Staying organized is usually harder than becoming organized. Just when you get it all cleaned up, you gotta go digging to get something else out, so here are some quick tips and hacks to help you stay organized.

1. Don’t hold on to everything! This is really hard especially if you can find sentimental value in everything. When clutter starts creeping up, ask yourself the big question. Can I live without this, and if I were shopping today would I spend money on this? If you can live without it, and you wouldn’t buy it today, then place it in the donate or trash pile. It’ll feel great letting go.

2. Use bins! They stack easy and you can fit a lot of stuff in them. Keep them clear, so you can easily see contents! Write on the side your items you might search for often to easily find without pulling boxes unless you have to. If you have a craft supplies box and your glue gun is in there, thats a good thing to point out. Your future self will thank you for not getting everything out in search of one thing and you will save time!

3. Tidy up daily. When we think of a daunting task, it often takes 10 times longer in our head than in reality. The dishwasher only takes about 15 minutes to load, not 3 hours. Spending 15 minutes, or around 3 songs of putting things back where they go really helps keep the chaos at bay.

4. Create a cleaning schedule and hang it up. If you like checking off your tasks, seeing un checked boxes will surely motivate you to get it done.

5. Make sure everything has a home. If an item has a designated place, it’s more likely to be put away than an item that just floats around room to room.

6. When you are in the mood to clean and organize, do it. You’ll be more productive than when you are forcing yourself. It won’t drag as much and it can even be fun! Gasp, fun and organized in one sentence! Haha!

7. If you are organizing paper, ask yourself if this is something you can find online. Mail tends to stack up fast. If it’s important documents like bills, keep and have a designated place. Donate old magazines to shelters, or recycle. Just remember to remove your address.

8. Keep the things you use often in easy to reach places. Don’t spend time packing these away. You’ll spend more time constantly pulling it out than you need. Just keep it simple.

9. Go through your items often. If there’s something that has been packed up for longer than a season that is not a seasonal item and it hasn’t been used, use it or donate it then. I had condensed kitchen utensils recently and opened the drawer for something. I couldn’t find it, but somehow we had 3 potato mashers. Why?!!

10. When in doubt dance it out! When your organizing put on your favorite music. It’ll boost your mood and you’ll be more enthusiastic about getting rid of items.

Happy Organizing!