How to Stay Organized {After the Ten Week Organizing Challenge}

Now that the ten week organizing challenge is over I will show you how to stay organized!

If you have been following along with my ten week organizing challenge then you know that as I’m writing this, I’ve finally tackled all the weeks of the challenge and have reached the finish line.

Or have I?

The truth is that a finish line doesn’t really exist.

Sure, there is a bit of a “finish line” once you’ve made your way through purging and reorganizing every room in your home.

But honestly, it’s never really done.

There are always areas that need tweaking. Another purge. Or tidying and putting in order again.

The truth is, being organized is a long term and ongoing habit.

You may have started out the organizational challenge super motivated. And perhaps as the weeks went on it got a bit harder. Any change is hard, right?

Maybe you’ve even hit some roadblocks along the way. But if you’ve made your way through most of the rooms in your home; the key now is upkeep.

Motivation started you on this journey towards being an organized person and having an organized home; but motivation is really only one small part of the picture.

Habit. Routine. Behaviours.

These are the keys to staying organized once you’ve gotten yourself there.

So to make sure that you don’t fall back into your old, disorganized lifestyle; I’ve got some thoughts and tips for you…

Reflect

Examine the habits that led you to being disorganized. Think about and reflect upon those behaviours and habits. What were the specific behaviours and habits that allowed you to become really disorganized? The ones that really opened the door for clutter to take over your home or your life?

Was it too much shopping? Buying things you don’t need? Was it a lack of motivation? Maybe feeling overwhelmed and not knowing where to start? Or was it certain behaviours? Habits and routines? Procrastinating? Letting mess and disorder build up until it became unbearable?

Make a list of those behaviours that led you to being disorganized in the first place. Then take some more time and write down a treatment for each. How can you change that behaviour? Only you truly know yourself and your own roadblocks to organization, so figure out what they are and were and create some solutions for yourself before the problem takes over again.

Don’t buy too much!

Don’t buy anything unless you love it; you have a spot for it; or it can replace something else that you no longer want or need. Walking away can feel just as amazing as buying it. And if it doesn’t and you keep thinking about it; then go back. And when you do buy something new, immediately find a home for it and put it in it’s new home. Then see if there is something related that you can purge something to make up for the new thing.

Take Personal Responsibility

Don’t expect others to keep it up for you. Even as you train them, keep up with things. Don’t expect change to happen overnight; but your family members are capable of learning and changing, just like you are. The problem is, they may be less motivated to change their habits and may not see why staying organized is important. So try to think of ways you can help them value being organized as much as you have come to value it; and ways you can motivate and encourage them to keep up with their own spaces and tasks {chore checklists, rewards or allowance etc. – I will discuss more on this soon}.

Develop Habits and Routines!

Create a daily routine, weekly, and monthly routine of tasks to keep up with!

Remember, I shared my Command Center details in this post if you are wondering about how to deal with all the paper that comes into your home constantly.

I also made this as a FREE printable checklist!

I created this free printable Organization and Cleaning Checklist that you can download and print if you want a hard copy!

Click here to download your own copy: Free Printable Organization and Cleaning Checklist

And remember, tidiness begets organization just as organization begets tidiness.

Keep it going.

Just do it now without overthinking it.

I wrote a whole post dedicated to this topic that is definitely worth a read…

Finally, you need to make sure to…

Give Yourself Time

Mental organization is as important as physical organization. When you take the time to wrap your head around what needs to be done and schedule time for yourself to do it, organization is much easier to keep up with.

Give yourself time to frame your day. Use a planner. Write lists. Make notes. Take time for yourself. Pray or meditate. Whatever you need to wrap your head around what you want to do that day and how you can achieve it.

Be forgiving of yourself but not too forgiving. Have high expectations and meet them. You are capable. You can change. You can do it. Repeat that to yourself and believe it.

If you have just arrived to the organizing challenge through this post, then head over here to read all the details about it! Join thousands who’ve been making their way through their homes in a systematic manner to create calm out of chaos!

You can read all the details here.