by Meagan Macquarrie

Created on: November 16, 2009

Organize your life, and the rest will follow.

Do you often feel as though you start your day in pursuit of misplaced belongings? Are you constantly running out the door last minute and frazzled, barely making it to work on time? If you answered yes, then chances are your personal organization is suffering. It is likely that your personal belongings are creating clutter and disorder in your home, wreaking havoc on your morning routine. Clutter and disorder can lead to elevated stress levels, not to mention the fact that they are major time consumers! Our time is too important to us, and we shouldn't be wasting it on a never ending search for our missing shoe.

In my days of clutter and chaos, I was found to be distractible, always running behind, and constantly beating myself up over it. I eventually reached my threshold and began to take a more systematic and orderly approach to my clutter. I learned that by following a few, simple, organizational tips I was getting more out of my day. These tips, as described below, will not only help with your daily time management, they will also do wonders for your stress levels. Creating personal organization not only de-clutters your personal space, it also de-clutters your mind, and by starting with these three steps you can do just that.

Reduce, Reuse, & Donate

All you need for this step is a trash bag or two! Open your closet or dresser and try to reduce your wardrobe by making piles. I like to make three piles; one of the things I wear often, a second of the things I wear sometimes, and a third of the thing I never wear. The items in the never wear pile, no matter how cute, should automatically go into the donation bag. In my multitude of closet cleansers, I have often noticed that people hang onto items for personal memory, not for use. Although memories can be fond, and we all have them, the item will never match the memory. These items if not used tighten your space. In the end when the items are no longer there, the memory will always be, and luckily those fond memories don't take up much space.

Once you've donated your never wear pile (and hopefully at least half of your sometimes wear pile) I recommend moving onto the next clutter corner. If you feel you have an excess of something go ahead and tackle it, always keeping in mind that if you're not using it, it's just eating up space. I always enjoy the way I feel when I give something I'm not using to someone else. People love hand me downs, and in

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