Question for people who are organized and neat: HOW DO YOU DO IT?

Question

I wish I could be OCD enough to be cleaning all the time, but I'm not. I'm disorganized and messy, and it is driving me crazy because I am always playing catch up with myself.

Answer 1

A little information about OCD, it is a myth that this condition helps people stay organized...staying organized, in my opinion, is a TOOL for enhancing your life, a means to an end. Organization that meets a family's needs allows you to minimize crisis/chaos because you know what your everyday needs are, and you know how to meet them in an efficient, systematic way. And then when the crisis comes along, as they do for everyone, a person can get back on track easier. That may be all you need to know to design an organizing plan for yourself...knowing that all you really have to strive for is a way to organize tasks so your day flows smoother, not to be a buzzing little bee who never sits still.

People with OCD are often imprisoned by it, they approach whatever their compulsion is from a habitualistic, repetitive, or ritualistic mindset, they approach their rituals with the irrational fervor of an addict. They are also usually chasing perfection and chronically frustrated that they haven't done enough, or done tasks well enough. *An interesting fact is that a lot of people who are chronically messy are also perfectionists. They are afraid they won't do it right...so they don't do anything at all to bring some order to their lives...the fear of failure. "What if I did my best, and I still wasn't organized?"

Another important distinction, and hardship for people who are trying to be organized but have OCD, is that the task itself is the comfort...which leads people to create chaos in their life so they can keep cleaning it up. OCD rituals, even cleaning rituals, are not about being efficient so they can get on to more fulfilling things, it is about being fulfilled BY the cleaning process, and creating order around them to mask or relieve emotional chaos.

SO enough preaching about OCD, just will sum that up by saying that you really don't want it if you don't have it. If you don't have OCD you can set much more realistic standards and goals for yourself, and you can allow yourself some wiggle room to figure out what works for YOU.

Here are some starting strategies to help you get organized:

Start a decluttering plan. Getting rid of excessive stuff is a gift of time, energy, and money. You clean less, less often, and when you do, it is easier. You can keep track of fewer things easier, less maintenance, and you know where your stuff is. No more lost or broken items to replace. Look at things you have multiples of, including expendibles, things that no longer fit your lifestyle, and things that are broken or too much effort or money to maintain (to the point that you don't maintain them).

In your decluttering plan, try to minimize and simplify wardrobes. Wardrobe is really just another word for laundry. Less clothes in the first place means less laundry. You may do laundry more often, but the mountain of dirty clothes will never be as high. You will not run out of clean clothes because you are not an idiot. You will wash your clothes when you need to, an adjustment of how often you need to do laundry.

Try to look at your behaviors at home...as a string of habits...often we are on autopilot, and when you have good habits, this saves a lot of extra mental energy. But if you can do things more efficiently, try to reteach yourself how to do those tasks that way. It may mean that you reorganize where things are in your home, and give specific items a home so you always know where they are (committing to putting them away). It may mean that you string together series of tasks that are easy once the equipment is out.

Try thinking FORWARD. This requires a little multi tasking and a little more effort for each task, but those tasks don't come up as often, so you have streamlined your energy. If you get into the habit of thinking forward, eventually you will be ahead of yourself more often than you are scrambling to stay behind.

Examples of thinking forward:

In the kitchen. If you need ONE onion for tonights meal, cut 5 and freeze 4. The cutting board and knife are already out, the mess has already been made. You might as well benefit from that more than once. You can bag them up, and the next 4 times you need an onion, there is one waiting for you in the freezer. Same goes for any completed dish that needs some assembly. Easy to double a lasagna or a meatloaf or a casserole, or muffins or cookie dough, and freeze one, serve one. You can also dovetail your tasks for multiple meals at one time. You can add the egg to a meatloaf for tonight, scramble some (leave raw but ready to go) for tomorrow's breakfast, and scramble some on the spot for some homemade breakfast burritos to toss in the freezer. These tasks become ONE mess, ONE cleanup, MANY shortcuts for the future.

