Organize + Energize: Streamlining Systems in Your Home
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
If you are starting on your journey to get organized, you may be thinking that you want to get creative and make things look really pretty like the pictures on social media sites. If you are just beginning with this organizing process and making attempts you have never made before, be cautious of social media sites with organizing pictures. Why you ask? You will see some crazy, complicated, difficult to follow systems and some that just don't make sense. I look at some of the pictures and think that they will create more work for people. Organizing is all about making you become more efficient and productive and if it complicates your life rather than making it easier, it's not worth it.
Most people who are beginning the organizing process are overwhelmed and stressed. Some will turn to these social media outlets for help, but end up more overwhelmed and confused.
For instance, I came across a picture that had 2 tall pretty bottles. Think: old fashioned soda bottles. These bottles were being used as a bracelet organizer. All of the bracelets were stacked on top of each other. The set up looked quite nice and beautiful, BUT that wasn’t my first reaction. I asked myself a few questions when I saw this.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTHow long is it going to take me to grab the bracelet in the middle? I’m all about efficiency and if it’s going to take me a few minutes to pull all of the bracelets off to get the one I want, it’s not practical.
How many bracelets do I have to touch to grab the one I want? If I have to touch 4 bracelets to get to the one I want, I just wasted time. I know it’s only a few seconds, but add that up throughout your home and guess how much time you could save.
What am I going to do with the ones on top once I take them off? Will they get left out to put away later? Most people are in a rush and would take the bracelets off and leave them and not put them back. Now you have items that need to be picked up at a later time, creating more work.
Wouldn’t it be easier to develop a system where you could open a drawer or a jewelry organizer and grab the bracelet when you needed it? You wouldn’t have to go through all of the above. Think of how this could affect you if it were a larger organizing project.
This is just one example, but it makes you think a little different about this system, right? This is how you should approach all of the systems you develop. Again, it's work to create these efficient working systems, but after a while, it will become second nature to develop these systems.
Think about areas in your home where you spend the most time. How efficient are you in those rooms? Evaluate how you are functioning, how you grab items and how many items you have to touch before you find what you need. You may need to tweak the systems you have in place to make them work better for you. Streamline how you function in your home. For those that say they never have enough time, these are the ways you create more time.
When creating your systems, remember that simpler is better. The more complicated the system, the more likely it is going to fail. Also, it's great to have something pretty, colorful and nice to look at but think about if it's also going to help you become more efficient and productive.
Kristin Carcieri-MacRae, the founder and owner of Organizing in RI, has always enjoyed finding creative ways to streamline the environment around her. She has appeared on air on Patricia Raskin's Positive Business Radio and her articles have been published in the Rhode Island Small Business Journal and New England Home Life. Kristin's CD, Organizing Basics, is a 1-hour guide for the person who wants to get organized but doesn't know where to start. She is also available for organizing workshops. Tune into her weekly radio show, Organize, Energize! on talkstreamradio.com.
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