Organize + Energize: 7 Mini Habits to Practice on a Daily Basis

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Kristin MacRae, GoLocalWorcester Organizing Expert

You can do it now or save it for later. Most of the time, if you procrastinate, your to-do list gets longer and the piles have grown and when you decide to tackle it, it’s going to take you longer to complete. Spend a few minutes tackling it in the moment and you’ll save hours on the back end.

Start practicing mini habits and before you know it, they’ll be incorporated into your everyday life and you’ll be able to accomplish more than you ever thought possible.

Why are you procrastinating? What are you doing at the moment that allows you to be distracted? Are you really too busy?

Here are 7 mini habits you can start now:

Start placing your keys/phone in the same place. Every time you walk in the door, place your keys in a designated spot. You’ll never run late again because you forgot where you placed your keys. Same goes for your phone. Have a designated spot for your phone and practice placing it in the same spot. You have a home for your toothbrush, right?

File receipts. After arriving home from shopping, take receipts out of the car, wallet, or pocketbook. Place them in a monthly pouch, file or envelope. After you get in the habit of doing this, at the end of the month, match your receipts to your statement. Staple receipts or wrap them your statement and then file. Your monthly pouch will then be empty and ready for you to fill with the current month’s purchases.

Take trash out of your car. Is your car becoming a trash can? Practice taking your trash with you every time you get out of the car. You get out and the trash goes with you.

Open mail every day. Take a minute everyday to open your mail. It will take you no time at all to categorize it and decide what to keep, shred, throw away, attach to your to-do list or to file.

Take something out, put it away. It’s very elementary, but how many of you actually do this? You wear a shirt and instead of hanging it back up or putting it in the laundry, it ends up on the floor and before you know it, you have many small piles. Practice taking things out and putting them back.

Keep a running shopping list. If you used the last of the paper towels and know you need more, write it down on a running shopping list. Clear the mental clutter and practice writing things down as you need them. You’ll never have to waste time or energy thinking about what you need to purchase.

File papers in the moment. You’ve just paid a bill, but you don’t feel like filing it right now. Why? Take a few seconds and file it. Items like this that get pushed to the side are the tasks that end up taking hours later on.

What’s your excuse for not practicing these mini habits? If you aren’t doing any of the above, start small and incorporate one or two a month. They’ll get you one step closer to achieving your organizational goals.

Kristin Carcieri-MacRae, is an organizing & efficiency expert and owner of Organizing in RI. Kristin teaches her clients that living an organized lifestyle will save them time and money, decrease their stress levels and help them become more efficient and productive. Her articles have been published in local and national magazines. Kristin's CD, Organizing Basics, is a 1-hour guide for the person who wants to get organized but doesn't know where to begin. She is also available for organizing workshops.

Related Slideshow: 5 Organizing Blunders

Avoid these mistakes and your project will take less time than you expected. You won’t be as stressed or as overwhelmed as you anticipated. You will be amazed at what you have accomplished. You will be motivated and energized to tackle another project.

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Not planning ahead

Getting organized is a process and you have to have a plan on how to conquer your project. You can’t tear apart an entire room all at once. You need to break the project down into small pieces. Plan to tackle your project in 3-hour increments. If you work longer than 3 hours at a time, you are setting yourself up for burnout. Plan ahead to try to avoid distractions and stay focused.

Click here for more tips on how to avoid distractions.

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Purchasing the incorrect supplies

I know you are excited to get organized, but don’t rush out to the store and purchase products just because you like the way they look. Get organized first. Figure out what you need to contain, and then purchase your container to match the items you need it to hold.

Click here for more on choosing the right container.

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Not letting others know about your system

Once you set up the organized system, you have to get everybody in your home on board. Show them the systems and how you are going to function with this system going forward. Label everything if you must, so everybody gets in the habit of putting items away. Remember, the simpler the system, the easier it’s going to be to maintain.

Need help creating those systems? Go here.

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Not maximizing your space

Use every inch of space and use it well. Take everything out of the area you are organizing. You can’t get a clear visual of the space if it is filled with clutter. Shifting items around is not going to work.

Here are more tips on maximizing your space.

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Repeatedly clearing spaces

You are creating more work for yourself if you continue to clear spaces once a month. Create a system and allow everything in your home to have its own place, and you will never have to clear a space again.

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Kristin Carcieri-MacRae

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 www.talkstreamradio.com.