Get Organized this weekend

Get Organized Fast: 7 Things You Can Do This Weekend

Want to get better organized — but don’t want to spend ages sorting through your life?

Then check out these quick and simple things you can do this weekend. Most of them will take only 5 to 30 minutes.

You’ll start next week feeling lighter, more motivated, and better organized.

7 Things To Do To Get Organized This Weekend

1. Buy and Wall-Mount a Hand Vac

I rarely advise you to buy anything, because:

  1. Too much stuff is a major cause of personal disorganization, and
  2. Buying organizing paraphernalia can be a way to feel virtuous without actually getting organized.

A hand-vac, however, is a useful device that I’m happy to recommend.

Buy the most powerful one you can afford, wall-mount it to store it neatly out of the way, and keep it charged.

Use it every night to pick up the day’s crumbs. It will take only a few moments, but make you feel like you have a nice, clean home before bed.

2. Pull Out Important Papers

Whether your paperwork is strewn throughout the house, covers every surface of your home office, or is assembled in a towering pile, gather it all together.

Quickly flick through the papers and pull out any that need your attention pretty promptly – eg bills, school notices, invitations, etc.

Put these important papers in a separate pile and schedule a time during the week when you’ll action them.

3. Toss 10 Things From Your Closet

Now it’s time for a little closet intervention.

Scan your hanging clothes, shoes, drawers and shelves until you find at least 10 things you don’t wear.

They can be ill-fitting, out of fashion, not your color, uncomfortable, whatever.

Don’t tell me you can’t find 10 things in there – or I’ll make it 20!

4. Look Ahead 30 Days in Your Diary

Check your calendar, diary, iPhone, or whatever you use to keep track of dates*.

Look ahead at the next month so you know what’s coming.

Are there things you need to prepare for? For instance, do you need to:

  • Buy a birthday gift?
  • Write a report for an important meeting?
  • Get your dress/suit dry-cleaned for an event?

Add these tasks to your to-do list and schedule times when you’ll do them.

*Don’t have a way to keep track of dates? Add #8: Get a diary.

5. Do One Repair That’s Been Driving You Crazy

If you’ve been tearing your hair out over an appliance, tool or gadget that’s playing up, get that sorted this weekend.

If you can fix it, fix it. If you have to take it to a repairer, take it. If you need to buy a new one, buy it.

You’ll gain energy and calm by removing that unnecessary source of stress.

6. Do a Brain Dump

You know all those to-dos, ideas, worries, brainwaves, health niggles and other bits of mental clutter rolling around in your head? They can make you feel disorganized and even chaotic. So open a document or grab a pen and notebook and get ready to download it all.

Make lists, write in a journal, create a spreadsheet or use whatever format feels good and lets you get everything out of your head.

Once you’ve done that, go back and highlight your action points, or distil a separate list if you prefer.

7. Find a Home For 10 Things

Take a look around your home at things that look out of place, take up a lot of room, or are always getting in the way. Typical offenders include remotes, toys, games/consoles, rarely-used kitchen appliances, knick-knacks, tossed clothes, bags, backpacks, etc.

If you want to keep them, find a home for them. Choose a home that reflects the item’s frequency of use.

  • If you use it often, store it somewhere handy and close to the place you use it. For instance, store remote controls in a drawer under the coffee table or on a shelf beside the TV.
  • If you use it rarely, it can go somewhere less accessible. For instance, the juicer that comes out twice a year can go into a high cupboard above the oven.

Get Organized This Weekend

Relax!

If you’ve done some or all of these 7 things, you’re going to feel so organized next week!

So enjoy the rest of the weekend – you’ve earned it. 🙂

[Image by .MegLynn.]

48 thoughts on “Get Organized Fast: 7 Things You Can Do This Weekend

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