By Christina DesAuguste
Christina is the founder of The Organizing Company and has been organizing professionally since 2013. She is currently loving natural wood, Laurel Denise planners, and TTPD.
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The only time you’ll see the work “hack” on my website or socials is when I’m talking about why I will never share one.
I was recently interviewed by The U.S. Sun and they asked me for my best organizing hacks.
I don’t know about you, but my Instagram feed is full of Amazon hacks and organizing hacks.
And you don’t know how tempting it is to jump on the trend and capitalize on the algorithm right now. But I just can’t do it.
A hack, to me, feels like just wanting the easy way out. Not wanting to do the work. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m all about a shortcut in the right context. But when it comes to organizing and storage in your home, shortcuts rarely are what they seem.
It feels misleading of me to post hacks that perpetuate this idea that organizing is fast and “all you need is the right container.”
Organizing takes time, my friend.
And choosing the right container should be done at the most efficient and effective point in the full process of organizing.
If you are already organized and everything in your house is categorized and in the best cabinet/drawer/area- then you can filter through all the hacks to determine what container/whatever will work for you. Because you already know where you’re storing your spices, for example, and how many of them you need a container for.
But, for the vast majority of people I see and speak to, they are not at that point. There is no order in their homes. Things are not sorted and they certainly aren’t zoned in the most effective way. There is Tupperware in 3-5 different cabinets, no decipherable category in dresser drawers, and the garage is a catch-all of actual garage items plus kitchen appliances, bags of clothes (was this donate or to save for the next baby? or to give to your sister? Wait, are these even baby clothes at all?), piles of stuff that got cleared out of the car and never put away, and the randomest of toys- all of which could have homes elsewhere.
There’s no shame if this is your life right now. It just means hacks won’t help.
What I find is that people see these hacks and think, “Wow! That’s a clever way to store that!” or “That looks great!” and then they buy the container/product or try the storage method.
Months later they call me to come organize them because it didn’t work. That container is either now mostly empty crammed in the cabinet with clutter all over the counter, or it’s in the basement where it goes to die.
I find so many unused or poorly utilized containers when I organize homes. There’s a reason I get so many calls from people who have tried to organize themselves with hacks, but who didn’t get/stay organized.
Hacks need to be used in conjunction with a process, or a method.
What process? What method?
Well, of course I’m a fan of my method, The Organize Anything Method. It’s what I use every day with clients in literally any room of the house.
You can watch a free video to learn my method to organize by clicking the link below. You’ll also get a bonus PDF cheatsheet of the method so you can keep yourself on track while you work.
If you want more hot takes on hacks, make sure to check out my article in The U.S. Sun here.
That’s it for now!
Happy Organizing!
Christina
PS: If all this talk about hacks and methods has you overwhelmed, don’t forget that you can have live one-on-one coaching with me- no matter where you live.
I’ll help you determine what containers and solutions will actually work for you.
May 8, 2024
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