National Get Organized Day Is Finally Here

National Get Organized Day is finally here! It’s a great day to start or continue your #spring #cleaning and cut the #clutter for good. Make the most of the day by starting with a plan, says the Network of Enlightened Women, and tackle an easy task first. As your momentum builds, purge anything you no longer use from your closets, shelves and drawers, setting aside any still-useful items to #donate. Schedule a pickup with ClothingDonations.org and #reorganize the things you still need, want and use by giving them a “home” in the places that make sense. #NationalGetOrganizedDay

Think Like a Chef to Get Organized

Think like a chef to get #organized on National Get Organized Day, April 26, Calendar.com says. Mise-en-place (French for “put in place”) originally described how professional chefs arrange their tools and ingredients, but it has expanded to become a lifestyle practice that helps manage the materials and mindset needed to create complex dishes in a hectic work environment. Give your tools a home and center yourself. “It’s a way of concentrating your mind to only focus on the aspects you need to be working on at that moment [and] rid yourself of distractions,” said a student at the Culinary Institute of America. #NationalGetOrganizedDay

Get Organized, One Messy Space at a Time

It’s easy to celebrate official National Get Organized Day on Friday, April 26 or another day of your choosing. Start by #decluttering a messy space — it might be a drawer, shelf, closet or an entire room. Empty the space out and survey its contents. If you haven’t used something for a year, you probably don’t need it anymore. Dust or #clean the space if necessary, and put the things you do use regularly back in a tidy, more #organized fashion. Then, bag/box and #donate any usable leftover #stuff to ClothingDonations.org by scheduling a free #donation #pickup at your convenience. #NationalGetOrganizedDay

Save Time by Observing National Get Organized Day

Do you often struggle to find your keys, wallet, remote controls or driver’s license? These are symptoms of #clutter and #disorganization, says the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals, that cost the average American 8,700 hours of time — a full year of their lives. National Get Organized Day on Friday, April 26 presents the perfect opportunity to reclaim that time and the physical and psychological benefits that that come with living and working in #clean, #organized spaces. Think of the time you’ll save when you no longer have to dig through the #clutter to help you find whatever item you need! #NationalGetOrganizedDay

Breaking With the Decluttering Trends

We at The Organizing Blog like to think that we’re a respected authority in the #decluttering knowledge space, continually lending tips and strategies to get your home and life in order while #donating the things you don’t need to a worthy cause.

We weren’t the first on the scene, of course, and we won’t be the last — dozens of experts and gurus have made careers out of helping people #declutter, and there are as many trendy strategies to help people #minimize and #organize their excess #stuff.

While the scholarship agrees that a #clean and #organized home environment is optimal for one’s mood and health, today we’re going to remind readers that there is no single “right” way to tackle the problem. The right way to #declutter is the way that works for you.

“Decluttering is very much a personal process — it’s your home and your belongings,” says Homes & Gardens. “Some may find it harder than others, preferring a more gentle approach to a more ruthless one, and vice versa.”

For example, Marie Kondo’s much-vaunted KonMari method asks you to sort every category of possession, keeping only the things that “spark joy.” But consider the lowly vegetable peeler: It probably does not spark joy, but it is undeniably useful — and you can feel good about holding onto it.

Some #organizing schemes are just too gimmicky to keep up, Apartment Therapy says. For example, you may overlabel your stuff. You might buy too many organizing products. Or you may be too meticulous about folding and sorting small items such as socks and underwear, wasting time and energy on a single drawer.

Because #organization and #clutter are widespread challenges, the clutterati will keep inventing new ways to deal with them. Try one or invent your own. The strategy that works for you — the one that you can follow and get results — is the best to follow.