Come up with a cleaning plan that you can stick to. One that meets your standards and your time limits. Work your way around the house. If your home needs serious attn, budget your cleaning time this way. In equal thirds: Decluttering time for ONE area, deep cleaning ONE area that is already decluttered, and straightening everyday messes throughout the rest of the house.

So your schedule might look like this: If you have an hour to clean: spend 20 minutes cleaning out a drawer (and then the other drawers in that storage piece, and then other storage pieces in that room until the room is done) then spend 20 minutes moving furniture to vacuum, dusting light fixtures, laundering curtains, etc in another or same area that you are decluttering, and the last 20 minutes buzzing around the house collecting laundry, emptying the dishwasher, making beds, sweeping the kitchen and wiping the toilet rims and bathroom sinks.

Gotta go, hope this helps you some. It is about priorities. You will fail if you try for perfection. Aim for the amount of organization that allows your home to run smoothly. Any more is overkill.

Answer 2

I am not a born organized person, I am a clutter freak. I finally found a site that helped me realize that I wasn't the only person like this.
It is called FlyLady.net

This mess didn't happen in one day and it is impossible to get it fixed in one day.

From the FlyLady site:

Are YOU living in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)? Do you feel overwhelmed, overextended, and overdrawn? Hopeless and you don't know where to start? Don't worry friend, we've been there, too.

Step through the door and follow FlyLady as she weaves her way through housecleaning and organizing tips with homespun humor, daily musings about life and love, the Sidetracked Home Executives (SHE™) system, and anything else that is on her mind.

When you join FlyLady, you will receive daily FLYmail. Your FLYing Lessons will guide you through babysteps to help you set up routines, get rid of your clutter, and put your home and life in order. FlyLady's approach has worked for thousands. Join anytime you want (there is no cost involved)! You are not behind - you are just getting started! Read FlyLady's personal testimony in WhyFly? Don't be overwhelmed by all the material on this site - take it a little piece at time - baby steps. To get started, check out the FLYing Lessons - it will tell you how to begin. You can have this peace too, and it won't cost you a dime!

Good luck and lots of huggs on your way!!!

Answer 3

You have to make a conscience effort and a committment to yourself. If you can't do this then your place will be messy. I don't think I'm a very cleam person but i've gotten the comment from several different friends that I'm OCD about it. Really I just try to clean as I go.

When you get home, don't just dump your purse anywhere, have a place for it. Same goes for everything else. Have a place for everything and put it back when you are done. Clean dishes right away instead of letting them sit. Its all about maintaining. Cleaning is the biggest chore when there is a lot of it to do!

Answer 4

I LOVE your question and I'm going to enjoy the answers just as much as you will. I know exactly what you mean. I love "order" and would love to have place for everything but I don't. Also, I am not a Type A person. I have a "the world won't come to an end" attitude about many things, this being one of them. I have a sign in my foyer that reads, "My house was clean yesterday...too bad you missed it!"

I struggle with it...let it go...then stuggle again at the end of the day cuz it isn't done or is only half done. I find I start in one room and end up in another only to repeat what I just did.

I do have one remedy tho that did help me. I shut everything off and play great music on the stereo...and move around to that beat or mood. While working I focus on the music...a mood elevator for me. Try that on for size and now I think I'll get up off my butt and do the same thing right now.

Good luck to you and me....

Answer 5

For some who are like that, it's ingrained into their personality. I have this gene that doesn't allow me to let anything be out of place. It's strange.

I understand that you feel frustrated. But the grass is not always greener. For instance, it is difficult to be the way I am. Sometimes, I wish I could let things go...and I'm not even as bad as some people! Here's an example,

When I wash my car. It can't end there. It has to be inside and out. Then, with a clean car, I'm not satisfied until everything that goes in it is clean. I have to clean out my purse. With a clean purse, I have to make sure that my check book is balanced to the penny and my cell phone is completely charged. Then, with a clean everything else, I need to be clean! I shower, moisturize, dry my hair. Does it stop there? Nooooo...I then need to make sure that my nails are perfect. I change after my shower, but I am unsatisfied if I even have one piece of laundry in my basket. In the wash it goes. Everything has to be perfect, see. I could go on how one thing leads to another, and this is just to wash my car. It's frustrating.

