Taking the Dis out of DisOrganization!

Did you know that you could be spending 55 minutes a day looking for lost or misplaced items? According to my research I have found that the average person wastes 55 minutes a day looking for something as small as keys. There is only one answer: Better organization. If you are wondering how I came across this then you must be wondering what disaster happened. This disaster made me realize that disorganization has to do with way more then just laziness.

Now is probably the best time to go through this since spring cleaning is in the air. Flowers are blooming and the sun is shining! You might also be recalling that New Year's resolution you made about getting organized.

I grew up in a very organized home. However, there was one room that was never organized - my room. I admired those friends of mine that just loved tidiness. I, however, just could not grasp that concept. I was sick of always running late and not being able to find anything I had owned. And of course I never lost things that I rarely used, it was always things I need the most.

For years I tried everything. I read more books, I threw out basically everything I had owned, and last, I used being disorganized as a reason to move so I can start new and then finally become organized. For a short period of time it would work, key word being short.

It felt like a diet, I would lose the weight and then half a year later the weight was back. If there are such things as steady diets that work for life then I was ready to find the right technique to stay organized, FOR LIFE.

When I discovered with organizing, that there is not just one technique, my reaction was "great, more work for me," I would have much rather found a fool proof ABC plan and I would have been happy.

It was time to take initiative and get online for some basic research, and I'm telling you - it's not an issue of whether or not "I'm a disorganized person" or "I was born this way;" the real issue is that organization is a learned skill, and all of us (yes, even those of you who can find your keys) can learn something here and benefit.

To be honest, I searched everywhere for that fool proof ABC plan. Remember hearing as a child that you can not change something until you know the root of it? Well, turns out that there is no fool proof plan.The first step in learning to become organized is actually learning why you are disorganized. Sounds a bit funny, right?

So how are you disorganized? There are different types of disorganizing behaviors; stashers, pilers, stackers, spreaders, hiders and the like.

After some serious soul searching, I came to the conclusion that I WAS a hopeless Stacker.

Here's a look at some more types of disorganization:

Habitual Disorganization - Just because it is a habit doesn't mean we will have it forever. Habitual disorganization can come from procrastination or over scheduling. It being a habit just means that we have developed it over time. Whether it is our habits with time, space, our bedrooms or paper. Bad habits start diminishing the more you are aware of them.

Social Disorganization - We own so much stuff! Why? And a better question is why do we feel the need to save, collect and insure everything we own? The world is full of so many options and new stuff coming on to the market everyday. For some of us it becomes very overwhelming. We become so influenced by social norms that it eventually creates disorder or in our terms, disorganization. It becomes hard to say no to the new market items. It also makes it harder to prevent an out of control schedule. The first step to backing away from this type of disorganization is learning how to say no, little by little.

Situational Disorganization - Disorganization can often come in spurts. We might have an important event coming up, or something spontaneous that we were not prepared for. With this type of disorganization, you just have to remind yourself that there is a valid reason for it. You can set a time in the near future when you don't have something big going on and you can get things back into order.

Historical Disorganization - Often people who come from a home of disorder rebel against it and become very orderly. However, sometimes those people that come from disorganized homes feel a sense of familiarity so they do not change from the environment they grew up in.

Chronic Disorganization- Always trying to succeed, but failing over and over again is what makes it chronic. People become helpless when it comes to overcoming their disorganization. There is an actual group called the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization. This type of disorganization requires a little more attention and if a person feels that this is the category they fall under then I suggest getting more information on it.

Get comfortable, grab some snacks, and let's start digging into some answers!

Every person is very different from the other. Our minds are very unique so I have several different organization techniques in hope that you find which one works just for you. By the way, feel free to modify any of them and make them your own.

If you are a "pack rat," meaning you don't throw anything out, then I think you should go with the philosophy of "if I haven't touched it all these years, I probably won't in the next 20 years." Just to confess, I was a pack rat.

-Grab a garbage bag and just GO! Start with the room you use the most.

I picked the number 25 and tossed 25 things into the garbage bag. It took me 10 minutes. Force yourself to not leave the room until you put 25 things into the bag. If it's a smaller space you can chose a smaller number.

Once you do that, be proud! For some that's not an easy task!

There are many positive things you can do with those items. You can donate the items or recycle them or even sell them. That way you're not really getting rid of them, it feels better then just throwing it out in the trash.

This system just gets you into the habit of being okay with throwing things away. Your goal is to eventually have a pile of things that you need.

Here is a more relaxing and time consuming technique.

-Get a notebook and go each room of your house and write down ALL the problem areas.

-Whether it is your closet, your file cabinets, or your drawers, write it all down!

-Leave space between each problem in case you want to go back and write down your new solutions.

For some people just writing the problem down is helpful while others need to write it all out, including the solution.

-Organizing tools are extremely practical and useful if you really use them. They work!

Buy something fun and that matches your decor. Who says you need plain old plastic boxes. If you like it then it will be much easier for you to put those items away just as easy as it is for you to take them out.

It is important to love the way it looks so that when it comes time to throw things on top of your dresser you wont even think about doing it.

What has worked for me is setting aside a little bit of time either everyday or once a week devoted just to organizing. 20 minutes a day or a couple hours every Sunday, but you must stick to it! Create a system that works for you and your family in order so everyone knows where everything is at all times.

Organizing should not be a burden, it should be the opposite. My goal for this article is that you figure out which organization method is best for you. Most importantly, try to have fun!

Organizing helps create peace of mind and more free time! Everyday is a new day; I promise you that if you start small, in the end you will see how big of a transformation you made.