O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE

Your Problem:

General Disorder

SOLUTION 1: DON’T FOCUS ON THE WHOLE ROOM.

Instead, tackle one drawer, one cabinet, or one pile of papers per day. You’ll have a sense of accomplishment with little effort.

SOLUTION 2: SORT THINGS BY FUNCTION.

Put coffee cups near the coffee pot, the mirror near the jewelry. Don’t just straighten papers that are lying around. Put them where they belong.

SOLUTION 3: ORGANIZING MEANS ELIMINATING.

If you don’t like the way you look in certain clothes, out they should go. If you can’t decide, put them aside for six months and then choose whether to keep them, toss them, or donate them to charity.

SOLUTION 4: STORE BY SEASON.

If you don’t have room to put all your clothes in one main closet, use that closet for this season’s clothes and put the rest somewhere else. Organize the pants together, skirts together, same sleeve lengths together, or clothes will get lost.

SOLUTION 5: TAKE CONTROL.

We get overwhelmed when thing pile up, so create a time slot every day to spend a few minutes organizing. Your papers, your thoughts, your mail all need to be dealt with on a daily basis.