I’ve been seeing Facebook posts of friends taking this time of year to get organized for the new year. One friend even created a year-end challenge for her friends to post pictures in her post comments of what they organized. I thought this was such a cool thing, and she obviously created some motivation for others to join her in organizing around their own home.

The thing I noticed about this was that, in her comments it seemed like everyone posting had fun doing her challenge. Yes, fun! So this inspired me to write about it. Here are some ways I think you might be able to put the “fun” in your organizing project:

Do your organizing project with one or more people

The way I see it, people seem to have fun doing organizing projects when there is someone else with them. As a professional organizer, this is very noticeable because the client did not (or could not) do it on their own. And when I joined them, they enjoyed the process of organizing.

Same goes for friends I’ve helped in organizing their space. They dreaded doing the project until I came along to join them. Somehow the task then became an adventure, and maybe that was just because we were able to hang out and do some productive thing together.

So plan a day with a friend or two or three and tackle your project together. You can even plan to have several friends over and make it an organizing party event. Younger generations would have a blast doing this together, and make the whole project loads of fun.

Talk on phone with a friend or family member while organizing

If you can’t get someone to join you physically during your organizing project, just call someone and put them on speaker while you sort through your stuff. I would, of course, get their agreement in advance to do this together via the phone. And making a phone appointment with them is like scheduling the appointment with yourself to do the task.

I’ve had people call me while they are cooking dinner and describe what they’re cooking, how they’re cooking it and what seasonings are going into it. We end up cooking it together, in a way, because I might suggest tossing something into the recipe they hadn’t thought of before.

Same goes for organizing – tell the person about those slacks you can’t fit into anymore and reminiscence the date you had in it. In the end, we can laugh about how it ended up staying in her closet so long!

Listen to upbeat music while organizing

Crank up your favorite music and let the beat move you to move out the clutter!

I’ve noticed that, when I clean my house, music makes the task much more enjoyable. Without the music, it just feels like a chore. The only down-side is if you feel like dancing and stop the task to do some moves – which actually is NOT so much a down-side at all when you’re having fun!

Just pick up where you left off and let the music move you to the next task.

Eat a delicious healthy snack while organizing

Good food always cheers me up, so make a tasty healthy snack which you can munch on while organizing. As you enjoy the tasteful morsels of food, you just might find it equally enjoyable tossing all the clutter out of your life.

Whatever you do, don’t make a sugar-snack! You will crash and burn out quickly, believe me!

Drink some wine as you’re organizing your stuff

This may not appeal to everyone, but for some people, it just might be the thing to put fun into a project … any project!

The challenge would be to get as much done as you can BEFORE the wine completely takes over your senses. Or maybe, just maybe, it could actually help knock some sense into you and help free you from the boundaries that stuff created for you in the first place. Ya never know. I would have to say all pros on this, no cons.

Take photos of weird stuff you’ve been keeping around

One way to remember those memories of your stuff is to take a picture of it before getting rid of it. Start a digital album online and share all the strange things you’ve hung onto for years.

This way, people can share all that memorabilia you’ve kept around, especially if you provide back-stories with each item. Like, the sweater your mom gave you for your birthday that you never wanted to be caught alive wearing. Or those earrings your friend gifted to you that you thought had to be a re-gifted item handed down for centuries. And so forth and so on.

Now, if you don’t find yourself having fun trying any of these things while organizing, then call me. I’ll bring some wine.

Happy New Year!