Are you looking to add a little bit of organization to your daily life? Check out these 10 habits to adopt to keep on top of things.
I’ve created these magnets for my clients that go on their metal mailboxes!
1. Keep a To Do List and check it daily. Keep your list somewhere handy so you can regularly add to it – whether it be in your “notes” section on your phone, or a pad of paper you carry around with you. The key is the have a separate list for goals and things you eventually want to accomplish, and to have one for more immediate things.
2. Check your mailbox daily and deal with papers immediately – whether it be recycle, file, or do. Papers can really add up, especially if they are kept folded in their envelopes. If you open and deal with things immediately, you will be able to stay on top of bills and avoid late fees. Keep a recycle bin close to where your mailbox is, to make it handy!
3. When you’re finished with something, put it where it belongs. This is the case for food, clothing, tools and equipment – anything really! If you are finished with it and it needs to go back to it’s home, do that. If you are finished with it and it needs to go in the trash or the laundry hamper, do that! Dealing with items individually usually takes less than 30 seconds, but when clutter piles up it can take hours to deal with!
4. Make decluttering part of your weekly routine. If you’re at the starting point right now in needing to declutter your entire house, start with just one room or one area and work your way around. But when you are finished and your house looks tidy, your work isn’t done! Maintenance is a crucial part to keep your house organized. You need to regularly go through your areas to see if there’s anything you can part with or that should be moved elsewhere. Keep it fresh - don’t let items sit and get stagnant!
5. Have an area where you can keep a box/bag for donations, so when you come across something you want to declutter you can put it in the bag and take it away when full! I like to have one by my front door so I can easily grab it when I’m on my way out to run errands and I’ll be close to a donation centre. It can also be really helpful to keep one in your clothes closet, so if you try something on and it doesn’t fit right or you don’t like it anymore, you can easily toss it in the donate bag.
6. Check your cupboards/fridge before going grocery shopping to make sure you don’t buy duplicates and so you know what you need. This can really keep down impulse buys, which cuts down on clutter and unnecessary duplicates in your cupboard, as well as food waste!
7. When you see something you “want” (not need) to buy, ask yourself if you have a home to put it. Many people don’t think about where they will put something when they get home with a new item, but it’s so important to cut down on the clutter! If you can’t think of an exact spot, it means there may not physically be space. You don’t want it to sit in the bag for months until you finally find it and want to use it, but still don’t know where it should go. Try the 30 day challenge where you take a photo of the item, go home without it, and wait 30 days to purchase, to make sure you actually want it after 30 days. Often we get drawn in by how good of a “deal” something is, without thinking about the end result of that purchase.
8. When exiting your car, take things out that don’t need to be in there – trash, purchases, items from your trip etc. Your car is an extension of your home, so it should be tidy too! Make sure you don’t leave the car with empty arms, even if you have to go back several times to clear it out. Regularly empty it, and you won’t have to apologize to someone about it being messy again!
9. Empty your purse and bags when you get home from shopping. Similar to the car, you want to make sure that your purse and other bags are cleared out when you get home from a trip, or from shopping. Purses can get really heavy with the items collected along the way, whether it be receipts, promotional items, trash, toys/gadgets and more! What’s in your purse?
10. When you receive promotional emails that aren’t useful to you, unsubscribe at that moment! How many unread emails to you have in your inbox, and how many of those are promotional and spam emails? Set aside time and methodically go through your inbox and unsubscribe from unnecessary emails. Then “search” for all emails from that same email, and delete them to clear them out! You don’t need to aim for “inbox zero” if you don’t want, but you want to at least stem the flow of incoming spam.
Liked these tips, but find it hard to know where to get started? I can help you get your home on track, and keep it that way! Get in touch with me to set up a FREE assessment today.
