10 Sneaky Spaces to Get Organized!

Marcia Ramsland practices what she teaches. I have been in her well-ordered and welcoming home. In this Organization UPGRADE she offers suggestions each of us can tackle to make our living space more organized.

“Sneaky Spaces” are small clutter troves hiding from your everyday life... until you face the embarrassment of someone spotting them," Marcia said.

"Worse yet, they are clutter of one category that keeps you from finding exactly what you need fast."    

I (Dawn) identify with that "sneaky spaces" concept... and the embarrassment of someone seeing them. I opened a closet with guests present, and blushed as some photos—in a loose, messy stack—tumbled out onto the floor! Red-faced and uncomfortable!

Marcia continues . . .      

Do you have what I call “Sneaky Spaces” that fill up with small items?

These spaces are small clutter troves hiding from your everyday life... until now. Use them up and let them go!

Pick a couple of areas below and entertain yourself and/or your family sorting them. It’s fun, easy, and productive to do in an evening. 

You’ll wonder how so much collected and how little of each you actually use.

This remind me me of Luke 16:10 when Jesus said, “He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much.”

What is it we are to be faithful stewards of? That which we own is at the top of the list.

As you read below, check how many you might feel “guilty” of... and then simply schedule the time (30-60 minutes) to deal with one of the “sneaky clutter spaces.”

 10 Sneaky Spaces to Get Organized 

1. Use Up Bathroom Products

All those little makeup samples, shampoo products, conditioners, nail polish, lipsticks, soap samples equal clutter!

You know what you like. Minimize the rest by using it up or tossing it out.

2. Sort Linen Closet Bedding and Towels

Take the time to wash all the towels, keep the sets you like and “Demote, Donate, or Trash” old stuff you don’t use.

3. Recycle Batteries and Lightbulbs

Gather them in one place, organize what works, and create a box ready to recycle when you can.

Now is a good time to replace bulbs and fire alarm and flashlight batteries.

4. Label Cable and Cord Collections

Do you have a stash of cables and wires you don’t even know what they are for? Now is the time to get family together to divide and conquer the cord collection.

Label chords, especially those that only the techie at home knows what they’re for.

5. Shred Old Credit Cards and Papers

You probably own a shredder, so now is the time to use it.

Credit Cards are good “fodder” and can be shredded as well as old financial papers that are filling up file drawers. Now is the time!

6. Fix it or Toss It—Repair Stuff

Do you have a random pile of things to be glued or repaired? Now is the time to use it or lose it.

Make a repair list, take it to dinner and decide who’s going to fix it or if it’s time to let it go.

7. Give Up the Receipt Collection

Continue shredding with receipts that have piled up.

You can practically have a confetti party when old receipts are gone through and gone!

8. Sort Your “Bag Lady” Stash

Seriously, how many bags do you need?

• Divide the plastic bags into Small, Medium, and Large and store in plastic containers with a lid.
• Refold canvas and cloth bags with the handles inside and the smooth edge lined up like books on a shelf.
• Don’t forget to include the ones in the car!

9. Clean Up Car Clutter

What a good time to get outside and cleanup the inside of your car.

Clean out all the clutter, vacuum, and be ready for the day we are released from Home Quarantine. It is well worth having a clean car.

10. Recycle Kitchen Plastic Ware

So often we collect more plastic containers than we use when food comes packaged in them.

Count, discuss, and release what’s filling up your cabinets.

Make a Clean Sweep of your kitchenware!

Today’s Tip:

“One of the fastest ways to save time is to organize what you use and let go of the excess.

"Keep your favorites and let go of the rest.”

Take a few minutes now and get started decluttering simple, small spaces like those listed above.

Be faithful in all the small spaces of clutter in your life.

It will reward you 10 x over once you get just what you need back into organized place!

What “Sneaky Space” would save you time and energy each day if you organized and decluttered the collection – makeup, receipts, cords, or bags?

Marcia Ramsland is well known as the “Organizing Pro” and teaches ten online organizing courses and coaches individuals to be highly productive personally and professionally. She is the author of the Simplify Your Life: Get Organized and Stay that Way book series, which has sold over 100,000 copies. Marcia believes anyone can become more organized and live an organized lifestyle that’s easy, simple, and productive - even YOU! For courses, personal coaching, and free inspirational materials visit her website at www.organizingpro.com

Graphic adapted, courtesy of Shaun Finn at Pixabay.

10 Easy Tips to 'Spring Clean' Your Home

Marcia Ramsland, a Life Organizing Coach, is offering a coaching course this month to help people declutter their homes. She graciously agreed to share 10 helpful UPGRADE Your Home tips.

“Need a winter boost and it’s not quite spring? You can create the freshness of a spring cleaning inside your heart and home,” Marcia said, “by taking some decisive action.”

I love the spring cleaning concept. I always have. But that doesn’t mean I like spring cleaning. Maybe it’s because I’ve never had a plan.

Marcia continues …

This could be any day at your home just by lacing up your gym shoes and stepping up the pace. Just look around you. Would any of these 10 Tips spruce up your home?

1. Vacuum your home and let some fresh breezes in. The whole house – and your outlook -will begin to take shape and look fresher.

2. Wash your bedding and change your blankets. Get rid of musty and dusty.

3. Put away winter coats, boots, and mittens, cleaning as you go through the front and back closets by the entrances.

4. Wash the windows to clear out winter gray that blocks your view. (Average 5-10 minutes per window).

5. Clear away piles by recycling newspapers, catalogs and newspapers that may have accumulated over the winter.

6. Sweep out the garage and wash the cars. Vacuum, wax, and change the oil in your car to get ready for spring and summer trips.

7. Clean up your desktop for a fresh start at work, too. No need to live with left over paperwork from the winter. Get it done, filed, and cleared up to get outside with the longer sunny days approaching.

8. Clean your closet by seasonally changing clothes and bringing out spring attire. Wash, iron, and mend before your clothes get put away. Giveaway clothes you didn’t wear and don’t like.

9. Shop for something new to wear for spring. When you feel better about how you look, people notice and even treat you better!

10. Clean out the refrigerator and make a fresh food meal of what’s in season. A social event or picnic can be a delightful celebration that you’ve finished your Spring Cleaning early!

These 10 Action Steps remind me of what was once said about a wise woman in the Bible and how she handled her home:

"The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down” (Proverbs 14:1).

I challenge my audiences and YOU to be a “Wise Woman” and build your home and family life by taking charge of the state of your home.

Whether you decide to thoroughly clean on a weekday or a weekend, don’t wait for a sunny day. Any day can be “Spring Cleaning Day.”

Which two steps would make the biggest difference in your home right now? You can do it—starting today!

Marcia Ramsland, a Life Organizing Coach, International Speaker, and Best-Selling Author, is committed to helping women break through barriers to simplify and succeed in life. She is well known as the “Organizing Pro” and nationally appears in Better Homes and Garden, Woman’s Day, Real Simple magazines, the Wall Street Journal and Martha Stewart radio.   

Beginning March 20, Marcia is offering a special 4-Week Coaching Course for busy women—“Simplify Your Space: A Room by Room DeCluttering Action Plan at Home!” Register at OrganizingPro.com.