Top Ideas To Get Your House In Order
At the stroke of midnight, Jan. 1, 2006, you were absolutely resolute
about organizing your home. Unfortunately, whatever motivated you to
get your house in order wound up in the pile you planned to clear.
You just need a
little timely hand-holding and a few bright ideas. Coming up with the
courage is still your job. So hold out your hand and consider these
ideas from organizational extroverts who want to help get the orderly
you out of the closet.
Optimize
Your Timing To Organize. It's a good time to organize now. You are
rained in, snowed in or just plain fed up with winter's mush, slush and
freeze and you've pretty much had it with guests trudging through your
home. After spending most of the month clearing holiday litter, you've
already got a head start. It's not surprising organizing is a top New
Year's resolution.
Realize Your Limitations. Your home wasn't cluttered
in a day. Understand cleaning, removing the clutter from and organizing
a 1,500 square foot storage bin is going to take more time than it took
you to come up with a promise to clean house.
De-emphasize Excuses. The popular refrain, "I might
need it someday," is little more than an excuse to put off until
tomorrow getting rid of something you won't use today or anytime soon,
especially if you haven't used it in six months or more. Likewise, "It
was expensive and I can't stand to see it go to waste," is nothing but
denial. The item is already being wasted if you aren't using it. "It
was a gift." So, re-gift it. The gift giver may have already done that
to you.
Miniaturize Tasks. Start small. Real small. Daily
Missions assign you to a small task each day in one of a half dozen
"Home Zones."
Systemize Tasks. Instead of a hodgepodge, willy-nilly
system of bins and baskets and shelves and racks that don't mesh,
consider one sane, organized, built-in or matching storage system.
Do-it-yourself or hire out. The once-and-for-all proposition can be
used to organize everything in a given room (say, garage or office),
closet, nook or cranny.
Deputize Your Family. Delegate. Send the kids to
their room and Pop to the garage as you take on the kitchen. Give
specific instructions to your troops. Tell the kids to pick up their
clothes and put them in the hamper or make their beds. Tell Pop to hang
the tools and sort the trash from the recyclables. You get to choose
your own kitchen job.
Optimize Your Efforts. During hard-core efforts to
organize, take a few minutes every hour to reward yourself while taking
stock of the task at hand. Over a cup of joe, make a list of what's yet
to be done, prioritize it. This exercise keeps a plan at hand.
Capitalize On Your Junk. Among the growing number of
eBay Trading Assistants (TAs), there's probably one who can take at
least some of that stuff off your hands and give you some cash for
doing so. TAs are sort of like online consignment shops -- inlets
instead of outlets. They will help you overcome your fears of selling
online or the dread of garage sales and sell that stuff you don't want
to "waste." Plug in your ZIP code, find TAs in your neighborhood, call
for a pick up or drop off your unwanted treasures. You may have to pay
the TA a commission as high as 50 percent of the sales price, but
whatever cash you net is more than you are getting for storing stuff
you don't need. Cash in hand also takes up a whole lot less space.
Don't expect to unload junk on TAs. They've been around the trading
block a few times and they know what will sell and what won't.
Hire An Organizer. Bite the bullet, accept that
you'll never get the job done on your own and get some help. Visit the
National Association of Professional Organizers (http://www.napo.net)
for help from a service industry developed to help home owners and
others organize. The association swears by the habit because, it says,
organization breeds efficiency. Efficiency gives you more control over
your surroundings and your life. Control allows you to get more done in
less time. As you know, time is money.
It's a theory worth considering.
Written by Broderick Perkins
Wondering What Your Home Is Worth? -- Let me show you.