NYC Professional Organizer’s 30 Tips to Simplify Your Life

Simplify your life… a professional organizer’s goal in both big cities like NYC or small towns. It even sounds simple. Or maybe it sounds daunting. If your life is complicated by stuff you don’t use and activities you don’t enjoy, simplifying might seem like just one more thing on your to-do list. And it’s hard to define. Simplifying your life may require different steps and result in different outcomes than the steps and outcomes for your friend, your co-worker, your sister. Simplifying your life may be different if you live in a New York City apartment than if your home is a farm upstate. In celebration of Simplify Your Life Week, this NYC professional organizer shares 30 tips you can follow to organize and simply your life. Some address small details while others require a significant change your habits, but regardless of what “simplifying” means to you, these organizing tips can help you get there.

1. Go to bed early.
2. Process email only 2-3 times a day.
3. Get rid of commitments that you do purely out of obligation.
4. Create a weekly dinner plan.
5. Do your banking and bill paying online.
6. Get rid of clutter. And do it often.
7. Learn to pack light.
8. Make your lunch for the next day the night before.
9. Learn what “enough” is – and stop when you get there.
10. Keep a bag for garbage in your car.
11. Tell the truth.
12. Exercise every day.
13. Spend time with people you love.
14. Spend time alone.
15. Keep your list of addresses and phone numbers up to date.
16. Unsubscribe from emails, newsletters or RSS feeds that you don’t read regularly.
17. Apologize immediately when you’re wrong.
18. Reduce the amount of TV you watch and the amount of time you spend online.
19. Get outside.
20. Use cash.
21. Ask for help.
22. Don’t get caught up in other people’s drama.
23. Let go of the need to be perfect.
24. Share responsibilities.
25. Reduce your wardrobe to a few versatile items.
26. Finish old tasks before taking on new ones.
27. For every new item that enters your home, toss or donate two.
28. Clean out your purse or wallet and carry only the essentials.
29. Store new garbage bags at the bottom of your garbage can.
30. Start a gratitude journal.