Top 5 Maintenance Tips
Everything requires maintenance, everything. It’s just a natural part of life. Not everyone wants to maintain regularly, but it needs to be. Think about it. You don’t brush your teeth once and never have to do it again.
When you get your hair cut, you usually require another in 6 weeks. Washing your clothing and linens feels so good when it’s completed and put away. But clothing and linens will have to be laundered over and over again after that. Organizing is no different. Once you’ve spent the time sorting through your belongings, determining what to keep, and then organizing everything into a better functioning system, you guessed it-it would have to be maintained. How often is up to you; however, I recommend at least four times a year. Here are my top 5 tips for maintaining an organized home.
tip one
focus on one area at a time
Taking on too much will just become too distracting. Avoid jumping from one place to the next as it will make the task more challenging.
Start on an area that needs it the most. Has the front coat closet become overrun with coats, shoes, toys, and reusable shopping bags? Take everything out and start to sort it into categories. Perhaps the seasons have changed, and you can store your heavy winter coats in the basement? Determine what items can move from the area you are working. Have an empty box available to begin placing unwanted items in for donation.
tip two
notice what items have collected in the area and question why they are there
Why are phone chargers in the sock drawer? Or why is last month’s mail still piled up on the counter? Life gets busy and messy, and it’s okay!
Please take a few minutes and remove things that don’t have a natural home where you found them. More times than not, miscellaneous items get stuffed into places when you are quickly cleaning up. Then, these items are left there. Don’t let the clutter remain where it is just because there was an easy place to plop it. Remove misplaced items and move to Step 3.
tip three
sort through everything and put displaced items back where they belong
If it’s obvious where the things usually go, you can return them to their proper homes. But if they don’t have a home, then why?
Perhaps the holidays bring in more presents than the toy bin can hold, and now toys are everywhere but where they should be. Or there was a massive sale at the shoe store, and you couldn’t resist! Either way, in order to make room, inevitably, some of the old pieces have to move on. Sort through everything and organize things back into place. Remove all donatable items and place them into the box.
tip four
create a home
Avoid “stuffing” things in places, as this contributes to clutter. If you just bought a new electronic device that comes with many accouterments, then create a new bin, label it and place it on a shelf for later use.
Shy away from cramming all the pieces in a draw, never to be recognized again. Determine what works for you and your family and stick to the system, but have a strategy. The extra time spent creating a home for the treasures you want to keep will benefit everyone.
tip five
gather unwanted items and discard or donate
Be sure to review what items can be recycled or donated. Visit CharityNavigator.org to find charity organizations in your area.
Be sure to take donations directly to your car and out of the house when you are finished. Otherwise, they will linger in your home, which defeats the purpose of your maintenance project. The charity organizations, and your closets, will thank you!
