Everything Has a Place

Spring Cleaning for the Soul

I mentioned this series would be a Spring Cleaning for our souls, and a Spring Cleaning of our homes. Today, we will start with our souls.

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Organization

I don’t know why, but logical and sensible organization has never come to me naturally. Many who know me would categorize me as “very book smart, but at times, an airhead.”

Organization is something I had to constantly work at, and each organizational challenge in my life has caused me to try and fail several times before I succeed. However, once I come up with a system that works for me, things fall into place and become easier.

No More Excuses

Attention!!!!! People that use “Oh, well I’m not that organized,” as an excuse for everything…”, it is a message from the universe to you. It is time to make a change. Lack of order in life is a choice. I personally engaged in that behavior by not trying to do things differently for a period of time in my life.

So, if you are struggling with organization, don’t be afraid to try new things. Trust me, trying the same techniques over and over is a huge waste of time. If it doesn’t work…LET GO, MOVE ON. I can’t tell you how many times I have organized and moved things around in my kitchen, never happy, until I chose to look at things from a new perspective.

How do I know what methods to try when organizing? 

Honestly, I used Pinterest to find other bloggers ideas on how I should arrange something, or attack my schedule, or the many other examples I could come up with. I sometimes sat and envisioned my parents house, or my grandparents house. I asked my friends. Heck, I even asked my husband, he is incredibly logical and efficient. Don’t be ashamed to ask for advice. Aspire to be strong, don’t worry about being perfect.

My door is always open for any sorts of questions you may have. I may not always know the answer, but I will find some one who does. I have met a network of inspiring women who are great at different things!

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Organizing Your Home

Say it with me ladies, “Everything has a place.” Take a tour around your house. Take a pen and notepad.

In each room and each drawer, note:

1. Name and primary function of room, closet, drawer.

2. What items are in this room or closet? Be pretty specific.

3. List of items needed to make the space more organized (bins, drawer dividers, etc)

Now, do this for each room in the house. Now, it is time to analyze. Ask yourself these questions.

1. Is the location of this room, closet, drawer the most logical? If it isn’t, make a note of where it would make more sense.

2. Are items in a logical place? If the answer Is NO, make a note next to each item of your new, ideal location.

Here is a sample of what I did.

1. Master Closet-holds clohing and shoes

2. Items:

• Coats           (move all to coat closet)
• Gift Wrap   (move to craft room)
• Courtney’s clothes
• Husband’s clothes
• Husband’s hats (move to top shelf)
•  Shoes

3. Need new shoe rack and a small set of plastic drawers for socks

As I mentioned, do this for each room. Then, look over the list and note new locations as you see fit.

This will allow you to see the big picture of the items in your home and how they fit together. The other bonus of doing a little work on paper, is that hopefully, with this careful planning, you won’t see yourself moving everything again in a month or two, when you realize none of it made sense with the “bigger picture.”

As far as spring cleaning goes, I would set aside a full day from start to finish on the actual organization.

As you organize drawers and closets, wipe out drawers, dust shelving in your closets, vacuum or mop closet floors.

Pro tips:

• When removing items you no longer want in a room keep an box or bin handy to put those items in. There is no sense running up and down the stairs many times. After all, you have notes!
• Remove the items you no longer want in a particular location first, so that you can see how much space that leaves you when reorganizing the items in the aforementioned location.
• Purchase the organizational supplies at least the day before. Allowing a full day for only that responsibility of organizing gives you less excuses to fill that day with other tasks. Stay on task!!

Good luck. Don’t be overwhelmed by any of it. Remember you are changing for the better. You can do it!!!!