Do you ever find that there are SO many great ideas for “getting organized”? You can access incredible amounts of information on YouTube, in podcasts, on social media, in magazines, etc., but do you ever feel like your brain can get cluttered with all those ideas–to the point you feel like it’s just too much?
Today I’m going to share a simple and effective way to organize the great ideas you have learned or will learn from the great organizers out there, and I hope this will bring you relief and help you to feel empowered as you more fully organize your spaces.
I thought it would be fun to highlight three videos from some wonderful organizing experts that our community members talk about all the time. I’ll embed their videos here on the page, so you can watch them, if desired! And then I’ll share how “organizing” their great tips and tricks can actually help you get things done–so your home can FEEL just like what you see online!
Now, as we go through these three examples, we’re going to utilize a few key parts of our STEP Command Central:
- Current Projects List
- Support Materials
- Next Actions
- Routines
I’ll explain them briefly as we go, but we have lots of videos on our YouTube channel explaining how they work, so please make sure you’ve subscribed to LearnDoBecome’s channel over there to get the most of what we have to offer you, okay?
A quick back story:
I grew up moving piles of clutter around in circles and never really feeling “organized.” And while I loved learning new techniques, skills, etc., I found that once I became an adult and had my own home and family, “learning things” caused me to feel really stressed. It was like I was just getting more ideas I wouldn’t be able to implement.
But now I LOVE learning because I have a system where everything can go–and that’s what I want for you, too.
All right, ready to jump into the three examples?
I love all the great recommendations our community members send to me. That’s how I found each of these organizers, and I am so grateful for the wonderful work they do!
(1) Dawn – The Minimal Mom
I’ve never met her, but she feels like my friend! Here’s a great video about decluttering your whole house in a year. She goes through, room by room and shares mindset shifts, practical advice, suggestions on bins, etc. It’s great!
If you want to do this, how will you remember?
- If now is not the time, you can simply write “Declutter the House in a Year – See Minimal Mom Video from _____ date” on your Someday Projects List. You can review that list whenever you have bandwidth–or you could create a calendar reminder to check it/consider that project on a specific date in the future.
- Or, if you’re ready to do it now, add it to your Current Projects List. This is one list for the month, divided into the categories “Me, Family, and Beyond,” with no more than 8 projects on the list–total.
- You COULD do one project titled “Declutter House” in the family category of your Current Projects List, but I personally like to see my projects getting completed more quickly so I can feel that greater sense of progress.
- I would break that bigger project into several smaller projects (perhaps each room could be its own) and add them to the project pyramid–with “Current” on top, followed by In Progress, Next in Line, Someday, and Finished. (We have a video all about this that I’ll link at the bottom, if you’d like to see how that works!)
- I would also keep related inspirational materials together for decluttering/organizing each space in my Support Materials–linked inside a digital project manager (like Asana), bookmarked together, printed/written out in a paper folder in my “Home” cubby, gathered into a digital notebook, or put into something like a Pinterest board. Then they’re always accessible when I’m working on my current projects!
(2) Dana – “A Slob Comes Clean”
She created this awesome video called “The Container Concept” where she shares how we often buy more and more stuff–and then keep buying more and more containers, shelves, etc. INSTEAD of putting a limit on ourselves and saying something like, “I am only keeping as many pens as fit in this one jar.”
This is a GREAT video, and once we learn it/watch it, how do we make sure that we actually apply it?
- You might want to go into your Someday or Current Project we discussed above, and in your general notes for decluttering the house, write down, “Remember the Container Concept from Dana’s video on ______ date–set limits in each area of the home.” Ideally, you’ll have a focused list of reminders and suggestions to review when you start on each sub-project/room, and it’s a nice way to help the future you to recall the ideas that inspired you in the past.
- This could also be a great item to record on your “To Discuss” List. This is a section of your weekly Next Actions List, where you record items you need to discuss with your spouse, family members, roommate, close friend, etc. (Reference the video name and/or date on your list so you can quickly watch it together. In the comments, a woman shared that she showed it to her son, who then went and cleaned his bedroom in 5 hours.)
- You might also decide to apply the idea to one major place in your home right now (maybe it has pens like the ones she shared in the video), and you think, “I’m not cleaning my whole house right now, but I can apply this video by just decluttering my pens this week.” Simply add “Declutter/containerize the pens in the art cupboard” to your Next Actions List in the “Home” category.
