4 Mindsets You Need To Maintain An Organized Home

These mindset shifts will make organizing your home easier.

When we think about home organization, the mindsets needed to create a peaceful environment are often not at the forefront. A lot of focus is placed on the final transformation and the ‘how to’s of getting organized. While seeing a beautified space come to life from chaos is without a doubt one of the more exciting parts of home organization, true transformation happens when you approach organization as a lifestyle. Lasting results are best achieved by being intentional, developing good mindsets and healthy habits that pair well with the systems in your home. I will be breaking down 4 key mindset shifts you should adapt if you are looking for a long-term solution to your organizing challenges.

Evaluating where you are now. What are your current mindsets?

Think about what you currently say about your home. Are your thoughts mostly positive or negative? Do you secretly believe that it is unlikely for you to truly live organized? What does an organized home even look like in your opinion?

It is likely that finally completing some outstanding tasks and getting organized has been a long-standing goal of yours but it still hangs over your head. Maybe you have tried to achieve order before and found that even after putting in your best effort you still struggle to stay organized. If so, it may be time to do a mindset check.

Our mindset in anything we do will largely influence the outcome we receive, so ask yourself, what does being organized mean for your current stage of life?

The mindset shifts you need to achieve long-lasting home organization.

1. Annoyance to Acceptance:

A conscious step towards changing your desired lifestyle is realizing that you have the power to do something about it. You do not have to live in clutter, an organized home is possible but, it comes with change. Organized living requires you to develop healthy routines and habits to support its growth.

• An organized home needs maintenance to stay that way. Be patient with the process, develop routines that break up the maintenance.
• You can get organized but to truly stay organized, you must take action every day to keep clutter at bay. Note habits of disorganization and set realistic goals to help break them.

2. Doubt to Belief:

In order to stop living among your chaos, your entire family needs to be on board with the home maintenance. Way easier said than done right? I get it. While the desire to be organized will vary among family members having generalized rules and systems in place gets everyone involved because they become responsible for their own belongings. Enforce these rules and hold each other accountable so you can all see that there is a shift in expectation.

• Take charge. Sharpen your own organizing skills and practice them with consistency. Practice breaking habits of your own and learning as you go so that your family will be more likely to comply with your new rules and expectations for them because you lead by example. 
• Develop rules, routines, and schedules as needed then reinforce them consistently. Delegate age-appropriate tasks for each family member so they can get involved. The younger members in the family may do well when adding tasks to routines that are done consistently. The older family members may do best by pairing organizing tasks with household chores.

3. Challenges are opportunities:

An organized home requires maintenance and it is worth the time and sanity you gain back. Ever recalled a time you saw, let’s say, a perfectly organized closet and thought, 'Wow!' Only to question, 'how is it possible to maintain that level of order?' What you may not immediately realize is that the key to keeping these organized spaces looking tidy is maintenance and habits. Even then your entire home may not be in a constant state of order, all at once. For this reason, it’s important to note that your skills will grow as you go.

You want to get your home organized and habits tuned enough that your home is usually a quick reset away from order. In order to do that you will need to regularly maintain your spaces. Draw your focus towards the solutions to your particular challenges one space at a time and work your way throughout your home.

Example Scenario:

• If stuff keeps piling up on the countertops, the floor, and more, this is considered visual clutter. Take notice of where it builds up and consider a solution for that particular area rather than focusing on the entire house all at once.
• The visual chaos you see may also be a signal that there is a need to purge and put things away but, that will only be possible if good systems are already in place. Have each person return their own belongings to create a sense of responsibility and needed to return items.
• Take notice of what systems you have in place to contain your belongings. Edit and find more reliable storage solutions as your needs change, remembering to maximize your space. A refresh comes by quickly with the right systems in place.

4. Prioritize learning over perfection

Your skills will get better with practice. I’m a firm believer in doing what works best for your household even if that looks different from what you originally had in mind or how it compares.

When creating systems, you want to focus on how well they eliminate your organizing challenges rather than how perfect it looks. Your systems should allow the space to function well and be presented in a way that looks and feels beautiful to you. Remind yourself of that goal often and prioritize learning over perfection.

• If your spaces do not look Pinterest-worthy from the start you can update them as your skills and/or budget improves.
• Doing trial and error to see what works best for your home is still getting
  organized. Follow helpful tips that relate to your challenges and keep going.
• Repurposing containers or using temporary organizers to form your system is still creating order in your home. You can always refresh things to reach your desired aesthetic.

When your home is organized, your mind can find calm easier. It also works the other way around, when your mind is clear on what the organizing journey looks like for your home, you and your family can take the necessary actions to make that transition.

Happy Organizing!

-Sherilee