Find Your Zen With 7 Expert Tips for a More Organized Home

You’ve already binge-watched every single show on Netflix, started exercising everyday and learned to channel your inner cooking goddess. Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and start tackling your spring cleaning “to-do” list. Since you’re spending so much time at home, why not make it the clean and organized oasis you need right now?

“There’s so many studies that show your physical environment affects your mental well being,” says Jodie Jacobs, owner of SOUPerior Organizing in West Springfield, Virginia. “Since you’re already stressed, if you’re constantly looking around thinking about all the things you need to do, you can’t concentrate on the the task at hand. Having an organized space makes you much more focused and productive.”

Not sure where to start? Tackle your spring cleaning the same way you tackle your work. Break your “to-do” list down into small, manageable tasks that you can actually accomplish in a day or two rather than attempting to declutter everything at once.

“I always recommend that people do the easiest things first,” says Jacobs. “If you pick something too big or too hard, you’re not going to get anything done. Set your priorities about what needs to get done first and break it down into smaller tasks. That way, you’ll feel really good after you accomplish each task.”

Here, Jacobs shares her top 7 hacks for hassle-free spring cleaning.

 

1. Clean Out Your Closet

Decluttering your closet is no easy feat, but Jacobs says this dreaded chore is actually much simpler than you think. “Group your clothes by type first,” she says. “Think about what you wear during non-quarantine time. What would you wear Monday through Friday? That’s the stuff that should be easiest to find.” That means organizing your clothes by season (say goodbye to those warm, cozy sweaters!), but keeping the shoes you wear most often close by. “Group your shoes by type first,” says Jacobs. “You don’t need your black tie shoes everyday, but you still want to be able to find them. I love these clear plastic shoeboxes because you can see through them even when they’re stacked up high.”

 

2. Organize Your Pantry

During these difficult times, when scoring a roll of toilet paper feels like winning the lottery, it’s important to declutter your pantry so that you know what you already have on hand. Maybe you’ve already bought three boxes of rice, but don’t have any olive oil or vegetable stock. Or you’ve got three cans of coffee, but no sugar or honey. Pull everything out then reorganize it so it’s in plain sight next time you open your cabinets. “One of my favorite things is clear plastic bins,” says Jacobs. “You can put all of your pasta in one, all of your peanut butter or condiments in another. That way, you pull out one bin at a time from each category, which makes it so much easier to bake or cook lunch or dinner!”

 

3. Give Makeup a Makeover

Maybe you’re going bare-faced these days but, eventually, when all of this is over, you’ll definitely want to feel glam again. So why not get an early start on decluttering your favorite cosmetics today? “When you do your makeup in the morning, t’s really important that you can just pull it out, put it on your counter then put it away,” says Jacobs. “It helps having little containers to organize everything because you can pull out exactly what you need when you need it. I like these ones because they stack easily on top of one another.”

 

4. Tie Up Loose Ends

One of the biggest problems in every bathroom is the tangle of cords tied from your blowdryer, flat iron and curling iron. Instead of tossing all of your styling tools together into a single drawer, try taking charge of the situation by tying up any loose ends instead. “Take everything that has a cord that can accidentally get tangled and pull it out,” says Jacobs. “Then mount a styling tool organizer on the door or even inside your bathroom cabinet. It will keep everything cleaner and neater so you can see what’s there quickly. That way, you’re not wasting time moving everything around and making a mess trying to find one little thing.”

 

5. Cut the Cords

We’ve all been there. Between iPads, iPhones, Kindles and laptops, it can be impossible to find the right charger when you actually need it. So, rather than letting your phone drain down to 3 percent, try finding a home for all of your chargers with a docking station instead. “Make sure every charger you have actually connects to a device you still own,” says Jacobs. “Throw out the Blackberry charger! Also, maybe everybody in your house has an iPhone, but you don’t need five iPhone chargers in your kitchen. Instead, maybe one stays in the kitchen, one stays in the bedroom and one stays in the living room. Anything extra should go in a box labeled ‘extra cords’ so they’re all together in one place.’

 

6. Manage Your Inbox

You may not need to look at your inbox 24/ 7, but you still need to scroll through thousands of emails every time you log into your inbox. So why not clean up those old messages once and for all? “It’s just getting all of the materials together in one place,” says Jacobs. “Now is a great time to start setting up for next year. A lot of people are cleaning out their closets and donating to charity. I would recommend going to Gmail to create a label that says ‘2020 Donation,’ so that, as you get those donation receipts, you can just start labeling everything for tax season next year. You can even print out hard copies of important emails like student loans to put in your file cabinet. Try organizing for whatever is going on in your life right now.”

 

7. Declutter Your Desk

Has your job suddenly gone remote? If so, it’s important to set aside a clean, organized space to work at home. Start by removing anything you don’t actually need (dried up pens, anyone?) . Then toss or keep whatever you use the most to make sure everything is accessible. “First, evaluate your workspace,” says Jacobs. “Then recycle empty shoeboxes to organize your office supplies. Use one for pens, one for pencils, one for chargers and another for paperwork. Make sure you have a bit of a system going on so that you can put everything away at night when it’s time to clean up, just like you’d do in a real office.”

What are some of your favorite ways to clean house and get organized? We would love to hear! Let us know in the comments.