October 29, 2009
Help for Organizationally Challenged Families
If your family is organizationally challenged, the best way to get organized is to involve EVERYONE in the process. For lasting results, you should get organized WITH your family NOT for them or around them. Parents, you should be your children’s teachers, not their servants!
Getting organized is a big undertaking and should not be taken lightly or done on the fly because it’s unlikely to work or stick long term. There needs to be agreement by all family members about what they want to get out of the process and that requires discussion, devising a workable plan of action and figuring out how to implement the plan. Begin by asking the following questions:
- Why do we want to get organized?
- Are we willing to let go of the extra “stuff”
creating the clutter in our home? - Once our home is organized and clean,
are we willing to keep it that way?
The first step in organizing your home is to declutter it, which means getting rid of the excess. If the excess is in good condition, you can give it away, donate it or try selling it. If you want to sell it, think craigslist, eBay, a stoop sale, a yard sale…whatever will get the job done. If the family needs some motivation to act, consider using the sale proceeds on something that everyone can enjoy, like a new flat-screen television, family computer or a family vacation. Never underestimate the power of a bribe or reward. Sometimes that’s what it takes to light a fire under people and that’s OK!
The next step in organizing your home is setting aside adequate time to tackle the decluttering. Remember, your clutter probably didn’t happen in a day and it’s probably not going to get cleared up in a day. In order to accomplish your plan of action, each household member should be assigned a specific job(s). Pair up family members to tackle one room at a time. Add additional family members if the room is big or very cluttered. Pair older and younger family members together and use organizing their rooms as a way to teach children skills that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Another benefit of working together is that one member of the pair can act as a voice of reason when the other member is having trouble parting with items they’re emotionally attached to.
Set realistic goals for what can be accomplished in a given organizing session. The best way to begin is by tackling first those items that are the most important or annoying to you. If a project seems overwhelming, break it down into small segments and work on them methodically until the task is completed. Stop when the goal for that session has been reached. Be sure you have lots of boxes labeled “Trash”, “Recycle”, “Keep” and “Sell” on hand. When one fills up, put it just outside the room and start a new one.
Thoroughly declutter and clean each room - vacuum, change beds, put laundry away, dust, wash dishes, etc. - and then put the items in the “Keep” boxes in their proper places. Move on to the next room until you’ve completed the entire space, including the garage, basement and attic, if you have them. When you’re done, make a maintenance chore list and empower every family member to be responsible for seeing that a room of his or her choice is cleaned up before bedtime. Be sure to include everyone - even the littlest ones - in the upkeep and rotate tasks so that no one person is unduly burdened with a particularly difficult room. Or have two people share the responsibility for a difficult room, as well as rotating. A place for everything and everything in its place (when not in use!) is a good rule to follow to maintain order.
If you’ve decided to sell items you no longer want or need that are in good condition at an apartment, stoop, garage, lawn, etc. sale, pick a date and a rain date, just in case. Advertise your sale online, in the local paper, with flyers around your neighborhood and on local bulletin boards, etc. Send out an email invitation to friends, relatives and neighbors and ask them to pass it on to anyone they think might be interested. Make sure that every item has a price tag on it and, as much as possible, price simply so you can avoid having to make change. Be sure to have some small bills available for when you do have to make change. Group like items together in categories - all dolls together, all board games together, all baby clothes together, etc. Have an ample supply of shopping bags on hand for your customers' purchases. At the end of the sale, box up whatever hasn’t sold and donate IMMEDIATELY. The longer it stays the more likely that it won’t leave! Be sure to get a tax-deductible receipt for your donation.
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MILLER ORGANIZING. All rights reserved.
14 Stuyvesant Oval
NYC, NY 10009