One of the first things I hear from people about their homes is, “I don’t know how this mess happened!” or “I just don’t have time to keep my house organized!”

Organization is the act of putting things back in their proper places.  (Finding—or creating—those proper places is a topic for another day.) It doesn’t have to be a major ordeal & doesn’t have to take a lot of time.  It is actually the choice you make to finish each task.

You can choose to put your coffee cup in the dishwasher after your morning coffee or leave it in the sink to nag at you all day, hoping someone will come along and tidy behind you.  I have yet to see the latter work for anyone but the Queen of England.  So, since we don’t have a full staff of helpers and keeping the hairdryer out on the sink because you will use it again in the morning really isn’t the best choice, what can we do?

Consider these possibilities:

Bad Habit #1:  Shoving groceries into the fridge & pantry after shopping, thinking you will sort it out later.  Right!

20 Minute Fix:  Eliminate excess packaging, combine what you can & bring the old to the front & put the new in the back.

Bad Habit #2:  Leaving the laundry in the dryer.  It guarantees wrinkles!

20 Minute Fix:  Fold it while it’s still warm so it won’t wrinkle & put it away so kids and pets can’t romp on it.

1. **If there isn’t room to put away laundry or groceries or the space is just too messy to deal with, you might need a helper to get you over the mountain. Professional Organizers are efficient at this and take a vow of silence with each and every client.

When you finish playing the Wii by putting the controls & game away, you take back that living room space to use in another way.  You own that space to use how you want.  It eliminates visual clutter.  Nothing to trip over or move in order to read a book, watch TV or visit with family.

Organization or the act of being organized is simply choosing to own your space & things and not the other way around.

When starting any new habit, it might seem a little tedious or like drudgery.  Kind of like when you first learned that candy wasn’t the best choice to eat everyday for lots of reasons.  But then you discovered the benefits of keeping your weight down & being healthy.  You didn’t eliminate candy but curtailed the amount.  It’s the same with being organized. And these new habits (of organization) can be formed simply by completing each task.

You will have days when you have your “candy” or tasks aren’t completely accomplished.  But most days will be “candy” free.

Benefit  Your choice to finish each task will slowly eliminate clutter in your space, creating a home you actually enjoy.