145 - Getting Organized Step 2: Organizing

<p>FINALLY!</p> <div> <p>Don't you just want to jump right to the step where you get to go buy cute matching containers when you are organizing a space? ME TOO!</p> <p>BUT every time I do that... it influences what I keep and how I store things instead of my THINGS influencing those decisions. (In the podcast I share how I figured that out as a professional organizer.)</p> <p><strong>First let's talk about what being organized means.</strong> For me it means:</p> <ul> <li>Everything has a place.</li> <li>I know where to find things.</li> <li>I do not spend time LOOKING for things. </li> <li>I FEEL organized and put together.</li> <li>I can have friends over and feel great.</li> <li>My house looks good - not perfect - but good.</li> <li>I feel confident in my abilities.</li> <li>I don't have too little or too much.</li> <li>I have choices of how to spend my time.</li> <li>I am able to make forward progress on my goals and projects.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Before I dive into the 5 steps to organizing I want to give you one caution...</strong></p> <p>You will not get it 100% right the first time. </p> <p>Yep, no matter what you are organizing, your goal is to get 80-90% better. The last 10% comes in step 3. Which I will cover next week.</p> <p>Ok, so you know how you will feel and are not going for perfection, let's dive in!</p> <p><strong>5 Steps to Organizing</strong></p> <ol> <li>Get a big picture plan for the space.</li> <li>Combine like items.</li> <li>Match your items to the space.</li> <li>Buy organizers.</li> <li>Clean and finish.</li> </ol> <p><strong>Organizing feels amazing! </strong>But after a while... you realize something is missing. The last 10% is<strong> </strong>Step 3 of organizing. Most people never get there and I just realized what it was last month... Step 3 Increased Productivity.</p> <p>Listen to the podcast to hear about how I declutter the master closet, kitchen, schedules and daily actionable papers. And 2 times when I focus on decluttering the WHOLE house before I start any organizing.</p