How to Declutter and Organize Your Home

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Are you overwhelmed by clutter, but unsure how to organize your home? Have you made past attempts to declutter your house and get organized, only to be disappointed when the results unraveled before your eyes? If you’re ready for a fresh start and a fun approach to organizing your home, this online workshop is for you.

My name is Aby Garvey. I’m the founder and co-owner of simplify 101. Since 2004, I have been helping people organize their homes via my in-home professional organizing services and my organizing coaching program. I have been teaching online organizing workshops at simplify 101 since 2007. Through answering thousands of workshop participant’s and organizing client’s questions, I have developed a unique understanding of the obstacles people face when organizing their own homes. I know what can prevent you from getting started as well as what can stall your progress midstream. This workshop distills the best techniques for getting motivated to move past your obstacles and organize your home, finally enjoying the freedom that comes from living an organized life. Simply stated, this workshop is based on my years of professional experience in helping thousands of customers get organized and enjoy their own “destination organization.”

If you’ve taken other simplify 101 workshops, you will find familiar content in this workshop—concepts and strategies you have seen and used in other workshops such as Organizing 101, Quick + Simple Clutter Control, and Help! I Don’t Know Where to Begin. I like to think of this workshop as a “greatest hits” compilation—it includes proven approaches, strategies and methods for organizing your home. You’ll also get new content, but if your home is already working well for you organizationally or you feel you have all of the tools and resources you need to finish the organizing projects on your to-do list, then this workshop wasn’t designed with you in mind.

However, if you’ve read books on how to organize your home, collected organizing ideas via magazines, Pinterest or blogs, but your home is still more cluttered and disorganized than you’d like it to be, The FUNdamentals of Getting Organized is definitely for you! It’s also for you if you’re stalled on your organizing journey or you’re having a hard time getting started in the first place. If you hit a snag anywhere in the process, you have access to an organizing expert ready to answer your questions and committed to your success. And if you’re someone who enjoys completing your organizing projects with the support and motivation of a friendly online community—like the one here at simplify 101—all the better!

How will you benefit from this workshop?

The FUNdamentals of Getting Organized gives you a complete system for organizing your home using simple yet effective principles. Woven throughout the lessons are 20 organizing FUNdamentals, simple, sticky phrases designed to make the concepts sink-in and stick with you. The information is presented in bite-sized action steps over six lessons, making it simple to put ideas into practice without feeling overwhelmed. By the end of the program, you’ll have finished organizing projects checked off your to-do list. (Yeah, endorphin rush!) Plus, you’ll have everything you need to organize the rest of your home. Each step of the way, I’ll be there to answer your questions, provide motivation and help you work your way around any obstacles that come up as you organize.

This comprehensive program shows you how to organize your home so you can…

• Save time because your home is arranged efficiently. You’ll get your day-to-day tasks done more quickly and you’ll no longer have to hunt for things you can’t find.
• Have more time to spend with friends and family, relaxing and enjoying activities you love to do!
• Save money because you’ll no longer misplace items and have to buy duplicates or replacements.
• Eliminate stress and worry.
• Improve your relationships by alleviating the strain clutter can cause.
• Feel comfortable welcoming guests into your home.
• Enjoy your home, family and life even more!

Here’s what you get with The FUNdamentals of Getting Organized workshop:

Lesson 1: Getting Started on Your Organizing Journey

This lesson lays the foundation for the workshop by introducing you to the idea that organizing is a journey. Here’s what I’ll share with you:

• Get an overview of the journey ahead. If you’re someone who needs to see where you’re headed before diving in and taking action, this overview will get you on the path to success.
• Find out how to make progress on your organizing projects in small steps, so you can finish your organizing projects even if you’re short on time or are currently feeling overwhelmed.
• Understand the difference between key terms such as storage, organization and decluttering, and discover why this distinction is important to the success of your organizing projects.
• Pinpoint what is currently working well in your home as well as the improvements you want to make, so you can prioritize your projects and budget.
• Find out why it is important that you love how your spaces look when you’re finished organizing.
• Collect visual inspiration for your home-organizing projects, so you can begin picturing how you want your home to look (and how great it’s going to feel when you get there!).
• Use a helpful checklist to put together an organizing toolkit, which will make your organizing projects easy to start and finish.

