Well it’s January again, so Happy New Year!  We all know what that means.  It’s time to get organized – your house, your life, your everything!  No, I’m just kidding.  Do not overwhelm yourself by thinking that your whole life is in shambles and you have to make a major overhaul.  I would like to recommend taking baby steps.  By making a few small changes this month you will be able to see a difference in your stress level.

Paper Pile Up

First of all, what is bothering you most in your home?  If you are like most of our clients, the biggest complaint is how to keep your horizontal surfaces from piling up with stuff.  Paper from everywhere tends to get set down wherever there is a spot.  I like to use a pretty basket or tray that I put all my papers in. Everything looks better when it is contained.  Obviously you will have to put aside some time each week to purge, file, or act on anything in your basket.  But just having all of your papers in one spot will make a world of difference when you walk into your home each day.  If you would like to read more about paper management, please look through our other blog posts in the “Organizing Paper” category.

Junk Drawer

Another area in the house that causes stress, but can be easily fixed is the “junk drawer”.  I like to call it a utility drawer.  It really doesn’t have junk in it.  Most people have the same types of useful things – pens, batteries, rubber bands, coupons, keys, etc.  You can organize this drawer in less than 20 minutes.  Empty the drawer.  Group like things together.  If you have too many of one item (e.g., 25 pens), purge.  Throw away broken and expired items.  Now you are ready to put the items back, but this time use plastic organizing trays.  This keeps the logical groupings of items together.  Walmart sells small plastic trays for under a dollar.  They are perfect for this. Now when you open up your drawer, you will remain calm.

Coat Closet

Finally, let’s talk about the coat closet.  Usually it is another main source of stress, especially with winter coming.   When you open the closet door, do hats and shoes come tumbling out?  If so, here are a few things you can do.  First of all, the only coats in the closet should be the ones you are currently wearing – same goes for shoes.  Find a new home for your off-season items.  To coral hats and gloves and to make them easy to find, assign each person in the home a basket or bin to store in the closet.  Only what fits in the bin can stay in the closet.

These three suggestions should not take more than an hour or two to complete.  But by doing them, you will have months of satisfaction and less stress.  Who knows?  You might be inspired to organize other areas!