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An organized home and life aren’t easy to achieve for most of us. It’s a constant battle. It takes practice, commitment, and successful strategies. If you are looking for home organization tips to make your life easier, you are in the right spot.
It doesn’t matter if you live alone, with roommates, a significant other, or an entire family. You can be successful with these home organization tips if you are consistent with them. Let’s look at simple things you can do to feel successful in this area of your life.
Home organization tips
1-Be intentional with your time
There are only so many hours each week. We are all busy!
You must know what you want and need to do to see organizational success. Write it down. Every time you think of something that needs to be done, add it to your list. I highly recommend having a planner. Also, to ensure max usefulness, carry it with you at all times.
I use the Commit30 weekly planner, and I swear by it. I’ve used it for many years but have gotten much better with adding everything to it.
Once you have a good visual of everything you hope to accomplish, you will be able to see where you might have time this week to accomplish everything.
Pro tip: When possible, combine tasks that could be performed at the same time. For example, if you are going to the gym (which is next to the pharmacy), consider picking up that prescription at the same time. You’ll save on the time to drive there and back later this week.
2- Have a place for everything
I’m sure you’ve heard that one before. However, did you implement it?
If you said no, you are not alone. That’s because often, we realize we don’t have the space for everything. Once that occurs, we tend to get nervous or overwhelmed and often abandon the activity.
Pushing through might be difficult, but critical if you want to achieve an organized home.
Once you finally have a permanent place for all your things, it’s equally important that everyone in the house adopts the new location. Explain why this is important and make it simple for them to get on board.
Pro tip: Make sure children can reach the location where things go if they are expected to put those things away. It is also useful to give everyone a place to lay random stuff rather than letting them dispose of stuff all through the house.
3- Use baskets and trays
I love baskets or trays in dedicated areas for things that would otherwise be scattered throughout the home.
We usually have a tray or decorative plate on the counter for random objects such as sunglasses, phones, AirPods, or loose change.
It’s not realistic to completely eliminate clutter. However, if it sits on a pretty tray, it automatically appears to be there more intentionally.
We’ve also used baskets over the years for things that need to go elsewhere in the house. Everyone can have their own basket and be responsible for emptying it at the end of the day.
4- Implement plus one – minus one strategy
Many people try to follow this rule and fail because it is hard.
However, unless you have a lot of empty spaces in your home, bringing a new item home likely means a new item that won’t have a dedicated spot.
Consider making room by donating or throwing away something you no longer need. If this is particularly difficult for you, you may even end up saving money by simply buying less!
This strategy is extremely important if you are serious about adopting lasting home organization tips.
5- Pick up as you go
This seems obvious, but how many times do you put something down where it doesn’t belong?
For example, how many times do you put your empty coffee mug on the counter rather than in the dishwasher?
In reality, it might only take ten seconds longer (if that) to open the dishwasher to properly dispose of it.
Take the time to do it now. Ten seconds now is nothing, but 20 minutes of picking up everything at the end of a long day is a lot more daunting.
6- Adopt mini-organization routines
This is one of the practices I find so satisfying. Implement short routines or habits to help stay on top of your home organization.
Here are a few examples of what mini-organization routines are:
- Check your planner each morning to see what is on today’s to-do. Add any items that might be missing and strategize on the when of all of this.
- Go through all left-over unopened mail on Sunday morning. Either, file, shred, or recycle every piece of paper received during the week.
- Throw away expired food in the fridge while doing your weekly meal plan on Saturday. You’ll be amazed at how clean and organized your refrigerator can stay by tending to it often.
- Throw a load of laundry in every day when you get home from work, switch it to the dryer after dinner, and fold it before bed.
Mini-organization routines are countless. Look at the big challenges you face and think about how a short burst of effort towards it could make your life easier.
In conclusion
An organized life and home take work. However, implementing simple strategies can completely change the game. I hope these home organization tips are inspiring you to take control and implement some of them to make your life easier.
Thanks as always for reading.
Cat xx
