Happy New Year! Once again, it’s time to get moving on those New Year’s resolutions. Strap on those tennis shoes, start that diet, learn a new skill…Let’s get a better grip on life, get a start on our goals, and seize the day! Even though most people’s resolutions don’t make it through the first month of the year, this year is going to be different for you. This is the year that you will get organized and take life by the horns!
You may not know it, but a major part of reaching your goals is through organization. Write down your goals and your plan for achieving them as well as the date by which you hope to accomplish everything. By putting some time into organizing your goals and making a plan of attack you are much more likely to achieve them.
As long as you are getting your goals organized, what better goal can you think of than to organize the space around you? With an organized space, you will be more relaxed and ready to conquer your other goals. So let’s go over some simple organizational ideas that you can use to get your house in order. Just implementing a couple of these easy tips will pay big dividends this year!
Make a Plan
The first step when making goals is to write them down. It’s been said that a goal that isn’t written down is just a dream. Just writing down your goal will help, but you are even more likely to be successful if you plan out how and when you will achieve it. The same thing applies to organizations. Without a plan, you will have a tough time taking care of the clutter. So, get out a notebook and pen and start planning. Begin by dividing up the rooms/areas that need to be organized. Plan out the most visible or messiest places first and continue until you get to the areas that need the least work. Continue by dividing up each room into different areas, beginning once again with the messiest first. By dividing everything up into manageable chunks you will be much more likely to accomplish your goal. Make sure you plan out the steps involved in cleaning and organizing each space and decide on when exactly you will accomplish each task.
Out with the Old
Look over and take inventory of what items are causing the clutter. Are there some things that you could get rid of or store elsewhere? A storage unit is the perfect place to store anything that you want to keep, but don’t have room for in your home.
Double Duty
Look for storage solutions that work for each room. Decorative boxes, bins, and wicker containers are all excellent storage solutions. Also, look for furniture that does double duty by offering extra storage space. A coffee table with drawers or a trunk looks great and can also provide places to store your belongings.
Maximize Vertical Space
Make sure to maximize vertical space by using shelves, hooks, bookcases, tall dressers, and other such items. This is especially important if you have a smaller space to begin with.
Make a Drop Station to Control Pileups
You should have an easily accessible place to drop off items that quickly pile up and clutter your house such as mail, car keys, sunglasses, and cell phones. This will help avoid piles that grow on your counter, desk, or coffee table. There are a wide variety of things that can be used to control this type of clutter. Baskets, shelves, key hooks, and message center cabinets all work very well.
Consistency
No matter how good your organizational plan is, if you don’t commit to it and consistently work on it, you will never accomplish your goal. Some people suggest that you can be more consistent by scheduling a mere 5 minutes a day for your organizational goal. Since the hardest part is getting started each day, if you plan on just 5 minutes a day, you are sure to spend more time on it once you get started. Any forward progress is good.
Well, hopefully, you can take away something from this article that will help you to get organized this year. Good luck with all of your New Year’s resolutions, never give up on your goals, and have a very happy New Year from all of us at Price Self Storage!
