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It’s easy for homes, offices, and other spaces to become disorganised. People often have to be intentional about staying organised and finding the right places for all of their belongings. If not, papers begin to pile up, drawers become junk drawers, and you may not know where your items are.
Being organised in all areas of your life is important. There are many benefits to staying organised, knowing where things are, and not having too much clutter. It’s not always easy to stay organised, but it’s doable and it’s worth it.
An organised home can help your mental well-being
- You will know where things are in your home and what you already have. This means that you won’t have to waste time searching for something that you’re looking for in your home. You will know exactly where it is and you can better keep track of the things you already have. You might even save money because you won’t buy duplicates of something you already have. This is great because you won’t be adding even more unneeded items to your home.
- You will spend less time tidying up. When your home is in order, cleaning up is easier. When your home is organised, you put things away where they belong instead of creating piles of clutter on the kitchen counter. If you organise your home, you know that everything is picked up so you don’t have to worry about it before having guests over. You can focus on the other important tasks.
- You will feel more confident about what you know is in the home. It can be upsetting to realise that you have no idea what items you have in your home. It can also diminish your confidence by not knowing where things are. When you have an organised home, you will know where your belongings are with confidence. You will know what you have and where to find them. This can help you to believe in yourself and makes your life easier.
- You will be less stressed because you won’t be looking for missing items. You have likely been in a panic before searching for something you needed. You might have needed the item for something urgently. You might have been running late. This can be very frustrating and it can stress you out, especially if you’re on a time crunch.
- Your home will be more attractive. This will be more inviting to you and you will actually enjoy being there. It can be easy to get stressed out when you look at a mess of papers on the kitchen counter. When your home is clean and tidy, you can be at peace and you might even fall more in love with your home. Your family and friends will like your home more when it’s neat too.
- You will have more space. If your home is organised and not so filled with clutter, your home will feel bigger and more spacious. You won’t be surrounded by clutter. You can walk and move around your home as you please. Staying organised gives you more space to enjoy your home. You might even be able to do more with your home due to the clutter being picked up.
Tips for organising your home
Organising your home may sound like it’s easier said than done. Keep in mind that you will have to be intentional about organising your home and keeping it organised too. Once you get to that point, you will be much happier and less stressed.
Organising your kitchen
- Make a rule in your home that you must not leave papers, mail, and other miscellaneous items on the kitchen counter. Make sure you have a designated place for those things as soon as they come into the house. If it’s junk mail, it should immediately go in the trash. If it’s an important paper, file it away. If you need to remember something, stick it on the fridge.
- Organise your cabinets, drawers, pantry, and fridge. Take a few days to work on this a little bit at a time. You can empty each one completely and then put the items back. Before putting the items back, make sure you still use the utensils and dishes you have. Check to see if the food has gone bad or is expiring soon. You might even consider buying baskets to keep your kitchen more organised.
Organising your living room
- Start from scratch. It can take some time, but you should pull every non-furniture item to the centre of the room. Then, spend a while looking through the items you have. This might be decor, board games, magazines, and more. Part of getting organised is having fewer things to keep picked up. If possible, get rid of a few things. When you put your items back on bookshelves or in baskets, try to keep them sorted by category. All the board games could go on one shelf. The magazines could go in a magazine rack beside the couch. The remote controls can sit in a basket on the coffee table.
- Be intentional about how you organise your living room. You can easily let things pile up in any area of your home. By thinking it through, you can make sure you only have what you really need in a space. If you have children, it can help to have bins or baskets in the living room to store their toys in. If you have a large film collection, sort it by alphabetical order. If you are a collector, find a great way to display your collection without it looking cluttered on the shelf.
It can seem like a daunting task, but getting your home organised is worth it. It’s important to start small and take it a step at a time so you don’t’ get too overwhelmed. If you start with one room, the organisation might encourage you to tackle the other spaces in your home too.
Dennis Relojo-Howell is the managing director of Psychreg.