Lesson 2: Clearing the Path to Destination Organization

This lesson will give you the tools you need to declutter your home. Here’s what you’ll do:

• Eliminate clutter using the grab-and-dash decluttering process that I introduced in the Help! I Don’t Know Where to Begin mini-guide. You’ll create results quickly and move from feeling overwhelmed or stuck to motivated and energized.
• Find out how to let go of physical items cluttering your path to destination organization, and discover why this step simplifies getting your organizing projects done.
• Get the inside scoop on 20 common organizing roadblocks, obstacles that will slow down progress or prevent you from even starting your organizing projects. I’ll show you how to work around your organizing obstacles, such as feeling overwhelmed, perfectionism, a lack of time and a limited budget.
• Create a personalized plan to address your organizing obstacles. Filled with concrete, doable strategies, your plan will make it possible to move forward and organize your home, even if you’ve struggled in the past.

Lesson 3: Select Your Destination + Map out Your Journey

In Lesson 3, you continue decluttering and preparing for your organizing journey. Here’s what you’ll find out and do.

• Explore what being organized means to you—how it looks, how it feels, and most of all, how you’ll spend your time when you arrive at destination organization.
• Discover the elements of an organized home and the role zones play in making a home easy to use and enjoy.
• Create a simple, flexible organizing plan that will eliminate your worry about the best place to start on your organizing journey.
• Find out how to prioritize your projects based on your circumstances, needs and goals. This simple prioritizing system takes the guess-work out of where to start and where to go from there!
• Learn how to make progress on your organizing projects even if you’re short on time.
• Gain clarity about how you want your home to look, feel and function, and create a compelling goal statement or vision for your project. This step will help you stay motivated on the organizing journey, even if you have gotten stuck in the past.

Lesson 4: Let’s Hit the Road — Taking Your First Day Trip to Destination Organization

In this lesson, it’s time to organize a small space in your home. Here’s what you’ll enjoy:

• Walk through a small organizing project with me, where you see before, during and after pictures, and get the inside scoop on the thought process I use to make spaces organized, efficient and attractive.
• Get in on the organizing fun and organize a small area in your home, such as a small cabinet, junk drawer, nightstand, bookcase or small closet. You’ll see firsthand how simple, fast and fun it is to organize a space, boosting your confidence and motivation.
• Get an Organizing Project Road Map template that makes it simple to think through your project before you start, so you’re thrilled with the end results.
• Use a colorful summary chart of the organizing process while you organize, so you stay focused and on-track.
• Find out five simple questions you can ask while organizing, so you can organize and declutter items you don’t use, need or love without feeling guilty. By paring down your belongings, you’ll create space and peace of mind.
• Get a checklist of things to consider before you select containers. This information takes the guesswork out of container selection, saving you time, money and stress!
• Discover that timing is everything! Find out the best time in the organizing process to purchase containers. (This simple idea will save you time and frustration!)
• Learn the ideas and strategies that I’ve found work best when organizing. If you have any questions along the way, I’ll be there to guide you to the best solutions for you.

Lesson 5: On the Road Again — How to Navigate Larger Organizing Projects

With the experience and confidence of a small project under your (seat) belt, in Lesson 5 you’ll be ready to organize a larger space. You will:

• See how I tackled a larger organizing project in my home. You’ll find out the strategies I use to make big organizing projects manageable.
• Find out how to break a bigger organizing project into a series of smaller, manageable projects—making all of your projects less overwhelming and more doable.
• Discover the role primary storage pieces (such as shelving units, drawer units and cabinets) play in setting up an organized space. If you need to invest in storage pieces for your home, you won’t want to miss out on this important info.
• Receive a checklist of things to consider when selecting primary storage pieces and take the stress out of making these purchase decisions.
• Find out how to maximize your available storage space using containers and other storage solutions. If you live in a home with limited storage space, you won’t want to miss these ideas.
• Get in on the action! The organizing process covered in this workshop can be used to organize any physical space in your home*, so you’re invited to work on a bigger project for this lesson’s assignment, your last “official” assignment for the workshop. This means you’ll have four weeks to get my guidance and ideas on your bigger project, or on multiple smaller projects.
• *Please note: How to organize paper is not covered in this workshop, but is instead covered in its own six-lesson workshop.

Lesson 6: Staying Motivated on Your Organizing Journey

Our final lesson is intentionally light, so you can continue making progress on your organizing projects.

• Get 13 doable techniques to maintain motivation on your organizing journey. If you’ve burned out or lost your way in the past, these ideas are designed to keep you on track this time.
• If you do lose momentum along the way, no worries. Get back into action quickly with the 12 final ideas presented in this lesson.

* This workshop is now closed for enrollment.

Risk-free trial period for expert-guided session:

You can try our expert-guided workshops risk-free. If you decide this session isn’t for you, simply cancel your enrollment before Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at 5 p.m. U.S. CST. We will give you a full, no-questions-asked refund. To cancel, simply contact us here.