How To Stay Organized in 2016

Was one of your New Year’s resolutions to get your home organized? I know that is on my list pretty much every year.  I am better in some areas than others, and made good use of our winter break to purge quite a few rooms. Always feels good to donate to those who need items more than we do.

While I’m pretty decent at getting my home in order (hello, Pinterest tips!), I’ve recruited talented local home organizer, Sidney Young of Need Organizing? . Sidney has been organizing like a pro for over 13 years. She specializes in taking your home from clutter to calm…which sounds good to me. Sidney says that one of the biggest questions she gets is how to stay organized once you get your home in order. Keep reading for Sydney’s fantastic tips to establish organization habits that will stick.

Did you know that 40% of our day‐to‐day actions aren’t based on actual decisions that we make, but on habits we’ve formed? That’s right. Nearly half our actions are solely done out of habit. So, how do we create habits to keep you organized??

These five habit-forming tips will help increase your chances of maintaining your organization:

Take Small Steps.
Keeping it simple is the best way to start. Decide which organizing goal is important to you (not to your kids or your husband) and go from there. If your goal is to keep your home office organized, then start with keeping your desk clear of clutter and spending 10 minutes at the end of the day filing and putting papers away. Always add a time limit when creating a goal, as it gives you an end-in-sight and creates intrinsic motivation to see the end product!

Make It Known.
Getting support from a non-judgmental friend or family member can help when you get off track or need some additional motivation. A goal without making it known to others isn’t really a goal at all.  If you have decided to organize your garage because you would like to fit your car in, tell your husband or family friend that is what you are going to do.  You will have someone to encourage you if you should find that it is the end of February and your car still can’t make it into the garage!

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Research shows that performing the same task for at least 21-30 days can make just about any action a habit. Repetition is key, as creating the habit is not a simple task.  (If it were, wouldn’t we all be thinner and totally organized?)  Decide what organizing habit you want to create and then do it daily until it is an automatic part of your routine.

Get It On Paper.
Write down the habit you want to change/create and be sure to write down the specific plans for achieving that goal.  If you want to keep the clutter off your kitchen counters, perhaps write, “I will not go to bed without spending 5 minutes to put things on counters in their proper place.”  You’ll be amazed at how a written plan makes execution easier, and how nice it is to wake up to uncluttered counters!

Give Yourself A Reward.
A reward can be a motivating factor.  If you want to create a habit around keeping your closet organized to make it easier to get dressed for work, then you are rewarding yourself with extra time in the morning!  A physical reward would be motivating as well…treat yourself to fabric hangers to replace your old plastic ones.

Getting and STAYING organized is all a process, there may also be some tweaking but don’t get discouraged in the initial stages! Anything worth doing takes some time.

If you have questions about making your organizing goals into habits, leave a comment below.

Photo Credit: I Heart Organizing