Organize + Energize: 6 Things To Do After You Get Organized

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Kristin MacRae, GoLocalWorcester Organizing Expert

You’ve tackled your clutter and created working organized systems. What’s next? You are going to have some work to do. Getting organized is a process; it’s not just about creating a pretty space with pretty containers. You have to be able to maintain the organization or you will find yourself back in the same situation.

Here are 6 things you need to do after you get organized.

1. Evaluate your space. Now that you have a clutter-free, organized space, take a step back and evaluate your space. Clutter may have been in the way before and you weren’t able to get a good feel of the room. Take a look at the furniture placement and décor. You don’t have to spend money on new furniture or décor. Re-arrange and repurpose what you have to create a better flow to your home or office.

2. Establish routines. Once you get organized you are going to have to put some work into maintaining these systems. It’s going to be as easy as taking something out and putting it back in the designated place where it now belongs. For a little while, you will really have to work at maintaining. Try not to fall back into your old habits. Work at these routines every day and they will become habits.

3. Time Management. Now that you can see clearly with the clutter gone, it’s time to evaluate how you function on a daily basis. It’s great that you got organized, but let’s take it a step further and break down how you function. Take each task that you perform on a daily or weekly basis. How many steps does it take you to complete a task? Talk yourself through the process of how you are functioning and try to cut those steps in half. You will be amazed at how much time you save.

4. Utilize a to-do list. Getting organized and utilizing to-do lists go hand in hand. Are you utilizing a to-do list? It will truly help you in this process. Choose a handwritten or an electronic one. Make it work for you. For more information on to-do lists, please see here.

5. Enjoy the benefits. Before you were organized, you were probably wasting time and money. You may have been overwhelmed and stressed. Now that you are organized, you will be more efficient and productive. You will have more free time and you will be saving money. These are just some of the benefits that you will reap after you get organized.

6. Re-evaluate your systems after 1-3 months. How are you functioning? What can you change to make the system work better for you? You will find that after working with the system for a few months there are some tweaks that need to be made. Make those changes. Don’t continue to work with a broken system. It’s going to be easy to tweak the system because items are categorized and have been simplified so it’s just a matter of shifting items around.

Going forward, be mindful of purchases you are making and keep a handle on the areas of your home and office that were hotspots for disorganization and clutter.

Kristin Carcieri-MacRae, the founder and owner of Organizing in RI, has always enjoyed finding creative ways to streamline the environment around her. She has appeared on air on Patricia Raskin's Positive Business Radio and her articles have been published in the Rhode Island Small Business Journal and New England Home Life. Kristin's CD, Organizing Basics, is a 1-hour guide for the person who wants to get organized but doesn't know where to start. She is also available for organizing workshops. Tune into her weekly radio show, Organize, Energize! on Mondays at 8:30am on http://www.talkstreamradio.com.

Related Slideshow: 10 Minute Organizing Projects

Declutter and Organize

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Spices

As you take all of the spices out of the cabinet, check for expiration dates and smell for potency. Categorize and itemize your spices to how you utilize them. Contain them in a spice rack that fits the space where they are kept. Don’t purchase a spice rack until you are finished organizing. You want to measure the space and make sure the rack fits and holds all of your spices. There are a variety of spice racks out there. Choose the one that best suits what you need it to hold.

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Makeup

How many items do you touch in the morning to find what you need? You want to be as efficient as possible in the morning and having your makeup organized will be a big time saver. Do you have difficulty deciding what to keep or toss? When is it time to throw away makeup? Aline Sarkis, a Providence, RI-based makeup artist, states lipstick can be used for 2 years or until it starts to smell like a crayon. Mascara is good for 2-3 months. Eye shadow is good for 2 years and foundation is good for 1-2 years. Aline also states that some makeup and skincare will be marked with an expiration date of 6-12 months. Begin counting once you start using the product

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Women: Purse

Depending on the size of your purse, and what you keep in your purse, this may take you a little longer than 10 minutes. Empty the entire contents of the purse on a table. Declutter, categorize, and itemize the contents. Break this process down and take it one category at a time. Develop a system going forward so the inside of your purse doesn’t look like a cyclone hit it. Contain receipts, gift cards, money, and makeup.

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Men: Wallet

It’s time to empty all of the receipts out of your wallet. Do you also store receipts and random items in your car? While you are tackling this project, head over to your vehicle and declutter the center console and glove compartment.

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Underwear drawer

If you aren’t using drawer organizers, you should start now. They are very inexpensive and will maximize the space in the drawer. How many of you wear the same item over and over again? With drawer organizers in place, you will be able to see everything you own and can categorize and itemize. Nothing will ever get pushed to the bottom of the drawer again.

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Under the bathroom sink

If you haven’t taken everything out of this area in awhile, you may find some scary items under the sink. Empty the contents, itemize, and categorize. Throw away anything that you can’t recognize. Contain items in containers that fit the space like a puzzle. Once again, utilizing containers will maximize the space and allow you to store more items. Develop a simple system where you can locate items and locate them quickly.

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Pets

Ninety percent of my clients have a pet. It’s time to organize their belongings. Medicine, leashes, bandanas, clothes, dishes, food, etc. Take this time to also organize any paper work related to your pet. Set up a filing system for your pet. Keep their medical records, rabies and vaccination information categorized in these files.

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Junk drawer

Nobody says you can’t have a junk drawer. Junk drawers can be organized. You just have to think about if you need everything in this drawer and if there is a better place to store the items. Remember, store like items together. If you have tools in the junk drawer, maybe you should keep them with the tools in the basement.

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Office supply drawer

So many people have office supply drawers that are out of control. Money is wasted on purchasing duplicate office supplies. It’s very difficult to figure out what you need to purchase if items are scattered all over the office and are disorganized.

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Top of your office desk

If you can’t see the top of your desk, take this time to focus on this area and categorize and itemize what is there. Do you have a working filing system in place? If so, once your desk is cleared, make a habit of filing once a day or a couple of times a week. If your system isn’t working for you, it may be time for you to re-evaluate your system and make it work for the way you function.