The 15-Minutes-A-Day Approach to Organizing

If you get distracted easily and/or don’t have a lot of time to devote to organizing your home or office, the 15-minutes-a-day approach may be a good solution for you. You may think that you don’t have an extra 15 minutes each day to devote purely to organizing, but you probably waste more time than that everyday searching for things!
The fact is that you will never "find" time. If you want time, you have to make it. So make time now to save time later. Think about it this way: once you have organized your space, you’ll actually have more time to do the things you want, because you won't be wasting your time hunting for things!
This 15-minutes-a-day approach can be a powerful tool to help you create a more peaceful and clutter-free environment, but you have to have a PLAN in order to succeed. Remember, no one plans to fail; they just fail to plan. You need to have a plan for how you are going to spend those 15 minutes each day so that spending them and not seeing enough of a difference doesn’t frustrate you. Here are some tips to help ensure that you get started off on the right foot.
TIP #1 – NO HOCUS POCUS - IT TAKES FOCUS: Wire hangers do a poor job of maintaining a garment’s shape over time so extend the life of your clothes by replacing yours. Use padded ones for your more fragile items, wooden ones for heavier items and slim line, velvet surfaced ones to save space and prevent items from slipping.
TIP #2 – DO THE WORST THE FIRST: I suggest starting with the area that bothers you the most. If you do, you’ll put something unpleasant behind you sooner and find it easier to move on to the less onerous areas that need attention.
TIP #3 – BE ACCOMPLISHED: Regardless of which area you start with, create a plan of what you will accomplish each day in the 15 minutes. Create a list - be specific - of what you will tackle first, second, third, fourth, etc.
TIP #4 – MANAGE YOUR TIME WELL: If you don’t already own one, buy a timer. A timer ticking away while you work will help you stay focused on the task at hand, not let you get distracted or too deeply involved and lend some urgency to your project. A timer will also help ensure that you stick to your commitment and go the distance for 15 minutes each and every day.
TIP #5 – THINK DIFFERENT: When you organize your space using the 15 minute method, you need to think a little differently in order for it to be effective. You need to think in terms of minutes so pick small tasks, break larger tasks down into smaller ones or chose not to use the 15-minute approach if it’s not suitable for a particular task.
TIP #6 – THINK FAST: The 15-minute approach forces you to make quick decisions. You won’t have time to ruminate or reminisce about - and possibly get stuck on - each and every item you come across.
TIP #7 – NO MYSTERY ITEMS: If you really want to get organized and stay that way, you’ll need to let go of things that you don't use or understand how to use. If you haven't bothered to figure it out by now, it’s obviously not very important to you to do so.
TIP #8 – GET IN THE HABIT: Good organization is habit forming. The key to organizational success is to create good habits. If you repeat the same good habits each day, you will be more likely to continue those habits and become successfully organized.