A lot of things can throw you off. Don’t let disorganization add to the chaos of everyday life. Murphy’s law can come into play at any time, so keep things organized to make it a less stressful event when things begin to go wrong. One study has found that when wives describes their homes, their brains show patterns of the stress hormone cortisol or low serotonin. Keep your wife happy, and keep yourself less stressed with these quick tips.

Don’t try to tackle it all in one sitting. Try dedicating 15 minutes per day or evening (after the kids have gone to bed!) to organizing one area of your home. Typically, once you start organizing, you’ll feel the need to at least finish the task you are doing. It’s all about motivation when it comes to things that seem difficult at first. Get yourself up and organizing and you’ll be surprised how much you can get done.

Try a little decluttering in specific areas each day. Let’s say today you notice that the desktop on your computer has way too many items. Remove unused applications from the dock or desktop. If you really need them, you’ll still be able to find them. Next, try unsubscribing from unnecessary emails. This is one of the biggest reasons people become irritated when trying to check for important emails. Consider scaling back on all email subscriptions or at least making them go to a designated folder. At home, go to the closet and find two items you haven’t looked at in more than year. You’ll be surprised how much more organized your environment and life will be when taking these seemingly insignificant steps.

Reward yourself. Probably the easiest step on the list (at least for me), is rewarding your new good habits with something simple. I used to try to do this when I was in a speech class. If the speech seemed terrifying, I told myself that if I got through it I would buy a nail polish or a pizza. These weren’t the most extravagant or amazing rewards, but it helps to have a rewards system in place if you can’t get yourself to do what needs to be done.

Become accountable to someone else. This step is an interesting one. Did you know that if you tell someone that you are going to do something, you’re more likely to do it? Weird, right? This is a great step towards organization because your family, spouse, roommate, etc. will be on board to help you achieve your goal of organization. They will support you in organizing whatever needs to be organized. And if they’re like my husband, they’ll join in out of pure guilt from seeing you organizing or cleaning.

Don’t knock organization until you try it. It can make getting to work easier, save you time, and keep you sane. You’ll be surprised at how much control you have over your items, instead of feeling like it’s the other way around.

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