Happy New Year!!!
I always find the first few days of the year to be exciting and filled with possibilities, but it quickly dissolves. Why is that?
The first week starts with lofty goals; I want to win the lottery, lose 500 lbs, and buy a house on a private island! Then, for some crazy reason when that doesn’t happen, we give up! The same can be said for getting organized. Many people would love to get organized, but how? When it isn’t something that magically happens, they get defeated and give up.
To win the lottery, you must play…right? You must invest the $2, go to the store to get a ticket, AND then check it. There are steps taken to get there.
What steps are needed to get organized? The first step is to create a plan of attack! Do you start with the garage that you don’t even want to look at, the stacks of pictures that you end up sitting and looking thru for hours, the playroom that looks like a bomb went off, the closet you can’t walk into, or the pantry that is flowing onto the counters? My recommendation is to always start small; an area you can complete within a few hours, and then build. It is also best to start in a room where you don’t have the emotional ties that pull at your heart strings, ie the children’s artwork or old love letters.
So what is the best area of the house to get started you may ask? I would recommend starting in the bathroom or the kitchen. However, keep it small. Instead of thinking, today I am going to organize the bathroom, start with organizing under the sink. The kitchen can be the same, but on a larger scale that can be broken down into several small pieces.
My favorite place to start in the kitchen is either under the sink or the spices. Did you know that spices only have a shelf life of 6 months to a year? When you read that, were you secretly thinking I have never checked the expiration dates on my spices? You are not alone.
So, let’s get started! Take all the spices out into an open space. Check every single bottle for the date and if expired, pitch it! That is pretty black and white right? So now you are thinking if I keep the spices that are expired, am I really going to die? No, of course not. However, the spices have lost their freshness, aroma and flavor at that point, so why keep them?
Once you have gone thru all the spices you have, it’s time to keep them organized! My go to for spices is to alphabetize them in your open space to see what you have.
If you have 5 bottles of cinnamon that are half used, condense them down for space. Do you feel better already? Does a weight feel as if it has been lifted off your shoulders by having 100 spices all over the place to now having 15 spices in a central location? Yes!!! Make time for a little happy dance and let’s get to the fun part.
Pick a dedicated area to give these spices a home. If you cook a lot and use a lot of spices, then the pantry on the other side of the room from the stove may not be a great spot. Once you find a spot, then I would suggest purchasing an organizational tool that will display the spices neatly and you can easily see what you have one hand. This doesn’t need to be expensive and many times we have items laying around the house. Do you have a lazy susan or a can good stair step organizer? These will work! So, place everything back in alphabetical order, labels easy to see, and only one spice per type. The rest can go into an overstock area and be replaced once out.
Congrats! You are on your way to getting organized. Take baby steps until you are ready to tackle that garage or basement you have been avoiding since moving in!
As always, if you need assistance, that is what we are here for! Please click the link below to schedule a 30 minute call to discuss.