Organize + Energize: 8 Ways to be More Efficient at Home

Tuesday, November 03, 2015

 

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Do you wish there were more hours in the day? Do you find that you are always busy but not much is getting accomplished? How well are you managing your time at home?

If you are disorganized, you probably aren’t as efficient and productive as you’d like to be. Time management and being organized go hand in hand. When both are in alignment, you’ll be working at peak performance. 

Here are 8 ways to be more efficient at home:

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Get organized. You can’t do anything else in this list until you conquer this first. If you want to become more efficient, you have to get organized. You can’t become an efficient person if you are surrounded by piles, clutter and don’t have working systems in place.

Have systems in place. Once you get organized, you will create processes and systems for everything you do in your home. Once you give each space a purpose in your home, then you can create a system and process for the things that live in that space.

Streamline processes.  Once your systems are in place and you work with them for a little, you’ll realize that you can streamline them. Try to take a task from 7 steps down to 3. Think about how you can make that task as simple as you can. 

Have less. The less useless stuff you have in your home that’s just taking up space, the easier tasks will get in your home. The less stuff you have, the less you have to think about. Everything will get easier. It’s also going to be easier to clean your home. You’ll be more efficient because you can move quicker through your home.

Think “grab and go.” When you are getting ready to go out in the morning or evening, you want to be able to find what you are looking for immediately and grab it. When you need to leave your house, you want to be able to grab items and go. This can only happen if all of the above falls into place. 

Keep to-do lists. Clear the mental clutter and keep daily to-do lists. The clearer your thinking is, the more efficient you’ll be. When you hang onto mental clutter, it takes you longer to process and remember things you need to do.  

Schedule household chores.  Get onto auto pilot when it comes to tackling household chores. Make a list of everything you tackle in your home on a weekly basis and add it to your to-do list. Schedule days for laundry, house cleaning, food shopping, errands. 

Plan and prepare. If you can plan and prepare, you’ll free up time during the week to focus on more important things that need your full attention. Plan your outfits, plan your meals, plan where you need to be for the week and watch how much more efficient you will become. 

Remember, none of the above can be accomplished if you aren’t physically organized. Make a plan to get organized and then focus on becoming more efficient and productive. You’ll save money, have more free time, less stress and you’ll be more focused. You’ll be running like a well-oiled machine.

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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.

 

Related Slideshow: 10 Minute Organizing Projects

Declutter and Organize

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Spices

As you take all of the spices out of the cabinet, check for expiration dates and smell for potency. Categorize and itemize your spices to how you utilize them. Contain them in a spice rack that fits the space where they are kept. Don’t purchase a spice rack until you are finished organizing. You want to measure the space and make sure the rack fits and holds all of your spices. There are a variety of spice racks out there. Choose the one that best suits what you need it to hold.

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Makeup

How many items do you touch in the morning to find what you need?  You want to be as efficient as possible in the morning and having your makeup organized will be a big time saver. Do you have difficulty deciding what to keep or toss? When is it time to throw away makeup?  Aline Sarkis, a Providence, RI-based makeup artist, states lipstick can be used for 2 years or until it starts to smell like a crayon. Mascara is good for 2-3 months. Eye shadow is good for 2 years and foundation is good for 1-2 years. Aline also states that some makeup and skincare will be marked with an expiration date of 6-12 months. Begin counting once you start using the product

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Women: Purse

Depending on the size of your purse, and what you keep in your purse, this may take you a little longer than 10 minutes. Empty the entire contents of the purse on a table. Declutter, categorize, and itemize the contents. Break this process  down and take it one category at a time. Develop a system going forward so the inside of your purse doesn’t look like a cyclone hit it. Contain receipts, gift cards, money, and makeup.

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Men: Wallet

It’s time to empty all of the receipts out of your wallet. Do you also store receipts and random items in your car? While you are tackling this project, head over to your vehicle and declutter the center console and glove compartment.

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Underwear drawer

If you aren’t using drawer organizers, you should start now. They are very inexpensive and will maximize the space in the drawer. How many of you wear the same item over and over again? With drawer organizers in place, you will be able to see everything you own and can categorize and itemize. Nothing will ever get pushed to the bottom of the drawer again.

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Under the bathroom sink

If you haven’t taken everything out of this area in awhile, you may find some scary items under the sink. Empty the contents, itemize, and categorize. Throw away anything that you can’t recognize. Contain items in containers that fit the space like a puzzle. Once again, utilizing containers will maximize the space and allow you to store more items. Develop a simple system where you can locate items and locate them quickly.

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Pets

Ninety percent of my clients have a pet. It’s time to organize their belongings. Medicine, leashes, bandanas, clothes, dishes, food, etc. Take this time to also organize any paper work related to your pet. Set up a filing system for your pet. Keep their medical records, rabies and vaccination information categorized in these files.

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Junk drawer

Nobody says you can’t have a junk drawer. Junk drawers can be organized. You just have to think about if you need everything in this drawer and if there is a better place to store the items. Remember, store like items together. If you have tools in the junk drawer, maybe you should keep them with the tools in the basement.

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Office supply drawer

So many people have office supply drawers that are out of control. Money is wasted on purchasing duplicate office supplies. It’s very difficult to figure out what you need to purchase if items are scattered all over the office and are disorganized.

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Top of your office desk

If you can’t see the top of your desk, take this time to focus on this area and categorize and itemize what is there. Do you have a working filing system in place?  If so, once your desk is cleared, make a habit of filing once a day or a couple of times a week. If your system isn’t working for you, it may be time for you to re-evaluate your system and make it work for the way you function.

 
 

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