I have a treat for you today with alchemy from guest blogger and organizing expert Melody Granger. I warn you that she is infectiously enthusiastic, and can make even the stickiest spots smooth into graciousness. So if you don’t want to make things better, don’t read this!
Neglected Your Space Lately? 4 Organizing Steps to Help You Fall Back in Love
It’s so easy to put off doing the things around your home that would make your life more pleasant and your home easier to keep tidy and clean on a daily basis.
However, when you spend more time doing for others than for yourself, the signs of neglect in your space are likely to appear.
Neglect can be such a harsh word! But, a wonderful lady I worked with said to me, “I have neglected my space, that’s why these areas have piled up and gotten out of control.” I knew there was more going on than pure neglect, but her words really struck a chord in me.
This is the first time I have ever talked about it openly since that day, years ago, because I want nothing less than the BEST, easiest life for you.
To neglect something is to fail to pay attention to, take proper care of, or basically ignore (something or someone). Neglect is often referred to in situations of abuse, like neglecting to care for a child’s basic needs, or neglecting to care for animals, or neglecting to care for the elderly properly. However, when you neglect to care for your environment, you may be subtly neglecting (or abusing) yourself.
Some signs that you may be neglecting your home (and yourself) are living in an environment where your belongings are stressing you out, causing you frustration, or preventing you from being the best person you can be. In severe cases of neglect, like hoarding, clutter can become a safety hazard. It may be easier for you to resonate with “neglect” if I use the example of a person who neglects their yard keeping. You’ve probably seen yards that look neglected. Jeesh, my yard looked that way last summer when our tractor bush hog broke! Whether it’s a yard, or the inside of your home, things can begin to look shabby, unkempt, and messy.
The women I work with take pride in their homes and take pretty good care of themselves, as well. Signs of neglect can’t usually be seen until they show me what’s behind the closed doors – like the messy closets, overfilled cabinets, stashed paper piles, and “storage guest rooms.”
They weren’t neglecting these areas on purpose! They were clearly doing the best they could to keep the main areas of their homes presentable and enjoyable. They have plans to get to the disorganized areas, but between the decisions that have to be made on what stays or goes, the time it takes to rotate around to complete one organizing project after another, and trying to figure out how to arrange things efficiently and effectively…it’s a really big undertaking.
Getting well organized and setting up systems that are easy to use to make their home beautiful can seem overwhelming, which creates a spiral that’s tough to get out of. It’s not that they don’t try to tackle things, it’s that they don’t finish!
If you have some areas in your home that you’ve been neglecting, take heart, because I’m going to show you how to make it better today!
Just imagine how good it’s going to feel to thoroughly enjoy your space again.
4 Organizing Steps to Help You Love your Space Again
Step #1: For any organizing project you plan to work on this week, you’ll need plenty of space to begin sorting.
Your first step is to find, clear or create a sorting area where you’ll have plenty of space to spread out. One half of a room or the top of a bed would work nicely.
Step #2: Grab one stack, one handful, or one bag of items at a time. Look at each item and begin sorting into categories that make the most sense for you.
When you come across an item that you have absolutely NO hesitation about letting go, add it to a donation pile. This sorting step isn’t about making hard decisions.
Grab another stack, handful, or bag to sort. Do this several times.
The next 2 steps are to keep your sorting area tidy and running smoothly, so you have the motivation and patience to keep coming back. Don’t skip steps 3 & 4 if you want to keep making progress to LOVE your space again.
Step #3: When your donation pile is large enough to place into a box or bag, load the bags and place them in your car.
The next time you’re passing a drop-off center, pull over to make the donation drop.
If you prefer to call a charity and have your donations picked up, then place the donations in a safe place outside of your home, like a garage, carport, or shed. Make the pick-up call and schedule it to be picked up as soon as possible.
Step #4: If the first round of items you have been sorting already have a designated home where they belong, put those items away properly.
For items that don’t have a home, set them off to the side and continue sorting and making decisions about what to keep or let go of with the rest of the stuff that’s cramping your style.
Then when you are ready, repeat these 4 steps again.
Once you’re done with steps 1 thru 4, you can begin thinking about the next phase of the process, which will be to find a permanent home for the items you have set off to the side.
By using this process, you’ll keep the organizing process SO much easier and less overwhelming, while creating progress more quickly.
The relief, joy, and energy you receive from a lovely, well-cared for and well-organized home will give you back so much more pep, love and patience. It will help you care for yourself better, as well as to be pleasantly available to care for all your other favorite people, places and things. 
Melody Granger is a professional organizer, founder of The Well-Organized Entrepreneur, creator of “JumpStarting Your Productivity…Immediately!” and hostess of “Closet LOVE: Clean Out Your Closets, Re-Energize Your Life.” Melody has been featured in Thrive, Savvy & Sage, Closet Pages, Fox TV, The Life Change Network, Cumulus Radio, and more. She has impacted the lives of thousands around the world and is committed to helping optimistic women get ahead of the biz & life game, one addicting streamlining strategy at a time. After 7 years, she combined her residential & business organizing skills to be of service to home-based entrepreneurs. You can download her free office organizing container guide today!
