I had no idea the benefits of being organized could be life-changing.
My guess is you’re here because you’re tired of being stressed out, late, off-balance and just flat out exhausted from not being able to keep up with everything, including your home.
You’re sick of the clutter, the mess, the overcrowded closets, and messy drawers. You’re staring at beautifully organized homes on Pinterest, but never actually do anything about your own home.
Not everyone was born with the organization gene. It may come naturally to some, but others need to work for it.
That means you need to be disciplined if being organized doesn’t come naturally to you. At least, somewhat disciplined because it’s something you have to continually keep up with and stay on top of.
Now, what if you’re not? Then you need a reason.
A good reason why you should start tackling your closets, throwing things away, going through old paperwork and buying a planner to keep track of your life.
Because let’s face it, if you’re already stressed out by the mess and feel like it’s hopeless then planning and organizing just isn’t on the top of your to-do list. That just seems like more work to make you worn out and doesn’t make sense.
What if I can show you the benefits of being organized and how they can affect you long term?
Maybe you need to know what the advantages are to being organized in order to start officially breaking some bad habits and taking the plunge to really declutter and get organized.
If being disorganized hasn’t been working for you, it’s time to give decluttering a try.
I want to show you how you can make your life better and benefit from being organized. Let’s run down some of the benefits that we’re going to discuss in this post:
10 Benefits of Being Organized:
- More Focused
- Productive
- Sleeping Better
- Saving Money
- Healthier Physically
- Social Life Improves
- More Free Time
- Gratitude
- Less Stress
- Happiness
Benefits of Being Organized|The Life-Changing Reasons Why You Need To Start
More Focused.
You can’t focus when there’s stuff everywhere!
So you can’t find anything, you forget where you’re supposed to be because you didn’t write it down, you are running late because you were busy searching for your keys, which were thrown somewhere because you don’t have a set place for them!
If all those things were in their proper place you would have more time to really feel focused and could prioritize the task at hand.
Otherwise, you’re always playing catch up or running crazy. It’s chaotic and your mind is chaotic.
If you have a clear mind you can focus better on one thing and not have a million things running through your head. Which then leads to ….
More Free Time.
Ever waste time looking for something?
Looking for keys? How about lip balm? Kids can’t find homework? Baseball uniform? Shoes? Wallet? Sunglasses gone?
The list is endless. We can easily lose things when we don’t have a place for everything.
If everything has a “home” your house is organized.
You will always know where to find things which means you save yourself the time and the headache of frantically searching for whatever is missing. You can apply this to anything.
It may be that bills that are piled up and you then can’t find the bill because it’s lost in the pile of paperwork. Maybe it’s a receipt you can’t find for an item you want to return.
If you had a specific place for your bills and receipts and put them there as soon as you got them then it would save you the stress and time of searching for what you need!
We waste so much time looking for things when we can put simple organization pieces in place to prevent these things from holding us back.
This will especially be helpful to teach your kids. They tend to misplace most things! If they have a spot for their things they will be able to find it without having your run around the house trying to find it last minute (this will never totally stop, but they do get better if they have their things organized).
You Become Productive.
Since you’re focused you are going to be able to do what you need to do. You already freed up some time, you’re mind is clear so now you can look at your to-do list and get things done!!
If you’re completely focused on one task without being distracted you are simply going to accomplish your goals faster and more efficiently.
Watch your productivity soar when your desk is neat and you can find everything or your kitchen is clutter free and clean. It makes a huge difference and you will get way more accomplished because you can think straight and you can actually see what you have and know where things are.
Better Sleep.
Studies show that people with clean rooms sleep better.
Imagine walking into your bedroom and it has nothing on the floor, a freshly made bed, clean dressers with just a few frames or vases on it.
That kind of environment will promote a good night’s sleep.
People report feeling better about going to bed when their bed is made and their room is clean and organized. That definitely applies in my household and it includes my kids. They love a neat bed with their sheets tucked in.
It makes complete sense that if you are sleeping in a room that is piled in paperwork, clothes on the floor, dust, too many knickknacks, etc. that you are not going to sleep as peacefully.
The benefit of having an organized bedroom is that it will help you feel more peaceful going to bed which means you will be able to fall asleep easier. You won’t feel as anxious.
