I need help to be organized NOW!?

Question

I admit I have inherited my mother's trait so to speak, I am a pack rat. I have so many boxes in my home still unpacked since I moved in 2 yrs agp in my apartment. My closet is soo packed that you you literaly are standing on junk just to get into it. The rest of the apartment is clean but unless you open up cabinets or drawers, everything is crammed in them. I have 3 kids and me and my husband living in a 2 bedroom apt so I think maybe that is one reason why we have too much junk with too little space to work with. Are there any websites to help with disorganization? Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Sometimes the most difficult part is - WHERE do I start, and HOW do I start? In my experience, it really doesn't matter. Pick one area, one task (such as gathering all art supplies to the same location), or follow advice from one of the websites below. Just get started! (: Even if you only do five minutes, it's progress! (:

FlyLady.net (OR flylady.com) - get email reminders, do her boogies (fun ways to remove clutter), look at hot spots (where clutter seems to gather in your home), do anything for just fifteen minutes, and more. (: FlyLady is also great for making chores fun for kids and helping them want to help you. She has a special "House Fairy" program for kids (inexpensive but does cost, most of website is free unless you want to buy products/books/etc.) and a Riley Challenge of the Day for kids if you get the email reminders (both helpful to get your kids excited about helping you out with stuff, organizing and decluttering included).

We also got our kids excited about donating clothing that no longer fit and clothes they no longer used by letting them research and pick the charities. And we found as we went, that if we didn't do the same with our stuff, it didn't work as well. We had to set the example as parents. (:

Here are some other useful sites:
http://www.oprah.com/foodhome/home/housekeeping/home_20070207_declutter.jhtml
http://books.google.com/books?id=koyuAXXE0cgC&dq=peter+clutter+book&pg=RA17-PA1&ots=p7ASw2Yy8u&sig=8SV_hz4fvce3WuNsE7FEmiWBL94&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fhl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla%253Aen-US%253Aofficial%26hs%3DKYJ%26q%3Dpeter%2Bclutter%2Bbook%26btnG%3DSearch&sa=X&oi=print&ct=result&cd=3#PPP7,M1
http://messiesanonymous.com/
http://nsgcd.org/

There are many ways to declutter "hidden" clutter. One way is to have a trash bag for trash, a box/bin/bag/etc. for donations, and one for items that go into different rooms. Another is to take each item as discovered and move it to its new location immediately or have it leave the house, to storage, donation or trash. It doesn't matter which technique you use (or a combination) - just whatever works best for you and gets you started.

If a lot of what you are holding onto is sentimental, you might consider displaying it as art on the wall in some way, or taking a picture and creating a scrapbook of memories instead of boxes of them. Or finding joy in donating to someone else who can really use it. (: Peter Walsh gives great ways to do this stuff too.

As far as unpacking, FlyLady's system works quite well. Take one box at a time, and work on it for just fifteen minutes at a time. If there isn't a location as you unpack it, you might consider donating or trashing it.

Same with cabinets or drawers - take one at a time, 15 minutes at a time. Look inside, see what's out of date/expired, what you use rarely and what you use everyday, etc. Visualize how it would look if it were "perfect" - would there be less stuff, would it be organized differently, would it be located elsewhere, would buying some type of organizational system help (in the kitchen and closets, especially - doesn't have to be expensive, just useful and tailored to you - most are easy enough to install that you can do it yourself)?

That is a VERY small space to work with for that many people, as I'm sure you already know. (: At one time, we had three adults and four children in a smallish 3 BR home - three households of stuff, plus kids, in one location. It took every inch of organizing skill I had and every inch of space we had. Things are soooooo much better now that some of the decluttering has happened. You will be amazed at how better you feel when you and your kids have more room to move around and things are less cluttered - it really does make a difference! (:

It doesn't matter if you do a few minutes here in one room, a few minutes there in another - or concentrate on one thing at a time in each room until that room's done. You will still see the results and at least for us, it has a marked affect on our moods. (:

Good luck! (:

Answer 2

Oh dear, that is a lot of people in a small space!

Get rid of everything you haven't used in the past year. If you don't feel right about throwing it in a dumpster, take it to Good Will or some other charity.

Get rid of everything that is too small for the kids: I'm betting that you have stuff like that among the clutter.

Get rid of everything that is broken. Chances are very good that you'll never fix it.

After that, clean. And if you have the space, get extra shelves to help you organize.

From one pack rat to another, Good Luck and lots of it!

By the way, I understand Flylady.com has some good organizing tips.

Answer 3

Finally Organized, Finally Free by Maria Gracia. This is just the guide to get you on track. It worked for me and you can receive a free monthly newsletter with all sorts of great ways to stay organizied. Try it!

Answer 4

www.flylady.com

she has a wonderful website - with organizing tips and great lists you can print off. She will even send you free e-mail reminders

Answer 5

Try this website......organize180.com.
My daughter is the Chief Organizer.