Organize Your Life Day 9: Space

When most people think of organization, images arise of drawers, toys, and cluttered desks. That is where we are heading today. We will cover the foundations of organization that can be applied to all the rooms in your home. These simple principles will help you feel and act like a professional organizer.

Welcome to Organize Your Life Day 9: Organize Your Space.

This is part of a mini-series on overcoming parenting (and life!) overwhelm and stress by organizing your life. Click here to see the introduction and links to other days.

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Forget parenting overwhelm for a moment, let’s talk about organization overwhelm! If you haven’t already learned or adopted organizational habits, that world can seem very daunting. However, I am really excited about today.

We are taking that whole world of “Organization” and boiling it down to three simple principles. Through the next several days, we’ll practice applying these principles to specific rooms and spaces around the home. By the end, I feel confident that YOU will feel confident in your ability to organize any space.

The Key Principles of Organizing Any Space

Take all the organizational methods and tips out there, and I am fairly confident you can fit each of them into one of the following key principles.

Simplify
Organize
Systematize

We’re going to dig deeper into each one of these principles, but first let’s get a general view by applying them to a specific scenario.

You actually followed this pattern on Day 7 when you organized your clothes. First, you went through your wardrobe and removed any items you didn’t love (simplify). Second, you folded, hung, and organized the clothes in the physical closets and drawers (organize). Third, you determined which routines would be necessary to better manage your clothes and mornings (systematize). Voila! You were good to go!

These principles are best completed in the set order, and check this out: In order to Save Our Space from chaos, we need to Simplify, Organize, and Systematize. See that? SOS, SOS. So clever. 😉

A Word About Clutter

Clutter is the hallmark of a disorganized space. It’s all the stuff that’s sitting around in places you feel it shouldn’t be.

Clutter exists for one of three reasons.

You don’t actually want the stuff making the clutter, so it just sits there.
The clutter doesn’t have a home.
Someone didn’t put the clutter in its home.

SOS will take care of all the causes of clutter. When we simplify, we pass on or throw-away items we don’t actually need or want. As we organize, we designate a place for everything. Through systematizing, we set up routines so that everyone knows who is responsible for putting items away and when that needs to happen.

You can also clear clutter by determining the particular cause of its existence and then using the corresponding SOS remedy. For example, consider a stack of papers on the counter. Are they old school papers you don’ t want? Recycle them. Are they important school papers, but you don’t know where to put them? Create an accessible file. Do they have a file but your child didn’t put them there? Invite your child to come put the papers in their correct place.

With practice, each of those cluttering reasons become easier to identify and their solutions quicker to apply. You’ll be a decluttering master in no time!

Simplify

The best lessons I learned about simplifying came from the time we spent living on an island. I mentioned it when we talked about the small size of our wardrobes, but whether it was clothes, kitchen utensils, or kids’ toys, we lived with very little “stuff.”

Just for an example, this picture shows almost the entirety of our toys for three children. Our books are in the brown cupboard, and our toys are in the white basket. We had one additional cupboard for puzzles, crafts, and school supplies, and the kids each had a few special items in their shared bedroom. That’s it.

As we lived with so little stuff, we found we were very grateful for what we had, gifts and new items were truly appreciated, we had a lot of time for outside and imaginative play, and we could clean-up the entire house in about thirty seconds. 😉

We have not continued the same minimalist lifestyle, but we are trying to live with balance. In general, too much time is consumed with the accumulation and care of “stuff.” It is powerful to recognize that whether or not we choose to keep physical items, we really don’t need them. This truth is liberating and provides a healthy perspective.

In general, try to limit the accumulation of stuff and periodically pass on items you don’t want or need anymore. There is more helpful information about simplifying here. We will also talk specifics in the days to come.

As you organize the spaces in your home, I encourage you to remember and teach your children that stuff really doesn’t matter. People do. Consider the advantages of life with less, and simplify as much as possible.

Organize

After you have simplified your space, it is time to find homes for everything.

The most important organizational factor is user-friendliness. It doesn’t matter how beautiful or well-researched your organization is. If it’s not easy for those using the space to keep it organized, they won’t. The simpler your organization is, the more successful it will be. It is much easier to get and keep everyone on board with simplicity. If two files or toy baskets will work instead of three, go with two.

To make your space user friendly, it is helpful to consider three factors.

1.) Who is using the stuff?

If they can get it out on their own, they should be able to clean it up on their own. The location and system should fit the user. Think of the user’s natural inclinations. If your child prefers folding to hanging, use more drawers. If your child’s natural inclination at this stage is to dump and mix all the puzzles, move the puzzles out of reach.

2.) Where are they using it?

Store things as close as possible to where you will be using them. Otherwise, you’ll end up stashing them nearby anyway when you’re in a hurry. 🙂 The goal is to make clean-up and keeping organized a natural part of the day.

3.) How often are they using it?

Prime real estate are those areas that are most accessible. Items we use most should be kept in those spaces. So if you have a specific toy or kitchen appliance that is used daily, it deserves prime real estate. The things we love enough to keep, but don’t use that often should be put in the hard to reach spaces. If it’s hard to put away, we are all much less likely to do so.

Systematize

After your space is simplified and organized, you are ready to systematize.

Systematizing is creating routines that will maintain your organization. This is how we prevent the constant need for reorganizing. Helpful routines save time and waste. Routines will be specific to the area you are working with, but in general they should be as simple as possible. Most often, the routine will consist of “clean as you go.”

Devise your routine, educate those who will be involved, and implement consistent follow-through until that routine becomes habit. We talked more about introducing your family to new routines and making them successful in Day 6.

Your Turn to Declutter, Organize, and Make Routines

In your Workbook or journal, open to Day 9: Spaces. Record any notes you want to remember about SOS. Now make a list of all the spaces in your home that you would like to simplify, organize, and systematize. Think of those places that bug you or feel cluttered. The spaces can be as specific as one closet, cupboard, or drawer.

In the coming days, we will focus on tips for applying SOS to your kitchen, paperwork or office space, kids’ toys, and bedrooms. So for today, pick a different space from your list to work in. Use the remainder of your hour today to apply SOS to that space.

The purpose of organizing your space is not so it looks pretty for visitors, although that’s a fun by-product. You will also find you waste less money re-buying things you can’t find. More importantly, opinion surveys and research show that the physical presentation of your home effects the interior mood and stress levels of its inhabitants. A calm space encourages a calm demeanor. And possibly most importantly, when we are well organized, we spend less time digging, searching, and worrying, and save time for what matters most…our Littles and the important relationships in our lives.

Tomorrow we will focus on Organize Your Life Day 10: Kitchen.

For today, record any thoughts, take-aways, or future action items from Day 9, let me know about any questions, struggles, or motivational tips in the comments, and go spend an hour saving your space!