{"id":6073,"date":"2015-10-08T06:05:16","date_gmt":"2015-10-08T11:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/professional-organizer.com\/WordPress\/?p=6073"},"modified":"2016-02-16T21:19:30","modified_gmt":"2016-02-17T02:19:30","slug":"10-common-mistakes-when-organizing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/professional-organizer.com\/WordPress\/10-common-mistakes-when-organizing\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Common Mistakes when Organizing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"common<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Even with the best of intention and efforts, your organizing may not be making a difference. You may have tried many times to get organized, but for some reason your home is cluttered.\u00a0 It may be that one of these common organizing mistakes is a problem.\u00a0 Check out these solutions for common organizing mistakes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Plan your work and work your plan<\/h3>\n

Too often we jump into organizing and find we have made a bigger mess.\u00a0 Take a few minutes to think about what you would like your organization to look like, what you need most, and what routines will keep it organized.\u00a0 A little pre-planning makes all the difference.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

More bins = more organized<\/h3>\n

It’s not about having more storage. It’s not about having the right bins.\u00a0 Hold off from buying bins until you have worked through and decluttered your space. Then you are ready to decide on storage options.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Difficulty decluttering<\/h3>\n

We start decluttering, get everything in a bag, and it stays at your entry or in\u00a0 your car for weeks.\u00a0 Make decluttering easy<\/a> with an easy way to drop off your donations.\u00a0 Have a donation bag set up in your home for regular drop offs.\u00a0 The easier it is, the more you will donate.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Zig zag organizing<\/h3>\n

You start in one space and realize you need to bring stuff to another room.\u00a0 You head there and – oops – that space needs work too. Labeled as zig zap organizing, you will see the most success if you remain in and worn on only one space at a time.\u00a0 Place the stuff at the door with a post it note on it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Too much coming in<\/h3>\n

Even the most organized home suffers when more and more is brought in to the space.\u00a0 Start an awareness of how much you purchase, why and when you purchase items.\u00a0 By creating a barrier to more stuff, you are able to establish organizing systems and routines.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Label, label, label<\/h3>\n

It can be surprising how much labeling a space makes a difference. Everyone knows where items belong and can put them away.\u00a0\u00a0 Labeling keeps you organized.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Daily distribution<\/h3>\n

It’s easy to stash and dash. That’s when you get a new item but regretfully never put it away.\u00a0 Set up a daily distribution time to reset your personal and family organizing, put items away and put away the bags they came in.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Paper, paper everywhere<\/h3>\n

Keep your paper together. It sounds overwhelming, but keeping it in one spot helps you sort, recycle and keep the important papers. When paper gets spread out, all of a sudden it’s everywhere.\u00a0 Create one designated spot for mail to come to and sort.\u00a0 Triage it daily<\/a> and work on your papers weekly.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Keep it all, just in case<\/h3>\n

We don’t know what paper we might need to we keep it.\u00a0 We think we might use something, and we keep it just in case.\u00a0 It’s time to make a decision and decide what to eliminate.\u00a0 Basic questions to ask are these.\u00a0\u00a0 When will I use it again? Do I have another good one?\u00a0 Would I purchase this again today?\u00a0 Don’t let indecision keep you from being organized.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Team up<\/h3>\n

Organizing is hard work! Don’t go it alone!\u00a0 Gather up a team, whether it’s your family, church members, office colleagues or hired help. When\u00a0 you work together you make more progress and have fun too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Are you struggling with getting organized? Post your question or problem here for a solution.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Join my newsletter<\/a> for a monthly dose of organizing and productivity inspiration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Even with the best of intention and efforts, your organizing may not be making a difference. You may have tried many times to get organized, but for some reason your home is cluttered.\u00a0 It may be that one of these common organizing mistakes is a problem.\u00a0 Check out these solutions for common organizing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[1522],"class_list":["post-6073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-organizing-skills","tag-10-common-mistakes-when-organizing"],"yoast_head":"\n10 Common Mistakes when Organizing - Ellen's Blog, Professional Organizing for Kingwood & Houston<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/professional-organizer.com\/WordPress\/10-common-mistakes-when-organizing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 Common Mistakes when Organizing - Ellen's Blog, Professional Organizing for Kingwood & Houston\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"    Even with the best of intention and efforts, your organizing may not be making a difference. 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