30+ Organization Habits and Routines From Seriously Organized People
If you want more organization, there are some habits and routines you can copy from the seriously organized people in your life. Organizing your home helps keep it clean and that makes it a more relaxing place to be.
Organization Habits & Routines
A routine is nothing more than a regular way of doing things. Don’t be intimidated by the thought of adding routines because you likely already have them. Think of them as organizational tweaks.
Nightly Prep for the Morning
Take a few minutes at night to collect and set the things together you will need to get out the door in the morning. This might be your phone, your charging cord, wallet, keys and your work ID.
If you have kids, this is crucial to reduce the morning rush, but it helps us adults as well! Backpacks, jackets and shoes by the front door and ready to go!
Share the Load
Asking for help and delegating is key when creating some organization habits and routines. This house won’t stay organized by your sole effort unless you live alone. Kids can learn to unload the dishwasher. Teenagers can learn to do their own laundry. Make it normal that everyone in the house shares the load and don’t just do it for them.
Follow the One In, One Out Rule
This habit will help you minimize the buildup of stuff. When your little ones outgrow their shoes and get a new pair, the old pair that don’t fit should go into the donation bin or garbage (whichever is appropriate). Don’t hold onto the original when the replacement needs that storage room.
Habit Stacking
Popularized by James Clear in his book Atomic Habits, habit stacking involves pairing a task with another task you are already doing to create the habit. If you make coffee every morning (habit 1), maybe while it brews, you can empty the dishwasher (habit 2).
Lists & Planners Help HUGE with Organizing Routines & Habits
Whether you do this as a list on your phone or in a physical planner, this is a key element to staying organized. Use lists to keep your thoughts organized and reduce stress. You have the answers!
Setting Goals
Goals don’t have to be big, but they help define why you are doing this and what outcome you are looking for. Maybe it’s to declutter 10 minutes a day so you can have more room and less stuff to clean around. Whatever it is, you are making a micro-promise to yourself and it builds confidence when we achieve even small goals!
Stop procrastinating and do the worst task first
Look at your list and eat the frog. Do that thing you hate most first. You know you don’t want to do it, but it’ll feel so good to cross it off. (And it probably won’t take as long as you think.)
Meal Planning
Create a routine and spend a bit of time on the weekend organising your week’s meals and cooking habits. This might be the key to taking a packed lunch to work instead of buying lunch (big savings!), or maybe it’s ensuring meat is taken out to defrost in the morning so you know what to make when you walk in the door after work.
Use a Running Grocery List
As you run out of food items, add things to your list. Keeping an ongoing list makes it much easier on grocery day. Along with your simple meal plan, this will help you buy only what you need, which will save both money and space!
Schedule the Workout
If you want to get that workout done, you need to schedule it. When are you going to do it? Where are you going to work out? What do you need? Like your nightly prep for going to work, you need to prep for the workout to make it easier to go do it than not do it.
Cleaning Schedule
Keeping your space clean is key to keeping it organized. If you are doing regular cleaning, then you only have to do a deep clean periodically. That is much easier. It doesn’t have to be super formal, but even vacuum once a week or run the dishwasher after supper will help.
Daily Habits
Go Paperless
Whether it’s your bills or your receipts from the store, opt for paperless where possible. This reduces your physical clutter. When there’s less paper coming in, you don’t have a pile to add to. That flyer in your mailbox can go directly into your recycling bin.
Unsubscribe
This can apply to physical newsletters as well as the digital ones. Pay attention to whether you can opt out of mailings. You can get your name off mailing lists by contacting the companies sending the mail.
Limit Email to Once or Twice a Day
Switching your focus to email, reading it and responding doesn’t seem like it takes much time, but it adds up. Limit email to once or twice a day. Stay focused on what you are doing without interruptions. (Switch off notifications unless you are expecting urgent news.)
Decluttering is a Fantastic Habit & Routine to Get Organized
You can’t organize clutter, but it does keep creeping in. Stay on top of it with daily decluttering, even ten minutes. Commit to doing this daily!
Put Things Away
When you have decluttered and everything has a home, it takes as little time to put it away as to set it on the counter. Make it easy for yourself. You save time for Future-You because you know where to find things.
Keep Similar Things Together
By keeping like-things together, you know where to look for things and where to put them away. Bonus: everyone you live with knows where to find things.
Say No and Set Boundaries
Part of staying organized is not taking on more than you can handle. Your limit might be different than someone else’s acceptable limit. Always remember, NO is a complete sentence.
Keep Your Kitchen Counters Clear
If you have no workspace, then you are less likely to want to be in your kitchen and less likely to be motivated to cook a proper meal for yourself. If you don’t have enough storage, then at least keep one counter clear. This is a great habit to build into your routines and will help your kitchen stay organized.
Prioritize Your Most Used Items
Keep the things you use the most in a convenient spot. That doesn’t have to be in plain sight. The pan you use for breakfast every morning should be in a cabinet you can easily access, but the roaster you only use for the holidays can be stored in the basement if you don’t have a pantry or kitchen space for it.
