 If you are {still} going to take your spring/summer clothes/shoes out of the closet to get the fall/winter back {or even if you already did} you might as well stop to re-think what is staying, and what isn’t. This is a great opportunity to SORT: Sort, Offload, Relocate and Toss! These decisions aren’t simple, but they are necessary {specially if your intention is to buy some new ones}. ;) Do you wanna make it fun? Invite your gals {or dudes!} to help you while drinking some wine! Have a “Toss Or Keep It Party”  She had one - Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) from Sex And The City.
You got everything out? Time to do the ‘SORT’! For that, we are going to separate things in three piles: one to Keep, one to relocate, and one to Toss {for the items you are selling($$$), donating or trashing – you can decide later}. Do you have some spare boxes? Do you mind using some trash bags? You will need it to put the items that won’t be back in your closet. The rest can be on your bed, right? Also, this is the time to have the party! Make the decluttering fun! You are by yourself? Put on some music and pour a glass of wine {or juice, or tequila}! It isn’t an easy task, my dear, but only you can do it!
 If you have a walk-in closet, you got no excuses!... Hang clothes by category: night dresses, day dresses, long/short sleeve shirts, skirts, pants. You decide where to start and what goes after what, but separating your clothes {and keeping it this way} will help you finding/deciding what you need faster, and you won’t forget about any pieces.
Hang your scarves: if you don’t have the scarf hanger, you can use a regular one. Just put the lighter ones in the middle to balance, so it doesn’t bend. Use as many hangers as you need. Choose a good spot to hang them {I centralize it}. Jeans: if you have a dresser, they may fit better there. You can also categorize them by color or model, even put the ones you know you use the most on the top. Underwear, pjs, under shirts: dresser or drawers/bins. Use dividers to help you keeping them organized inside the drawers. It can get really messy! Socks and tights: I always keep the pairs of socks together, and I separate them by color/propose. I roll the tights, not only to keep them organized, but to prevent damage. Shoes: if you don’t have a shoe rack or a system to keep them organized, you might want to get one. You can choose it according to the space you have, either the shoe rack or even some boxes to put up on a shelf. Just don’t let your shoes in a pile. They will last longer and you will know exactly where each pair is when organized. If you kept them on the original boxes, it also works, as long as you know where to find it. I have a shoe rack hanging behind my closet’s door that works for me, and maximizes the space {btw, here is a time lapse video of me assembling it}. Jewelry: here you have many options… I have a Hanging Organizer where I set silver in one side and gold/old gold on the other, so I can see them all. If you have special/expensive/fancy jewelry, you might want to keep them in a nice box to preserve them. Bags/purse: I don’t have a hanger for mine, so I leave some {that I use the most} out of the closet hanging on the coats rack. The rest I keep in my stack basket. You can also use boxes or bins, or this large shoe rack. Did I forget anything? I hope not… Let’s go back to the Toss pile? OMG NO YESFrom there, you can pick the items you could still sell {yard sales, or eBay, for example}, and the ones you can’t, you could donate {make others happy and even maybe get some tax deduction}. What isn’t good even to donate can go to regular trash. Do not even think about getting them back from the dead! If you decided to get rid of it, you no longer need it. OMG! This is going to make your life so mucheasier and you will be so proud of yourself after this! Don’t forget to share your thoughts/results with me here! Although I provided some links so you can have an idea of what I am talking about, I also uploaded a video showing my closet/dresser. You can check it out {and subscribe} here ;) I am also part of the Periscope and Snapchat planet now, and you can find me as @iamaneataholic Join my Neat-a-Holic world also on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter where I post hot trendy tips about organizing, home decoration, interior design, DIY projects and + every day! And don’t forget to sign up for the blog if you haven’t. I am Izabelle Azevedo, Professional Organizer and founder at Neat-a-Holic Solutions ||| neataholic@gmail.com |||
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 I recently read the book “The Secret Of Tidying Up” by Kim Tyler, and I gave it 5 stars on Amazon, because it is great! I strongly recommend it if you want some tips on how to get your life organized.
But before you get it {if you decide to do so}, I would like to share some words from chapter 6, which talks about organizing your workspace. And I totally agree with the author about how important it is – for all the reasons we already know. She also mentions that “an organized work space can show how professional you are. When everything is organized, you will have more focus in dealing with your tasks and you will be able to remember the important tasks more.” – can you find any cons on that? I definitely cannot. Taking action: Kim makes suggestions on how to tidy the drawers and cabinets, desk, computer files, and personal items. Starting with the drawers and cabinets, she says that we need to declutter and discard all the items we no longer use, including papers that now have no significance. Sorting is the #1 rule before starting organizing any place, so we can toss or replace the things in order to get it neat. After discarding, it is time to “group your things according to category”. She then suggests placing the pens and pencils in a pencil case, grouping books and papers according to task, and using labels for the plan files or/and alphabetically for easy finding. I would add some dividers and drawer organizers depending on what you store, to keep it as organized as it can be, and easy to find what you need. So #1 – sort and discard, #2 – categorize, #3 – place items Moving on to your desk, Kim tells us to clear it from “unnecessary things, leaving the essential ones only to maximize space and minimize clutter and distractions.” She suggests {and I totally agree} we should have an organizer for pens and pencils, a trash bin near the desk {this one I think is essential}, and if the desk has drawers, we should place the items we use more often at the topmost {and this applies for any cabinets drawers and shelves I guess}. From my experience, I think all the spots discussed here are important, but we spend most of the time on our desk {when in the office, usually}, and it is sooooo much better to work when it is clear and organized. Trust me. Computer files are my least favorite, but not least important. The advice Kim offers in this book is to get an external hard drive to put the files that you don’t need but still want to keep, and also a copy of the very important ones. Try to reduce the files on desktop to a minimum and get rid of the “programs and softwares you don’t really use to save space and for improved functionality that can increase your productivity and time efficiency”. Of course we are NOT talking about a home office, but if this is your case {like it is mine}, you can still use these tips, right? Same about personal items. She tells us to place them in one area, like the bottom drawer of your desk, a cabinet or a shelf. I would add to remember to keep only the stuff you may need. This is a short description of what you can do to organize your workspace, but feel free to contact me or leave a question. I will post about how I made the home office from the picture above a better place to work. Stay tuned and sign up to be the first to know about our posts ;) NOTE: This post is based on chapter 6 of “The Secret Of Tidying Up” by Kim Tyler. For some daily tips about organizing, home decor and more, join us here: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter I am Izabelle Azevedo, Professional Organizer at Neat-a-Holic Solutions |
