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A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place
Tools and Techniques to Attack Home Organization By Suzy Feine
Keeping up with the Joneses does have its drawbacks. Not only is it expensive to live a life of constant spending, but this lifestyle also leads to one clear and definite side effect: clutter. Clutter in your home leads to disorganization. Clutter robs you of precious time wasted searching for misplaced items. Clutter can teach children to lead a life of messy habits. Clutter just the word makes some people crazy.
Celia Rocks, president of Rocks-DeHart Public Relations and author of Organizing the Good Life: A Path to Joyful Simplicity Home to Work & Back (Facts on Demand Press, 2001), transformed herself from a spend-a-holic consumed with mindless materialism to a person on the "path to joyful simplicity," as indicated in her book. By simplifying her life, Rocks escaped from debt and in the process developed a rewarding career and found time for what matters in her life.
Rocks attributes two factors to personal disorganization. "First, society allows us to obtain too much stuff too fast," says Rocks. "Second, we don't link organization to success. Most people do not know the cost of being unorganized; therefore, they don't try to correct it with clear intent."
Ramona Creel, founder of OnlineOrganizing.com and an experienced professional organizer, recommends starting with the area in the home that causes the most pain. "Think about what part of your house you dread dealing with, that always makes you say, 'I just can't stand this anymore, I've got to do something about this!'" says Creel. "And it doesn't have to be a whole room. It can be a countertop or a closet or a cabinet. Often it's better to start with just one small area."
Devising a plan of attack is the first step to organization, but this step can lead to defeat even before the real cleaning begins. "Thinking about all the organizing you need to do throughout your whole house will just overwhelm you, frustrate you and maybe even cause you to give up," says Creel. "Finish that one small area before moving on to another spot. You'll get a real sense of accomplishment knowing that one area is DONE, and you'll see the organization spread throughout your home."
To get you started in the right direction, Creel has pulled together a booklet titled 10 Easy Ways to Organize Your Home
