Get Organized: 7 Tips To Start Your Day Right

An organized home ensures that life will run more smoothly, and I’m sure that’s something you would love, right?

Organizing isn’t hard to do, it just takes some time.

If you have large organizing tasks to complete, such as re-organizing your garage or paperwork, break each task down into bite sized pieces. Don’t try to do everything all at once or you will just overwhelm yourself.

Below are 7 ways that you can start getting organized today.

1. Make the bed.

Making the bed first thing in the morning leads you in the right direction for the rest of the day.

Every single time you walk past your freshly made bed, you will be inspired to clean and organize other areas in your home.

2. Eat your frog.

Like Brian Tracy says, the very first thing you should do in the morning is “eat your frog”. What he means by this is that you should take care of your most hated task first.

If you’re not a huge fan of emptying the dishwasher, do it first. Don’t like mopping the kitchen floor? Get it out of the way right after you wake up and make your bed.

When you eliminate your most mundane task first, the rest of the tasks on your to-do list seem like no big deal at all.

3. Keep your kitchen sink empty.

This is something I do all the time, and I can’t tell you how much it helps with the crazy amount of dishes we seem to go through every day.

After each meal, wash all of the dishes you used (or place them in the dishwasher) and wipe down the kitchen counter.

I used to leave all of our dishes in the sink until after dinner and rarely wiped down the counter (unless it was really dirty), so that always meant an hour long clean-up time in the evening. Now that I clean throughout the day, it only takes about 15-20 minutes to clean up the kitchen after dinner.

4. Do laundry every day.

I used to wash laundry once per week. With only 4 of us, I figured we didn’t need to do it any more often than that – but when I realized that it took me 12 hours to do all of our laundry one week, I decided right then and there that I was stopping with that laundry schedule.

I now do one load of laundry every single day, and let me tell you, it has made a world of difference. One load of laundry takes about an hour and a half from start to finish (including folding and putting it away). I’d much rather do this once a day, then to sit around for 12 hours one day per week doing laundry.

4. Never leave a room empty-handed.

Whenever you get up to leave the living room, bedroom, office – or any other room in your home, take a look around and see if there’s anything you can bring with you to the next place you are headed.

Perhaps you are leaving the living room and there is a pile of paperwork on the coffee table. If you are headed to the office, bring it with you.

I can find something to bring with me when I leave almost any room in our home – usually an empty glass or some garbage.

5. 10 minute tidy.

Set aside 10 minutes every night, right before you go to bed, to do a quick tidy of the house.

Put away any toys, books, garbage and paper that is strewn about your home.

Waking up to a clean home is much more encouraging than waking up to a messy one. 10 minutes per day is not much time at all, and it can really help to significantly control the clutter in your home.

6. Clean the bathroom daily.

Spend just 5 minutes tidying up your bathroom every day and you will always have a clean bathroom to use.

Keep a small basket of cleaning supplies in your bathroom cupboard and wipe down your countertops, mirror, toilet and floor, once per day. Don’t worry about being thorough – that’s what your weekly chores are for.

Remove anything from the bathroom that doesn’t need to be there.

Wipe down the shower and/or tub right after you are done using it, to keep your bathing area in tip-top shape.

7. Organize your inbox.

Email seems to be one of the biggest organizing challenges that many people face, myself included.

In order to stay on top of your email, you need to set up a system that enables you to respond to and keep track of your messages easily.

I have talked about this before – keep your inbox empty, create folders and schedule reading time for your email. Those are just a few ways to keep your inbox organized.

Organizing your home is something that is done with time, and something that requires constant maintenance. The goal is not to live in a spotless, pristine home, but rather to live in home that is more functional.

If you put the above ideas into place, I can assure you that you will simplify your life and be able to enjoy more calm, quality time with your family and loved ones.

Please share your organizing tips in the comments!