Cut Down on the Unnecessaries

By its very definition, organizing means bringing order to chaos. While making use of organization hacks around the home might temporarily settle things, the best thing you can do is cut straight to the root of the issue and get rid of all the things that aren’t necessary in your life. Getting rid of all the unnecessaries, as famed organizer Marie Kondo teaches, makes you less likely to get caught up in the mess of everyday life.

You might find it difficult to get rid of some possessions, but it’s important to remember that there isn’t much sense in keeping things around that you don’t often use. On the other hand, don't be so quick to chuck everything into the trash, as you could get a return on your investment by selling your higher-end things. Otherwise, try your best to donate the rest to thrift stores and charity organizations. As they say, one man’s trash…

Ditch the Paper Trail and Go Digital

How much of your clutter is paper-based? If you have stacks of receipts, files, and forms all over the place, it’s time for a change. You could spring for a folder organizer, or even a filing cabinet, but those still take up crucial space in your home. Rather, you should instead look into digitizing your files.

There are a few different ways you could go about making digital backups of your files. You can use a scanner and keep everything backed up on a thumb drive, but it’s worth knowing that your smartphone can take scanner-quality pictures, too. Plus, apps like Google Drive and Dropbox make it easy to upload these files to the cloud, if you’re comfortable keeping them there. Whatever you do, you should keep multiple copies of your important files – you never know when a hard drive will fail.

Use a Planner to Stay on Top of Tasks

Organizing your life isn’t just about getting all your material possessions in order. It also means learning how to best use your time efficiently. Even if you don’t consider yourself to be an active person, it’s worth looking into using a planner to sort your events and obligations.

There are plenty of ways to do this. These days, it’s all too easy if you tend to carry a smart phone around with you, as apps like Google Calendar, Trello, and Remember the Milk offer different ways to organize your daily life. If you’re more of a pen-and-paper type person, check out the Bullet Journal organization method or simply pick up a day planner at your local office supply store.

These tips will help you get started with bringing order to your life, but they aren’t the end-all, be-all of organization. It’ll probably take some trial and error before you find the methods that work best for you. Whatever you choose to do, stick with it! Failing to keep up with your organization goals will only bring you right back to where you started.