Fall Into Better Organizing Habits
It’s finally fall, so let’s a grab a pumpkin spice latte from your favorite coffee shop and talk about how to develop better organizing habits. It’s a great time of year to build new habits that will get you through the holidays and into the New Year.
Why Do I Need Better Organizing Habits?
Building better habits with organizing can be more effective than actually completing a single organizing project. The habits you build help you – not just to stay organized but to feel in control of your ability to be more organized.
It’s Not About Being Perfectly Organized
Having good organizing habits doesn’t mean you’re always perfectly organized. What it does mean is having a set of tools at your disposal that you can use to minimize stress, reduce overwhelm, and improve your space.
What Kind of Organizing Habits Do I Need to Develop?
There are a number of habits that contribute to being more organized that you can work to develop. Will you be perfect at all of them? Probably not. But will you gain some new habits that make it a little easier to get through the day? Yes!
3 Organizing Habits to Strengthen
Some of these habits are ones you may already have and just need to strengthen; some may be challenging for you. Others might be impossible depending on other factors at play, like how you’re coping with executive function disorders like ADHD. It’s ok to pick and choose the habits that will work for you. Even if you only master one of them, you’ll be better off than before.
1. Nighttime Routines that Make Your Days Better
One of our favorite organizing habits is something that can have a huge impact on your day but can be customized to meet your specific needs. To develop this habit, you need to think about what it is about your morning routine that is most stressful. For some, it might be getting the kids out the door. For others, it might be waking up to last night’s dishes that set off a whole new day of stress. Once you know what you need to help improve, you can develop a habit that minimizes the stress.
For example, if getting the kids out the door in the morning is painful, then you can develop a habit of setting out clothes and making lunches the night before so that the kids have a jump start on the morning and you’re able to minimize morning stress.
Some people may stress about what to wear to work or waking up in a bedroom that is totally cluttered. The same night before routines – setting out clothes, doing a quick pickup of clutter before bed – can help alleviate the stress.
2. The Declutter Habit
An easy habit to develop that helps you stay more organized is to take at least one thing with you every time you leave a room and put it where it belongs. Dirty laundry in the bedroom? Take it with you on the way out and drop it in the hamper. Kid’s toys in the living room? Grab one or two and return them to the toy box as you walk by their bedroom. You can take your declutter habit one step further by choosing to act on certain items so that they never become clutter. For example, make a promise to yourself that when you get the mail, the junk mail will go immediately into the trash can and not get piled on the table for later. When you get a magazine, the previous month’s issue should go straight to the recycling bin, whether you’re read it or not, to avoid them piling up.
3. Do the Least Favorite Thing First
If you have a list of chores or projects that you need to do, pick the one you like the least to get out of the way first. Everything else will seem easier to accomplish. So if dusting is your least favorite activity on cleaning day, do it first. If you hate doing laundry, get it started in the morning when you’re fresh.
The great thing about all of these habits is that they are applicable to many different circumstances and situations. You can apply them and customize them so that they meet your needs. Take these ideas and make them work for you, your life, your stresses, and your challenges. The idea is to develop habits that aren’t exclusive to a specific organizing task but simply help smooth the way for a more organized life in general.