So if you are tossing and turning all night, take a look around at your sleep environment. This could be an area that needs tending to and just needs a little organization and decluttering to give you a better night’s sleep.
Your environment does make a difference in how you feel. It’s one of those things you don’t realize until you make the change. Once you begin clearing the clutter you’ll start to feel different!
RELATED POST: DO THESE PROVEN THINGS TO NOT LOOK TIRED IN THE MORNING EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE
Save Money.
One of my favorite benefits of being organized is that you will save money!!
Let’s go through some examples…
Scenario- The Kitchen
You haven’t cleaned your fridge in weeks. You just keep putting more leftovers in containers and they keep getting pushed to the back of the fridge. The leftovers are covering the fresh vegetables you bought that are now rotting because you didn’t know you even had them!
The end results? You could have saved yourself a lunch or dinner by eating the leftovers. You could have cooked the vegetables for dinner, but instead, you had to throw out what you had and you bought more.!!.
Your pantry is stock full of food. You have not organized your cupboard so your food is all scattered around and disorganized which makes it difficult to see what you have. Your spices are not organized and you can never find what ingredients you need
This Results in overspending because you don’t know what you have in your pantry and you end up buying duplicates!
If you are on top of cleaning out your fridge, organizing the fridge and pantry you will save money and grocery shop less.
SCENARIO- YOUR CLOTHES
How about your clothes? What do your closet and drawers look like?
If your clothes drawers are unorganized and you have so much shoved in your closets that you don’t even know what you have. You end up buying new clothes only to find out later that you actually had something almost exactly the same but it was hidden in your closet!
So, save money by having only so much in your closet that you can see what you have. Don’t stuff clothes in your drawers. Fold them neatly and put them in the right place so you know what clothes you have.
SCENARIO- PAYING YOUR BILLS
Are you ever late paying your bills?
Whether it’s because they are buried in a pile somewhere or that you don’t have a system for bill paying?
If you’re late on your bills you get charged interest and late fees. You can save yourself the money and headache, by getting organized and having a bill paying system and a place to keep your bills when they come in.
It’s amazing how disorganization can affect so many areas of our lives. Bottom Line is you’re losing money by not being organized so this is definitely a good motivator to start today!
Related Post: How To Save Money On Groceries
Physical Health.
You will be healthier physically when you start organizing and clearing the clutter. I never realized that one of the benefits of being organized would be my health!
Here’s why.
Clutter means dust. Lots of it. It may be that you have lots of knick-knacks that collect dust, or you have piles of paperwork that have been sitting and you have no idea what to do with it.
It also means more bugs. Piles of paper attract insects. Gross, but true.
You are most likely going to eat healthier as well if you stay organized. Keeping your fridge clean and cabinets organized will assist in making better food choices.
If you plan out your meals you are going to be less likely to make unhealthy choices for dinner. The same goes for snacks. You won’t be grabbing junk food if you planned ahead and made sure you had healthy snacks on hand for the week. So plan healthy meals and snacks ahead of time and your body will thank you!
You’re Social Life Improves.
You’re probably wondering how this is a benefit to being organized.
Well, most likely when you have lots of clutter that you can’t keep up with you are less likely to have visitors. It can hold you back.
This is not everyone of course, but lots of people don’t want unexpected guests to arrive if they can’t stay on top of their clutter.
Most of us want a clean house and will tidy up before a guest arrives or try to keep our house clean so that we feel good when people pop in.
If you have excessive clutter and are disorganized then you will never feel comfortable having guests. So purging and finding a home for all of your things will make quick cleanups way easier.
The result will hopefully be more guests welcomed into your home!
Gratitude.
Being organized creates gratitude.
You appreciate your home and your things more!
When everything looks a mess you look at your home critically.
You dislike it.
The items themselves are not cherished. They all just blend together as one big mess.
Things that are special to you are not seen because they are hidden or overtaken by other knick-knacks.
If you have less you can see what you have and you will love what you have more. Your home will start to feel like it did when you first moved in!
Clutter free! Get back to that place of loving your home by taking the extra time to put things in their proper place and clear the clutter to reveal your home.
LESS STRESS.
It’s a fact that clutter brings us stress.
Studies show that cortisol (the stress hormone) is higher in people who have cluttered homes. So the clutter is making you feeling mentally cluttered for one.
When you see clutter you feel that way inside. This is one of the benefits of organizing that can really change your life both physically and mentally.
