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During the past eight weeks of self-quarantine, we’re guessing you may have made a few revelations about your living situation. For instance, you may have wondered when did the neighbors get a dog, how long has the sink been leaking or when did I collect so much stuff?

Saturday, May 17, is Pack Rat Day, what better time to review each of the rooms in our homes to determine if we carry any pack rat-type tendencies. Uhaul suggests seven signs make a person a packrat:

1. You keep old magazines or newspapers
2. You keep clothes you don’t wear anymore
3. You store broken electronics and appliances
4. You store free swag
5. Every room has become storage
6. Your car has become storage
7. Your daily life is impacted

Based on those depicters, would you consider yourself to be a packrat? If so, don’t worry! We’ve compiled a few tips to motivate you to spend the weekend to participate in home organization.

• Pace yourself

One of the first mistakes, newbies make when they begin organizing their homes is thinking everything needs to be neat and tidy immediately. As a result, they start the job with high enthusiasm and start fading out after quickly realizing the extent of the entire project. Instead of setting yourself up for failure with unrealistic expectations, take organization one step at a time. Start by setting a goal of organizing 15 to 20 minutes; you might clean out one junk drawer or begin organizing one closet. After your allotted period, you will either be motivated enough to continue the task to completed or be satisfied with your progress and wait to start a new project until the following day.

• Purge anything that no longer serves a purpose to you

Are you one of those people who have a hard time throwing away boxes? If so, use that habit to your advantage by using them to sort through your not-so prized possessions. Label the boxes for items you want to keep, toss, store elsewhere, sell or donate.

We realize that these box names may be self-explanatory, but you may be curious about where you can donate all of the items you no longer want or need. Many charities rely heavily on your donated items to carry out their missions. Here are a few examples to get you started:

Clothing – Community thrift stores, Salvation Army International or St. Vincent’s
Books – Your local library or Operation Paperback
Eyeglasses – Your local Lions club or directly to the Eyeglass Recycling Center
Tools – Habitat for Humanity or other construction-focused charity

We encourage you to do your own research before immediately tossing specific items. You never which organization may need your old unwanted stuff.

• Find a place for everything

What’s the best way to find anything you need? Ensure all of the items in your home have a pace of their own. We realize, however, that the process is entirely simple. Come up with a strategy where you envision all of the activities that will take place in each room and find a storage solution that will work for all of the necessary items. Remember to take one room at a time.

• Consider a minimalist approach

As you are organizing your home, consider changing your mindset to commit to owning fewer materials rather than decluttering more often. Before purchasing a new item, take the time to really think about why that purchase is a necessity. According to the Simple Lionheart Life, the minimalist mindset happens gradually and subtly, in small ways, until you realize your relationship with stuff has changed.

Will you participate in home organization in honor of Pack Rat Day? If so, we’d love to hear about your plans in the comments below. Remember to keep in mind that organization is a marathon, not a sprint.

Happy organizing from Lions Pride!