How to stay organized in the new year

Someone once said a room cleaning is not complete until you light a candle. Mine tend to be vacation-scented and airy. I can look around my room and see everything clearly. My hardwood floors, the ‘go garnet’ insta-dry nail polish, my soft + fluffy throw pillow and of course my plethora of makeup and shoes. My room is organized which essentially means my life is organized…but for how long? It’s one thing to get organized, as noted in a previous post, but it’s a whole other thing to stay organized.

How many days does your organization last? One, ten, thirty? I’ll be the first to admit, although I am pretty good when it comes to organization, I find, it never really lasts. Slowly but surely my reading chair gets stacked with jeans I’ve worn, my bureau gets filled with earrings, rings and such, and my shoes magically spread themselves out across my floor, right next to the suitcase I have yet to unpack from my last trip. Despite everything, there’s hope for me yet. I’ve learned a new way to make sure I keep my organization in order!

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” I feel like this quote can apply to pretty much any area of your life. Planning is essential, it’s how I save all that money on vacations!  If you plan for a mess, then odds are you’ll be able to keep things neat. I know, this probably makes no sense, so let me break it down for you. I have a junk drawer, it’s something I thought I would outgrow from my childhood but then I realized I’m still a pubescent-looking girl, so it’s okay. This said junk drawer ironically enough helps to keep my bureau clear of chaos. Since it doesn’t have a designated need, I throw any and everything into it when I’m trying to “clean up.” It not only makes clean up faster but keeps the clean, polished look longer.

I’ve applied this principle to the rest of my room and my work desk. I give a little slack, let go of perfection and have a hidden place that is completely bananas. It also helps to keep my sanity, because nothing in life is flawless so I shouldn’t burden myself with the impossible task of keeping an area organized forever.

My next tip, make things habitual, but simplify it! The main reason why I rarely stay organized is that I don’t have a routine. If it takes 21 days to make a habit, I let my room get out of control around day 12. There wasn’t anything set in place to help me keep order, so I lose focus. A new simple habit that I have formed pertains to putting items back in my closet.

Whenever I am planning an outfit, I like to have options. So I take items off the hangers, out of the boxes and put them on or near my bed. I’m usually doing this in a rush because I have a problem with lateness but that’s an issue for another day. My lateness though, is what breaks my organization streak, because I leave all the un-chosen options out on my bed and when I get back home I’m usually too lazy to put them away. They then find a new, extended home on my chair or at the foot of my bed.

Not ANY-MORE! I now take each hanger or box that is left lonely in the closet and hang it or place it outside my closet door. This is quite an eyesore for me (a hazard too), but it helps me to put things back, thus avoiding the inevitable doom that typically follows. Since I’ve hit my 21-day mark, I’m confident that I’ll be able to stay organized a lot longer.

Hopefully, these tips are doable on your end and like I said, don’t be too hard on yourself. Nothing in life is perfect, but just make sure you clean up after yourself!

Happy Organizing!