January is Get Organized (GO) Month!

5. Gather Likes with Likes
Gather all of your like items together and evaluate them as a group. It’s a lot easier to make decisions on what can go when you’re actually looking at how many you have of each item. Start with broad categories (such as ‘hair’ when organizing your bathroom); and once the first sorting is done, subdivide further into specific categories (hairpins and clips, brushes, products, etc.) And finally, find the right container for it (for example, Ziplocs for small bathroom items.)

6. Put It Where You Use It

Being organized is often more about thinking outside the box and fine tuning one's daily routines than simply finding a home for everything. In order to STAY organized, you will need to find systems that are functional and easy to maintain. Putting things back where they belong should take no more than one or two steps. So no matter how unconventional, put it where you use it and cut down on the extra work it takes to tidy up. Think ‘location, location, location’. And by all means, if necessary, don’t hesitate and remove closets or cabinets doors to replace them with curtains for example.

9. Rotate and Rotate Some More! 
To make room in your closets, always put away off-season and between-sized clothes in bins, vacuumed bags or under bed storage containers. Now, how about toy rotation? This is by far one of my favorite ways to handle toy overload and the benefits are priceless: cuts out clean-up time, builds respect for belongings, increases concentration, deepens engagement, helps avoid overstimulation, etc.

I invite you to visit these few links to learn more about toy rotation:

Child’s Play: The Art of Toy Rotation
Motherhood Mondays: The Great Toy Experiment Cup of Jo
How to Rotate Toys – Little Stories

10. Tend to Visual Clutter

Visual clutter equals mental clutter; and there are lots of items that contribute to visual clutter in our homes. Electronics are a good example. Cords and a multitude of devices may lead to tangled plug-ins and a jumble of items. Solve those visual storage problems with pretty containers and boxes. When it's pleasing to look at, you'll be more likely to regularly tend to it.

11. One-in, One-Out
Truth is; it is easier to maintain a decluttered environment then to achieve it. So once you’ve done the hard work to get there, adopt a ‘one-in, one-out rule’. From then on, when you acquire a new pair of shoes, magazine or cooking pan an old one must be discarded, recycled or donated.