11 June 2009

Have you ever worked hard to declutter and organize a space, only to find that a few weeks, days or even hours later your space is no longer the vision of order that it had once been?  Maintenance of an organized space is not easy, but the following techniques should help increase the odds of success.

To maintain your newfound order, you will need:

• A vision that inspires you to not only achieve your goals, but to maintain them. 
• Knowledge, systems and tools for creating an organized space that works for you and your personality.
• Motivation. This may come from internal or external sources.  Are you motivated by a feeling of peace in an organized, clutter-free space, by a reward you define for yourself when reaching your goal, by a partner or co-worker helping to keep you on task, or by the time and money you will save in your organized space?
• Schedules and accountability. Schedule in time to work on maintaining your space and figure out who or what will hold you accountable to it.
• Patience. It takes time to develop habits, which is key when learning to maintain your organized space.