by Jenny Abrams, Abrams Home Solutions

While February was the month of love, if you live in the Midwest like I do, winter can be cold and dark.  Luckily, smack dab in the middle of February is one of the loveliest days of the year…Valentine’s Day!  For me, this day holds extra special importance because it is the day my beautiful son was born, and inspired me to develop the top five reasons why I love organizing.  I have a passion for organizing because of the promise it holds (much like winter)- the promise of new personal and professional growth.  This month NAPO explores the way “Clearing Space Allows for Growth.”  Read on to see why my “top 5” pave the way for living an organized life.

Organizing Time:  Schedules Leads to Greater Productivity

Have you ever noticed that the more organized you are with your schedule, the more you can get done and the more productive you are with your time?  Most of us will block out our appointments on our calendars and leave the rest of the space blank.  But, what is blank space if not an opportunity to fill in our tasks, projects, and extracurricular activities?  Knowing what your short and long-term goals are will help drive your priorities so you know what tasks, projects, and activities can fit into your day.  If your short-term goal is to be healthier, list all the doctor appointments you need to make and schedule them in to each month.  Likewise, schedule exercise into your calendar.  If your long-term goal is to spend more time with family, scheduling important holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries, family vacations, and outings into your calendar means you will never be running to a store at the last-minute for gift shopping.  Additionally, you can make all the necessary arrangements ahead of time for those vacations and outings thereby increasing the likelihood of a successful vacation/outing.

Organizing Objects:  Everything In Its Place and a Place for Everything

If I asked you to find your favorite pair of jeans or your favorite sweater, would you be able to walk right in to your closet and find it in mere seconds?  The great thing about having an organized space means that every item has a “home” and items are always returned to their homes.  Homezada.com reports that “Americans on average spend one year of their life looking for lost or misplaced items at home and in the office.”  Why does having an organized home matter?  For one, it saves time.  If you know the “homes” of your items, you can quickly get those items when needed, especially in an emergency.  Number two, knowing what you have and where it is located means you are not spending money buying things that you already own, but could not find because it was lost in clutter.

Organizing Objects:  Everything in the Space is Intentional

Does every item in your home please you?  Is it there intentionally?  Was it purchased for a specific purpose and not just because it was on sale or you might use it “one day?”  Or, perhaps, you have items in your home that had a purpose at one point, but no longer?  When we understand that everything in our home is there for a purpose, we use it more, we enjoy it more, and we ultimately spend less and have less to store.

Organizing Paper:  Going Digital Saves Time and Space

Have you ever tried to jam a piece of paper into a filing cabinet and crossed your fingers that you could cram just one more piece in?  In the process, did the paper get stuck and tear?  When you need to clear space on your counters, do you stack paper up and just push it aside?  Think about just how much space paper takes up in your home.  At some point, our filing cabinets will max out.  Your choice is to either buy another filing cabinet, purge, or go digital.  Creating a self purging file system (less manual purging) and utilizing digital formats to saving paper allows one to save precious time and space. What would you do with the extra time and space?  Enjoy a favorite activity? Decorate the space with items that bring you happiness?  I would go so far as to say that when we create a system to maintain our paper, we literally feel lighter and freer!

Organizing Objects, Paper, and Time:  Always Come Prepared

Do you run late because you underestimated the time for a task?  Have you created a system in your home to track changing the furnace filter?  If you are at a meeting and left a piece of important paper at home, can you imagine the relief you would feel if you could access the paper on your phone through a digital platform?  Creating organized systems for objects, paper, and time means that we are typically running on time and prepared for what life throws at us.  It means we can react quicker, make better impressions, remain focused, lower frustration, and feel less stress.  Ultimately, to me, this means organization = being prepared = achieving our goals = a balanced life!  And, who doesn’t want to live a balanced, fulfilled life?!  Sign me up!

Jenny Abrams, owner of  Abrams Home Solutions, is a professional residential organizer and Accredited Staging Professional®.  Coming from a social work background, the qualities of being confidential, non-judgemental, empathetic, and the ability to relate to individuals who are going through different life phases set Jenny apart from others in this field. Additionally, Jenny has experience working and problem-solving with teams and managing ongoing, detailed oriented projects.