Are you a planner, a todo-lister, a tidy-upper? If you are at least one of these things, you might be an organized person. This is a great thing because you know how beneficial it is to organize your life. We get the satisfaction of feeling in control and that it will remain organized forever. Unfortunately, we all know nothing stays organized forever and it has nothing to do with our own inadequacies. We all have some sort of external force like a boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse, child, grandparent, in-law etc. that could potentially cause us to lose the feeling of control we worked so hard for. Fortunately for us there is always a solution and it starts with picking up or moving the first thing and then moving on to the next. What is there isn’t always a solution?

Recently I realized how unorganized my life really is. I had always considered myself an organized person because the inside of my house is decluttered, everything has a place and it’s clean. Then I asked myself, how did it become decluttered and how is it that everything has a place when I know we own A LOT of stuff. As organized as I can be, there are times I stuff things away or say “good enough”. I had been doing this for years in a place most of our guests never laid their eyes on. It was perfect for hiding away the big stuff or things “I would get to later”. You can probably guess by now, it’s the garage. I made excuses for not taking care of it for so long that it became a giant, unorganized mess. It would make an organized person cringe and want to leap into action. I had to find a way to stop the madness and take control of my life.

I ran into a slew of problems the day I started organizing my garage. Some of the issues I ran into were; (1) where I would put things and (2) how would I make space for the next thing I picked up. I had to have a plan of where things we would be placed, how they would be placed and if it was something I needed access to daily, weekly or monthly. I found some great solutions to my problems.

1. If at all possible, take everything out of your garage and look at it from a new perspective. It will help you visualize what you could do with the space you’re given.
2. Make a written and visual plan. This gives other people an idea of what your goals are.
3. Consider your storage options. Locate home improvement stores and look online for solutions that can help with the organization.
4. Use available resources. Use hooks, shelves, boxes, cabinets and pulleys to free up space for big items that you may want to put on the floor.

After a long hard struggle, I can say my garage is finally organized. Instead of stuffing things in the garage I now have a place for everything. I couldn’t have done it without the help of fresh perspectives. I recommend getting suggestions and proposals to help you find solutions. Don’t be afraid to ask for opinions and remember there is no right or wrong way to stay organized.