With the holidays coming up you might notice your schedule is even more jam-packed than usual. This time of the year is meant to be for spending time with family and relaxing, not stressing out! By adopting a little more discipline in your everyday habits and getting more organized, you can actually give yourself more freedom and mental clarity and gift yourself with a sense of peace and calm.
Emily got together with Janelle and Mel G., two of our Stax trainers who have their lives organized to a T. The crew hosted an Instagram Live at @staxcycleclub to give you the scoop on some simple tips on how to get organized this holiday season.
Organizational Tips to Get You Started
Janelle is one of our Stax sculpt class instructors while Mel G. teaches spin classes. Both of these ladies live for all things organization - from their homes to their exercise wardrobe to their schedules. They love living full lives and believe that by creating a clear and organized space they can tackle their busy schedules more gracefully. Check out their recommendations on how you can do the same!
Start Small
Trying to get your life 100% organized when you’re starting from scratch can be so overwhelming, not to mention potentially setting you up for failure. Instead of trying to tackle your entire home, pick one small area that needs attention. Whether it’s your junk draw, your shoe closet, or your makeup vanity, start with one space at a time.
The key to organizing, especially with the smaller things, is to make sure everything has a home. Sort like with like. There are tons of organizational tools you can use like draw dividers or clear containers. Make sure everything has its own place.
Our ladies recommend trying to master one place for 30 days. If everything goes well, give yourself kudos! Now you will totally feel confident to tackle the next cluttered area in your house.
Find What Works for You
We’re all a little bit different. Our homes are designed differently. We use different things on a daily basis and different things are important to us. That means there is no one size fits all solution to organization. You can use tips and tricks that you learn from others, but the key is finding what works best for you.
Being organized can totally support your wellness routine. When everything is at-the-ready for your post-workout shake, you’re much more likely to have it. When you’re sports bras and leggings are neatly where they belong, it’s much easier to get to the gym. Your organization solutions need to be easily accessible to make it functional and to make your life easier.
Not only do you need to find a home for everything, but you need to make sure it’s the right home. If you like to read in bed, maybe the best place to organize your books is on your nightstand, not in the living room. If you never remember to take your vitamins with breakfast, try storing them next to your toothbrush instead. You don’t have to follow along with what works for other people. What’s important is what works for you.
Go Easy On Yourself
We’re always hard on ourselves, but organizing is supposed to help us feel more at peace - not stress us out even more.
Treat yourself with grace on your organization journey. Even the seasoned pros occasionally find that things get a bit disheveled. If it gets a little messed up, just go back and reset it. By being flexible, you’ll be able to get yourself back on track instead of spiraling out of control.
Work on building positive habits instead of focusing on perfection.
Areas to Focus on
Ready to get organized? Here's where to start!
Organize Your Schedule
Being organized isn’t only limited to your physical objects. You can also get more organized with your schedule, especially for those of us who just can’t seem to find enough time in the day. Set yourself up for success by keeping a detailed schedule so you don’t miss a beat.
Most cell phones these days have a calendar app where you can schedule your days down to the hour. Don’t be afraid to schedule yourself time to complete “obvious” tasks like downtime for yourself or even time to organize your home.
You can not only link your calendar across all of your devices, but you can link up with your other family members too. This is especially helpful for busy parents juggling kids’ activities.
Organize Your Wardrobe
One of the hardest areas for many people to keep organized is their closet. If this is you, you're not alone! Luckily we have quite a few amazing wardrobe organization tips and tricks to help you clear the clutter out of your closet. Plus you can do some good for the environment and those in need.
One of the hardest things to do is make the decision to get rid of clothes. It can be really hard to say goodbye, especially when we have an emotional or sentimental attachment to an item. But donating your clothes or even selling them at a consignment shop is also a really great feeling. Here are a few ways to help give yourself a nudge in the right direction.
The One-In-One-Out Method
Just like it sounds, with this method, as soon as you add something new to your closet, you have to choose something to donate or sell.
If you buy some gorgeous new denim, then that pair of jeans you hardly wear anymore can be donated to a local woman’s shelter. If you snag a new workout set, that set on its last leg can be recycled into rags for cleaning.
The Reverse Hanger Trick
It’s the perfect time of the year to start this decluttering hack.
Go into your closet and flip all of your hangers, and put them back so the open end is out.
Throughout the year, when you wear something, put it back on the hanger the normal way around.
In six months or a year from now, you can go back and see which items you haven’t touched.
If it’s been a year since you’ve even looked at that dress you still have from 2009, then it’s probably time to say goodbye.
Want Vs. Need
If we’re not paying attention, it can be hard to distinguish between a want versus a need. And we’re definitely not saying that you’re not allowed to have clothing that you want. Just being aware of the difference can really help you cut back on clutter and make the tough decision to say goodbye to something that’s no longer serving you.
We want to feel happy when we open our closets and see the pieces that we love, which is hard to do if you’ve accumulated too much.
find a clear + consistent home for your stuff
It's amazing how organized you can feel when you find a consistent way to store your clothes. Here's a simple way that Mel folds her sports bras, and organizes by level of support!
Benefits of Recycling Clothing
Getting new things and ditching others doesn't have to be wasteful. It can be quite the opposite, in fact.
Fashion contributes approximately 8% to global emissions, but as population and consumption grow, this figure is expected to increase by 45% come 2030.
Recycling clothing, whether that’s by donating or selling it, is sustainable and can help others. When you resell your clothing via consignment shops, you’re helping the environment by passing an item on to someone else who can get more use out of it. If you donate the clothes, then you can aid those in need. Even items you think are totally done-zo like old raggedy towels can find good use in places like animal shelters.
Organization Products
You don’t have to spend a fortune on fancy products in order to get your house and your life organized. Many of Janelle’s organizational tools come from the dollar store or Amazon. Here are some of her favorites!
Adjustable Drawer Dividers: These draw dividers are perfect to break up larger wardrobe drawers into smaller compartments for different things. Use them to separate your undies from your socks. Or, if you’re like Mel, your three different levels of sports bra support.
Command Cord Bundlers: Unruly cords lying all over the place are so unsightly and make you feel disorganized even when you're not. Use these cord bundlers to get them off the floor and keep them organized and secure.
Adjustable Bamboo Drawer Dividers: These dividers are designed more for kitchen or bathroom drawers because of their lower height. You can use these to break up your junk drawer into more manageable sections or keep apart different kitchen utensils.
Glass Spice Jars: These spice jars are not only practical but also very aesthetically pleasing. Use these so that every time you open your spice drawer or cabinet, you feel excited to get cooking. Plus, you can save the planet by buying your spices in bulk instead of single-use plastic containers.
By implementing these organizational tips and ideas into your daily routine and fine-tuning them so that they fit into your lifestyle and home, you’re going to improve your life in a big way.
It’s not about having a type A personality or being a control freak. It’s about setting yourself up for success as well as making your life easier and peaceful. Before you know it, all these things will become second nature and you’ll find yourself wondering how you ever lived without them.
Then you’ll be ready for the final boss level of organization: the label maker.