Micro-organizing is key to a tidy home. Here’s how to try it for 30 days

Do you ever wonder how people with perfectly tidy homes do it? Do they know something you don’t know? Are they using magic?

The always-tidy are probably not employing magic, at least not in the traditional sense of wands and cauldrons, but almost every “naturally” tidy person is probably using a technique known as micro-organizing to keep their homes in order.

“Micro-organizing refers to small-scale, focused organization projects that can be completed quickly, typically within a single drawer, shelf or category, rather than overhauling an entire room or home,” Gala Magriñá, a holistic interior designer, says. While it’s not an exact science, a micro-organizing task is one that should take 5 to 10 minutes, 15 minutes at most.

In many ways, micro-organizing is a mindset. People who micro-organize often take advantage of “dwell time” to knock out tasks. Do you have a mask on your face or hair? Use that time to sort out the medicine cabinet. Are you waiting for a pot of coffee to brew? Sift through a utensil crock or collection of food storage containers and pare it down to its best and most essential items.

Cynthia Kennedy, a personal stylist and image consultant, calls micro-organizing “a nonnegotiable in my own space” and in clients’ homes. “Micro-systems help you stay ahead of the chaos by giving every item a place that makes sense, and micro-organizing maintains that calm, curated feel long-term,” Kennedy says.

Removing the pressure of a large-scale organizing or decluttering effort can be a game changer for people who struggle with organizing. And, for many, focusing on small projects as part of a monthlong organizing challenge can be transformative. Prefabricated organizing challenges abound on the internet, but you are not beholden to someone else’s creation; choose one to follow, or make one of your own. And if a month feels too macro, we have ideas for micro-organizing tasks you can knock off today.

How to create a monthlong micro-organizing challenge

Day 1: Create a list of micro-organizing tasks

Grab a pen and paper, or your phone or tablet, and go from room to room making a list of the organizing tasks you’ve been meaning to get to. Be ruthless: Open closets and drawers, look in corners, and, most importantly, take time to consider places where clutter or disorganization creates problems for you. In project planning, this is called the assessment stage, and it is crucial to success — you will be tempted to skip it, but don’t! (See below for examples of micro tasks.)

Day 2: Calendar the tasks

On the second day of your challenge, create a calendar of events based on how many and what type of small organizing jobs you identified on Day 1. Aim to calendar 12 to 15 tasks — about one job every other day — which will allow wriggle room if you miss a day and keep overwhelm to a minimum. If the list you compiled on Day 1 exceeds the days on the calendar, pick the most meaningful tasks and table the rest for a rainy day.

Day 3-30: Complete each task

Follow the plan you created for yourself, and use the free days you carved out if you need them. It’s OK to break down what you thought was one task into smaller ones once you get going; a jam-packed medicine cabinet will be just as organized if you tackle it shelf by shelf over two days as it will if you do it in one go.

On the final day, reward yourself in some way or, at a minimum, take a stroll around your home to admire the results of your work.

12 micro-organizing projects to pick off today, this weekend, this month

If a full month feels like too much, try picking one or two of the micro-organizing projects the experts we spoke to suggested and adding it to your to-do list for today, this weekend or this month.

• Tidy the junk drawer

Do you find yourself constantly fishing around your junk drawer for the scissors? Take five or so minutes to solve that problem for your future self. Start by taking everything out of the drawer — everything! — and quickly weed out and throw away anything that is truly junk. Use drawer dividers, empty boxes or imperfect food storage containers to create compartments for sorting the things you want to keep by type.

• Food-storage-container management

Tame an unruly collection of food storage containers by taking all of them out, matching the lids to their containers, and getting rid of any pieces that are missing their other half or that are damaged. Repurpose infrequently used or raggedy-but-serviceable containers to bring order to that junk drawer.

• Tame the entryway

“High-traffic areas like the entryway and mudroom are especially important,” says Ross Sapir, founder and CEO of Roadway Moving. “A little organization there goes a long way in keeping things calm and manageable.” Take 10 minutes to put away entryway clutter that makes it challenging to get in and out of the house, including coats, bags, shoes, umbrellas and reusable totes.

• One book shelf at a time

“Closed book shelves or cabinets tend to get messy because they’re behind closed doors, and, when you’re in a rush, it’s easy to just stuff things in and close the door. Pulling everything out of one cabinet to edit and reorganize is important,” Magriñá says.

• Streamline the pantry

Like bookshelves, pantries are a great place to work one shelf at a time. Throw out expired food, and store like items together to make meal preparation more manageable. “Group dry goods into labeled bins (e.g., snacks, baking, grains) to avoid overbuying and keep everything streamlined,” Sapir says.

• Clean out a bathroom drawer or medicine cabinet

Ferret out expired, empty and unused products that create clutter in the bathroom. “Toiletries and cosmetics can easily get out of hand because of how many samples we get and how many times we’ll buy something, use it once, and forget about it,” Magriñá says. Make a note of items you have duplicates of and put a moratorium on restocking them.

• Create a tech catchall station

If you are always searching for your charger, headphones, extra battery packs and other tech accessories, carve out 10 to 15 minutes to set up a single space for these items to call home. “Use a divided box to store chargers, earbuds and batteries in their own sections,” Sapir says. “No more digging through drawers.”

• Take on a few small tasks in the closet

“Instead of overhauling your whole closet,” Kennedy says, “begin with your tangled jewelry, a belt bin, or that random pile of scarves.” Did you find some strays among those small items? “Dedicate a tray or bowl for lost-and-found items — the earring back, the lone button, the mystery necklace clasp. It keeps the random bits contained until you figure out what they belong to.” Finally, she suggests hanging a multipocket organizer inside the closet door for lint rollers, a travel-size steamer, double-sided tape and other fabric care notions. “All the unsung heroes in one place,” she says.