The 10 Biggest Organizing Mistakes . . . and How to Avoid Them

Many people want to get organized but don't know how to take the first step. Unfortunately, the first step many of them take is the wrong step! Here are the ten biggest mistakes that would-be organizers make, and how to avoid them.

Waiting for a large block of available time: Many disorganized people say that they will get organized when they have a completely free weekend, or when they can take a few days off from work. There are several problems with this approach.

Being discouraged by the big picture: Many people want to get organized but feel overwhelmed by the size of their organizing problem. They don't know where to start, so they don't start at all. The Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” There are no shortcuts to organizing. Decide where you are going to start - pick one cabinet, or one section of a room, or one closet - and just start!

Hiding clutter in the closet: In an effort to make one's home presentable to guests, many people deal with clutter by shoving it into a shopping bag and hiding it in the closet. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as it is just a short-term fix.

Buying organizing products first: Next decide how you are going to organize the items, and where you are going to keep them. Only then are you ready to start considering organizing products.

Reading multiple organizing books: If there are aspects of that system that aren't working well for you, you can consult additional books to find other ideas. Another alternative is to hire a professional organizer, who will work with you to come up with an organizing system custom-tailored for you.

Putting things in storage: After you have lived without your stored items for a year, you can safely say that these are not items that are useful to you. Instead of wasting your money storing them, make decisions about them now.

Asking the wrong person for help: Organizing can go faster and be more enjoyable if you have company. However, no matter how enthusiastic your friends or family members are about helping you, they may be too emotionally involved in your clutter situation to be objective.

Getting distracted from decision-making: It is important to stay focused while organizing. Items that need detailed review in order for decisions to be made should be put aside in a “Review” pile and dealt with at another time.

Not involving the rest of your household: Items that are used by everyone (such as kitchen and bathroom supplies, CDs and DVDs) need to be organized in a way that everyone can find them. Make sure that you have the cooperation of everyone in your household in making your organizing decisions.

Keeping something "just in case": The amount of storage space taken up by those “just in case” items - which will most likely never be used again -- far outweighs the inconvenience of having to rebuy things that we have discarded in error. Unless you can think of a use for something right now, let it go.

Following this will definitely help you reduce some of your problems.