When Family Members Sabotage Your Organizational Efforts

A common question that I am asked by my clients is what can they do to get their spouse and/or kids to become more organized. Other family members can often unintentionally sabotage our efforts at organizing. My thoughts on this subject can just about be summed up with the phrase "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't force him to drink". Therefore, we need to provide incentive for those "horses" (i.e. family members) to "drink the water". Here are some suggestions I give to my clients:


Create routines! As behavioral scientists have proven, humans can learn by watching others. Routines give something tangible for other family members to follow. If for example, you do grocery shopping faithfully on a particular day of the week (with limited trips in between), family members are more likely to let you know what they need before you go to the store. By letting the natural consequence occur (of possibly having to do without a favorite food or item for the week), the routine becomes even more powerful.


Create areas for each family member to store personal items! This is very important. If you designate places for each person to keep items, they will be less likely to leave them just anywhere. If a particular family member is having trouble finding space for their items, help them problem solve. Providing a solution is a positive way to avoid conflict started simply by nagging. Less time having to organize means more time to do fun things so hopefully the behavior will be self-reinforcing. If not, issue small rewards from time to time such as taking the kids out for ice cream when they pick up after themselves.

Designate clutter-free and "clutter appropriate" zones. I will say that I am using the words "clutter appropriate" loosely. What you want to do is designate some places in the household were some clutter can be tolerated. A good example is a play room. I do encourage my clients to work with their children on creating routines for picking up toys regularly so things don't get out of hand. What you don't want is for so many toys to be out at once that you can't see the floor. The same principle would apply for a garage or basement.

Good organization doesn't have to be perfect! Having everything look perfect is not the goal. What you do want is for areas in your home to be functional. You also want to be able to find things easily and reduce your stress level. Remember that those famous organization gurus that are on TV and in magazines have access to a staff!

Unleash Your Organized Me!

Coming out of the closet! Closet organizing basics.

When I see those ads in magazines for custom made closet organizing systems, I start to drool like a Pavlovian dog. Everything seems to fit so neatly and perfectly! Closet systems are wonderful, don't get me wrong, but they are not "self-organizing" (if only!). You can get your closet organized and maintain it that way with a few simple rules.

Divide clothing by type of item. Put like items together. For example, put all pants in one place, dresses in another, and so on. Next, colorize them within their groups. Put lighter colored items on the left and the darker colors on the right. I start with whites, followed by creams, beiges, yellows, oranges, pinks, reds, purples, blues, greens, browns, grays and blacks. Colorizing is what a lot of retail clothing stores do to give their clothing stock a neater appearance.

Keep clothing for all four seasons in your closet. I find it much easier to keep all my clothes in one place. It is a lot easier than switching it out every couple of months. Just follow the rule above, keeping like items together. If you don't have room to fit your entire wardrobe in your closet, then this is a cue that maybe you have too much or the existing space isn't being utilized efficiently.

Clear out clothing that isn't worn on a regular basis. I can't tell you how important this is! A lot of people get attached to clothing that they haven't worn in years! If you are having a hard time letting go of an item, try taking a picture of it. A photo takes up a lot less space. The Goodwill has the "one year rule": if you haven't worn it in a year, then it is time to get rid of it. I have a special corner in my closet where I set aside clothing to donate. When the pile gets about a foot high, I take it to the Goodwill. You can even get a receipt so you can deduct it on your tax return!

Corral those accessories! Try to keep accessories in one area of your closet. I like to hang all my belts on hangers. As for purses and other bags, I store these on a shelf. If you don't have shelves in your closet, you can use hooks. Also try consolidating space by storing the smaller bags within the larger ones. Shoes are sometimes difficult to organize. I line these up neatly on the closet floor.

Consider purchasing some organizational units for your closet. There are several inexpensive options available at http://www.spacesavers.com/. One product on their website that I thought would be particularly handy is their children's weekly clothing organizer that allows you to plan and store a whole week's worth of clothing for your child! Check it out at the following link:http://www.spacesavers.com/we.html

Unleash Your Organized Me!