Don't you just want to jump right to the step where you get to go buy cute matching containers when you are organizing a space? ME TOO!

BUT every time I do that... it influences what I keep and how I store things instead of my THINGS influencing those decisions. (In the podcast I share how I figured that out as a professional organizer.)

First let's talk about what being organized means. For me it means:

• Everything has a place.
• I know where to find things.
• I do not spend time LOOKING for things. 
• I FEEL organized and put together.
• I can have friends over and feel great.
• My house looks good - not perfect - but good.
• I feel confident in my abilities.
• I don't have too little or too much.
• I have choices of how to spend my time.
• I am able to make forward progress on my goals and projects.

Before I dive into the 5 steps to organizing I want to give you one caution...

You will not get it 100% right the first time. 

Yep, no matter what you are organizing, your goal is to get 80-90% better. The last 10% comes in step 3. Which I will cover next week.

Ok, so you know how you will feel and are not going for perfection, let's dive in!

5 Steps to Organizing

1. Get a big picture plan for the space.
2. Combine like items.
3. Match your items to the space.
4. Buy organizers.
5. Clean and finish.

Organizing feels amazing! But after a while... you realize something is missing. The last 10% is Step 3 of organizing. Most people never get there and I just realized what it was last month... Step 3 Increased Productivity.

Listen to the podcast to hear about how I declutter the master closet, kitchen, schedules and daily actionable papers. And 2 times when I focus on decluttering the WHOLE house before I start any organizing.

Links to things mentioned in the podcast:

Join the 100 Day Home Organization Challenge, or try week 1 FREE.

Are you looking for more personalized help?  I would love to learn more about you and your home and be your virtual organization coach.

Find all the other links here: organize365.com/145

Sign Up for the Newsletter organize365.com/newsletter