If you’ve noticed your life is one big mess, take heart. You can get control  once you’ve accepted that you need to. Even if all you do is start with something small like organizing your purse, filling in your to-do calendar, or cleaning off your desk at work. Starting is half the battle.

You have a lot going on. Good organization will certainly help you while you are mothering and managing work.

Before you can begin your organizing journey, let’s determine your organizational style. See if you fit into on of these types:

• Neatnic — Your possessions are put away but out of sight does not always translate to an organized space.

• Piles Galore — Everything is out where your possessions can be seen, usually in piles all over the place.

• The Keeper – It’s so hard to say goodbye.

Neatnic

You might think tha you are extremely neat, filing away paperwork before you process it, is not a good system. Instead, stop stuffing it all out of sight (and out of mind), and process each piece of paper before you file it away. This is really the only way to prevent you from forgetting about what needs to be done.

Over the years you’ve tricked your brain to thinking you’re doing a lot of work because you hide it all away. On the outside, everything looks fine and dandy. But, take a closer look and you’re a mess. Each piece of paper not processed, each piece of clothing shoved in a drawer, each item stuffed into a closet needs to be taken out and organized.

This type of thing will catch up with you eventually and show up in work not done, reports not completed, and the inability to find what you’ve hidden away.

The most basic rule? Edit out all unneeded items and then put like things together. Use a to-do list to help you remember everything you have to do.

Piles Galore

Do you have piles of papers, wash to put away, or every school project your kids bring home? Even the neatest piles can ruin the look of your home and prevent you from getting organized.

Once again, keep like things together. Weed out your piles and put your wash away. Then get some pretty baskets for your organized piles and insert them.

Set aside a specific time each day, week, or month (depending on the importance of each) to process each bin or basket. As you clear each one, put the items away as needed. If you set up a schedule to deal with all of your items, you’ll not only feel more accomplished, but you will also actually be more organized..

The Keeper

To you, everything has emotional value. No matter how out of style, obsolete, or dusty, you keep everything because the they give you fond memories. Letting go of certain items can feel like you are throwing away part of yourself.

When my son was a young teen and it was time to get rid of stuffed animals, he found it hard to let go. This is what we did to help him step away from his babyhood. We took photos of each of the old friends and other babyish toys. That way, he could keep the memories while making room for teenage items.

If that’s not satisfying enough for you, designate one box for keepsakes and allow yourself to keep as much as it will hold.

6 tips To Help You Get and Stay Organized

1. Purge Often — One sure way to get more organized is to throw things out.It may hurt for a second, but you will feel so much better when you have room to bring in new things.

2. KISS — Keep It Simple Sweetie is something everyone should remember. If you make things too complicated, you’re not going to do them. That’s why you want to look at what your current organization style is, and work with what you already have.

3. Be Creative — Get outside of your own head and think of new ways to keep your life organized. Learn software such as Evernote, use containers outside of their intended use, and use your imagination to create organization.

4. Clean Up Every Day — Use baskets to help you transport things to their “home”, but don’t keep the things in the basket for weeks at a time. Clear your desk off before going home after finishing your work day.

5. Keep a Calendar — Writing things down is the best way to ensure that you get things done. You can use paper and a pin board, or you can use a program like Evernote, or even Google Calendar. An old-fashioned to-do list works too. However you choose to keep your notes and calendar, this is the one thing that will help you the most.

6. Forgive Yourself — No one is perfect, mistakes will happen, backsliding is a real thing, and your organization might get off track. Just stay aware and fix things as soon as you can.

Whether at home, at work, or inside your car, all these organizational tips will help you not only get organized but also help eliminate procrastination. If your world is more orderly, and you can see at a glance what needs to be done, by looking at your schedule, you’ll lose the desire to put “it” off until tomorrow.

Whoops! Interruptions, Emergencies and Distractions

No matter how good your plan is, you might find that after a few weeks you slide back into old habits. Or, perhaps something threw you off your schedule, such as illness or another emergency. However it happens, you find yourself  back into your old habits of disorganization and procrastination.

• You Have Choices — Remember that you’re not without choices in your life. You can choose to let the interruption cause you to fall off the cliff or you can grab control and start from now climbing your way back up the mountain.

• Be Honest With Yourself — Look into yourself about what has caused you to lose your focus. Are you overly tired, are you eating right, is something else wrong causing you to go back to your old ways of procrastination and disorganization?

• Start Small — Tackle one small thing to get it reorganized. It’s especially important to go back and reorganize the things you’ve already organized that have gotten off track. Don’t tackle anything new until you’ve at least gotten back to where you were.

• Go Back to Your Calendar — The easiest place to start is your calendar. If you’ve been writing things in it, even the minutia, then you should have a place to start right there on today’s date. If not, start writing in your calendar again.

• Let Go — Don’t beat yourself up about falling off the path. The important thing is that you’re trying to better yourself and let go of procrastination and disorganization. Remember: Baby steps will get you there just as well as leaps and bounds.

• Do What Works — If you’ve discovered a way to do something that works, stick to it. No reason to rewrite the story, or reinvent the wheel. If it works, it works; stick to it. However, be mindful that you’re not letting disorganization and procrastination be what works. Because, it doesn’t really work; it’s an illusion.