How Do You Get Organized?! What Are Your Tips – I Have So Much Stuff, Some I Feel I Can’t Throw Out!! Help!!

For clothes: If you haven’t worn it in 1 year, you probably won’t. Get rid of it (throw it away, sell it, donate it). Only keep what you need between your normal laundry cycle. If you wash at least weekly, do you really need 42 pairs of socks?
Papers at your desk: Tax returns need to be saved for 7 years. But your monthly bills–NOT! As soon as you get the next statement that shows your last payment, throw the old one out. Don’t allow paperwork to accumulate.
Trinkets, heirlooms, memorabilia: Ask yourself seriously how meaningful each piece is. It’s normal to want to save pieces from family or special occasions, but to save every one will turn into a nightmare. Share them with family members.
Books: Only keep what you intend to read again. Donate or sell the rest.
Don’t view your home as a place to store “stuff.” View it as a place to use it. If you’re not using it, get rid of it. Cutting down on clutter is the single most effective way to get, and stay, organized. Very few people can feel organized when they have too much.

I agree with everything others have said but here are my tips:
1- Have a garbage in EVERY room of your house and use them.
2- Immediately throw away the envelopes that your bills come in along with the return envelope and bill inserts. This cuts half your incoming paper right away.
My former roommate used these two tips alone to organize the majority of her life. It took about 2-3 years but she finally got on top of all the clutter and stuff in her life by starting there.
If you’ve done #1 and #2 above and want to do more, you can also try:
3- Put the tools you need where you need them (e.g. buy a pair of scissors that always stay in the kitchen so you can find and use them when you need them) and if you need something to get your life organized (e.g. file folders, a filing cabinet, a label maker), get it and use it!
Finally, don’t beat yourself up over this. The stuff didn’t collect overnight so it will take time to clear it out. Just don’t be afraid to get rid of things and don’t get in the habit of acquiring more than you truly NEED.
Good luck!

Well, I know that everybody has things that bring special memories to your mind, but some times you have to let go, but if you need organizing tips, her are some:
*Get bins or crates that you can put your things in.
*Put some of your things in boxes and label them so you can get them out when you want.
I hope these tips help you decide what you want to do with your stuff.

3 boxes, 1. stuff you use all the time, 2. stuff you’re not sure about, 3. stuff to throw away or donate. do this in each room. for the stuff you are not sure about put a date on it 3-6 months away, by that date, if you haven’t used it, you won’t. There are groups you can join online http://www.messies.com and flylady.net. I read the book “Messies No More” by Sandra Felton and it’s helped me with cleaning, decluttering and organization. It’s best to go in baby steps and learn routines. If you try to do it all at once, you’ll over-whelm yourself and give up. Good luck to you.

Clothes: Look at them, and see how often you’ve worn them, and will you wear them again…if not, give them away (goodwill, salvation army, resale store…)
Papers: File cabinet items you have to keep, other papers, look and see if it is necessary to keep or shred
Use storage organizers: go to an organizer store or look online at places like: http://www.containerstore.com/
Again look at items you really need to keep, and those you haven’t used, and give them away or sell them in a garage sale

Me too! My biggest problem is taking the time to do it!
You’re supposed to make three piles. Keep, give away, throw away. If you haven’t used it in a year, you’re supposed to get rid of it unless it has HUGE sentimental value.
Since it’s so overwhelming to tackle a huge job, you’re supposed to do one small area at a time, or just spend 5-10 minutes a day or whatever, until you are finished.
I have all this great advice, but I still have a house full of junk because I haven’t taken my own advice. Good luck!

Three boxes: Keep, Donate, Toss (actually four if you can recycle).
Take some time each week, even if it’s an hour, and attack some part of your house, like the top of your desk or one drawer. Divvy up the stuff into those boxes.
Actually, you can put three boxes in each room. So, for example, when you pull something out of your closet that you haven’t worn in a year or two and start to put it back, just drop it into the Donate box instead.
If you do it in small bits, you won’t get overwhelmed.
I’ve found great success in getting those inexpensive plastic storage boxes. You can organize your small stuff that way and have it neatly stacked somewhere.
Good luck!
Here’s a helpful site:http://pa.essortment.com/homeorganizatio…
Also, regarding sentimental stuff it’s hard to get rid of: Unless it’s some family heirloom, we keep stuff because of the pleasant memory it evokes. Why not just take a picture of it and put it in a memory album that you can look through when you’re feeling sentimental?

I just went through this about a month ago, and what REALLY helped me was the tv show, Neat, it’s. She has a website, it’s http://www.neattv.com
Some of her tips really, really, helped me, I hold onto lots of things, and this helped me to stop it. The ONE thing that REALLY helped me was remembering that just because I got rid of something does NOT mean that I’m ending the friendship/relationship with that person, they are still there, and getting rid of something that I don’t use doesn’t make that go away. This did WONDERS for me and you know what, everyone does this! No one keeps everything you give them, if they don’t use it, they either pass it on, donate it, or throw it away, so why should you have to hang onto it? Somebody out there may really need or can use what you have and don’t want, donate it! Even tag sale it!
Also, if it’s NOT a seasonal item and you have NOT used it in a year, get rid of it! Obviously you’ve gotten along this long without it, and I know the “just in case” feeling, but if you haven’t used it in so long, chances are, you won’t, and IF by chance you do need it a year or so from now, you can get another one or borrow one from someone!
For paperwork, Helen Buttigieg, from the show, Neat, she’s the organizer, uses the RAFT system, which is great to use. It stands for READ, ACT, FILE, and TOSS. That means you read it, then you either act on it, like paying a bill, file it if it’s something you need and are done with, or toss it if you don’t need it. That helps so much when you go by that!
Start small, start in one room and take one area at a time, it won’t all happen in one day, it may take a week or more depending on what you’re organizing. It helps to buy a labeler, some plastic bins, being able to see things helps you to not repeat the purchase and you know when to re-stock. I did over my entire apartment this way and the difference is amazing! I took it slow, did one room at a time, and did EVERY drawer and cabinet. I made piles of keep, toss, donate, and tag sale, and also give away, like to family or friends. The amount of things you end up with is amazing! I got rid of tons of things that I’ve been hanging onto for either “just in case” or because of the person that gave it to me. I don’t have the room to do that anymore, and if you don’t use it, you shouldn’t have to give it prime real estate when you can be storing something you REALLY want in that area!
Also, for old magazines, even ones you’ve just finished reading, go through it and instead of keeping the entire magazine, tear out the articles you want, then get either a binder with page protectors to store them in, or get an accordian file and mark the tabs, and store the pages in there. That is saving me 2 shelves of space!
There are hospitals, schools, even girl scout troops that will take books, magazines, etc, you can donate things like that there.
Take it slow, when it becomes overwhelming, stop and take a break. That helps too! Then go back to it later or the next day, you can even shift to another area. I hope these tips help you!

There is a web sight that’s called http://www.FreeCycle.org
Instead of throwing things away, this sight keeps things from going to the dump. There is always someone out there that can use what you don’t want. Please check it out!