Getting I-Deal-Lifestyle™ Organized for Good by Marla Stone, MSW, Professional Organizer, Author

In this day and age when just looking at social media can take up a whole day finding time to get uber organized will be difficult. Taking a break from the whole social media, unless it is for marketing a business that supports you, is a great idea for making time to get organized. Using the I-Deal-Lifestyle™ method of getting organized permanently will create a system you will use forever. You may get the organizing bug but not know where to start, and how to figure out what stays and what goes. I say don't worry about making decisions about what to keep, donate or throw in the beginning stages of getting organized. In fact, I don't care if you get rid of a thing. Being perpetually organized has nothing, I repeat, nothing to do with getting rid of anything at all.

The first steps to being perpetually organized is to understand what that means. Perpetually organized means you are organized moment to moment, day to day, month to month and year to year. It means, that no matter what kind of mess the kids, your partner, or you have made, it is a quick and easy fix to having things placed back into their permanent home, and out of your way. The normal cycle of perpetual disorganization is that you spend hours getting everything put away, to the best of your ability only to have your space look like a cyclone a few days later.

The I-Deal-Lifestyle™ method makes like a whole lot easier to access your belongings and stuff, and then to put it away after use. The steps are below:

Marla Stone's I-Deal-Lifestyle organizing methods

1. figure out what you value in life. Values are things you like to do, things you enjoy, guidelines for you perfect lifestyle, what kind of people you like, behaviors you approve and of, what you believe. Examples: making money, leisure time, giving back, peace and quiet, performance, health, family time, being altruistic.

2. hydrate and stretch. organizing is an act of labor. It is time consuming in the beginning to get everything correct, and it is a lot of physical work. The reason most people find a professional organizer to help them.

3. clear your entire space except for anything heavy or electrical devices that are connected i.e. tv, stereos, heavy rugs, furniture, artwork. Get everything out of closets, drawers, cabinets, under bed, garage. Every scrap of everything out, out, out of your space.

4. categorize everything you own, every scrap of paper, every book, every knick knack, clothing, memorabilia, small devices, utility items, sports stuff, toys, personal items, bathroom and kitchen and pantry items. Categorize, categorize, categorize. All like objects with like.

5. look at your belongings in their categories, and see what you want to keep using this criteria, asking yourself:

• Will I use it
• Does it serve a purpose
• Is it sentimental
• Do I love it

6. after figuring out what you will keep versus what goes out of your life. Fine tune the broad categories. So now all light bulbs with light bulbs, nails with nails, romance  novels versus decorating books, receipts with receipts, statements with statements, pants with pants and then by color, vases with vases. After fine tuning see if the items are a reasonable amount of stuff to keep. Use the criteria again to see if you want everything that you chose to hang onto once again.

7. based on size of category find a container, bowl, box, bin, shelf or drawer to put your categories away. Always use a container for every single category no matter how big or small. So for instance when all 35 paperclips are found in your home, put them in a plastic zip lock bag, or a small container. Do not put anything loosely back into a storage area.  When things are not contained they will start to schmoosh together with other items nearby.

8. decorate your home by moving furniture around so you experience better energy and flow. Add cabinets, dressers, garage racks to house anything you keep to keep items off floors and surfaces.

9. invite your friends over and show off your accomplishments.

10. enjoy your space based on knowing your values and choosing items to keep that make sense with what you truly value in life!

Book a Professional Organizer to help you now at www.i-deal-lifestyle.com
​or call 949-709-7000 to talk to a pro organizer for ideas and tips.