Home Organizing for Beginners: Organizing, cleaning and time management strategies

What to do when you don't know how to get organized

In each episode I share a microscopic home organizing topic. That just means it’s something you can implement today, from start to finish, if you so choose.
Today’s microscopic home organizing topic is this:What you can do when you don’t know how to get organized.
As someone who is or feels like they’re just starting their home organizing journey you want to be set up for lasting home organizing solutions, right?  In order to make that happen you’ll have to do something different than you’ve done before or what society tells us.
Instead of feeling like you should already know how to get organized or forcing yourself to figure it out on your own you can ask questions and get answers. In this episode which is super short so you can take action right away I’ll share with you where you can go to ask questions about home organizing, why it’s ok to ask questions and the steps you can take today to get started.
Let’s start with where you can go to ask all your home organizing questions. I’ve created an online community - not in Facebook because we all know Facebook is just a time suck with oodles of distractions. Instead it’s found within my website so that you can stay focused when you’re working on your home organizing project. This community is where you can go to ask me anything about home organizing and I’ll answer!
I used to feel like there was something wrong with me because I couldn’t be organized “like everyone else.” I was too embarrassed to ask questions of my friends that always seemed to have it so together. You don't have to keep struggling. Maybe you’re not sure where to get started. Or maybe you have a room specific question like, what is the best type of container to store my makeup in? Whatever your question is, come to this community and ask it. You don’t have to forge through this all by yourself. You are definitely not the only one who struggles to get and stay organized!
So, the steps to ask your questions are quick and painless. 
Go to http://www.homeorganizingforbeginners.com Click the button on the top of the website and sign up for an account -no payment info is needed.Create your profile - basically add your name and picture if you like.Ask your questions!
I like to wrap up every episode with a single point to remember. This point is meant to help you remember what you’ve learned today so that you can make progress and build momentum in your home organizing journey.
Today’s point to remember is this:
Ask questions. Get answers. Today.
Thanks so much and have a great day! I hope to meet you in the free community!

Strategy 8 Sustain

This is it. This is the final strategy that will help get you off the hamster wheel of home organizing. That’s where you organize the same spaces over and over and over again. If you’ve not listened to the episodes detailing out the other 7 strategies you’ll certainly want to go back and listen to all of them. It can be right now before the rest of this episode or after you’re done here. All 8 strategies work together because they’re all created with sustainability in mind. If you’re not able to keep your organized spaces organized what’s the point, right? It feels like such a waste of time.
As someone who is or feels like they’re just starting their home organizing journey you want to be set up for lasting home organizing solutions, right?  In order to make that happen you’ll have to do something different than you’ve done before or what society tells us.
Instead of stopping your home organizing project after everything has been physically done you can finish by putting measures in place to SUSTAIN it. In this episode I’ll share with you what it means to SUSTAIN your work, why it’s important and how to make it happen.
Let’s dive deep into your home organizing journey together. Sign up for The Secrets to Lasting Home Organization at www.homeorganizingforbeginners.com .
Join me next week as we dive into what you can do when you don’t know how to get organized.

Strategy 7 Organize

How many times have you stopped at a store, saw some really nice baskets or bins and all of sudden had motivation to get organized. Literally this is where I think we all start. My daughter, without any prior discussion, asked if we could buy these specific baskets so that, and I quote, “I can organize my bedroom, mom.” How is it that buying baskets or bins will result in an organized bedroom? When we actually stop and think about it we realize that the baskets and bins would look nice but we have no idea if they fit the space or what we would even store in them.
And this is why so many of us wind up on the hamster wheel of home organizing where we have to organize the same spaces over and over and over again. 
The strategy we’ll talk about today is the strategy that most people think of when they think of getting organized, but with a twist. 
As someone who is or feels like they’re just starting their home organizing journey you want to be set up for lasting home organizing solutions, right?  In order to make that happen you’ll have to do something different than you’ve done before or what society tells us.
Instead of starting with cute bins and resolving to just get rid of everything, you can shift your focus when you ORGANIZE. In this episode I’ll share with you what it means to organize, why it’s important and how to organize so that you can set yourself up for success and ultimately get off the hamster wheel of home organizing.
You can dive deeper into organizing by focusing on the function with me by your side. Sign up for The Secrets to Lasting Home Organization at www.homeorganizingforbeginners.com .
Join me next week as we dive into strategy 8, Sustain. This is the final strategy in this series about How to get organized and stay organized.
Your Home Organizing Educator,Tammy

