If you’re looking for how to stay organized, then this post is for you!
Because one of the constants in life is clutter.
And that’s because few people have the time or the skills to keep up with the amount of decisions that are required to be made in order to avoid clutter.
Clutter is, after all, nothing more than a delayed decision.
But when we dig deeper on this issue, there are several underlying reasons for why most folks can’t keep up and stay organized
Here are the top 7 reason your clutter keeps coming back and you can’t stay organized:
1. No system
Having a general idea of how you want your information or belongings to live in your space is a necessity.
If you don’t have a game plan, the results will be a disorganized mess.
Likewise, if you don’t have a game plan for how you will deal with items in your home on a daily basis, you’ll end up with clutter everywhere.
2. Skipping maintenance
The dirty little secret of staying organized is that it is a never ending process.
And I’m not saying this to be overwhelming, but to drive home the point that being organized is about being able to adapt to changing situations.
Life isn’t static.
If it was, staying organized wouldn’t be so hard!
3. No permanent home
A place for everything and everything in its place is an often repeated mantra.
But what happens if you don’t have a place for everything? It’s decision time.
Do you value the stuff more than you value the time and energy you devote to letting the item hang out in your way?
You have to find a home for all of your stuff or you’ll find that clutter keeps coming back and you’ll feel like you’re on a disorganized hamster wheel.
4. Unrealistic standards
Part of being organized is about living in the present.
You have to be realistic about where you are in life.
Instead of striving to have a magazine ready space, try making changes so that it is better than when you started.
It is really hard to go from a really cluttered space to being ready for a photo shoot unless you have the help of a HGTV crew.
And as lovely as that would be, it isn’t going to happen for most folks.
5. No support system
Roommate / Partner / Spouse / Kids not on the same page as you are when it comes to organization?
You’ll be fighting an uphill battle that you’re likely to lose and go crazy in the process.
Work to get everyone in agreement about where things belong or about how often to get rid of belongings that have outlived their usefulness.
Set goals together and make a list of what needs to happen to meet those goals.
For example, if your kitchen counter is always cluttered with dirty dishes, set a schedule for loading and unloading the dishwasher.
When the dishwasher is empty, there’s no reason for dirty dishes to be on the counter.
Load, fill and run it, baby!
6. Not having right solutions
Organizing isn’t one size fits all.
That’s why there are so many different options available for baskets, bins and other organizing solutions.
But the key to being organized is using the right solution.
That’s where a professional can come into play and make it work.
Professional organizers know the landscape of available options and how to make them work for you.
7. Not having enough space
Another universal organizing truth about why clutter keeps coming back and staying organized is hard is that having a lot of space doesn’t guarantee organization.
Having too much space can lead to complete disorganization.
Given an infinite amount of space, a lot of people will just fill it up with stuff (hello, self storage units!).
To solve this issue, you have to be brutally honest with yourself about what you actually have room for.
The truth is you have the space you have now.
You probably don’t have much control over changing your space, outside of moving.
But you do have control over how much stuff you put in that space.
Plus how the stuff is organized within the space.
The space might just need to be optimized and used better.
My clients usually have it almost right and it takes a bit of tweaking to get it so that it works!
Until you are honest with yourself and live within the space limits you have, clutter will always be an issue.
The perfect solution
Tackling accumulated clutter is something that is totally necessary, but is overwhelming.
To avoid the overwhelm, take action daily.
The good news is that you don’t have to waste any time fogging out what to do each day!
The Daily 365 Days to an Organized You Home Organizing Calendar has the exact action steps to take.
Follow it each day and you’ll be well on your way to getting organized!
Over to you!
How many of these reasons for why clutter keeps coming back ring true for you?
Know that you know the top reasons why clutter is clogging up your life, you can begin to take action.
Life has a knack for throwing clutter our way, and let’s face it, most of us are neither blessed with an abundance of time nor armed with the organizational skills needed to fend off the chaos.
At its core, clutter is nothing more than a series of deferred decisions. Delve a bit deeper, and you’ll discover a myriad of reasons why keeping things in order seems like an insurmountable task.
