6 Organizing Pros Share the Simple Everyday Tasks that Help Them Stay Tidy

My personal organizing struggle isn’t necessarily getting everything in order… it’s keeping it that way. Home organizing just isn’t a do-it-one-time-and-forget-it sort of thing. Tackling a small task or two each day, in fact, is one of the best ways to prevent all your organizing and decluttering work from being undone. The design and organizing professionals in this post know that home organization is a daily practice, and they’ve generously shared their suggestions for the small and easy tasks you can do every day to keep your home feeling a little more tidy this year.

“I can’t stress this enough, you don’t have to do an intense cleaning everyday, but a little tidying goes a long way. Fold the blankets on the sofa, fluff the cushions and pillows, vacuum, load the dishes in the dishwasher, put away the kids’ toys, put away dishes, etc. before you go to bed so you wake up to a clean home in the morning.

Another task is going through the mail daily. Throw out the junk mail before it lands on the table and file away important mail in a file folder or in a dedicated mail station. Put a trash can at the front door if you have to so you can throw the junk mail out before it even makes it into the home,” says Shamika of Maximizing Tiny. She shared her super organized home in a house tour earlier this month, a 750-square-foot rental apartment full of brilliant hidden storage.

“Have an empty bin for cleanup and use this bin to pick up items that do not belong in the space. For example, start with the dining table, if there are pens, notepads, or mail that’s on there, put it in the bin. Once you’re done scanning the dining, move the items in the bin to their respective spaces such as your office or your bag. This can be done in less than 10 minutes!” says Katrina of Badass Homelife. She shared how she conquers clutter with minimalism, sustainability, and DIYs in the home she lives in with her husband and their two dogs.

“I tidy everyday and I think this is an important step daily to take towards being organized because then things don’t pile up to the point of feeling overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done. I wasn’t always like this but I realized by training myself to do this, I have helped myself keep organized on the daily,” says Rashmi of Rush Me Home. (Look for a full house tour of Rashmi’s home on Apartment Therapy later this month.)

“At Organize With Faith we like to say, ‘keep what you can care for.’ If you have more stuff than you have energy to deal with, it’s time to declutter,”  says Faith Roberson. (Look for a full house tour of Faith’s home on Apartment Therapy later this month.)

“Tidy up for at least 10 minutes every day. Put on some good music, put things away, and dance as you pick up an item and put it back. Make it fun and it won’t feel like a chore! Then your kids will absolutely want to help. Create a grab-n-go section in your entryway for things that need to leave the house such as returns or drycleaning. Put things in your grab-n-go as part of tidying up every day.

Do a load of laundry every day so it doesn’t pile up and delegate folding to your kids. No one wants to fold a mountain of laundry (not even this organizer!) and kids think folding is arts and crafts. And have a to-do basket and put everything there that needs to be done so that when you have time, you know exactly where the thing is that you need to take care of.  Make this part of your daily tidying up routine,” says Pia of Sweet Digs. (Look for a full house tour of Pia’s home on Apartment Therapy later this month.)

“It completely transforms the room and it’s a great way to start your day. When you go to bed at the end of the day, you’ll be able to do so in a neatly made bed. Also choose three tasks that you’d like to accomplish each day and focus on getting those things done. If your to-do list is too long, it can be overwhelming and you might get demotivated,” says Vaishali Sahni of Tiny and Tidy. Apartment Therapy toured her tidy Toronto condo packed with organizing ideas last year.

You can find great home tours and even greater organizing advice from this year’s fresh crop of inspiration (and catch up on last year’s professional organizer house tours) all on this one page: Professional Organizer Home Advice.