How To Start Getting Organized In Your Life

How do I start getting organized?

What people don't realize is that organization, being organized, isn't just about throwing things away, and cleaning things up, it's about creating a functional system, that works specifically for you. So, I think the most important thing, whenever you want to start organizing anything, is to approach it in a very simple way. So I tell people to follow certain steps. First of all, you always start with a clean slate. So lets say, you want to begin organizing your closet. I tell people, take everything out of it. Now, I say this for two reasons. The first is: you don't really know what's in there, so it's important to take everything out, and discover everything that you might possibly find in your little organizational journey. Look at everything and see what's there. But I think it's also important, because it's important to look at the space you're organizing now without anything in it. It allows you to look at it with fresh eyes. You're no longer boxed in to thinking “Oh, the socks go here, and the shirts go here”. You can look at it and say “Oh, maybe the socks will be better here”. And it's very hard to do that, if you're looking at it with things that are in it at that time. You want to look at it clean. Then I tell people to now look at all the things that you've taken out, and sort through it. Assess what you need, and keep what you need, and throw away, or get rid of, or donate, what you don't need. So there's an assessment process that goes in. And, you also want to assess how do I want to make use of this space, now that I have it. Once you figure out what you want the space to be, then you can figure out what you need to create that space, to make it what you want it to be. If that means adding a rod, if that means buying some baskets, whatever that means, you now have a sense of what it is that you have to do, so you can go out and do that. And finally, you want to put it all back together, and create this new environment for yourself. So I think that if you can just keep it to those simple steps, then you can always organize your self, and you always have a starting point, and an ending point. And I think as long as people have that, then they feel comfortable with the process, because it doesn't feel so overwhelming.