Clear Out and Clean Up

Getting organized is the first step to effective spring cleaning.

Spring Cleaning. Just the thought produces groans from even the neatniks among us. It doesn’t have to be such a huge task. By organizing yourself and your home from the start, keeping clutter at bay is simplified, says professional organizer Jean Marie Herron, owner of POSSE Partners.

The company’s name stands for Professional Organizing Solutions Serving Everyone—and that says it all. Herron makes a living cleaning up others’ clutter and organizing their lives. Here, she shares her secrets to achieving clutter-free nirvana, including a few of her favorite organizational products.

Write it Down: Start and end your day with your planner. “When you put your thoughts into writing, it helps your brain get more organized,” Herron says. “It’s extended memory,” She advises purchasing a planner—preferably a book— and using it as a planning tool, not merely a calendar. No more sticky notes all over.
Give your planner a home and consult it daily. “It you think it, ink it!” Herron says. This includes master lists for everything. Whether it’s a chore chart, vacation checklist, holiday greeting cards, or food shopping—“no one can remember everything they want to accomplish,” she says, “so write it down.”

Under Two, Please Do. Don’t procrastinate. If something will take you less than two minutes, she says, then do it immediately.

Start Small. Organizing is a skill that takes time and commitment. Begin with a drawer, not a three-bedroom house. Give yourself twenty minutes a day, and work up from there.

Decide to Decide. Often, clutter can be traced to “postponed decisions,” says Herron. For example, she says, “a lamp breaks and instead of making a decision to fix it or throw it out, you put it in the garage to deal with it later. But later never comes.” You have now procrastinated instead of deciding to decide on what to do with that item.

Everything Needs a Home. Have a home for everything in your home, otherwise it’s homeless and becomes clutter. By delegating a specific space—car keys in the bowl by the front door, school papers in a standing file, scissors in the top kitchen drawer—people know where to find it when they need it and where to put it when they’re done using it.

One In, One Out. Every time you bring something new into the house trade it for one item that’s already there. For example, says Herron, “After purchasing a new pair of pants donate an old pair.” When you add to your possessions, you need to take away so the space remains the same. Same goes for groceries, she adds. First In, First Out refers to food. “The newest onions go to the back, the older ones come to the front,” she says, so you’re not wasting food, or piling new on top of old.

Repurpose. It saves time, money and energy while helping the environment. Rather than throw out your college-bound son’s t-shirts, have them sewn into a quilt; re-set the jewelry you inherited into something you’ll actually wear. Take something that’s not functioning for you and turn in into something else.

Don’t Commingle. One of the first basic skills of organizing is to “sort like with like,” says Herron. If your dresser drawer has pants, underwear, and socks, along with a watch, a travel alarm, and collar stays, you’ve co-mingled. If your kitchen drawer has a lollipop, flashlight, roll of tape, measuring spoons, and a couple of paring knives, you’ve co-mingled. “One category, one home,” she suggests.

Know your Goals. Confirm exactly what your “keep” pile is before you buy storage products. Sort, select, and purge your space before you invest in new products. This way you’ll see visually how much accumulation you have of an item or category before you buy something to house it.

Avoid Interruption Disruption. “Do not let anyone, any beep, any ring tone, any doorbell disturb you from completing a task,” Herron says. Designate appointments with yourself, write them on your calendar, and when that time arrives, do it.

Make it Routine. Turn all your regular chores or tasks into habitual time slots. You should not only have a “home” for the things own but you should absolutely have a time slot for the things you do.

Stop Shopping. What more needs to be said?

Hire a Pro. Most people who lead busy lives hire all kinds of service providers, including landscapers, cleaning people, financial planners, and contractors, says Herron. Hiring an organizing consultant is a small price to pay for the increased productivity and decreased aggravation once all the new systems are in place.

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