Lesser-Known Tips for Getting (and Staying) Organized
Now that we have entered a new year, it’s a great time to establish a plan to become more organized, with both our physical and mental health. Did you know that your daily, personal space greatly impacts your mental health? For example, it’s common to collect clutter in certain parts of your home, but when it gets out of hand this not only impacts your own well-being but your family’s as well. Tidying up expert, Marie Kondo, advises to, “Keep only the things that bring us joy, seeing clutter all around us is mentally exhausting makes us feel tense.” In this blog we will list some lesser-known tips on ways to stay organized and help you stay productive and efficient!
Declutter Your Life
Instead of beginning by cleaning your space, start organizing your life by decluttering the junk in your personal and work spaces. Begin by creating designated piles/boxes to keep, toss, and donate! These boxes can be used for each room that needs organization. If there’s lots of paper or plastic in a room, create a separate recycling bin. While cleaning out everything you don’t need, you’ll start to notice everything you may need to purchase, so remember to make a list for any ideas as you go. We also can’t help but recommend an Amazing Spaces pile for items you’d like to move to your handy-dandy storage unit for safe keeping!
Set Aside 10 Minutes A Day
Practice spending just ten minutes every day picking one room in your home to declutter and reorganize. If you attempt to get an entire room or even set of rooms organized in one day you’ll most likely get burnt out and quit. This practice is extremely helpful for tedious projects and proves to achieve definite progress rather than allowing a longer time limit and getting less done. Be sure to never leave your daily project station with even more of a mess than what you started with.
This method also works for practicing your daily Zen habits by setting aside ten minutes to get something done that you’ve been procrastinating over. When there’s a big deadline looming or you’ve been avoiding doing something important, this tactic of only completing ten minutes of work at a time, per day ultimately motivates you more to want to finish the task!
Take an extra ten minutes out of your day to breathe and form a Zen mindset. This is an effective way of focusing on your deep breaths and your mindfulness through meditation. This practice helps your mind float away as well as allowing you to concentrate on your body and breath. There’s many helpful apps that you can download that support this effort and provide guided meditations, including Headspace and Calm. Go the extra mile—ten minutes of walking in nature is an effective method of getting stuff off your mind by allowing you to enjoy a physical activity and the beauty of your surroundings. Taking life slower instead of hustling through the everyday productivity rush can make a very big difference to your mental health.
Start Small
One of the top recommendations from the Zen Habit is to make a list each day where you document the top 3 things you wish to get done. Prioritizing tasks and making a mental note of them helps you keep them top of mind and many other tasks simply fall into place. Determine which task you will accomplish first and complete that one before moving onto the next. Some days it may be as simple as keep the tiny humans alive, while the next, it may be attend work meetings and pick up groceries. Regardless of the task(s), start small and go from there! You’ll feel less overwhelmed and probably get even more done!
As you sort through your lists and get organized, our A-team is always here to help and support you! Not sure if a storage unit is best for your needs? Give us a call and we can chat through your options, 281-373-4343.
