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Have you come to a tipping point in your life? Do you feel you must, once and for all, get organized? Organizing is only fun for crazy people such as professional organizers, so it's important to embark on organizing projects in a way that will be productive and keep you motivated. The following tips will help you get started.

ORGANIZING YOUR SPACE - Dealing with Clutter

Pick a small space to start, preferably the area in your house that's causing you the most grief. When you get this space cleared you'll be so happy you'll keep going.

Pick up each object that's cluttering up the space and decide if you need to 1) keep it in the area, 2) move it to another part of the house, or 3) get rid of it. Sort everything into one of these three piles. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the root cause of disorganization is having too much stuff.

DO NOT let anything distract you. Don't take things into another room. Don't decide to clean up an ancillary pile that's not in the area you chose to work on. Successful organizing requires dedication and, above all, focus.

If you find you don't have many things in the "get rid of" pile, ask yourself, if you truly use or love the items you are keeping. Think twice about holding on to things out of guilt or for sentimental reasons. For some people, decision making is the most challenging part of an organizing job. It can help to have a friend or professional work with you. She'll be able to take a dispassionate view of your things.

Next, put the "get rid of" and "other room" piles aside for now and concentrate on the "stay here" pile. Sort the items again, this time into groups of things that are alike and/or groups of things you use together and/or things you use everyday versus things you use once in a while. This is where the crux of efficient organizing lies, because when you get things sorted and stored in a way that makes sense to you, everything in your space will work better. There will be less chance that you'll become disorganized again if everything has a place and if that place is convenient for your life.

Once you've grouped your items, look to your storage systems. Whether it's shelving, cabinets, file boxes look carefully at whether what you already have is appropriate for the items you've got to store. If things you use frequently are difficult to put away and retrieve, you will be less likely to stay organized. However, in most cases, people already own more than enough organizing systems and products to house their things.

Put your things away, per your plan. Remember, everything you own must have a place if you wish to stay organized. Enjoy your newly organized space for a while, then, move on to the next area. Usually, the more you organize the faster and easier your next project will be.

Learn more about this author, Ginny Gassman.
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