Tag: get organized

Spring Organizing To Make Your House Bloom

Cyndi Seidler on Spring organizing

Just like Spring cleaning, Spring organizing can be a seasonal plan to get in there and organize or reorganize areas of your home that you haven’t got around to doing for some time.

And like clearing out the cobwebs, getting into spaces that haven’t had your attention for awhile may need some some, yes …. attention.

This would be the time to open up those drawers that you haven’t opened in ages because gawd-knows-what is stored in there that you hardly ever need or use. Buffet cabinets with drawers, for example, are commonly forgotten places where you’ve kept stuff that you forgot you had.

Linen closet spaces are another area that gets neglected over time, accumulating more and more stuff, especially if you’ve bought new bed sheets and kept all the old, unused sheets in there as well.

Kitchen cabinets are one more thing that accumulates more stuff over time. You might have more glassware than you need, extra sets of dishware and mixing bowls, and maybe even several more pots and pans than you need. And let’s not forget the kitchen drawers that are a little fuller than last year.

Oh, did I not mention clothes closets? There, I just did.

There are probably numerous other places in our home that need attention after a time. And when we can allocate our time every now and then to these areas, we can keep our home in better order.

After all the Spring cleaning and organizing, you might want to spiff things up a little more. Bring in some fresh cut flowers, do a bit of decorating, add a touch more of your personality around the place.

With the nice Spring weather making us feel good and boosting our mood, it feels like the right time to get us doing what we can to do things that make us feel even better.

I think I’ll go outside and get my mood into the right head-space to tackle the world!

The Big Get Organized Plot

Cyndi Seidler Professional Organizer

Every story has a plot – a design or setup to an outcome. If there is no plot, the story doesn’t go in a direction to an end.

So let’s say that we want to create our story of getting organized, and we have a plan: “to get organized.” We would need to develop an outline, of sorts, to layout the plan and know our course of action.

Once we have the basic game plan to get organized, we can make projections of the time frame this story plays out. It might be a day, a week, maybe even a month as to when our story begins to when it ends.

But time isn’t what’s really important in the plot, although we don’t want the story to go on endlessly. It’s more about the tactical steps we take in this undertaking.

As we start out, the plot begins to unfold. Now we can see things more clearly, and the “characters” in the plot (the items of clutter) take on new meanings. Usually, they end up having no meaning at all!.

The thing to watch out for in the story is that there is a climax – a point where things reach a maximum pinnacle or utmost turning point.

With clutter, it’s typically the mess we make while going through the process of getting organized. Yet, another circumstance might be that you don’t have a place to put all that clutter you’ve gathered up.

Tensions rise. What do we do with the stuff?!

Well, we find a place for the stuff, or we get rid of the stuff. That’s the resolution to the end of the story.

Then, our story has a happily ever after!

The “When Is It Time To Get Organized?” Test

You’ve probably wondered, “When should I get organized?” and never really came up with an adequate answer for yourself. So, I thought I’d help you determine the best time to start doing some organizing.

The true test in judging the correct time to tackle this kind of activity lies in how you score in any of the answers below. If you score at least one out of the 10 issues listed here, then it’s safe to say the time is now.

1. When you no longer have a sofa or chair to sit on.

sofa-clutter

It’s no fun coming into a room to relax, read a book or watch TV when you find there’s no place to sit that isn’t filled with your stuff on it. Sure, you can shove off some stuff to make room for yourself, but it can become tiresome after the repeated routine of 1) tossing stuff on chair, 2) shoving stuff on floor so you can sit on chair 3) vacating the chair and starting over with #1.

2. When you just purchased several items of food that you already had.

food-clutter

It’s easy to think you’re out of something when a lot of your food is hidden behind the cluttered mess of food in front of it. Out of sight, out of mind when it comes to cooking up that recipe you decided to make.

3. When you no longer have space in your kitchen to cook.

counter-clutter

Stuff can take over counter-top space just as easily as stuff takes over other places. It’s like a disease that spreads throughout the counter space and soon the whole area is infected with stuff that belongs in cabinets (or trash can .. or even other parts of your house).

4. When you can’t see your desktop anymore.

desk-clutter

This is a sign that your paper clutter has gone too far. It’s taken over your desk space and left you with nothing but piles of paper on it. That nice desk surface is totally meaningless, and the money you spent on a desk to work at is now just a desk for your paper to sit at.

5. When you have misplaced your keys for the hundredth time.

keys

Even if it’s the 20th time, you’re getting close enough to warrant some time spent to re-think your actions from the time you arrive home to when you start unloading or dropping off stuff.

6. When you start sleeping on the sofa to avoid the mess on your bed.

bed-clutter

The main problem with this is that, once the sofa has accumulated stuff, you’ll no longer have a place to sit or sleep. So, if this becomes a problem, it is definitely time to get organized because we all need to sleep sometime.

7. When you can’t find anything to wear even though your closet is full of clothes.

closet-clutter

This is a dilemma that a lot of women face, more so than men. But an over-stuffed clothes closet can have disastrous effects on a woman’s ability to dress fashionably. And, when she can’t find that outfit she just bought, it’s even more of a crisis.

8. When you’ve run out of your designated space to put more stuff.

cabinet-mess

Linen closets are known to accumulate more towels and bed linens. But kitchen cabinets are notorious for presenting you with this issue because new things are continually purchased for the kitchen, even if we don’t need it or already have it.

9. When your storage areas can no longer store anything else.

storage closet mess

Big problem here. You have stuff to put away somewhere and there doesn’t appear to be anymore places to put it, especially since the places we normally shove things in is now completely full.

10. When you have come to the conclusion that you fed up with too much stuff.

Enough said.

P.S. It may also be time to call a professional. (a professional organizer, that is).

 

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