Do you have extraordinary organizational skills?

There is a tendency for things to get unorganized, it's called Entropy, lack of order and organization.  Sometimes, entropy is present when you try to close your closet door with all your might, and in the end - the closet door remains open, but items that were crowded up-top are on the closet floor.  Other times entropy is present 5 seconds after you've organized everything and now it looks like one big mess again.  The best entropy example is when a one can't find that important piece of paper that one urgently needs.

What to do when Entropy happens right in front of your eyes?

One of the reasons entropy happens is because things simply don't have enough room or an assigned place.  Another reason is because we use different places at home or work and everywhere else with different frequency (we would use more dishes in a week than we would read books, for example).  Here are two ways to keep your house organized and tidy effortlessly.  These two techniques are useful not only at home, but at work, at school, and when working on projects.

Organizing Technique #1:

Find a place to every item, categorize if you will.  A word of caution, taking categorizing out of proportion or to the next level may cause even more entropy. If every item has it's own place, chances of having a mess are reduced, and your coffee table, sitting area, and floor will be much neater at all times.

For example, if you store antiques, basketball and everything else in your closet, these items simply must go from the closet.  Only clothes belong in the closet.  Keeping this in mind, clothes that are all over the house should be either in the closet or in the dirty clothes basket.  Taking antiques and basketball out of the closet and placing them in the designated areas, such as garage.  Similarly, if there are any clothes you didn't wear for 2 years or more, chances are they don't belong in your closet either.  If your unwanted clothes still look good, you can sell them at the yard sale or donate them.  You can further organize your closet by seasonal items and color, and yet if you can't find a blouse, pants or a clothing accessory item after organizing your closet, chances are Entropy happened.  The same thing happens when someone else organizes your closet and then you may find it hard to find anything.

Organizing Technique #2:

Another way to reduce entropy is to pay more attention to places that you use more frequently.
For instance, high frequency places can be the kitchen (because we all like to cook more or less), couch (because we like to watch TV, or invite guests to sit there), and any other favorite location in your home.  This technique is the easiest to implement, once you've spotted the most frequently used places, these are the places you should pay attention to and clean or organize them a bit more often than others.



These two simple techniques are highly effective & generalizable and can be used not only at home, but at work, when working on projects, at your desk, and just about anywhere.

 

A perfect test to know if you are well organized:

(1) If you need to find an important paper, would you know where to find it?
(a) Yes   (b) No

(2) If your friends were to invite themselves over to your place, how much time would it take you to organize your place for guests?
(a) 10 minute   (b) 1 hour    (c) 3-4 hours

_____________
Choosing (a) for #1 & #2 means - excellent organizational skills.
If you know where an important paper is, then you have superior organizational skills.  When friends invite themselves over, chances are that they are 10 minutes away.  More time and you let your friends see all that mess...
Choosing (b) to #1 &  (b) or (c) to #2 means - medium level organizational skills