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!
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The whole point of saving paperwork (as actual paper or digitally) is to be able to refer to it later!. You need to be able to find it, or it’s just clutter! Here are some ways to make retrieving paperwork easy, navigable, and actually useful.
Having nomenclature or “naming rules” for your paperwork helps you find things again when you need them. Use categories to simplify your files–but not too much! A file folder labeled “Home Expenses” packed with dozens and dozens of pieces of paperwork in it isn’t very useful.
For paper systems: Create a hierarchy of categories and subcategories using hanging folders and interior folders. You could still use a “Home Expenses” folder! It just needs to be divided into subfolders like “Repairs,” “Mortgage Documents,” and “Yard Maintenance.”
A good rule of thumb for folders is limiting the amount of paperwork to 5-20 individual documents in each folder. Any folder with fewer than 5 documents doesn’t need to be its own category. Any folder with more than 20 documents should be divided into subcategories. The 5-20 rule makes for easy retrieval, since you don’t have to sift through piles of paperwork to find what you need.
For digital systems: The folder/subfolder system works just like paperwork, but you can use fewer levels of folders with digital filing because they are searchable through keywords. With that in mind, naming your files in a consistent, searchable way becomes very important!
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Any large project looks easier when broken into smaller pieces, and decluttering is no exception! Here are three easy ways to break down the decluttering process so you can start with confidence.
Categories: Narrowing your focus to certain types of objects is a great way to break through the where-do-I-start anxiety. Whether you’re working solo, with family, or alongside an organizer like me, you can choose a category of item to go through to get used to the decluttering process.
You can choose to focus on one room in your home, or go by item type. When you collect one type of item and bring it all together, you can see at a glance how much you have. I’ve seen it over and over: you had no idea you had seven hairbrushes until you got the ones from the downstairs bathroom, upstairs bathroom, kids’ rooms, and the vanity all together! It’s easier to let go of extra things when you know they’re really extra.
Many people feel overwhelmed when they think about letting go of items to declutter their home, but I’m here to tell you that you have more power than you think! Actually, you have all of the power! After all, this is YOUR home you’re decluttering. That means you make the rules. You get to decide:
what goes in it,
how much goes in it, AND
what to let go of!
Imagine your ideal home. What’s it like? Is it cozy, filled with objects you love and display proudly? Is it functional, with everything you need and nothing you don’t? Is it sleek and minimalist, a place where you can think clearly and feel freedom?
How does your ideal home differ from your home now?
I’m asking all these questions to clarify what your goal is when it comes to decluttering. As famed inventor Charles Kettering said, “A problem well-stated is half-solved.” When you know what you’re working toward, it’s easier to see the path to it. Find useful questions to ask about your space, like:
This seems to be the hardest part of “being organized” for many of my clients. So often, I see people put in a big effort to clear the clutter they have accumulated over many weeks, months or years without making the small changes every day that would help make their lives easier in the long term.
Being organized is all about the habits that you have and that you create. Habits that promote being organized will lead to an organized life, leaving you free from worries (at least, freer!) and the opportunity to live life in the moment – those Zen moments when you get to be totally involved in what you are doing, who you are being, or the experience you are having right now!
Here are a few options, and I hope you’ll find one or two that would be ridiculously easy to implement – that’s the idea. To maintain organization, start with your smallest achievable step, the one small change to make this week that you’ll find so easy. Then check the list again next week and if you find another ridiculously easy change to make, do that one too. And before you know it, you’ll be on the path to an organized you!
If thinking about organizing your entire home makes your palms sweat, you’re not alone! Decluttering and organizing every space in your house is a big commitment, involving a lot of effort and time. Having an organized home is a completely reasonable goal, but where do you start?
The short answer is: start small! When a project seems too big and too daunting, start with the smallest achievable step. To find your smallest achievable step, ask yourself: What sounds so easy that it makes you laugh?
If you want to declutter your garage but the thought makes you nervous, scale it back. How about decluttering one category of item, like gardening tools? Maybe your smallest achievable step is sorting your toolbox. Maybe it’s the top half of your toolbox, or even one compartment!
When you’ve found a part of the project that is laughably doable, do it! Sort that single compartment in your toolbox, then congratulate yourself on a job well done. That one small task gets you closer to your goal and starts you off with a win. Little accomplishments are as addictive as big ones, and you’ll soon find yourself taking the next step, and the next. You’ll get the hang of organizing and start modifying what you do to achieve your goal even faster.
Success fuels success, and if you keep the momentum up, organizing will become part of your routine.