Your car is an extension of your home, and many of the same rules apply when it comes to organization. You want to limit clutter, have a home for each item, and (most importantly) you want the space to be functional.
But the car is used for so many different tasks, it can be difficult to figure out what should stay, and what should go. You need different things when you go grocery shopping than you do on your way to the office, but how do you fit everything in at once?
The short answer is: you don’t!
A multi-use space
I recommend that my clients think of their car as a multi-use space, and just like any multi-use area in your home or office, it needs to be kept clean, tidy, and organized to be functional. Think about the different ways you use your car. Do you use it to go on grocery runs? Do you need to take the kids to and from school?
I’ll go into this in more detail next week, but the best way to make your car a multi-use space is to create to-go kits containing items that you need in specific situations. Instead of cramming everything you might need into your car at once, take just what you need with you when you go. And have a home for those kits in your garage or an easy to access closet so you can grab-and-go.
We use our closet every single day (okay, except for pajama days.) It makes sense to make it easy to find the perfect outfit for your day. No mess, no stress. Streamlining your closet tells you a lot about yourself. How you dress tells people who you are. And how your closet is set up is also uniquely you. My closet is extremely practical – because I’m a practical kind of person. So if that’s what you are looking for – read on for closet organizing strategies!
What’s your style?
The first thing you want to consider when thinking about your closet organizing strategies is choosing a style. It may be dictated somewhat by your living arrangement and your budget, but you always have choices and it is up to you to create the closet of your dreams (within budget of course!) So whether you choose to use your built-in, have a stand-alone wardrobe, or do a free standing rack, it’s up to you.
I like a clean look in my room, so I prefer to have my clothes behind a closed door and in drawers.
Declutter Your Closet
A few years ago an organizer friend of mine said that the Pareto rule also applies to closets. The Pareto rule (applied to closets) says that you will use 80% of the items in your closet 20% of the time and 20% of the things in your closet 80% of the time. I started to take a really critical look at the things in my closet. The percentages may not have been 100% accurate, but there were certainly things in my closet that I barely wore or hadn’t worn in a while. Time to declutter!
Find the questions that support you in getting to your desired closet when decluttering. Use the infographic below for some inspiration! What questions can you ask yourself as you go through your closet?
If you’ve put in the effort to organize your life and home, it’s worth knowing how to keep it that way. Knowing how to stay organized keeps the clutter from coming back. Instead of doing a total overhaul of your house once it gets unmanageable, you can use the power of habits to do small bits of work on a routine basis. That’s much less stressful!
Use these techniques to build and maintain habits, and create an organized life!
Non-negotiable Habits
First, you must decide which habits you’d like to incorporate into your life. What daily or weekly tasks are necessary to keep your home organized? These are your non-negotiable habits.
In addition to keeping your home organized, it’s important to take care of you, too! If you’re run down and not feeling your best, it makes it that much harder to take care of anything or anyone else. I’ve come up with 8 non-negotiable habits to build a healthy life.
Get up at the same time each morning to start the day off right.
Practice self care, like meditation and exercise.
Make your bed. It matters!
Eat well, incorporating healthy foods into your diet.
Express love to the people in your life. That helps everyone!
Clear the decks before the end of the day so you’re ready for tomorrow.
Relax into a bedtime ritual, like reading a book or listening to guided meditation.
Sleep at least 7-8 hours a night! Lack of sleep affects all areas of life.
Decluttering is the process of deciding what to do with each and every item you have. It’s a lot of work, but it doesn’t need to be overwhelming! Here are some ideas for how to declutter.
Your Rules
When you’re organizing your house, you’re organizing YOUR house. This means that you make up the rules. You get to decide what goes in it, how much goes in it, and what to let go of. That’s a lot of power! To determine what you want to stay in your home, ask questions like:
I love easy-to-follow systems that let you organize anywhere. No two homes or businesses are the same, and over the years I’ve relied on the I CARE system to help clients get and stay organized. You can use it anywhere–homes, businesses–wherever there is stuff!
Before we start talking about how to organize your home, you first want to understand what you actually want. The building blocks of creating and maintaining an organized home are lifestyle, mindset, and momentum.
Having an organized home isn’t a one-and-done project. I’m sure you’ve seen or heard of TV shows where a crew comes into a messy home, removes everything, sets it up, and leaves. This may seem appealing to you–many people are overwhelmed at the thought of going through their belongings, making a decision about each item, and then maintaining an organized home. Wouldn’t it be easier to have someone just come in and do it for you?
The problem with one-and-done organizing is that it doesn’t help you build new habits. Your home might look nice right then, but if the way someone else organized your things doesn’t suit you, and you don’t know how to keep it organized, the clutter will come right back. It’s a learned skill and one that anyone can learn. And there is nothing wrong with using an organizing service like Organize to Excel to help you with that on a regular basis. An organized home is much easier to keep that way!
