One of the biggest reasons for stress is disorganization.  Disorganization can make you lose things, forget appointments, waste time, and become stressed in the process.  It can be the source of conflict in the home and at the office. You don’t need any more stress in your life – now or ever!

It makes sense then that if you can increase your organizational skills at home, that you can also reduce some of the stress in your life.  These skills can also be applied to other areas of your life, including work.

Here are 8 ways to increase  your organizational skills:

1. Put Things Away Right After You Use Them

• How many times did your parents tell you this when you were growing up? By putting items away immediately, it keeps you from having to search for them later. It also saves you the time of having to spend half your Saturday cleaning up what you should have done throughout the week.  So be sure to wash the dishes and put them away the day you use them, and put your laundry in your hamper instead of on the floor.

2. Put Things In the Same Place Every Time

• Simple things like buying a key holder to put your keys on when you come in from outdoors, can save you time looking for lost keys later.

3. Put Like Things Together

• Use see-through, labeled containers to organize your belongings. Organize them by similar items. In other words, don’t create a miscellaneous container of everything from cookbooks to window ornaments. Instead, keep unrelated items separate.

4. Declutter

• Clutter can add to your stress, because you can’t find things when you need them. It also makes it harder to move around your house and do things. For example, if your countertop is cluttered, it can make cooking in your kitchen less enjoyable.

• Give away items that you do not use often. If you have trouble parting with things, put them into a separate box. Open that box in a year, and if you didn’t miss or use any of those items within the last year, then you know you have no need for them and can part with them.

5. Make Lists

• Writing things down instead of trying to keep them in your head, can reduce your stress a lot. Make sure that when you make lists, that you learn how to prioritize tasks. This means determining what needs to be done now, and what can wait until later or for another day. Then when you go to bed at night, you can rest easy knowing that you got the most urgent things done first.

6. Use a Calendar

• Related to making lists, is to use a calendar. Have one main calendar in the home that everyone’s schedules go on. You may even want to take items from your list and add them into your calendar so that you don’t forget to do some of the things on your list.

7. Take Time to Plan

• One of the worst feelings is not knowing what to make for dinner. However, if you take time to plan this out, it can increase your overall organization. If you know that you are making lasagna for dinner, why not make an extra one that you can freeze and reheat another night?

8. Duplicate Items in Your Home

• If you have more than one bathroom in your home, be sure to duplicate the cleaning items in each bathroom. This way you never waste time searching for and retrieving the items you need.

• Other items that can be duplicated throughout the home are scissors, tape, pens and paper, brooms, phones, and hair products.

In summary, learning and applying these basic organizational skills can help you reduce some of the stress you experience in your life.

These are just a few simple tips to get organized – feel free to include your tips in the comments below!