I don't know how to get and stay organised.

[vontrappsalmost]

I dislike clutter - it negatively impacts my mental health - and I really enjoy it when a room or area is neatly organised and everything has its place.

But I don't know how to apply this in all areas of my life!

I feel like I have too much "stuff" but maybe it just doesn't have a good place to "live"?

For instance. Where on earth do you put all the little cables and wires that accumulate over time - sometimes you need them for certain things, but most of the time you don't, so where do you put them in the meantime so they don't get lost or ruined?

It seems like all horizontal surfaces are piled high with random gubbins like this, with no real home for anything. Drawers in the kitchen are full to bursting with "stuff" that has no home.

I've tried throwing things out, but then I invariably need that item I threw away the other week. But then! When I do need that item, I don't know where I've put it!

I have considered an organisational system akin to a nursery, with shelves that have pictures and drawn outlines of each item on the shelf so I know exactly where everything belongs.

It doesn't help that I live with small people and a DH who don't seem to care about staying tidy, but I just don't know how to do it in the first place.

Right now, I'm sitting at the PC and I see random stuff lying around the desk everywhere: deodorant! Pet spray! WD40! Golf clubs! My guitar (that I haven't had the chance to play in months)!

I haven't watched the Marie Kondo show - should I?

Am I doomed to a life of constant low-level chaos and disorganisation?

I mean, I generally keep on top of things but it is a surface level organisation; I don't have a reliable system in place and if my memory fails me it could take DAYS to find something, if not weeks.

I have decluttered a couple of rooms lately, and it's a lovely feeling. But I don't know how long it will actually last before the clutter creeps back in.

I feel similar! We don't even have that much stuff! It all just feels so overwhelming!
I guess best place to start is have you got enough storage? Then I love your idea about the boxes with pictures on! One for all the wires, one for batteries etc etc.
You could look on YouTube/the internet for ideas but then the time you could have spent organising has disappeared watching Mrs Kinch or reading Flylady!

Don't buy more storage until after you've decluttered and can see what you have left. Often after a good clear out you create extra storage anyway. Things like labels and those bendy wore ties are very handy but again, you do g need them until you're at the tidying stage with what's being kept.

Put things where they are used most often, put things you use regularly so you don't have to move anything to get to them, put like with like.

So if you put your make up on in the bedroom, move all your make up bits to your bedroom and put the bits you use daily/regularly, at the front of whatever storage you use.

If you tend to write birthday cards and fill in forms etc in your dining room, move all your pens, cards and stationery to there and clear a drawer out for it all.

Then go through all your make up/stationery and decide what can definitely be thrown away, then what you want to keep. Put that to one side and go through what's left. Be ruthless at that stage. Then you can think about storage. Plastic boxes with lids are good. Nicer looking cardboard boxes and baskets for things that will be in view.

When something has a home, return it to where you got it right after you finish with it. Nothing will ever get lost again and will stay tidy.

Then you need to go through each drawer and cupboard at least once a year after that, to stay on top of it.

Breaking it down into small manageable pieces works best for a lot of people. So aiming for one drawer/cupboard/area at a time rather than facing a whole room. Often you'll get carried away and end up doing the whole room at once anyway but it feels less daunting to take it one bit at a time.

Not sure if any of that is helpful. It's been a few years since I first decluttered but I do remember that it was very satisfying and made life so much easier. I don't ever lose anything or buy something twice now. Keeping on top of it is key I think.

*bendy wire ties.

*don't need them until

...sorry for the spelling mistakes. New phone is a bit too big for me!