The holidays are over and now it’s back to the daily grind. After the chaos of houseguests, parties and shopping have you overlooked dealing with basic housekeeping and clutter that has accumulated over the past month? Remember everything you shoved into a laundry basket and hid from view? You promised yourself you would deal with that in the New Year. Now is the time, my friend! Let’s get organized.

Don’t try to organize the entire house in one day. Instead focus on the rooms that need it the most. For right now let’s talk about your garage, home office and your closets.

Closets

If you haven’t worn something in a year get rid of it. Have a box or bag ready for charity as you go through your clothes, or host a clothes swap party with girlfriends. Your cast-off may be another’s treasure.

Group clothes together by color – now you won’t have to spend hours looking for that one white blouse. Consider grouping clothes together by season as well. Store seasonal items in garment bags and boxes that can be kept under the bed or in the guest bedroom closet if you are short on space.

Home Office

Only keep items on your desk that you use every day. Put everything else in a storage closet or filing cabinet. Sort through mail daily and immediately toss or recycle junk mail. Deal with bills and other correspondence right away. Don’t make a pile to deal with later, these tasks just add up. Shred anything that you don’t need and file everything else. Remember we want to avoid all kinds of piles – file piles, bill piles, documents to shred pile. You get the drift.

Garage

Invest in wall panels with hooks and baskets. Your goal here is to keep the floor of the garage as uncluttered as possible. Hang garden tools, bicycles, ladders and sports equipment. Buckets are another good organizational tool for the garage. Have one bucket for paintbrushes and rollers, one for rags, and sponges and car care products.

By taking time to focus on these three areas you can quickly and easily keep your home as organized as possible. After all, it is much less stressful to arrive to an organized home than one that is chaotic and cluttered.