How to Be the Most Organized Person in the World

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Balancing your job, working out, keeping up with laundry, paying bills, and having a social life can make our household clutter start to pile up. Whether it’s your inbox, closet, kitchen, or even your desk, clutter can start to take over your life. Take control of your clutter once and for all, and find out how you can be the most organized person in the world, starting right now.

Become the Master of your Kitchen

Conquer your kitchen by starting with your pantry. Start by cleaning out your pantry, and not just the cereal box from three years ago you forgot about, but those cloudy water bottles and gross Tupperware containers too. If you have any small items, put them in a container or small bowl with a label. Group similar items together in your cabinets and storage spaces. Keep all of the wine glasses and coffee mugs stored together in a logical, organized fashion. Store your kitchen supplies as close as you can to where you use them. For example, you’ll want to keep your pots and pans near the stove.

Tidy your Bedroom

Start with cleaning out your closet. This will be the hardest part, so you might as well get it over with. Donate any item you haven’t worn in the last year. If you’re unsure what items qualify, start by placing the hanger back on the rod facing the opposite direction after you wear an item of clothing. Then you’ll know at the end of the season which items can go. Exceptions include special clothing items such as your wedding gown. If you are short on storage, consider investing in furniture pieces that offer storage, such as a bed frame with built-in drawers. Be sure to also make your bed each and every day. I know this sounds like a silly task, but it will really make your bedroom feel instantly cleaner.

Clean out your Bathroom

Bathrooms have a tendency to hold items long past their shelf life. Start by getting rid of anything that has surpassed its shelf life such as makeup, perfume, nail polish, even sunscreen. If you’re ever unsure, toss after two years. Safely dispose of any medications you don’t take any more or have expired. Using containers you can keep extra toilet paper, towels, and any other hair care items in a basket under the sink to keep everything organized.

Organize your Work space

This will likely be the easiest place to organize. Toss out any unnecessary papers and keep only your important documents. Get a file box or a plastic container for personal papers you’d like to keep. Next, store your desk items based on how often they are used. Keep items that you use often in the top drawer on the side of your dominant hand.

Get your Digital Life Under Control

First, you need to backup your files, this will save you a lot of stress down the road. A few places you can backup your digital files include:

• Dropbox
• iCloud
• Amazon (prime members only)
• External hard drives (great inexpensive option)

Next, it’s time to organize and sort through all of those photos on your computer. You can use a number of programs to complete this task. I personally recommend using Google Photos. Then, you’ll want to find a place to keep track of all your passwords as you might forget them over time. Here are three useful password-saving apps that help generate nearly impossible to guess passwords

• LastPass (free to download; $12 per year for premium version)
• Dashlane (free to download; $40 per year for premium version)
• 1Password (free)

Conquer your Inbox

Your goal should be to get your inbox as close to zero as you can. Start by unsubscribing to newsletters, spam emails, and any other emails you wish to no longer receive using unroll.me. Next, set up filters for items that don’t need immediate attention and create labels to help further organize them. You can even set these folders to skip the inbox to avoid cluttering your email. If there are articles you don’t want to lose, sync them to your smartphone so you can read on your commute or during your free time. Here are a few apps that can help you:

• Pocket
• Instapaper
• Readability