Celebrate GO Month: The Tidy in Ten Rule to Implement in your Home
The holidays are over, the New Year came and went, and now it’s time to settle in for the rest of winter. This can be a challenging time of year when it’s still dark and cold, and we know spring is just around the corner — so close, yet still out of reach.
Did you know that January is National Get Organized (GO) Month? GO Month is a nationwide initiative designed to inspire us to declutter and organize, setting the tone for a stress-free year. But let’s be honest- the thought of decluttering and organizing your whole home or even a given space can sometimes be overwhelming.
That’s why we’ve written this blog post- to help you contain your fear of biting off more than you can chew and ending up worse off than before. We’d venture to say that everyone can find ten minutes in their daily schedule. This is all you need to make a change, seriously- that’s it!
Welcome to The Tidy In Ten!
Spend your first Ten Minutes to Visualize Your Organized Home
It’s easy to tell yourself, “This is the year I’ll get the entire house organized!” But when it comes to implementing that eager claim, it’s common to get through one drawer and give up in exasperation.
If you have an outline and a vision, you’re much more likely to tackle your goal.
Here’s what we suggest with your first Ten Minutes:
Think about how you want your home to look and feel. We tend to make general statements about our goals, but we don’t take the time to truly imagine them when they’re achieved. Without a vision, we spin our wheels and get nowhere fast. You have to know where you’re going if you ever want to get there!
Next, jot down ALL the spaces you want to organize. This may be a long list, but keep it high level if you get overwhelmed.
Now that you’ve listed every space, go back through the list and assign a number to each space in order of priority. The kitchen, living room, and bedrooms probably top your list, and we’d recommend keeping daunting spaces like garages, attics, or storage rooms as lower priorities. Save those for better weather later in the year!
Look at your number one priority and choose a smaller portion of that space that you could get started with. Think: What can I do in Ten Minutes? For example, in the kitchen, you could choose to clear your countertops, tackle a junk drawer, clean out the fridge, or spruce up your tupperware cabinet.
Forget the rest of your daunting list and begin with the area/room you’ve prioritized. The rest of this blog post will walk you through how to tackle that space, and then you can successfully apply it to all the others, too!
Once you’ve finished your first small space, repeat step five for the next one on your list in manageable, ten minute intervals and keep chipping away one step at a time.
Ask for Support: It’s What We Do!
The do-it-yourself approach isn’t a good fit for everyone. Maybe you’ve already tried getting organized on your own, but two weeks in, you find yourself stuck. Having a supportive expert by your side along the way can make all the difference.
The New Year is a great time to hire a Professional Organizer! Contact Contained and Co. here for a quick chat to learn how it works and see if we’re a good fit.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Keeping you Contained,
Brandi and Lindsay