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Even if it weren’t Get Organized Day, it would still be a good day to look for ways to eliminate any accumulated clutter in your life. The reason is simple, being organized literally pays.

Aside from the prospect of finding spare change in odd places, it frees up your time. Whether it’s car keys or a form that needs to be returned—searching is time spent not doing something you want to do. Mainly, being organized is just empowering. Being in control, whether it’s of your home, cubicle or simply your kitchen cabinets, is a good feeling.

Ready To Do This?

Research estimates it takes roughly 21 days to pick up a new habit, even something simple like putting your keys in the same place each time you come home. With a lifestyle shift, like being more organized, it’s probably going to take a bit longer. The key is to be realistic and practice consistently.

That’s why it may be better to think of getting organized as a series of sprints rather than a single race. It could be something you devote 15 minutes each day to rather than than attempting a full home makeover in one multi-hour attempt.

What can you accomplish in 15 minutes? 

  1. Make the bed.

  2. Sort through a pile of mail .

  3. Pay bills.

  4. Clean and organize a drawer.

  5. Remove outdated food from the refrigerator.

  6. Clean out your purse or briefcase.

  7. Update personal contacts.

  8. Weed a patch of your yard.

  9. Put away clothes or toys.

  10. File papers.

Staying Organized

While devoting 15 minutes a day helps regain and maintain organization, you may want to consider incorporating apps and other time-savers to help supercharge the effort.

For instance, select autopay whenever it’s offered. Let your bank automatically do the remembering for you to ensure you don’t miss payments. This can help your credit score, but also save you from paying any unintentional late fees.

Write things down. While this may seem like a clutter creator—more paper—going through the motion of writing something down, can help you remember to do it when you can’t attend to it immediately.

Having containers that help you sort things helps too. For instance, try retrieving and reading your mail near a waste basket, then , you can toss what you don’t need immediately. Similarly, as soon as you replace something, place the old item in a donation box if it is still usable, or toss it if it isn’t.

As you walk through a room, train yourself to look for things that aren’t in their proper place and relocate them. It could be shoes left in an empty TV room, homework on the dining room table, mugs on the bedrom dresser—get them to the right place. That way, they can be dealt with more promptly—as in the case of glassware, for example—or simply found more easily when needed, like shoes and homework.

Attaining a state of organization may take some time and practice, but that is a good thing. Once you achieve it, maintaining it will simply become part of your daily routine.