Raise your hand if you are one whose home rubber bands back into its unorganized state just a few weeks after you have done some really intense organization overhaul!
Do not let "disorganized" be the natural state of your home. Here is one trick to help you keep an organized home all year long and the steps on how you can achieve it according to Apartment Therapy:
The trick: Set up a "stuff spot" clean-out schedule
It could be a drawer, a closet, or extra rooms in the house that you can consider a "stuff spot": it is where stuff accumulates in and is drawn to like a magnet.
So if you leave those "stuff spot" unattended, you could end up drowned in an avalanche of things and knick-knacks. Give those "stuff spot" a regular cleaning and organization schedule. How?
Pinpoint
First things first; identify the areas in your home that have the potential for their organization to become unraveled in time. It would be different for every person, but chances are, you can already tell which spots these are.
Pick the time interval
Now, determine the time it takes in between check-ins you think each spot needs. You might start off checking on the spots each month. But maybe you know you can check in on some areas every few months. You can do it all in one go-round on a weekend, or you can set each individual spot for its own time and date.
Actually set yourself stuff spot clean-out appointments on your calendar
Once you have identified how much time you want to put between each check-in, take note of those by creating appointments in your calendar.
Check-in and adjust
Finally, start following your calendar (ideally after a marathon organization session that's put all your spots into the order you'd like). The goal is to put things back in their homes - back into the organized system that you have setup. As you go along, take the time to ponder on every item that isn't in its place as you do your check-in. Do you need to adjust your organization system? Or is the item out of place because there is really no purpose for it in your life.
