Organize + Energize: It’s Time to Refresh and Recharge!

Email to a friend Permalink

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Kristin MacRae, GoLocalPDX Organizing Expert

Do you feel comfortable in your home? Do you avoid coming home after a stressful day? Is the vibe and energy in your home making you feel depressed?  Are you tired of feeling this way? If so, it’s time to make some changes.

Here are 6 ways to refresh and recharge:

Be more mindful. We need to be more mindful of the items we purchase. Think about the money you’ve wasted on impulse purchases. You may have items that are sitting in the basement in boxes that haven’t been opened in years. Think about all the clothes that are hanging in your closet with tags still on them. Next time you go to purchase something, ask yourself if you really need it. 

Save money. Think about how many times you’ve purchased a duplicate item of something you already own. If you are disorganized, you probably don’t feel like scouring the house for a misplaced item, so you usually just purchase another. Think about how much money you could have saved if you didn’t waste it on purchasing duplicate items. Create systems in your home by itemizing and categorizing everything so when you need it, you’ll be able to find it.

Get it out of the house. You’re holding on to items that you’ve wanted to donate. You have items that don’t belong to you that you need to return. These items are cluttering up your home and need to go. If you’re holding things that belong to other people, go through the piles and make a list of all the people you have to return items to and send them back immediately. Put the bags of donate in the car, get them out of the house and make a plan to drop them off at a donation center. Take items you have to sell and make an appointment right away with a consignment store or schedule a yard sale. Are you holding onto items with the hopes that you can pass them onto other family members?  Does that person you’re giving it to really want them? They might not want it, but feel bad and take it and now it ends up in their basement. It becomes a vicious cycle.

Keep what’s important to you. I’m not telling you to throw away everything. I want you to keep the items that mean something to you. When you have too much stuff, the sentimental items get entangled with the items that don’t mean anything to you. As you declutter, decide what will be useful, what is sentimental, and what is never going to be used. You want to be able to appreciate the sentimental items. Decide whether you want to keep them in a box in the basement or whether you would like to display them. Don’t let the sentimental items become part of the clutter.

Tell people how you feel. If somebody wants to pass an item down to you and you really don’t want it, be honest with them. Tell them that you don’t have room for it or you don’t have a good use for the item. If you don’t like it, don’t take it. How many of you have taken an item somebody has given you and it ends up in the back of a closet or thrown in the basement?

Organize.  Once you declutter and get rid of everything that you no longer need, it’s time to organize. Remember to break this process down. Don’t look at the project on a whole or you will get overwhelmed, stressed, frustrated, and nothing will get done.  When you are organized, it’s easy to see what you have in your home. When you need something, you will find it immediately. You will be able to appreciate and respect your belongings.

Watch how your energy will shift when you refresh your home and practice some of the above tips. People that I’ve worked with describe this process as cleansing, cathartic, and freeing. Tackle one room a week or a month. Take note as to how you feel once you’ve completed this project.

Kristin Carcieri-MacRae, is an organizing & efficiency expert.
 

Related Articles

• Organize + Energize: How are You Dealing With Article Clutter?
• Organize + Energize: Create a Time Management Template
• Organize + Energize: How Organized Was Your Business This Year?
• Organize + Energize: How to Keep Your Pet Organized
• Organize + Energize: Is Your Cluttered Bedroom Killing Your Mood?
• Organize + Energize: Create a Purpose for Each Room in Your Home
• Organize + Energize: An Organized Bathroom for the Holidays
• Organize + Energize: 7 Ways to Make Life Less Chaotic
• Organize + Energize: 7 Ways You are Wasting Money Due to Your Disorganization
• Organize + Energize: 8 Ways to be More Efficient at Home
• Organize + Energize: A Quick Organizing Project - Organizing Your Meds
• Organize + Energize: Moving into a Dorm Room? Here are 10 Things You Need to do to Prepare
• Organize + Energize: Organize Your Business Cards
• Organize + Energize: ThredUp - One of the Easiest Ways to Sell Your Clothes
• Organize + Energize: The Quick & Easy Way to Sell Your Designer Handbags
• Organize + Energize: Word of the Year - Memorabilia
• Organize+ Energize: 4 Organizing Projects to Tackle This Winter
• Organize+ Energize: 5 Holiday Organizing Projects You Can Tackle This Weekend
• Organize + Energize: The Office Product You Need to Stop Using Now
• Organize + Energize: The Harmful Effects of Dry Cleaning Bags
• Organize + Energize: Peeling Back the Layers of an Organizing Project
• Organize + Energize: Simple Way to Organize Your Receipts
• Organize + Energize: Stop Resisting Change & Get Organized At Work
• Organize + Energize: Teachers - It’s time to Organize Your Classroom
• Organize + Energize: 7 Qualities Employers Look for in an Administrative Assistant
• Organize + Energize: 6 Ways to Maintain an Organized Home With Kids (and Spouses)
• Organize + Energize: 2 Projects to Tackle This Summer
• Organize + Energize: 10-Minute Organizing Projects You Can Tackle with Your Kids
• Organize + Energize: 4 Organizing Projects to Tackle This Spring
• Organize + Energize: 4 Reasons to Start Planning and Preparing Meals
• Organize + Energize: 4 Ways to Maintain Your Organized Space
• Organize + Energize: 10 Ways to Stay Focused at Work
• Organize + Energize: 10 Areas You Find Most Challenging to Get Organized
• How to Organize Your Home Room by Room
• Nearly One-Quarter of Bailey’s Campaign Financing Came from Organized Labor
• Organize + Energize:  7 Tips to Prepare For a Yard Sale
• Organize + Energize:  9 Ways to Get Your Kids Organized For Back to School
• Organize + Energize: 5 Organizing Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make
• Organize + Energize: 5 Reasons You Can’t Get Rid of Your Stuff
• Organize + Energize: 6 Reasons You Should Hire a Pro to Help With Your Disorganization
• Organize + Energize: 6 Tips to Organize Kid’s Toys Before the Holidays!
• Organize + Energize: 6 Ways to Get Energized by Being Organized
• Organize + Energize: 6 Ways to Hack a Tiered Spice Rack
• Organize + Energize: 6 Reasons You Need to Declutter
• Organize + Energize: 6 Areas Where People Get Stuck in the Organizing Process
• Organize + Energize: 5 Things to do After You’ve Organized Your Office
• Organize + Energize: 5 Things to do Now to Reduce Holiday Stress
• Organize + Energize: 5 Ways to Feel Comfortable in your Home
• Organize + Energize: 5 Ways To Stay Focused During Your Organizing Project
• Credit Forces Combine To Organize Big Portland Float Event

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

Email to a friend Permalink