Organize + Energize: 7 Ways to Make Life Less Chaotic
Kristin MacRae, GoLocalProv Organizing Expert
Organize + Energize: 7 Ways to Make Life Less Chaotic
Life is stressful enough and if we can control some of that stress, wouldn’t that be great? Here are 7 ways you can make life a little less chaotic:
A place for everything. Every item you own should have a designated spot in your home. Having a home for everything will help you save money because you won’t be purchasing duplicate items. You’ll have more free time because you won’t waste time searching for misplaced items. You’ll be less stressed because when you need something, you’ll be able to find it immediately. Having a designated spot for everything allows you to free your mind and focus on the important things that need your attention.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTRoutines. Do you have scheduled routines for laundry, house cleaning, taking the trash out or cleaning dishes? You should be on auto-pilot with household chores that occur on a daily and weekly basis. Map out all of the household chores you tackle on a daily and weekly basis. Think about giving each a designated time during the week. Use a grid to keep you on track until you get into the routine of the schedule.
Plan and prepare. If you’ve ever planned and prepared food for the week, or planned your outfits for the work week, you know that planning and preparing will relieve stress. When it’s a free for fall and you wing it during the week, chaos usually ensues. If you can plan and prepare to relieve stress, it may be time to change your ways.
Clear the mental clutter. Sometimes we worry about things that don’t really matter or we try to remember everything we have to do and end up forgetting to do half of them. We need to clear the mental clutter to release the stress. This is where to-do lists and calendars come into play. Get everything out of your mind and start using to-do lists and calendars. People laugh at me because I still use a paper calendar and paper to-do lists. I don’t care, because I’m organized and efficient and these tools keep me on track. Don’t let anybody deter you from the method you use. If it works for you, continue to use it. Clear the mental clutter and watch what happens.
Downsize. When we are surrounded by clutter and disorganization, it becomes very stressful and overwhelming. Imagine living with just what you need and a little extra. Imagine how much less stressful your life would be just by simplifying the way you live. Think quality over quantity.
Don’t make things complicated. When people talk about how busy they are, I always ask myself, but I wonder how productive they are? How are your time management skills? If you are always talking about how busy you are and not much seems to be getting done, it may be time to re-evaluate how you are functioning on a day-to-day basis and develop your time management skills. Don’t make tasks more complicated than they need to be.
Let your kids help. If you have kids, get them involved. You’ll cause yourself more stress by trying to do everything for them. One day your kids will wake up when they are 18 and you’ll find you are still doing everything for them. Give them a little independence with household chores, preparing snacks and meals, cooking, organizing and other essential household tasks.
We will all have stressful situations that occur in our life and we all have daily fires that we put out. When an organized person comes across a fire, they put it out and go back to their routine with little stress. When a disorganized person handles a fire, it takes a little longer for them to recover because it will take them longer to look for things and cut through the mental clutter to think about how to find what they need, leaving them stressed and exhausted.
Start small and practice one of these tips above. Once you’ve mastered one, you’ll be motivated to continue on and you’ll begin to enjoy a life less chaotic.
10 Minute Organizing Projects
Spices
As you take all of the spices out of the cabinet, check for expiration dates and smell for potency. Categorize and itemize your spices to how you utilize them. Contain them in a spice rack that fits the space where they are kept. Don’t purchase a spice rack until you are finished organizing. You want to measure the space and make sure the rack fits and holds all of your spices. There are a variety of spice racks out there. Choose the one that best suits what you need it to hold.
Makeup
How many items do you touch in the morning to find what you need? You want to be as efficient as possible in the morning and having your makeup organized will be a big time saver. Do you have difficulty deciding what to keep or toss? When is it time to throw away makeup? Aline Sarkis, a Providence, RI-based makeup artist, states lipstick can be used for 2 years or until it starts to smell like a crayon. Mascara is good for 2-3 months. Eye shadow is good for 2 years and foundation is good for 1-2 years. Aline also states that some makeup and skincare will be marked with an expiration date of 6-12 months. Begin counting once you start using the product
Women: Purse
Depending on the size of your purse, and what you keep in your purse, this may take you a little longer than 10 minutes. Empty the entire contents of the purse on a table. Declutter, categorize, and itemize the contents. Break this process down and take it one category at a time. Develop a system going forward so the inside of your purse doesn’t look like a cyclone hit it. Contain receipts, gift cards, money, and makeup.
Men: Wallet
It’s time to empty all of the receipts out of your wallet. Do you also store receipts and random items in your car? While you are tackling this project, head over to your vehicle and declutter the center console and glove compartment.
Underwear drawer
If you aren’t using drawer organizers, you should start now. They are very inexpensive and will maximize the space in the drawer. How many of you wear the same item over and over again? With drawer organizers in place, you will be able to see everything you own and can categorize and itemize. Nothing will ever get pushed to the bottom of the drawer again.
Under the bathroom sink
If you haven’t taken everything out of this area in awhile, you may find some scary items under the sink. Empty the contents, itemize, and categorize. Throw away anything that you can’t recognize. Contain items in containers that fit the space like a puzzle. Once again, utilizing containers will maximize the space and allow you to store more items. Develop a simple system where you can locate items and locate them quickly.
Pets
Ninety percent of my clients have a pet. It’s time to organize their belongings. Medicine, leashes, bandanas, clothes, dishes, food, etc. Take this time to also organize any paper work related to your pet. Set up a filing system for your pet. Keep their medical records, rabies and vaccination information categorized in these files.
Junk drawer
Nobody says you can’t have a junk drawer. Junk drawers can be organized. You just have to think about if you need everything in this drawer and if there is a better place to store the items. Remember, store like items together. If you have tools in the junk drawer, maybe you should keep them with the tools in the basement.
Office supply drawer
So many people have office supply drawers that are out of control. Money is wasted on purchasing duplicate office supplies. It’s very difficult to figure out what you need to purchase if items are scattered all over the office and are disorganized.
Top of your office desk
If you can’t see the top of your desk, take this time to focus on this area and categorize and itemize what is there. Do you have a working filing system in place? If so, once your desk is cleared, make a habit of filing once a day or a couple of times a week. If your system isn’t working for you, it may be time for you to re-evaluate your system and make it work for the way you function.