(3) Cassandra – Clutterbug
In her video, “My Daily Speed Cleaning Routine and My Cleaning Must Haves,” she shares how she spends 30 minutes or less doing the following:
- Make Bed
- Do Dishes
- Clean Kitchen
- Clean Bathroom
- Tidy Tote Pick Up (where she gathers things into a big tote that has smaller containers inside and sorts by family member or room)
- Surfaces
- Spot Mop
- Laundry
It’s great! So how would you make this happen regularly in your home?
- You might want to add this to your weekly Routines List. I remember that the Fly Lady would do a Weekly Home Blessing that was a nice once a week clean-up. Maybe you do regular cleaning on Saturdays, but then you do a “Dirty 30” mid-week. The STEP Command Central features a Routines List that holds everything we do daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc. You review it weekly, but if anything is time- and date-specific, it is also on your calendar as an event, and as you are establishing a routine, you may also add it to your Current Projects List or create calendar reminders.
- Or maybe you just want this as a tool to use when the house feels crazy or company is coming… It doesn’t need to be written down as a routine, Next Action, or task, but you could create a note in your phone (Google Drive, Evernote, Notion, etc.) with the checklist she offers stored as part of your Support Materials. The key to optimal Support Materials is to have things organized so well that you can find what you need within about 30 seconds. I personally would keep something like this in a notes app that can be easily searched, and I would title it with as many keywords as possible. Words I would probably search would be “Clutterbug,” “Dirty 30,” and “Quick Cleaning Routine.” Or I could just put the printout in my “Home” cubby in the “Cleaning” folder. (I’ll link a related video about my cubbies below, if you’d like more information on those!)
- Of course, you could always add this to your Someday List (or add the video to a playlist or something simple like that). You don’t have to do everything right now…
This comment that came in from Tracy made me smile, and I wanted to share it here so you can feel the excitement that is ahead as you build your STEP Command Central:
“I feel like I’m pretty organized HOWEVER while speaking with my wonderful friend, Valerie about the “tidying” I was doing following Marie Kondo’s book, she then shared that she was excited to begin her LearnDoBecome program and she offered to gift me her other program. Well, I accepted her gracious offer and boy am I glad I did!! I will admit that I have already had a good portion of the command central already intact, but I was able to apply a few key elements you suggested. The REAL aha moments came in the Current Projects list portion and I have to tell you . . . it completely changed my world!!!! I have gotten more done in a weeks time and FEEL amazing!! Projects that I was going to get to 6 or 7 months ago, that were stressing me out, were done in 2-3 days, other projects are lined up for the future projects, my filing system has been gutted and the clarity I have is incredible. I am also creating an online program, just about to launch in fact, and I will be mentioning your program LDB to the crazy busy moms I’ll be serving! So, thank you for being so thorough and so fabulous!! Oh and by the way, I’m not waking up in the middle of the night thinking I forgot to do something and it’s really only been a little over a week!”
It is AWESOME to learn new things–for home organizing, family-raising, marriage-strengthening, business-building, etc. But sometimes all the learning seems to just go into our minds for a moment–and then it disappears. For many people, it becomes entertainment to watch other people thrive. We watch them clean their homes, exercise, cook nutritious foods, and spend quality time with their families. However, my personal goal is for YOU to thrive.
I’m so glad you’re here with us! I hope you’ll want to build your STEP Command Central and have a calm, organized mind forever–so you can keep learning, doing, and becoming!
Please share links to favorite resources–or ask questions/leave comments below! We’re cheering you on!
Related Links!
Video: Project Overwhelm Solved – Projects Pyramid
Video: Your New Paper Pile Solution (My Cubby System)
Resource Post: Start STEPping for Free!
LearnDoBecome YouTube Channel!
Our ARISE membership – an amazing gathering place for community members that are using their Command Centrals to refine relationships, health, finances, individual purpose, and more. We focus on a new topic each month, and this is an amazing opportunity to receive coaching and support from Team LearnDoBecome. You can sign up for a free, 60-day trial here.
Dinah Abazly says
Listening to the comment at the end…I heard somewhere that watching others do something tricks our brain into thinking we’ve actually done the thing that we’re watching others do, maybe that’s why we feel satisfaction from watching others achieve their goals. Thank you for helping people become what they want to be; not just live vicariously through others!
April Perry says
Very sweet of you. Thanks for the kind comment!
Kim says
This was so helpful! I love how you demonstrated how to use the STEP Command Central and principals of the program to incorporate great content from others into our lives. Home run!!
April Perry says
Thanks so much! I get so excited imagining how this system can help others, and it means so much to have you here with us!