Simple Effects Blog: Organize Your Personal Life

If you’ve been in the habit of "keeping everything" then it can be hard to know what to let go of and when. Whether you are organizing your clothes, your books, your files or your children’s toys, here’s a simple method for sorting that can help you get started.

Make 3 signs labeled: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.

Now, go through all the items in a single category and assign each item to one of the headings above.

 Let’s say you are organizing your shoes.  Pick up each pair and ask yourself which label fits them.  Are they part of your past (yesterday)? Do you wear them all the time (today)? Or are you saving them for a future occasion either real or imagined (tomorrow)?

You can do this with your children’s things too.  Is this a toy they used to play with (yesterday)? Is it a toy they regularly play with (today)? Is it a toy they think they’d still  like to play with (tomorrow)?

Once you have your 3 piles, return all the items in the "Today" pile to their designated storage space in your home. 

 Now, here’s where it gets tough.  Do you have any space left once all the current items are in place?

How much space will you allot to the past?  Pull from your Yesterday pile those items that will fit in that space and let the rest go.

How much space will you give to the Future?  Do you know for CERTAIN that you will use this item "Tomorrow"?   If you gave it up, would you be able to get it again if and when you need it? Keep what you  have space and need for.  Donate or trash any items from the  future that you’ve decided to let go and make sure you live for today!

"Clutter is like a dog,

if you don’t take it out when it’s time to go,

it will mess your house."

Once you’ve finished your sorting, you’ll have a pile of things you’d "like to read" in your READ box. 

No doubt this will be magazines, newsletters, journals, catalogs and the like.  Now, the question is when are you actually going to read these?

Do a second sort through your read pile and put the "should" reads on top and the "would be nice if I have time" reads on the bottom. 

Now think about when /where you might  read your way through your read pile.  Do you usually read this type of thing in the morning with your cup of coffee? On your daily commute? While waiting for dinner to cook? At the doctor’s office? 

Get into the habit of taking something from your read pile each day. Preview a magazine at the start and focus on the key articles of interest. Once you’ve read as much of a magazine as you want, pass it on to someone else or recycle it.

Once a month, toss the bottom half of the read pile.  If you haven’t gotten to it by then, you probably never will since you’ll be adding to your read pile weekly if not daily. 

There’s SO MUCH information out there and just like you can’t read ALL the books in the world, you can’t read all the magazines and periodicals and news updates etc. that will make their way into your READ box.

Read what you can and let the rest go. If this is hard for you to do, limit the amount of "reading required" mail you receive.  Ask to be taken off catalog mailing lists, reduce your magazine subscriptions, or cancel your newspaper subscription.  

Make sure you have some time to live life, not just read about it!

Much of the clutter in our homes is nothing more than post-poned decisions.

You replace your child’s bedding to match the new décor but aren’t sure what to do with the old comforter. You stick it in the linen closet telling yourself, “Maybe we’ll use that when we go camping next summer.” Will you use it or won’t you?

Decide now.

You stopped playing baseball three years ago but you just stuck the baseball equipment in the closet because you couldn’t decide what to do with it. That’s 3 years it hasn’t been used. Decide now to pass it on to someone who could use it.

You just finished a course and you are wondering what to do with all your notes? Decide now what, if any, of this information you will really refer to again in note form. Keep the best and trash the rest.

Living decisively is a great way to keep your home clutter free. 

There comes a time when you have to accept that some dreams will never become your reality.

Will you really finish that craft you started 10 years ago?

Are you honestly going to take up the recorder again?

When exactly are you going to polish the silver tea service?

Do you really wear all those shoes?

Are you going to read those romance novels again?

Will you honestly use that orange-glow nail polish?

Are you ever going to wear that Mexican Sombrero?

Whenever you come across something you are not currently using, ask yourself if you will honestly reuse it some day.

If the answer is no let it go.

Let it be a part of someone else’s present reality.

 As tax season approaches, the lack of a good system for collecting/filing your paperwork may have you worried about being able to find all the documents you need to complete your tax return. 

If you haven’t kept your tax papers in one designated place over the past year, then you may be feeling overwhelmed by the task as well.

The way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.  So let’s start with a single bite.  Get a box or file folder and mark it  "TAX INFO 2009"

Today you’ll locate your receipts for any donations you’ve made to charities over the past year. Once you’ve collected them all, place them in your "Tax Info 2009"  folder or box.    If you are missing any, contact the charity and request a duplicate receipt. When it arrives, place it immediately in your "Tax Info 2009"  folder or box.

If you can’t remember what you’ve given to charity over the past year, you can review your check record book or cancelled checks. You may also need to look at your credit card statements if you donate on-line using your credit card.

The IRS does not usually require you to include your receipts with your return, but you do need to find them all to get a correct total of your charitable donations and also you must keep them on file in case of an audit or other procedure.

Here are some steps to restore balance to your bathroom medicine cabinet:

Set aside about  1/2 hour to an1 hour for this task.

1. Remove all medications/ointments that have expired or which you no longer need. Organize remaining products as you’d find them categorized in the drug store ie pain medications,  cough/cold remedies, first aid, prescription medications etc.    Make note of any products you need to replenish.

2. Keep only the hair products that you currently use on a regular basis   In addition to shampoo, conditioner, gels and sprays, this includes all hair accessories, combs and brushes and hairstyling appliances (we’ve all been lured into buying new and different products with each new hairstyle. Let the past go and keep only those that support your current hair style).

3. Toss any make-up products or other grooming products that you do not currently use. Try to simplify your make-up routine so that it takes just a few minutes a day. If you purchase a “new” product, toss the old one.

4.  If multiple people use this cabinet, label the location of items so everyone knows where to find/put them away again.

Taking a few minutes now to put your cabinet in order will save you valuable time later.

"The way we live our days

is the way we live our lives."

– Annie Dillard.

Sometimes  when they start organizing, people have trouble deciding what to keep and what they should let go of.  There are lots of rules you can use to help you decide like:

If you haven’t used it in the last 6 months and you don’t plan on using it in the next 6 months then you don’t really need it; or if it isn’t useful or beautiful then don’t keep it in your home;  or if it’s broken it goes in the trash; or if it doesn’t fit, pass it on, etc.

My friend Deb over at Woman’s Day Happiness Project Blog has another way to approach it.  She and her husband are preparing for a virtual move  so, they are organizing their home with the premise if they wouldn’t move it, then they’ll lose it. 

What rule do you apply that helps you decide whether to keep or let go of the items in your home?

January is typically the "White Sale" month when bedding, towels and linens are on sale everywhere you go.  Which makes it a perfect month to re-organize your linen closet.

It’s also the perfect month to declutter by donating your unused bedding and linens.

If you live in Massachusetts, HomeGoods is  conducting their annual blanket drive to benefit the homeless. You can drop off your gently used          blankets, bedding and towels at any HomeGoods store in MA from January 10 -24th 2010.

(photo from Martha Stewart Living)

Even if you don’t have a proper linen cupboard and you don’t live in Massachusetts this isstill  a good time to go through all your towels, bedding, linens and remove those items that you no longer use. Gently used items can be donated to local homeless shelters or thrift stores and damaged bedding and towels (those faded or torn or stained) are still welcomed by animal shelters. 

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