:
1. When you are at the store before you buy anything decide right there and then if you need it, does it light you up, will you forget about it as soon as you leave the store, will it help you to organize clutter in your home or will it add clutter in your home? Many organizers suggest that for every one thing (or two etc) you bring into your home get rid of the equal amount of things. Sometimes this doesn't work as you are buying something you didn't have for a specific reason and it is not creating clutter. As a professional organizer I personally don't think we can always follow this "rule". If you have jewelry you like and wear and you purchase a new pair of earrings or some other piece of jewelry I don't see why you have to give something up as long as it is not creating clutter.
2. Take a look in your desk drawer. Take everything out one drawer at a time and sort through everything. Test the pens and if they don't work, or you don't like them, throw them away. It is okay not to keep every pen or pencil that has come to live in your home.
3. Always have a donation box or heavy plastic bag (label it with masking tape) in the garage or in a closet for donations. When you are organizing clutter and you find something you don't like, don't want to keep, or associate bad memories with it or don't have room for it put it in the donation pile. This is a painless way to organize clutter a little at a time.
4. Get off junk mail lists (Google places on line that provide this service). When opening mail have a shredder and recycling bin nearby which will make organizing clutter a breeze.
5. Set up a working filing system where you can find any piece of paper in less than 10 to 15 seconds. My favorite filing system is the Freedom Filer system. It is color coded by category and makes organizing clutter a breeze.
6. Only subscribe to magazines that you read on a regular basis. The first time you look through the magazine tear out and recycle the ads. This saves time and you have less clutter to deal with.
7. When looking through a magazine tear out articles you think you want to read later. Put these in your reading resource folder. The next time you have a place to go where you will probably have to wait (the doctor's office) take your folder with you. After reading the articles recycle them. This is an effortless way to organize clutter.
8. Every night spend 10 to 15 minutes tidying up things in your home. It is so nice to have things organized in the morning and not have to start the day facing clutter. It makes mornings go much smoother. I recommend you get your family involved in tidying up, there is no reason you have to do it all yourself.
When you organize clutter in your home your life is simpler, easier, and more peaceful and you have more time to do the things you want to do.
Marilyn is a professional organizer and invites you to visit her website www.marilynbohn.com, She is a sought after public speaker and author who is passionate about teaching ways to organize your life and how to reduce clutter. She works with women in their homes and offices. On her web site she teaches you to get rid of clutter by using her Lights On Organizing System. She provides practical information on how to declutter your home, office and life. In her blogs, articles, and videos she gives timely tips on how to clear clutter and how to declutter everything in your home and office. She is the author of a book called Go Organize! Conquer clutter in three simple steps which will be in major bookstores in December 2009.
Marilyn ~ thanks for another informative article ~ between you and Woman’s Day, I am going to “git ‘er dun, “ but I might have to sell on E-Bay to vanish some of the antiques. ~ they just are not me any more. Actually, at one time in my life I was so organized I couldn’t stand myself…now it’s just the opposite but I think I have more fun LoL! The desk is definitely next to be organized as you suggested . I actually do have a filing system. Man, to get off those mailing lists would be great ~ my solution has been to not give to that many charities because they sell your name and/or marking the envelopes “return to sender“ so the addressee has to pay the return postage. You would be so proud of me ~ I got a new shredder a few months back and recently shredded “stuff” from years back that was stashed in bags and a box. I actually had enough of those return-address labels to paper a highway from my city to my home town and that’s about 100 miles away. Oh, and I am limiting my time to only one or two comments a day at Searhwarp and not posting any articles ~ that extra time is awesome ~ it‘s all about giving here. Write on! Suzy
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