Opening Words

As a recent graduate and working professional, it's exhausting enough dealing with work every day, let alone coming home to face a house full of clutter - it's really overwhelming! I know many friends are struggling with organization issues - after all, who doesn't want a neat and comfortable home? I went through a long period of exploration myself, transforming from an organization novice to a life organization expert. Today I'll share the organization secrets I've developed over these past two years that will guarantee to give your nest a fresh new look!

Preparation

Getting your home organized isn't as simple as just stuffing things away. First, we need to do a "home checkup." I suggest taking out your phone or notebook and carefully inspecting each room like a detective. Start from the entryway, then the living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom - don't miss any corner.

When I first started organizing, I found magazines and delivery boxes piled under the living room coffee table, user manuals for unused electronics stuffed in the TV cabinet; the bedroom closet was an absolute disaster with clothes from all seasons mixed together, taking half a day just to find something to wear; kitchen spice bottles scattered everywhere, making cooking a hectic experience. Do these problems sound familiar?

After recording these "disaster zones," the next step is making a battle plan. I was so excited at first that I wanted to solve all problems in one weekend. The result was predictable - I only completed a small portion after a full day of work, not only exhausting myself but almost giving up. So I advise everyone not to be as rash as I was. It's better to start with the area that bothers you most, like the closet or desk, and give yourself 2-3 hours.

Another super important prerequisite: always do a deep clean before organizing! Trust me, you won't want to put dusty items into storage boxes. I always thoroughly clean the area I'm about to organize - it not only makes the organization more effective but also gives you a fresh start.

Core Principles

When it comes to core organization principles, the most important is item classification and categorization. However, before starting to categorize, I must warn everyone: the room might get messier than before during the organization process - this is completely normal! Take my closet organization for example: when I dumped all clothes on the bed, I almost had a breakdown looking at that "clothing mountain." But without doing this, proper categorization would be impossible. So don't panic - this temporary chaos is for better order.

The key to categorized organization is keeping similar items together. Sounds simple, right? But in practice, you often encounter many problems. For instance, my stationery used to be scattered everywhere - pens could be in the study, living room, or even the kitchen. It wasted so much time searching whenever I needed something. Later, I bought a pencil case and gathered all writing supplies together in the desk drawer - no more searching around the house for pens.

Let me also share my kitchen organization experience. My seasonings used to be very disorganized - soy sauce might be in one cabinet, vinegar in another, making cooking very chaotic. Later, I took out all seasonings and categorized them by frequency of use into three groups: daily essentials like salt and soy sauce went on the spice rack next to the stove; frequently used but not daily items like various spices went in the middle cabinet; rarely used items like special sauces were stored in the top cabinet. After this categorization, cooking efficiency improved significantly, and the kitchen looks much neater.