The Bedroom and Sleep

June 15, 2023

This post is part of a series that I will be sharing with you over the next couple months, based on the 5 week journal that I’ve created. If you don’t want to wait for each post to come out, you can download the journal here: The Seattle Sparkle Method to Get Organized and Stay Organized

Good quality sleep is at the core of good health and home organization. If you’re not sleeping well, it’s going to get reflected in how you keep up your home. You won’t have the motivation, energy, or patience to do the things you need to do to get your home organized and keep it that way. This post is focused on helping you declutter your bedroom and develop some healthier sleep habits. If you want to be a more organized person, start in the bedroom!

Home Assignment: Organize the Bedroom

Declutter and organize the bedroom.

Supplies needed:

Bags or boxes for trash/recycle/shred/donate
• Boxes and bags for sorting similar items
• Containers: Use cardboard boxes, or other temporary containers until you know what size you need.
• Labels: Post-it notes and/or blue masking tape and a black sharpie are great for temporary labels as you’re sorting

Decluttering and Organizing Guidelines

At some point in the process, dust and wipe down any surfaces that need it. Vacuum or sweep as well. Some spaces will need this step to be done at the very beginning, some need it as you go, and some spaces can wait till the end. Use your own judgement as to when to clean vs. declutter and organize.

Start by removing any obvious trash or recycling off the floor or other surfaces. Keep your trash bags close by until they get full, then take them out and replace the bags.
Create a staging area. Clear a space for sorting like items. If you have things in the bedroom that go other places, create boxes or bags for the different places things need to go like the kitchen, another bedroom, the office, or the basement, so you don’t have to make multiple trips. Create a bag or box for donations.
Sort items (by category, size, color… whatever makes sense for you). For the things that stay in the bedroom, you may need to sort the laundry and put clothes away. Or you might have blankets that need to get put in the linen closet (or put on the bed). Do you have a lot of reading material in the bedroom? Snacks? Décor? Office supplies? Workout gear? Cosmetics? Accessories? Sort all of these things (if they don’t already have a home) so that you can assess what you have and find homes for things.
Purge what you don’t need. If your closet is too full, get rid of some clothes, or find alternative storage solutions. You don’t have to dial in your clothes storage just yet. Just make a small improvement. Let go of anything that feels stale, worn out, or that you just don’t like anymore.
Decide where the things you want to keep are going to go. Do you have adequate storage spaces for all your stuff? If not, this is the time to figure out what kinds of shelves, dressers, or other solutions you might need are. Don’t try to figure this out before you’ve decluttered though. Otherwise you’ll have no idea how much storage space you’ll really need.
Use containers or drawer dividers to group like items if necessary and label them clearly. Common containers used in the bedroom might be to contain shoes, jewelry, or to divide things within drawers.
Maintain! Get into the rhythm of a daily tidying schedule to keep up your good work.

Use your timer to do what you can in the amount of time you’re willing to devote to organizing. It can be rewarding to start with the “low hanging fruit”. This means whatever is the easiest that would make the most impact. I usually recommend going for the things that are physically the biggest, because the dramatic change can be very motivational to see. You could also pick something that is very small, like a tedious to-do that you’ve been meaning to get to for months (like sewing a patch onto a hole in the pocket of your jacket).

For more tips on organizing your bedroom, read this post:

7 Tips on How to Organize and Enjoy Your Bedroom & Bonus: 3 Bedroom Organizing Challenges!

Life Assignment: Sleep & Relaxation

Proper sleep is essential for brain function, mood regulation, and energy production. So many people in our society are sleep deprived. Let’s start this organizing journey off right, and prioritize good quality sleep. What is one thing you can do (or not do) to improve your sleep? Write it down, and make a commitment to make this change for yourself. Small changes swing big doors, so no change is too insignificant. Challenge yourself, but commit to doing something that you know you can do.

For more tips to get better sleep, read these posts:

ADHD and Revenge Bedtime Procrastination

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