“That’s too much! I just want some simple organization Routines & Habits!”
If that seems like a lot and you aren’t in a spot where those habits seem practical for you, then start with implementing some of these little organization tips.
Entryway
Put shoes away
Whether you use a basket, a shoe rack or a closet, getting the footwear out of the way will make your entryway look more organized. It also eliminates a tripping hazard.
Seasonal Only
When you look around your entryway, everything there should match the season. No beach bags by the door when it’s fall. Pack away the fall jackets when the snow flies. By only allowing seasonal items, you can reduce the amount of stuff. Pack out of season clothing, sport equipment or bags away.
Kitchen
Use a tray to gather items
For items that live on your kitchen counter out of necessity, like cooking oils or dish soap and brushes, use a tray to gather them together. Not only will it make it look like a set, it is easier to move to wipe the counter.
Put the lids on your food containers
Yes, I know. It takes a little more room but give it a try. Put the lids on all the containers. Now take all those leftover lids without containers and put those strays into the penalty box. Be very honest with yourself about how many containers you need. Fill the cabinet with the ones you need, store the others in the penalty box for now and try to live with this quantity.
You don’t need as many containers as you think. The penalty box gives you some time to adjust what you need and use. A month from now, you’ll know what you are using.
Use hooks on the inside of cabinet doors
This is a simple way to use this vertical space. Measuring spoons, measuring cups, colanders, utensils and lids can all be hung up with proper hardware.
First In, First Out for Food Storage
Always organize your food with the newest purchases at the back. Yes, it takes a couple of extra minutes to put the canned tomatoes at the back on grocery day, but it’ll be worth it. This ensures that the oldest food is eaten first and reduces food waste. (This also applies to medication and vitamins.)
Livingroom
Storage Furniture
Consider multi-purpose pieces when you are replacing older furniture. A storage ottoman can store blankets or toys which makes cleaning up simple yet items are still accessible.
Five-or-Ten-Minute Tidy
These were a staple in my house when my kids were small. It helped keep everything under control. Twice a day, we’d do a quick pickup. Anything that doesn’t belong in the room went back to its home. Make sure you have a container to hold the things that get spread out.
Bedroom
Make Your Bed
Yes, I know you’ve heard this one before but it makes your whole room look more organized. (It’s also a great flat surface if you need to fold laundry in your room!). This is a habit a lot of us were taught as part of the morning routine when we were little to help the house stay organized, but sometimes we lose it or never learned. Now is a great time!
Clear off Your Nightstand or Bedside Table
Try to reduce the number of things to the absolute minimum of what you need. Too many items look cluttered.
Under the Bed Storage
If you have a large wardrobe and like to pack away your out of season clothing, employ under the bed storage. This keeps your closet from being overstuffed. It is also a good option if you want to live more of a minimalist life and transition to using a capsule wardrobe (https://minimalisthome.ca/minimalist-fashion-capsule-wardrobe/)
Linen Closet (or Linen-Storage Space)
Sheets
Keep your linen closet organized by storing your fitted and folded sheets inside the matching pillowcase. This also enables you to weed out odd unmatched pieces and bedding you don’t use anymore.
Create Zones
To make your closet (or linen storage space) function better, create zones. Keep bedding separate from towels. Keep facecloths separate from towels. This will also help you see what you have and what you can get rid of.
Bathrooms
Use containers under the sink or in drawers
This allows you to group similar items together which helps you keep the space tidy. Side bonus: It also imposes a limit of what you can fit and you can control your inventory that way. Now THAT’S a great organization routine and habit!
Avoid storing items on the countertop as much as possible
This will make your bathroom look more organized. Consider over the door hangers which can fit on cabinet doors or even back of the bathroom door hanging organizers if your bathroom is small.
Throw Out Products You Don’t Like
Maybe it didn’t do what it promised. Or the smell was too overpowering. Or it’s just old and you suspect it’s probably expired. Declutter it! Your bathroom will always look more organized with less stuff.
Your Donation (or Sell) Pile
In an organized home, everything needs a place to be put away, even your donations and items for sale. Designate a spot in your home for these unneeded things. Ensure all family members know where this spot is. And yes, let your teens make decisions on stuff they want to get rid of; step in only where it’s a financial issue to donate it.
Set a reminder on your phone or write one on your calendar to take your donations away on a regular basis. Some charities do pick up curbside, so you might be able schedule a regular pickup date. Check for options in your area.
Items you want to sell should be listed soon after the decision is made to let it go. Give yourself a deadline to sell it and, if you don’t get a buyer, donate it. You don’t need the extra stuff.
If you want your home to look more organized, the first step is to declutter. No space looks organized when it’s overcrowded. Once you reduce the stuff, you can organize and make it functional.
Once you’ve built a few habits and routines in, you’ll notice how quickly your home is getting organized! With practice, it will get better and better!