-If you can’t focus you can get stressed. If you feel overwhelmed because you can’t get anything done, you may get stressed.
-If you worried about people stopping by because your house is a mess, you will get stressed.
-If you have no time to do anything at all for yourself or anything fun, you will get stressed.
-If you are losing sleep, you get stressed.
It’s all connected!
So after all is said and done, decluttering and organizing is going to leave you feeling much Happier overall….
HAPPINESS.
One of the best benefits of being organized is that it’s going to make you happy!
Picture your home clutter free and clean. Having time to do more. Feeling like your getting things accomplished. Sleeping Better, saving money. Having people over on a whim and being proud of your home. Falling in love with your home again.
That’s all going to lead to happiness and peace. Or at least more of it! It’s not going to solve all life’s problems of course.:) But If we can make things better why not try?
It can change your life and those around you. Watch how it affects all of your family members.
Remember…
This has to become a lifestyle change for you to reap the benefits of being organized. That means you don’t want to go nuts and exhaust yourself so you never want to do this again.
Start with small little tasks on your daily to-do list. Then if you are on a roll add more to it, but if you’re tired stop.
You can even do a 10 minute cleanup each night. I love doing this with my kids. They see it as a challenge and it truly does make a difference in your home when the counters are cleared!
Now that you know the benefits of being organized, I thought it would be helpful to go over a few tips on the best ways to stay organized and show you what a highly organized person looks like. This is just a quick list to get some ideas going for you.
Habits Of A Highly Organized Person
- They Write Things Down – There’s just too much going on today to keep track of everything you need to do. You can’t keep it all in your head. The older you get the harder it is. It’s amazing how many times I will say I won’t forget something and I do. Like, within minutes. It’s bad. So if it’s important, write it down. And try not to write it on a piece of mail, recipe card, or receipt that’s laying in front of you. Have a place where you keep your list. Like my to-do list, I suggested earlier or buy a pretty planner.
- They Plan the Day– After you print out your to-do list, sit and plan your day and evening. List all the things that are on your mind and that needs to get done for the day. Including the rooms you want to clean, what you want for dinner, etc. Plan it all!
- They Create A Morning AND Evening Routine– I have both of my routines down so that I don’t even think about it anymore. It took me time though. Get a good routine going so you can be efficient. You will see that once you implement a routine and plan your day, life gets easier and better!! Here are some ideas for morning routines and evening routines.
- They Purge Weekly If Not Daily– If you know it’s trash throw it out right away. When the mail comes in try to sort it right then and there. If it’s junk mail don’t sit it back down. Throw it out right away. If it’s a bill, walk it over to your desk or wherever you keep your bills. (If you don’t have a place then you can create one:)
- They Clean Up As They Go– Then you are staying ahead of the game. Clean and organize as you go. Once everything in your house has a “home” this will become much easier.
- They Don’t Procrastinate- Stop putting things off and do things immediately. Not easy to do, but if you can get the difficult stuff done first then you are freeing yourself up for less stress. No more procrastinating!
Benefits of Being Organized| Do Something Today
The benefits of being organized are truly life-changing.
It will take time if you are starting from scratch, but after the first run-through of getting organized, you just need to keep up the lifestyle.
It should become a part of who you are after doing it for a few months. You have nothing to lose by getting organized and there is no better time to start than now.
Are you ready to take the plunge and start purging and organizing?
If you’re convinced that the many benefits of being organized can change your life then start today by doing one thing to get you on your way.
Let’s do a little challenge to motivate ourselves right now! There is no better time to start!
How about writing down a to-do list for today?
That’s a perfect start. Then plan your meal and maybe do a 10 minute clean up at night.
These are easy to accomplish and can get things moving…
When you’re ready for more organizing check out Overwhelmed By The Clutter: 7 Days of Decluttering Fast.
It’s always helpful to state it to keep yourself accountable! Visit my friend Nicole at Not Quite Super Mom as she talks more about accountability and how to plan and tackle your goals with 12 Months To A Better You.
If you like this post please share or pin for later. Thanks!!
