MNN - Mother Nature Network

It's a challenge to keep organized with all the stuff we have to deal with as part of a modern life; from ever-updating electronic equipment (have we all noticed how the iPhone 4 and 5 have different chargers and ports?) to summer clothes and winter clothes, from athletic clothes to work clothes to hang-out clothes, to books to read now or later, to paperwork and junk mail. Every day we need to make decisions about what to do with the clutter, and as studies have shown, decision-making power decreases over time. (That is, the more decisions you have to make, the less able you are to make good ones over a certain time period, like the course of a day). 

 

One of the key ways to cut down on the stress caused by stuff, that decision-making fatigue, is to have rules and systems for dealing with it. Home organization is just that; a system by which you can deal with the ephemera of life at least partially automatically. This frees you up to focus on other, more important parts of your life, whether that's your work, your hobbies, or spending time with friends and family.

 

But how do we learn to organize our stuff? It's not taught in school, and many of us received poor (or just plain outdated) information about how to do it from our parents. But being organized is a low-cost (or even free) way to upgrade and de-stress your life. Fortunately, these days, there are tons of resources online (and on cable TV) that can help us with aspects of our lives that we may not have learned when we were growing up. The videos of organization queen Alejandra Costello. Check out some of the videos below for inspiration to get your stuff organized, once and for all!