Get Organized by Breaking it Down

As I was rummaging through my medicine “cabinet” yesterday (which consisted of Rubbermaid bins stuffed full of expired medicines), it occurred to me that I really needed to do some reorganizing. I know that at some point I had my linen closet (and my medicines) organized, but after a while it just became a mess in there.

I sometimes put off organizing projects, because they intimidate me. If a closet looks like a mess, I just shut the door and walk away, saying “I’ll do that later.” Sure enough, I’ll set aside some time and tackle it at some point, but I’m in no hurry to devote an afternoon to a messy area. The last time I did that, I ended up spending three hours working on my daughters’ storage closet, up to my elbows in baby blankets and toddler shoes.

Rather than repeating my three hour storage closet blitz, I decided to sit down and write out a list of organizing projects. I started brainstorming everything in my house that was bugging me, from the medicine cabinet to my storage closet full of old wrapping supplies. The thing that I focused on while I was writing out projects was breaking things down into specific projects. Rather than saying, “Clean storage closet” or “organize the kids’ old stuff,” I wrote down all of the little things that were part of larger projects.

Here are some examples:

• Organize top shelf of my closet
• Organize shoes in my closet
• Purchase new baskets for linen closet, and put all of our medicines and first aid supplies in those baskets.
• Clean out the floor of the linen closet – organize all of the random stuff thrown on the floor
• Sort through the kids’ old toys – donate toys they no longer play with.
• Go through my old clothes. Donate older maternity clothes to crisis pregnancy center, and other clothing articles to Goodwill.
• Organize wrapping supplies in storage closet.
• Get rid of old curtains in storage closet.

By breaking down specific projects into two, three, or four jobs per area, it’s much easier to tackle a project. If I were to do an entire area at once, it would take too long and I would hate doing it. Sure, I have a list of about fifteen or twenty projects to tackle in the next couple of months, but at least it’s broken down in a way that is more reasonable.

-Grace

Related posts:

1. Tips for Keeping Your Children’s’ Clothing Organized
2. Start Planning Your Christmas Shopping – And Start Clearing Out Old Toys
3. 5 Minutes Can Make a Difference
4. Stay Organized – Keep Phone Numbers and Birthdays Accessible
5. Simple Ways to Be More Organized