The Organization Series - What to do first when you want to get organized

This is part 1 of my series on Organization for the Hopelessly Unorganized. Today I'll focus on how to actually get started with organizing your space, time, and creative life.

The major trick in getting organized is to actually want to be organized. That might seem obvious, but if you are a person that is usually hopelessly unorganized it will take quite a bit of motivation to make you start moving and actually do something about it. If you are accustomed to the chaos it is likely that you won't even realize how unorganized you've let yourself become. Wait until one of those moments when you are completely frustrated with something. My moments of complete frustration are usually when I've wasted a lot of time looking for something and I think "if this was better organized I wouldn't have to waste all of this time." It is in those moments that you are most likely to be motivated and stay motivated while you complete an organization task. If you dread the process you won't do a good job. If you don't do a good job then you've wasted your time. Wait until the moment comes and then take advantage of it!

While waiting on your next moment of complete frustration you need to get some things together so that you can jump right in when the mood strikes you. I've found that if I don't do this I will fall into what I call the "preparation trap." I get motivated to organize, I think about what I need to accomplish the task, I start digging around looking for what I need, I finally pull it all together ... and then I stall out because the moment has passed. I'm left with a big pile of stuff that I just pulled out and the end result is actually being less organized. Don't fall into the preparation trap - get it together now. The supplies you need to get organized will depend a lot on what it is that you need to organize.

Depending on what you make/do you'll need different types of containers, shelves, drawers, etc. I sew, so the main things I have to worry about are fabric, thread, buttons, and the biggest collection of notions you've probably ever seen outside of a craft store. When I was setting up my current studio space I spent a lot of time looking around and seeing what was available commercially to organize my things. I discovered that if there is something that you can collect there is probably a commercially available storage solution for it. However, they aren't always cheap or easy to find. Take the time to look around (in real life and on the internet) and see what your options are. If you are on a tight budget you can wait for sales or use coupons. I find that it is actually a lot of fun to come up with my own version of the storage solutions I find. The savings are great and it makes the whole organization process a little more creative - which suits me perfectly. When you find things that will make organizing your stash easier go ahead and buy them and put them somewhere central (organize your organizational tools!). When you are ready to do some organizing you can jump in head first.

Another thing that I find essential to organizing is a labeling tool. I like my fancy electric Dymo, which I picked up on sale somewhere. There are cheaper versions if you don't want to make the investment, but the electric version actually saves you a lot of time. To me, the time I save is worth every penny extra I paid for the fancy Dymo. You'll be amazed at how a label maker can change your life. Once you have one you'll probably find it difficult to stop labeling everything in sight!

I also like to collect random pieces of furniture and/or shelving that can be used for storage solutions. I pick them up from my friends or yard sales or on clearance somewhere (or from some other part of my house if I'm reorganizing elsewhere) and then I save them until I need them. Tell people you know to watch out for things - you'll be amazed at the stuff you can get your hands on if you just ask. Craigslist and Freecycle are also your friends when you are in search of storage solution furniture. Of course, if you are rich and don't care about saving money then you can just buy fancy new furniture and not worry about the whole collection process, but what fun would that be?

Get your stuff together and then wait for that burst of motivation to happen. When to moment strikes you'll be glad that you did!