Why and How I Finally Got Organized
Organized enough that is!
This is Real Life
My oldest daughter was 8 years old.
She brought home a sign up sheet to play summer softball. She was so excited, jumping up and down with a big smile on her face. All her friends were going to be playing too.
It was fine with my husband and I, so I planned to sign her up.
The form wasn’t due for awhile so I set it aside to do later.
As the weeks ticked by, I began to wonder if I was ever going to get any information about this summer softball. Finally, the last week of school was here and I could wait no longer for the plan from the coach.
I reached out to a friend to find out who the coach was and emailed her.
Mind you, I was not happy that the coach had not let me know what was going on. I thought, how can I plan anything if I don’t know the details! Yeah, I was mad.
The email I received back sent me reeling - remember my 8 year old was so excited about this!
I had never signed her up and it was too late to add her. The uniforms had already been ordered. Practices had already started.
I was still mad because I was certain I had filled out the form and sent it back into school.
I set out to prove this coach wrong.
Only, I couldn’t. I found the sign up sheet in one of about 10 piles of papers. I’d never actually sent it anywhere. I filled it out at some point, but never did anything beyond that.
I’ll never forget the look on my daughter’s face when I told her she couldn’t play.
She was completely devestated. There were tears. So many tears.
If you’ve done something like this, misplaced something important, lost a bill that had to be paid, forgot an important event. It’s one thing to be disappointed in yourself, it’s another thing to disappoint a child simply because of your own disorganization.
While this event isn’t a life changing thing in a childs life because softball at age 8 isn’t usually life changing, it definitely changed things for me.
I never wanted to disappoint her like that again.
So, I set out to do something about it. This situation is why I finally got organized.
Now that you know why I got organized, I want to share with you how I got organized too.
Over the years I researched, studied, tried out so many different things that the experts said to do. But none of them worked for me.
I suspect you may have tried various ways of getting and staying organized too. Only to feel that you’ve fallen short.
If you’ve not tried all the things, let me stop you before you start, because the truth, the real deal, is here… below.
Keep reading!
The Foundational Elements of Home Organizing
I’m going to lay out the 3 foundational elements. These are found in every organized person’s toolbox. These are found in every organizing expert’s toolbox too.
Then I’ll share what makes organized people organized. And it’s probably not what you’re thinking.
Foundational Element 1 - SORT
SORT - this is a simpler way to talk about decluttering. I know decluttering is something we’ve all heard of, talked about, and tried. I call it sorting because that is the physical act you are doing.
You’re picking an item up, making a decision of what you want to do with it and placing it in a pile to be dispositioned when the task of sorting is done.
The sort categories used most often are:
keep
donate
trash
I like to add a couple more:
move to another area in your home
don’t know
Move will prevent you from getting distracted when you go to put the item into it’s new or proper home.
Don’t know will allow you to continue making progress instead of getting stuck and halting the process.
When you’re done sorting, the end result is a cleared and clean space.
Foundational Element 2 - ORGANIZE
ORGANIZE - this is the fun part of the whole process. This is what most people think of when they’re going to get organized.
You’ve sorted through all the things and know exactly what you’re going to store, or put away in that space.
Often we want to get really nice containers or something that makes the space look nice.
There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s too soon in the process. You have to live in it for awhile. Make sure it functions as it needs to.
Focus on the function over the fashion.
When you think about how you use the space and the things in it, then you’re focusing on the function.
Make sure that how you store or set things up in the space, you’ll be able to easily use and put them away. A good test is to think about what you would do in the heat of the moment. Are you going to take the cover off the bin to put the sissors away or are you just going to throw them on top of the desk.
When you’re done organizing, you have everything in setup so that it works for you and your family.
Foundational Element 3 - SUSTAIN
SUSTAIN - this is what most people skip over when getting organized. It’s perfectly normal to feel like once everything is put away that you’re done.
There’s just one more thing that needs to be done though, document what you expect to happen daily and in terms of cleaning, so that the work you’ve done to get organized will be sustained.
This comes in the form of functional expectations.
Again, think about what you do in the heat of the moment, when you’re in a hurry or the day is just crazy.
Is it functional for you to be expected to take a cover off a bin in order to put your shoes away? Maybe, maybe not.
Another document details out work instructions, how you clean the space regularily. This can include portions of the first two foundational elements, SORT and ORGANIZE.
When you’re done with documentation, you’ll have a space that is organized, functional for you and your family and a way to keep it all organized and clean.
What Makes Organized People Organized
It’s these foundational elements implemented in a way that makes sense to them.
In a way that works for them, their family and their current season of life.
Organized people are organized because they’ve figured out what works for them.
They’re not doing the latest organizing trend. They’re not even paying attention to what the experts are saying.
Friends and family that have always been organized have confidence that they’re organized. They don’t stress about it or worry that they aren’t keeping their home organized the right way.
Instead, they’re just doing their thing. Doing what they’ve found works for them.
I’m a Home Organizing Educator. That means I guide you through your home organizing journey. I don’t tell you to throw things away. I provide you with questions to ask of yourself and your family. I provide you with starting points to explore and define.
This isn’t rocket science, but it’s a bit of undoing the thoughts that have been placed in our minds through societal norms and pressures.