Home Organizing Tips

​Listen up, y’all: I’m about to share with you how you can get your life and your time organized using the Erin Condren Life Planner!  I love using an old-school paper planner to write down and organize all the things going on in my life. I've been using a paper planner since 1989 and yes: I do keep all my old ones.  

Since I share organizing advice with awesome people like you, naturally my content may contain affiliate links for products I use and love. If you take action (subscribe, make a purchase, etc.) after clicking these links, I’ll earn some coffee money, which I promise to drink while I am coming up with more organizing goodness for you. 

Take it from a Professional Organizer: ​the trick to organizing your life and your time is to PLAN AHEAD.  Y'all know that I am a huge proponent of having a weekly routine to organize your whole week in advance.  I sit down on Saturday or Sunday each week and lay out the entire week ahead.  

My advice for what to do with that gorgeous Erin Condren LifePlanner:

• Set aside a time on the weekend to write in all of your work, school and work-out commitments. 
• Use my free printable Weekly Routine Checklist to make sure you've accounted for all the things.

​Related articles:
How I Created a Weekly Routine That Works for our Family
With free Weekly Family Routine Checklist

• You can choose whatever layout works for you!  Each Erin Condren Life Planner is fully customizable so you have control over what your planner looks like. 
• Look at this ridiculous Luxe planner! If this doesn't make you swoon, then there is something wrong with you. 
• It is so pretty, but there are adult designs too, so you don't look like a sorority girl. (no disrespect to  my Greek sistahs out there). 
• I use my planner to organize my life, but also as a scrapbook.  I tape in business cards from restaurants I've visited, little scraps of wrapping paper, and ticket stubs from events I've gone to. 

​As much as I love pretty notepads, it gets to be too much for me to have to keep track of where everything is.  That's another thing I love about the Erin Condren Life Planner: you can snap accessories right into your planner!
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I plan out all the meals for our family on Sundays when I'm doing the rest of the scheduling. I look at the events we have going on that week and then sketch out a plan.  I love that if this is how you roll, you can 

• Snap in a grocery list
• Snap in aMeal Planner.

​Brilliance, right?!?!

Paper planners are awesome!  I honestly can't get through my day without consulting my Erin Condren LifePlanner .  

Do you use a paper planner?!  What is your favorite thing about it? Let's hear what you have to say in the comments section!

Professional Disclaimer: The ideas, recommendations, and opinions on this website, blog, and made in person are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and should not be considered legal, financial, or medical advice. I am not an attorney, doctor, or licensed financial professional. Sage Organizing Co., LLC is not liable for any losses or damages related to actions or failure to act related to the content of this website, blog, or in-person discussions. If you need specific legal, financial, or medical advice, consult a professional in your area.

When you decide that you’re ready to downsize your family home, you’ll need to mentally prepare for the emotions that will bubble up. You’ll be faced with boxes of memories, souvenirs, and heirlooms.  It’s not the stuff in the house that brings up all the emotions: it’s the stories attached to the stuff. Clearing out a home for a downsizing or after the death of a loved one is a rite of passage.
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In this post, I’ll be sharing the 4 tips for controlling your emotions before, during and after you downsize your home. As a bonus for my subscribers, I’m sharing this Downsizing Your Home Emotional Roadmap.

First things first: just accept the fact that you are going to feel guilty about downsizing your home. It is totally normal to feel guilty about letting things go.  A lot of times, this is one of the biggest obstacles to overcome when downsizing. 

Whether you put the guilt on yourself or somebody else is guilt-tripping you, it still feels pretty rotten, right?

Some common guilt-isms:

• My Mom (or whoever) gave  this to me, so I have to keep it. 
• It was expensive, so I should get my money's worth.
• It doesn't fit anymore, but one day it might.

Remember, WHEN THE GUILT SETS IN IT IS OK TO LET IT GO.   Giving yourself permission to get rid of the guilt is liberating, y'all. 

Many of our parents were the children of Depression-era parents, so they grew up with the "I might need it someday" mindset. As a Professional Organizer, I see people save things "they might need" in literally 100% of the homes I work in.  (Note: I'm including myself in this category. For me it's gift bags.)