Strategy 6 SORT

Does the thought of going through all your stuff in order to get organized make you feel anxious and overwhelmed? You are not alone. What I’ve learned over time and in talking with a lot of moms is that getting started is HARD because we think we have to get rid of a lot of our stuff in order to get organized and we’re just not ready until we are ready. Up until a couple of years ago I had every piece of artwork that my kids ever made stashed away in tons of boxes and bins shoved here, there and everywhere! And truth be told, I still have all the daily reports from when they were in day care! I kept them all! They’re all 3 hole punched and stored in binders tucked away in my closet.
Minimalism seems to be all the rage right now. They say, just get rid of your stuff. It’s so much easier to keep your home tidy and organized. While that is a true statement, it is in fact easier to be organized if you have less stuff, it’s not a requirement. You can be organized and keep your stuff. Isn’t that a relief?!
As someone who is or feels like they’re just starting their home organizing journey you want to be set up for lasting home organizing solutions, right?  In order to make that happen you’ll have to do something different than you’ve done before or what society tells us.
Instead of starting with cute bins and resolving to just get rid of everything, you can start with SORT your stuff. In this episode I’ll share with you what it means to SORT your stuff, why you need to and how to make it happen.
You can dive deeper into sorting through your stuff with me by your side. Sign up for The Secrets to Lasting Home Organization at www.homeorganizingforbeginners.com.
Join me next week as we dive into strategy 7, ORGANIZE.
Your Home Organizing Educator,Tammy

Strategy 5 Pictures

Have you found yourself watching home organizing shows on Netflix? I love watching them, but I typically walk away with this vision in my head of what an organized home is supposed to be - perfection. Wonderful decor, all matching, fitting in the allotted spaces. The work they do on those shows is great, but I’ve found for myself and my clients, it ultimately demotivates most moms. It’s just not realistic to think that our homes will look like what they do on those shows. I mean it can, but then we can’t live life in our homes. We can’t play with our kids, we can’t let them paint in our kitchens, or build forts in our living rooms. Real life dictates that our homes will look lived in because they are!
As someone who is or feels like they’re just starting their home organizing journey you want to be set up for lasting home organizing solutions, right?  In order to make that happen you’ll have to do something different than you’ve done before or what society tells us.
Instead of looking to others on TV shows, Pinterest or other social platforms for motivation, you can take pictures of your own home organizing journey. In this episode I’ll share with you what pictures to take, why you need to do so and how to manage them in order to optimize their effect.
You can dive deeper into taking and managing your home organizing pictures with me by your side. Sign up for The Secrets to Lasting Home Organization at www.homeorganizingforbeginners.com.
Join me next week as we dive into strategy 6, Sort. I share what sorting is, why you sort your stuff and how to do so effectively.
Your Home Organizing Educator,Tammy

Strategy 4 Right Size

How can I get organized when I’m so busy?
This is a very valid concern and one that I had too. I used to carve out entire weekends or take days off of work just so that I could get organized. The problem with this is that since I felt like I had carved out all this time I could get a ton done. And it was inevitable that I would bite off more than I could chew. I’d get to the end of the day or weekend and find that I wasn’t finished. Or worse yet, I would get stuck part way through or feel completely overwhelmed at the size of the task and simply give up! I would never finish.
If carving out huge blocks of time in your schedule to get organized is NOT something that will work for you, then right sizing your project will be a game changer!
As someone who is or feels like they’re just starting their home organizing journey you want to be set up for lasting home organizing solutions, right?  In order to make that happen you’ll have to do something different than you’ve done before or what society tells us.
Instead of carving out huge blocks of time where you feel pressured to get it all done, you can right size your projects throughout your entire home organizing journey. In this episode I’ll share with you what right sizing means, why you must do so and how to figure out the right size project to start with. 
You can dive deeper into right sizing your first home organizing project with me by your side. Sign up for The Secrets to Lasting Home Organization at www.homeorganizingforbeginners.com.
Join me next week as we dive into strategy 5, Pictures. I share what pictures to take, why to take them and how you can manage them to optimize their effect on your home organizing journey.
Your Home Organizing Educator,Tammy

