Here is part two of our two week series on sticking to your organizational resolutions for 2014:

Last week we addressed all those paper piles. It is time to move on with the thing that most impedes your day or causes you anxiety whether it is your kitchen, closet or garage. Whatever time you think it will take to get organized – likely double it. People chronically underestimate how long this will take. Try not to go down memory lane. You are here to sort and purge – not think and dream. Focus on only one area at a time. Have bags or boxes for donate to charity/ to family or friend / trash / relocate in home / needs repair. Remember, getting organized is not just about getting rid of things but on identifying what is important to you and finding a logical, convenient home for those items. Think about WHY you want to get organized, what really matters to you and on how you want the place to look when you are finished. Focus on the vision. This will help to inspire you in the process. Being organized is also about developing new habits, putting things away in the same “home” consistently. It is about maintaining each day so that things don’t get out of control. It is a continual process and not an event.

If you have a hard time making decisions or deciding what is really important and essential to you then think about this. Just like the 80% paper rule, there is an 80-20 rule for our “stuff”, that is, we use only about 20% of what we own on a regular basis. The other 80% is stuff we once used, feel we “should” use, or think we might use “someday”. Figure out what your 20% that you use all the time and that are really most important to you and it should help you when you are sorting through things trying to determine what stays and what goes. If you are trying to organize your clothing the 80-20 rule applies once again. We wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. If you have several sizes of clothes, keep only your current size in the closet for daily wear and store the rest in containers under the bed or in a spare room closet, but away from what you are currently wearing. Everybody makes bad, impulse decisions. Get rid of the clothes that do not make you look and feel good. The quickest way for this decision, when you are having difficulty making up your mind is to try it on and let the mirror speak the truth. Items that have needed repair for 2 or more years need to go.

And so it goes…Sort and purge your belongings one area at a time. Stay focused. Assign one logical home to the things that remain. Group like items together by size, color, function, etc. Use containers for items whenever possible, for example, to hold cleaning supplies or all your batteries or children’s art supplies, etc. Label items and where they go whenever possible so everyone knows where things belong. Develop new habits. Put things away when you use them; hang up your clothes every night or put them in a hamper. Have a consistent routine. Think about what is working for you and keep it up and remember that every system needs occasional “tweaking” just do so before it gets out of hand.

If you need help with any of your organizing projects call Susan’s Organizing Solutions, LLC at 813-503-0967. Our goal is to help you “End Chaos, Create Order, and Find Peace”.