Try to work with yourself. Don't condemn yourself for not being organized enough. With training, you can be and maybe you can find a nice way of life that is somewhere between what you do and what I do. It's all about balance. I recognize that and try to give myself the same advice. Make lists, too, and check them off as you go. Set goals for yourself "I'm going to do at least 5 things on my list", etc.

In time, you will become more organized, but it won't be overboard, because that's no fun, either.

Answer 6

Well, I am neat, but some parts of my house, like an over crowded closet, and my craft room need scaling down and little by little, with the slow remodeling things are looking a lot better. Moving from a 5000 sq ft. Home to a 1400 sq foot one had a lot to do with that.

Answer 7

Its incredibly easy... never make messes. Some are unavoidable, like making an elaborate meal and cleaning the dishes as you go. The pots, serving dishes, and plates you are eating on will still have to be cleaned after the meal. Laundry still has to be done, but you can sort into bins in your bathroom instead of throwing clothes & towels on the floor. Always put things away when you use them. Simply, never make messes. The problem with this, is that everything has to have its place, so you can put it away.

Answer 8

I am OCD and trust me, you don't want to be. OCD comes with more than just cleaning. I have a friend who is not only a constant (obssesive) cleaner, but she has to count too. When she puts her dishes away (for example) she will count each fork as she puts it in the slot. And she has to brush each tooth seperately just to make sure it's clean enough.

I agree with the first person. Make a plan but don't overwhelm yourself with it. I have a tendency to overwhelm myself and I end up angry that I didn't get everything done like I had planned on doing. I have to sit down every morning and write down what I'm going to do that day and then I have to do only that (depending on what you're doing, keep it down to 4 or 5 tasks). And be specific. Don't say just....vaccumm. Be specific like vaccumm my bedroom. For me, if I say vaccumm and only manage to do 4 or 5 rooms in the house, then everything I've done was all for nothing because I still missed a room or two. Not being specific, I've stayed up until 3 or 4 in the morning cleaning trying to get done what I put on my 'list'.

Have faith in yourself, try to invision what the outcome you want is and move from there.

Answer 9

To a large degree, this is ingrained in who you are. I am what I consider a closet organizer. That is, to look at the surface, things appear to be disorganized, but a closer look shows a system to my madness. I constantly strive to improve my organization. Just take small steps to keep from being overwhelmed in the beginning. For example, start making the bed. This is a simple step and should be easy to work into your daily routine. Once this does not seem a chore, add another.

Answer 10

Frankly for me I was always waking up at 3 am just to remake my bed LOL. I've always been unhappy unless things are neat and in place - difficult with three kids but still doable. First things first. The organizing. Once you are able to organize things you'll be successful at keeping things neat. Best step to organize is to go through things and if you no longer use them ... THROW them. Once you've done that process organize the stuff you DO use. Example: Clothes: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall. Another example is bills. Make a folder with your bills so you know where they are.
Good Luck :)

Answer 11

I'm pretty organized but I can get what I call "Hot spot's" Piles of clutter here and there. Have you ever heard of flylady? It's pretty intersting and if you can handle the emails I'd give her a chance. Go here...http://flylady.com/
You subscribe she sends emails with idea's times to start, what to do! lol When I say emails I mean LOT'S of emails!!
She also has ton's of stuff on her web site to help.
Here are a few of her idea's for decluttering or staying organzied.
Always get dressed, right down to your shoes! Use a timer and clean, straighten up etc. for 15 minutes, period, stop when the timer goes off. Get three bags or laundry baskets and label
1) Stuff to put away 2) Stuff to throw out 3) Stuff to give away. When you sort through these put it away, throw it away and take what you want to give away straight to your car, or better yet straight to your charity!
Go through your home and find 10 things that need to be put away. When you reach 10 stop :) It is pretty cool really, the emails made me nuts though! LOL
Good Luck!