You’ve just finished organizing your bedroom closet.

You’re feeling proud of yourself for finally putting things in order.

You want to keep things organized, but you’re not sure about how you should keep everything organized for the long-term.

What should you do?

In this post, I offer several inspirational pointers that will help you keep things neat and tidy for the days and weeks to come.

You must make a conscious effort to stay organized.

Staying organized isn’t something that happens by accident.

You must make a dedicated and conscious decision that you will work to keep things in order, and take the necessary action to do so.

Sure, you can just say the words, but if you don’t back those words with physical movement on a regular basis, well, things will stay just as they are.

You must pick up items and put them back where they belong.

It’s as simple as that.

You must push through your laziness.

What does this mean? Well, this means putting your clothes back inside the closet after doing laundry even if you don’t want to do it. This means wrapping up the holiday decorations carefully and trudging up the creaky attic stairs even if you don’t want to do it. This also means arranging your wallet, keys, and cell phone everyday in your bag even if you don’t want to do it.

Now, this may sound all doom and gloom, but the reality is this: if you don’t do it now, you will have to take care of it later. All those little tasks will soon add up to an enormous amount of tasks. Would you rather take care of something little right now, or let it grow and become a behemoth of an organizing project?

You must understand keeping things organized is a process.

Here’s the deal: there will be good days, when things are neatly back in their storage locations, and then there will be not-so-good-days when your bed is covered with clothing, magazines are stacked high on your nightstand, and you have to search high and low for your favorite belt. It’s all part of the process of keeping things in order.

The key is not to get so caught up in the not-so-good-days. Okay, so this past week was a lousy one at work, and you’re just getting over a cold, and your bedroom looks like a tornado went through it. Go easy on yourself! Not everything has to be picture-perfect all the time.

If you’re keeping things in a manageable state most of the time (note how I used the word “most,” instead of “all”), you’re doing just fine.

You must realize staying organized begins and ends with you.

Being organized isn’t a mystical, or magical thing. Anyone can be more organized…really! You must be willing, however, to put in the work that is necessary in order to keep things tidy.

There’s no way around this work: there’s no shortcuts, secrets, or surprises. No one else can do the work for you.

You must take an active role in putting things back where they belong, time and time again. That’s how things stay organized.

How about you? What do you think is the most challenging part about staying organized? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!

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