where do I begin to get organized

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This is a question I hear a lot from those that are overwhelmed with clutter; where do I begin to get organized?.  Things seem to pile up when we aren’t looking and become clutter before we know it.  At some point, something catches your eye and wham!  It hits you in the face like a ton of bricks.

Life comes at us fast and we don’t always have the time to keep up with daily decluttering activities.  Because of that we may not always notice that things are getting out of hand. The realization could be more subtle.  You may be looking for a receipt to return an item, or that favorite sweater to wear today when you notice the clutter and realize you need to get organized.

At that point you may make the decision that you need to get organized.  You schedule the time to tackle your piles and the day arrives to begin.  When you look around at all your stuff, that question may pop into your head, where do I begin to get organized?

When I’m asked that question, my answer is typically in the form of a question – what room/space is bothering you the most?  It’s a simple question, but you may not consider it due to the overwhelming amount of clutter.

Sometimes asking that question doesn’t provide an easy answerIf that happens, take an empty paper towel roll and look through it around your spaces.  Something may catch your eye. This exercise limits your view to a small space, and when you’re already overwhelmed, you want to do just that, focus on a small space.  The idea is to work on small chunks of areas in small increments of time to avoid overwhelm to keep your stress level at bay.

By decluttering and organizing a small space, it may provide the motivation you need to move on to another small space, and so on, and so on.  Before you know it, you may have an entire room decluttered and organized!