Sue Becker

Organize Your Bedroom for a Good Night's Sleep



Posted: Friday, July 09, 2010

by Sue Becker
From Piles to Smiles

Is your bedroom calm and serene, a place where you can relax and get a restful night's sleep? Or is it a chaotic place filled with clutter, clothes, papers and the like? If your bedroom is anything but restful, consider spending some time de-cluttering and organizing it so it becomes a sanctuary to replenish your mind and soul. In addition, organizing your bedroom will make getting dressed each day a simple endeavor rather than a frantic hunt for matching shoes!

Pare down your clothing. Go through your closet, dresser and other piles of clothing and pare down what you don't or won't wear. Be realistic - do you keep passing over a particular shirt or pair of pants because another one is more comfortable or fits better? If so, move it on to a new home - either elsewhere in your home, or to a charity. Once you've moved out what you don't wear, there will be more room to put away the clothes that previously sat in piles because there was no place to put them.You can find more tips on organizing your closet in my eBook Get Organized, Take Control of Your Life: 5 Simple Steps to Discover Freedom.

Remove the clutter. It's hard to sleep when piles of laundry, paper, and other assorted clutter is "staring" at you. I wonder how many people who suffer from sleep disturbances would get a more restful sleep simply by removing these stress-inducing items. An easy solution is to stop yourself from bringing anything into your bedroom unless you put it away right away. In addition, if it doesn't support the activities you do in your bedroom (sleep, read, get dressed, insert your own fun activity here) it shouldn't be in there. Find another place to store such items - your sleep and your health are too important to ignore this guideline.

Be creative with storage. Consider vertical storage (e.g., hooks on the wall) and under-bed storage (for out of season clothes, seldom worn shoes, extra bedding) for items that won't fit anywhere else. Maybe a nightstand, lingerie cabinet or bookcase can give you the functional storage you need without taking up much space.

Diminish the impact of your work life. If there's no other place but your bedroom

to work, use furniture to hide your computer and paperwork from sight when you're finished working. A roll-top desk, hide-away-desk or a secretary-style desk can all serve this purpose. If these aren't an option for you, consider covering your desk and computer with a beautiful piece of fabric to take the "work" out of your slumber.

Corral your reading pile. Keep only the books and magazines that you're currently reading in your bedroom, and only those items that you'll actually read there. Get a beautiful container, or use one of your furniture pieces, to attractively store your reading material. Refer to my prior tips to Pare Down That Reading Pile.

Sustain the serenity. Once you've turned your muddled mess into a serene sanctuary, you'll want to be sure to keep it that way. Get a hamper - and use it! Be sure clothes are coming out (i.e., getting laundered) at a faster rate than they're going in. Make your bed every morning - this simple 2-minute task will quickly transform the look and feel of your room. When you bring in your clean laundry, put it away right away - when your closet and dresser are pared down, it should take no more than 5 minutes to quickly and easily put things away. Since your bedroom is the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing you see at night, be sure to tidy it up frequently so you can start and end your day calm and relaxed.

Pleasant dreams!

Internationally known professional organizer, author, and speaker Sue Becker is the founder and owner of From Piles to Smiles. She enjoys helping people from around the world live better lives by creating customized systems to overcome their overwhelming paperwork, clutter, and schedules. She specializes in helping people who are chronically disorganized - those for whom disorganization has been a lifelong struggle that negatively impacts every aspect of their life, especially people with AD/HD. Her hands-on help, as well as her presentations, have helped thousands of individuals create substantial change in their lives.

Sue is Illinois' first Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization. She co-authored the book Conversations on Success , and has appeared as an organizational expert on NBC News and the national TV show, Starting Over. A CPA, Sue has an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

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