What if you weren’t born organized? Is there still hope? Absolutely! You can always learn. There is no Rosetta Stone for organizing fluency or Cliff Notes to just get to the main points. There is not one best way to do it or a fool proof system that works for everyone. But there is a tremendous amount of information and resources out there to help you get organized in many different ways.

Here are some things to keep in mind as you begin your organizing journey:

 1. Be kind to yourself. No sense in beating yourself up over past behaviors, purchases, or accumulated stuff. What matters now is that you are going to take a step forward and you are going to learn from your past.

2. Almost anything is progress. Forget about perfection. Don’t get caught up in trying to find the one best way or best product that will somehow be the miracle you have been waiting for. Doing something, no matter how small, is better than procrastinating and doing nothing.

3. Do what works for you- not what everyone else is doing. The amount of available programs, apps, and electronics is staggering. But if your paper calendar that you have been using for the last 18 years works for you- then keep using it. Don’t try and change to something newer and shinier just because everyone else seems to do it.

 4. Don’t let guilt hold you back. Thoughts like,”but I spent so much money on this”, “but my grandmother gave that to me”, or “but I was supposed to be a size 2 again” can make it really hard to move forward. If you use it and love- great- keep it! But if you are keeping it only because you feel some sort of guilt about letting it go- then you need to learn to let it go. Free yourself from unnecessary guilt!

 5. Organizing is not an event. It is a lifestyle. It takes time and effort to get organized and then time and effort to stay organized. It is not something you do one weekend and then you are done with organizing forever. Once the initial hard work is done, and some behaviors are changed, maintaining that organization gets easier and easier. It is a new way of handling your everyday life that ends up saving you time and stress.

6. Sometimes you need a professional. Let’s face it. We eat better if we have a personal chef. We train better (or actually get to the gym) if we have a personal trainer. All the cook books and exercise videos in the world are not as good as having that expert right by your side working on your specific issues. The same goes for organizing. There are lots of books and videos out there to help you- but sometimes, having a Professional Organizer by your side is the difference between actually getting things done and learning new skills or feeling hopeless and overwhelmed. Know when it is time to get help.

Happy Organizing!

The best way to fold sheets and towels is…. not to fold them! That’s right. Don’t fold them! Wash them, dry them, and put them back on the bed. Wash them, dry them, and put them back on the hooks and towel bars. Then you never have to fold them. Get in the habit of doing laundry on the same day each week. For example, I wash all the towels late Saturday night. When I wake up in the morning, all the towels are dry and ready to hang back up before anyone else knows they are missing. On Sunday morning I wash all the sheets and the beds are ready for the kids’ nap- or mine if I were so lucky. I’d rather not spend time folding and unfolding sheets and towels. I have a back-up set should they be needed for guests or someone gets sick. But that back-up set sits on the shelf until needed.

If you are folding your sheets and towels, there are plenty of videos to show you how to do it. But honestly, if you just fold every towel the same exact way you fold the first towel, the stack will look great and be space efficient. It sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how many different ways the same person can fold a basket of towels when they aren’t really thinking about it. If you are folding sheets but get frustrated with the fitted sheet, just do your best and then place it inside the pillow case. Then fold the pillow case in half. The pillow case will make it look cleaner and keep the set together in a little packet.

This plan is not for people who like to rotate linens or can’t wait for the time it will take to launder linens. It is for people who don’t want to spend time folding and unfolding linens every week and can coordinate when they wash them. Keep it easy!