Now that you know what organizing means, let me tell you why organizing ain’t cleaning.

It’s that time of the year when we think about organizing and cleaning, refreshing and reviving.

Many of my clients think that organizing and cleaning are the same and that we’re going to clean their space. Your space will look much cleaner when we’re done, but that is because it is organized and there is a home for everything. This list will show some of the differences between organizing and cleaning.

ORGANIZING

• De-clutter
• Decide what to keep, donate/recycle or toss
• Create systems, processes and order
• Create a sensible home for items either where they are going to be used or can be easily located
• Store like or similar items together
• May involve mopping, scrubbing, sweeping, dusting, etc. when moving items from one place to another
• Make decisions about items as you go along
• Reduces frustration and stress because items can be found faster
• Make decisions about the value of the items
• Makes space easier to clean
• Can locate items within seconds/minutes

CLEANING

• Use cleaning products such as mops, brooms, etc.
• Involves mopping, scrubbing, sweeping, dusting, vacuuming, etc.
• Stuff and stack as you go along
• Can be considered or called straightening – up/tidying
• Removal of trash, dirt,