XO,
NICOLE
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Wooowww! So I never thought about how organization is linked to better sleep and saving money! I knew about the others but never really thought of it for saving money and better sleep. This post just made my jaw drop literally lol. I’m one of those people who are mostly organized but I also have organizational ADD. Like sometimes I start on one project then start doing another then run out of time to finish either…
I know, it’s surprising how it can affect so many areas of our life! I do that sometimes too. I will be in the middle of one thing and my kids call me to another room. Then I’m involved in something else! 🙂 Thanks Felicia!
Lovely post, Nicole! I have learned the hard way that clutter can mess up our minds so much that we can find it tough to carry on with our routines. My childhood was very different -spacious home, homemade stuff and hardly any clutter. We only bought things when we needed them. Fast forward to decades later, and we find ourselves buying things we don’t need. We do give away stuff but somehow, the balance has been upset. I am keenly working on decluttering now and the relief when something leaves the house is tremendous!
Hi Vidya,
Thank you for sharing your story! I feel like today so many of us are overwhelmed with “stuff.” It is such an amazing feeling when you tackle the clutter and get rid of stuff. I have some things ready to go out to charity tomorrow and I can’t wait till it leaves the home! Thanks for commenting!
You’ve got some really great advice here, thanks! I used to be a lot more organized than I am these days… you’ve inspired me to get into action!
Hi Simone, Thank you and I’m glad to hear that!! Writing these blog posts have inspired me to do more as well. Thanks for the comment!
I really needed this article – I call myself the adult child of depression-era parents, to explain why it’s so hard for me to give or throw things away. I’m not really a hoarder – unless it comes to food props. And I have wonderful planner – half buried under a stack of papers to file. So yes, making a list right now and going to start packing up anything I haven’t used in a year or forgot I had. Yay!
Too funny about the planner, Beth. At least you took the first step of buying a planner and acknowledging you need one! 🙂 Happy Decluttering! Thanks so much for visiting!
Excellent article on getting your **** together! So many great tips and I love the fact that you point out that being organized brings gratitude too. Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
Thank you Angela! It’s one of those things that you don’t realize until you start getting rid of those things weighing you down. I know, it’s so easy to take things for granted when we have too much stuff! Thank you for visiting and commenting!
So many great reasons to get and stay more organized here. Thanks for the reminders. Now I’m off to do some de-cluttering in my shop! 🙂
Hi Steve,
We decluttered our shed a few weeks ago:) I hope you were able to get some decluttering done! Thanks for the comment!
Hi Nicole,
Your tips on how to stay organized are very helpful. I agree with the benefits in every way and try to follow them as much as I can. I do discard my junk mail immediately, but I don’t always have a plan for the day. Thanks for sharing your tips for organization.
Hi Marla, Thanks so much! I have found since planning my days I really do accomplish so much more and get the important things done. Thanks for commenting!
Learned a lot from your post! Actually I am not organized before my marriage and also after being a mother for some months. Then, I became to know how essential should be organized! Now being an organized woman my life and my work is easier than before. Thanks for sharing!
That’s great to hear. Thanks for sharing that. As I mentioned earlier, I was never organized as a teenager and I also changed as I got older. There is such a difference in my life as well. Thanks for commenting, Nigar!
All great reasons to stay organized. I find that when I have all my ducks in a row, it is so much easier to manage whatever comes my way. Thanks for sharing.
Totally agree! That’s a great way of putting it. Thanks for visiting Shari!
I am naturally organized and I am thankful every day! My daughter was not but with these types of tools anyone can be! Thank yoU!
I was not naturally organized when I was a teenager or in college, but I changed completely. You never know, she may change! Thanks Tricia!
Great article. I myself am a neat freak and my husband and I clash over it all the time. I guess we balance each other out haha
There’s always one that is more organized isn’t there? Lol. Balance is everything in life! 🙂 Thanks for visiting Shay!
I’m not naturally an organized person–or rather I live in “organized chaos” typically. But 100% agreed that I feel better when I’m not frantically looking for the notebook I know I left on the chair in the hallway but can’t seem to find. You’ve outlined the benefits and some steps to take to be more organized, which I think is key here. Great post!
I can really relate to that when I get busy and can’t keep up with being organized. I’m famous for misplacing my sunglasses!:) Thanks for visiting Tamera!
I couldn’t agree more! Planning and routines are crucial to staying organized (and stress free!). I love this post and found it super enjoyable as well as helpful 🙂
Thank you Heather! Exactly, it’s definitely key to remaining stress-free. Thanks for visiting!