Courtesy of Lorie Marrero, creator of The Clutter Diet, owner of LivingOrder:

People hear that I am a Professional Organizer and they read some of my writing, and they often assume that my home and office must be “perfect.” Let me assure you, with two kids, two parakeets, a dog, a husband, and two companies, it is far from perfect—but my life works for me. And I would not want to aspire to perfection, as it is an unattainable and futile goal.

Instead we teach people to aspire to be NEATER*:

• Not perfect, but…
• Effective—your systems work well for you and your family
• Always improving—you look for how to do things smarter, faster, and better
• True to your style—you work with your own preferences, not someone else’s standards
• Efficient—your systems minimize waste of time and energy
• Ready for anything—you are well-prepared with what you need for life and work

Our definition of what it means to be organized is realistic and defined—it does not mean your house has to look like Real Simple magazine and that you have to become Martha Stewart.

So, is it possible to be TOO organized? Absolutely. Just as in business endeavors, when setting up any organizing system you want to ask yourself about the Return On Investment (ROI). Is the time, money, or energy you are investing in this process going to pay off by offering you more time, money, and energy in return? If the answer is no, you need to think very hard about whether you should bother.

One example of this that we run into fairly often: People think it might look neat to have all matching plastic containers in their pantries that all nest nicely together and present a picture-perfect shelf. But for the ROI of simply having a pretty pantry, you have to spend a lot of time transferring every new food item from its original store packaging into the containers. It’s just not worth the time (especially if your kids go through cereal like mine do! We’d hardly be able to transfer the contents to the container before it would be eaten up). This example also plays into a common myth that if something looks really neat it must be organized and must be better. Maybe not!

Another thing we see is people creating folders by vendor for their common household bills, such as the phone company, the electric company, and the cable company. What we typically recommend instead (if you even want to keep the paid bills) is to file the bills by month in an accordion folder. The time it takes to parse each bill out into the proper vendor folder rarely pays off. In the unlikely event that you need to find something, you can invest the time on the other side of that problem instead of consistently investing it up front.

We like to work on the “Good Enough” principle, meaning that the level of organization is appropriate to provide a return that is worth the investment. Is there something you could cut out today that would be “Good Enough,” and actually gain some time back in the process?

*NEATER acronym © 2005-2007, LivingOrder, Inc.

Currently, paper products are trying to devour my home; I have a problem throwing out and/or recycling paper. What do I do with all my husband’s CDs, DVDs, and VHS tapes? What do I do with all my notebooks? My books? How do I store my enormous yarn stash? Material? Thread? These are the items I have little piles of all over the house!

Not to worry… You can definitely learn how to organize your paperwork, your husband’s CD, DVD, and VHS collections; your books and notebooks; and your yarn, material, and thread. Just follow these steps…

get prioritized.

What is bothering you the most? Your enormous yarn stash or your books? Jot down a list, in priority order, of what needs to be organized. Think small. For example, you should break down your husband’s “mess” into three different organizing tasks : [1] VHS, [2] CD, and [3] DVD.

get focused.

Now that you have all your ducks in a row, tackle the first item on your organizing priority list. In fact, pretend that you’re a squirrel (kids or grandkids could help with this one) and gather like items into a single area. So, if you decided that your enormous yarn collection was most bothersome, gather all of your yarn together in a plastic bin or a pile on the floor.

get real.

Time to make some tough decisions. Realistically, what do you need to keep and what can go?

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do I currently use it? If not, how long have I had it?
• Do I really need it? What’s the worst that’d happen if I got rid of it?
• Do I truly love it? Is it beautiful? Does it hold great sentimental value?

Remember : Anything that you decide to keep will cost you in space, time, or sanity. Make sure it’s worth it.

get neat.

Now that you’ve pared down your collection, find an appropriately-sized container in which to store the remaining items. This will define your limits. You may only keep what will comfortably fit into your chosen container.

So, if your husband comes home with a new DVD, only to discover that the DVD storage cabinet is completely full, he must get rid of an old DVD to make room for the new one. Or, he can return the new DVD if he really doesn’t want to part with any of the old ones.

As you can see, by limiting your stuff to a container, you have created an easy maintenance system that will ensure your control over your belongings and your space.

Finally, repeat this process for any area of your home that you need to organize, and you’ll soon find yourself reveling your new home oasis!

How cool would it be to win a NeatReceipts scanner just in time for Christmas? What a great way to get rid of some of your paper clutter in the new year! Weekly drawings will be held through the end of December, so you’ll have more than one chance to win!

Enter the holiday contest today!