No.1 Declutter before you even think about organizing
Purge items you haven’t used in years, can’t realistically foresee actually using again, or don’t even like anymore.
If you have to buy stuff to store your stuff, you might have too much stuff.
~ Courtney Carver
Organizing isn’t the end all – be all.
The goal should be to get rid of things you don’t need, use, or like, then organize the items you do need, use, and like in a logical way:
- store like things together
- store things where they are used, or where it makes the most sense to store them.
No.2 Don’t buy things you don’t need.
Being intentional with future purchases, this tip is very important.
Moving forward, don’t buy things just because:
- They are on sale
- They are cheap/inexpensive
- It’s a shiny new object that catches your eye. stores fill their shelves with cute new items seasonally -don’t let this guide your shopping choices. (It’s difficult for you, I know. )
- You think you “may” need the item “someday” – wait until you actually do need the item. I deal with this on a regular basis, it drives me a little crazy.
You don’t want the things you don’t need occupy most space in your home, right?
No.3 Declutter and organize one room at a time
I suggest starting with one of your main living spaces (living room, dining room, kitchen, main floor bathroom), as these are the rooms where we spend the majority of our waking hours.
Or start with a room that’s really driving you crazy.
Just start. Don’t keep putting off decluttering and organizing because it feels overwhelming.
If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it.
~ Olin Miller
Declutter one flat surface, one drawer, one shelf, and one pile at a time. Get rid of the things in that room which you no longer need, use or love.
Once you do that, chances are you’ll have plenty of room in your drawers, baskets, bins and on your shelves for the items you want to organize and store there.
No.4 Declutter baskets, drawers and etc. ,one at a time.
Declutter the room you have chosen to start with one basket, one shelf, one drawer and one pile at a time.
Do a little bit each day. Make it part of your daily routine.
Just like you have to clean your kitchen daily, you should declutter one small area each day in order to get your entire home decluttered. Make a weekly plan and follow it. You will get your home decluttered and organized at the end of week.
It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.
~ Tony Robbins
Don’t burn yourself out and give up altogether by trying to declutter everything at once. Eat the whole cake by pieces.
Your home did not get cluttered overnight, and you can’t get it decluttered overnight.
The idea that we can declutter things all at once and be done with them forever has been popularized by Marie Kondo, but I’d argue that this won’t work for some people. In fact, this likely won’t work for most people.
Getting the clutter in your home under control will take time, consistent decluttering, and learning new habits.
While “getting organized” will certainly make life easier, save your time, and generally make you happier, you don’t want to skip the more important step of decluttering first. All the organizing solutions in the world won’t help if your home is full of stuff you don’t use, need or love.
Decluttering can be hard, but you can make it easier by focusing on one small space at a time and decluttering regularly. Infrequent decluttering will not get your home organized.
Once you’ve decluttered a space, it won’t take much effort to organize what’s left, without spending any money. That’s how you organize your home on a budget!