Strategy 3 Decision Strategy

I’m going to guess this has happened to you before, and I only know because it has happened to me too! You finally feel motivated to get organized. You have the whole weekend planned, you’re going to start with your office, then do the junk drawer in the kitchen. You know it’s a stretch goal, but you totally feel up for it. Saturday morning hits, you get up, get your cup of coffee and dive in starting with your desk. It’s cluttered, stuff piled up all over it so you start there. You start with a pile of paperwork, you see some old bills and think oh no! Did I pay those? You take a look online and find that they are paid. OK, still feeling motivated you dive back into the rest of the piles. There are some of the books your kids used to read, you page through them and feel a pang of sadness. You brush that to the side along with the books. Now you open a drawer, you know the top of the desk isn’t done, but that all needs a lot of hard decisions, the drawers should be easier. But they’re not. You forgot that the last time you got organized you shoved a bunch of old paperwork inside. UGH! Maybe the junk drawer will be easier and you need more coffee. It’s noon and nothing is done yet! You make lunch, sit down to watch a show and pretty much never return to the project.
This happens because making decisions is HARD. And it’s ok. If making the decision of what to do with your kids books was easy, they wouldn’t be piled on your desk, right?
As someone who is or feels like they’re just starting their home organizing journey you want to be set up for lasting home organizing solutions, right?  In order to make that happen you’ll have to do something different than you’ve done before or what society tells us.
Instead of starting with cute bins and resolving to just get rid of everything, you can put together a Decision Strategy. In this episode I’ll share with you what a Decision Strategy is, why you need one and what to consider to create your own.
You can dive deeper into devising your decision strategy with me by your side. Sign up for The Secrets to Lasting Home Organization.
Your Home Organizing Educator,Tammy

Strategy 2 Home Organizing Plan

How do I get organized and stay organized? This is a question I hear a lot and it’s a question I used to ask myself too. I was so tired of organizing the same spaces over and over again. It happened often enough for me to name the cycle the hamster wheel of home organizing.
We have a set of lockers in our entryway coming in from the garage. I lost count on how many times I got this space organized only to have it be a complete disaster again within the week. Oh my gosh I would get so stinking mad! I’d just feel defeated. It’s the worst because that’s the space I’d walk into as soon as I got home from work. And if you listened to last week's episode you’d know that in creating your home organizing vision you consider how you want to feel when you walk into your home or a space. I want to feel peace, calm and joy. Not frustration, anger and defeat!
As someone who is or feels like they’re just starting their home organizing journey you want to be set up for lasting home organizing solutions, right?  In order to make that happen you’ll have to do something different than you’ve done before or what society tells us.
Instead of starting with cute bins and resolving to just get rid of everything, you can put together a Home Organizing Plan. In this episode I’ll share with you what a home organizing plan is, why you need one and how to create it.
I would recommend printing out the free download that goes along with this podcast so that you can easily put together your Home Organizing Plan. Go to home organizing for beginners . com and sign up. I’ll put the link in the show notes. You actually get a lot more than just this single download, you get access to all the downloads for all 8 strategies. They’re all in the free program called The Secrets to Lasting Home Organization.
Your Home Organizing Educator,Tammy

Strategy 1 Home Organizing Vision

I felt fear and frustration everyday when I’d walk into my home. It was always a mess. I’d get motivated to do something, set aside an entire weekend to finally get organized only to wind up irritated with being interrupted by my kids. I’d yell, they’d cry. Ugh. It was an ugly situation! One I’m not proud to share, but I know now that I’m not alone in this cycle.
I just wanted to walk into my home after a long day at work and feel peace, calm and joy. I seriously wish I’d had that back then.
I don’t want you to miss out on the precious time with your kids. I want you to find that peace, calm and joy before it’s too late!
To do that, you’ll have to do something different than what you’ve done before or what we are constantly told by society. Everything I teach starts with sustainability in mind. You don’t want to spend your time organizing the same spaces over and over again, right?
Instead of starting with cute bins and resolving to just get rid of everything, you can learn where to really start - with a Home Organizing Vision. In this episode I’ll share with you what a home organizing vision is, why you need one and how to craft a useful one.
Free Resource: The Secrets to Lasting Home Organization
Your Home Organizing Educator,Tammy

Home Organization - 8 Strategies to help you get started, get organized and stay organized

As someone who is or feels like they’re just starting their home organizing journey you want to be set up for lasting home organizing solutions, right?
In today’s episode I’ll share with you the 8 strategies you need to employ in order to stay off that hamster wheel of home organizing forever. Then over the next 8 weeks we’ll dive deeper into each strategy. We’ll identify what the problems are when you don’t utilize the strategy and we’ll lay out the steps you can follow to implement each one.
If you want access to all of these strategies today, you can get them for free in the online course The Secrets to Lasting Home Organization. You get video training on each of the 8 strategies and documents to use that will help you implement each one. Again, if you’re ready to get going you can access all of what I’ll be sharing over the next 8 weeks today for free. 
Free Resource: The Secrets to Lasting Home Organization
Thanks so much! Tammy