You know the story… we all have a million things to do and not enough time to do it. Trying to balance it all can be incredibly stressful and overwhelming. Getting it all done can seem nearly impossible.  That’s where being organized can help.

Between the stress of working, maintaining a home, getting the kids where they need to be, trying to be a good spouse and taking time for yourself, staying organized can just drop lower and lower on the “to-do” list.

Clutter is what happens when you don’t have a system in place. The daily struggle to balance all the clutter and life’s busy schedule will keep your stress levels high.  Statistics show that 33% of people deal with extreme or stress.  This type of stress causes illness, weight gain, hair loss, and distraction at work. What’s left at the end of the daily struggle to balance it all is clutter, and one thing we know for sure is that clutter causes even more stress. Over time, this stress can create significant health risks that are easily avoidable.

A lot of people don’t practice time management skills because they feel like it takes too long. The ironic thing is that taking a few minutes to plan your day can actually make things go more smoothly. Getting organized is the exact same.

Organizational Skills As Part Of Stress Reduction

Most people don’t talk enough about this, but there are organizational skills- things you can do to help you stay organized, and simply put, this can reduce your stress. As you practice these skills more, they become habits that make your life easier.

For example, disorganized people often lose or misplace things. Doing this can create more than just a little stress- it can create little moments of sheer panic. Car keys, wallets, phone, etc. can get misplaced, but what if you could do something to change this where you stopped losing your essentials? Think of how much stress in your life this would eliminate.

If you are someone who spends too much time searching for misplaced things, here’s a tip: assign a definitive place for your most important items. For example, your car keys need one place in your home. If you have a table beside the door you always use to come and go, put a nice dish on that table and designate that dish as the one place your car keys live. This helps you avoid the stress of trying to find your keys when you’re ready to leave.

Keeping track of your wallet can be a bit more of a challenge. For guys, it can be as simple as following the same rule. Simply designate a single place to empty your pockets every evening- a desk, on top of a dresser, etc. That will be the place where your wallet “lives” which makes it easier to find every morning before you leave. Some men purchase a leather valet tray where they can put loose change, their wallet, etc. This helps avoid the stress of searching through the hamper for your wallet.

For women, keeping track of a wallet can be a bit more of a challenge since we tend to change purses more often. Some women even change wallets frequently which can create opportunities to lose specific credit cards, driver’s license, etc. If this is an issue, I always recommend that you have two wallets- one for spring and summer and one for fall and winter. This reduces the chance of losing vital items and makes switching purses easier.

For people who are more high tech, there are devices or “tags” you can put on your important items that allow you to track them with your smartphone. The very first device invented that helps with this is called Tile, but here is a list of other tracking devices that can help you keep tabs on important items.

It’s our experience that there are three kinds of people- the consistently organized, the consistently disorganized, and those that swing in between. Of course, it’s our job to help people that want to be organized including people who can’t help it. They just tend to create clutter.

Clutter & Stress

For some people, a bedroom closet has its own ecosystem. There are flora and fauna of a different kind that makes walking in to find something a stress-filled event. Most people would call these types of closets a disaster area. If you have a closet like this, think about how much time you spend trying to find what you need- matching clothes, shoes, etc. If you’re as busy as most of us, this is time you don’t have. More importantly, it takes time away from more important things in your life. This is where clutter can come with feelings of guilt, self-doubt and even negatively impact your self-esteem.

Now, imagine the same closet- organized. Every shirt, pair of pants, every pair of shoes has its place. You can find what you need instantly. No more time spent searching. Everything you need is within reach and ready to go. For most people, this type of closet is a breath of fresh air.

Life is stressful enough without adding to it. It’s just a simple fact that practicing organizational skills helps reduce stress.

Areas Of Stress

When it comes to clutter, there are specific areas in our lives where clutter tends to build up. Here are the main places:

Office: we all tend to stay busy at work. Depending upon what we do, papers can build up into stacks and no matter what we tell ourselves (“I know what’s in every stack”, etc.), it takes time to sort through to find what we need- if we ever need it! These stacks can create stress and waste a ton of time.

With a home office, it’s often the place where we pay bills which means we can create clutter that’s more personal than work-related. Important documents can get left laying around or misplaced adding more stress. We can help you create a system that keeps you organized.

Garage: some of our clients have forgotten that the garage was initially intended to protect vehicles rather than a place to store excess “stuff”. Over time, the stuff seems to multiply by itself creating stress at the mere thought of going out there. Finding needed things can become more difficult and waste time you just don’t have. That’s where our professional organizers can help you get rid of what’s unnecessary and organize what’s left.

Closets: As we talked about above, your closet is where you keep things you need on a daily basis, so when it’s a mess, that mess can spill over into other areas of your life adding to your stress levels. We can help you sort through the clutter, get organized and make your life less stressful.

We all know that life is stressful- sometimes way more stressful than it needs to be. In fact, far too often, we create too much stress for ourselves with our own habits. Let the staff at the Organized Chick help put you on a path of reduced stress. Call us for a consultation today.

The Organized Chick is a professional organizer here to help you de-clutter your life. We can help you organize your space to give you that “Ah” feeling you’ve been looking for. We can’t keep it organized for you, but we can give you the start you need to keep it that way. Call us today at 678.697.9609