It was/is considered wasteful to throw things out for ANY reason.  Broken appliance? It can be fixed.  Leftover Cool Whip containers? Save them to store leftovers. Whole mess of gift bags after a birthday?  Save them and re-use. (See...I told you).

And let's not even get started on too small/slightly damaged clothes. Oy vey.

What I'm saying is IT ISN'T WASTEFUL TO LET SOMETHING GO IF YOU FIND A GOOD HOME FOR IT.   Let someone else benefit from the things you don't use or need. 

• Recycle and re-use things. But think about when it makes more sense to let it go.
• Save hand-me-down clothing for a friend or neighbor.  And then get it out of your house. Those size 4 jeans you'll never fit in again could make a difference in someone else's life. 
• Call a homeless shelter or a battered women's shelter or an animal shelter or a food bank and ask what they need.  Chances are you have things in your house right now that could be doing good for others.

Related articles:
Mom, We Have to Talk: 5 Ways to Discuss Downsizing with Your Aging Parents
With free Discussion Cheat Sheet
Assess the Mess: How to Plan Out Downsizing Your Home
With free Room-by-Room Checklist
 Help Organize Your Aging Parents (While They are Still Young and Healthy)
With free Conversation Guide

​This is where your heart is going to get you in trouble.  People transfer their love for a person into an object they associate with that person. It's science, y'all.
                                                                                                                                                                      But think about it: you are letting go of a THING, not your love for the person who gave it to you.

Just because I donated the encyclopedia set that I got from my Grandmother to Goodwill, it does not mean I don't love my Grandma.  I kept one of the books and let the rest go. And I still think about my Grandma every day when I see that one encyclopedia volume on my office shelves. Win-win.

Same goes with emotional souvenirs from our youth.  You don't need to keep every t-shirt from every sports team and vacation and event you went to.  Those are THINGS.  You will still have the memories even if you don't have bins of yellow t-shirts in the attic. 

Helpful tip: if you struggle to let sentimental items go, keep one or two, then photograph the rest and put the pictures in an album. 

Remember, you want to separate the object from the person when you are downsizing your house. 

​At some point during the downsizing process, you're going to get mad. Like, ready-to-scream-mad. 

Mad at yourself. Why didn't I start downsizing sooner? Why did I waste my money on this? I'm such an awful person for being mad (#guilt).

Mad at your parents. Why did they leave all this for me to deal with? What in the Hell were they thinking?

Mad at your spouse, siblings and/or kids.  Why aren't they pulling their weight in helping me? Why am I doing all this? 

IT IS COMPLETELY NORMAL TO FEEL ANGER.   Moving (including downsizing) is one of the most stressful things you can do.  It is normal and healthy to feel upset. Accept that anger is going to be a part of the process and make a plan in advance for how to handle it. 

Related article:
Clutter Puts the Rage in Garage: 6 Steps to DIY the Garage of Your Dreams.
With free Garage Organization Planner. 
4 Smart Ideas for Selling Your Stuff Offline...and 1 Really Dumb One

After all the guilt and the anger, you will eventually feel so much better. Even if you aren't planning on leaving this Earth anytime soon, downsizing your own home will remove an albatross from around your neck.  It's like the weight of the world being removed. 

Downsizing makes your feel happier because you know that you've lessened the burden on your family in the future. 

Downsizing your home makes you proud because you've helped others in your community by donating things you don't need or use. 

Professional Disclaimer: The ideas, recommendations, and opinions on this website, blog, and made in person are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and should not be considered legal, financial, or medical advice. I am not an attorney, doctor, or licensed financial professional. Sage Organizing Co., LLC is not liable for any losses or damages related to actions or failure to act related to the content of this website, blog, or in-person discussions. If you need specific legal, financial, or medical advice, consult a professional in your area.

Related articles:
Mom, We Have to Talk: 5 Ways to Discuss Downsizing with Your Aging Parents
With free Discussion Cheat Sheet
Assess the Mess: How to Plan Out Downsizing Your Home
With free Room-by-Room Checklist
 Help Organize Your Aging Parents (While They are Still Young and Healthy)
With free Conversation Guide