This month we are focusing on organization. A New Year sometimes needs new surroundings, or just less stuff. These are just the basics to get you started. For more in depth information, check out my Seven Layers of Organization book. It is available at larger bookstores and libraries. Remember, you can do it!
Seven Layers of Organization
Layer 7: Cease & Maintain
Congratulations. Your home is beautifully organized and clutter free. Now your job is to keep it that way. Just because you’ve picked up extra space does not mean you must fill it. If you don’t understand that streamlining is a way of life, your home will get out of control before you know it. A systematic, monthly purging should now go into effect. Acquire only to upgrade! If you find a better widget, get rid of the one you had.
With times so rapidly changing, the way you live today may be completely different from the way you will live ten years from now. In the past decade we’ve learned to take buildings full of data and condense the information down to a compact disk. We can speak to anyone anywhere in the world while driving a car. We can even take pictures of ourselves while we talk to them.
Let's explore a few ways to help you stay clutter free:
- Assign yourself a small "to read" basket. Try to empty it completely by the end of the week.
- Buy a scanner. They are easy to use and you can cut your printed clutter in half. One disk can hold a least a hundred pages.
- Get rid of any electronics that you don’t use and look for “all-in-one” models that do more than one thing.
- Put decorative wastebaskets in every room. Empty them often. Do not let them overflow.
- Clean out your car and wash it. It is a reminder away from home that you’re in streamline mode.
- As you use your bins and baskets, keep looking for things to purge.
- Toss junk mail before you sit down to read personal mail.
- Don’t take something just because it is free or buy something just because it is on sale.
- Don’t shop to fill your home. Buy only what you need. Make a list and stick to it.
- Purge your wardrobe as you go. If you tried on a shirt and it doesn’t fit or is damaged, get rid of it. Also remember this, one item in and one item out. Every time you buy a new item, get rid of an old one.
- Never leave a room messy.
