Getting Organized is an Attainable Goal

You've finally decided that you can't stand the clutter and chaos any more. So, what do you do now? If you're like most people in this situation, you probably just dive in hoping to get control of the problem without giving any real thought to what you're doing. You start off optimistically and enthusiastically enough, but, sooner or later, become discouraged when you discover that completing/maintaining the organization is not as easy as you had hoped.

The reality is that getting and staying organized are manageable, attainable goals if you have the right plan, the right tools and the desire, willingness and determination to change.

In order to help my clients get organized, I use a proven, highly effective method developed by veteran organizer Julie Morgenstern and known as "organizing from the inside out" This foolproof method requires you to think about your situation before diving in.It makes it possible to overcome any organizational challenge and create an organizing system that reflects and supports who you are and what you need and want.

The three simple, but very important "organizing from the inside out"
steps are:

1) Analyze: Identify where you are now, where you want to go, why it's important for you to get there and what's holding you back.

2) Strategize: Develop a plan of action and a realistic time table for reaching your goal.

3) Attack: Methodically sort, purge and arrange things in a way that reflects how you think.

To show you how "organizing from the inside out" works in practice, let's take the example of a small bathroom with insufficient storage space and apply the three steps I've just outlined:

1) Analyze

Identify where you are now: Frustrated with the small size of your bathroom and the lack of storage space. Swimming in duplicates and triplicates of things because you can never find what you need when you need it so you go out and buy more.

Identify where you want to go and why it's important for you to get there: Want to be better organized, have less clutter and more storage space. Want to save time when getting ready and make it easier and less stressful. Want to stop wasting money on unnecessary duplicate and triplicate purchases.

Identify what's holding you back from fixing the problem: Have more stuff than space. Don't know where to put it all.

2) Strategize

Develop a plan of action: If you/ve got more stuff than space, then either you need to increase the storage capacity of the space, cut down on the "stuff" or both.

For a bathroom with insufficient storage space and too much clutter, in the bathroom itself, keep only those items you regularly use or absolutely need in case of an emergency. If you buy in bulk, only keep what you need in the bathroom itself. Non-essential items can be stored in a nearby closet or cabinet or elsewhere. Store items at their point of use. Assign every item a single, consistent "home" and return it there when not in use.

Make efficient use of all the available space under the sink by using turntables, tiered baskets, clear, stackable shoe boxes, plastic pull-out drawers or other suitable containers. Add shelving or high cabinets to the walls and hooks to the back of the door for additional storage and hanging space. Use appropriate size containers to hold items so space isn't wasted or items jammed.

If multiple family members use the same bathroom, consider assigning each person their own tote or container for carrying their personal care articles back and forth from their bedroom to the bathroom. This will cut down on clutter.

Set a realistic time table : 4 - 7 hours to Sort, Purge, Assign a home and Containerize items.

3) Attack

Methodically Sort: Arrange and keep items together by category - tooth care, hair care, nail care, grooming tools, cosmetics, medicines, shaving supplies, etc.

Methodically Purge: Get rid of expired medicines or remedies you never use, opened and abandoned anything, old toothbrushes that need to be replaced, anything that's outlived it's usefulness, anything that no longer works properly, anything that looks unappealing, out-of-favor beauty or grooming products.

Methodically Arrange: Decide which categories will go on which shelves in the medicine cabinet. Don't over stuff them or make items hard to access. Keep in the cabinet only those medicines you use regularly. Save the limited and precious space in the medicine cabinet for those items you use every day.

Decide which categories should go under the sink for easy access.

Decide which categories should go on which shelves, keeping in mind frequency of use and accessibility. Utilize shelves and hooks without cluttering or overdoing.

Decide which items need to be in or near the shower or bath and place them there in practical and attractive containers.