5 Easy 2-Minute Habits to Make You an Organized Person

Have you ever set a goal for new habits that you never get around to starting? Totally happening to me right now. I’m trying to go to bed earlier, which has always been a struggle. It’s been listed on my PowerSheets for the past 5 months, but I haven’t cracked the code on how to make this habit become a reality.

Until now.

I’ve been reading Atomic Habits by James Clear, and oh my gosh, my brain is exploding. One thing I teach all of my one-on-one clients is how to keep your space organized once all the decluttering is said and done, and habits are the key. Actually, habits are pretty much the key to everything in life. That’s just how our brains are wired.

So I decided to experiment with one of the habit formulas Mr Clear uses in his book to help me with my bedtime routine.

It totally works. It’s like magic.

Wanna know what it is?

I made it easy in about 2 minutes.

Let’s talk about how you can create easy organizing habits in 2 minutes or less.

So first let’s talk about how I changed up my bedtime routine in about 2 minutes. I realized I had this bad habit of staying up later and snacking because I have to take vitamins and medications with food. I didn’t want to take them at dinnertime because supposedly they’d make me sleepy.

Well, that’s the point, right?

So, I’ve started taking those vitamins and medications at dinnertime. Which means I don’t need to eat a snack later. Which means I can brush my teeth early in the evening. So it all boils down to “I have no reason to stay up anymore.”

It’s like a trickle down effect. One small decision leads to a massive outcome: I go to bed earlier, I get more rest, and I have more energy and mental capacity.

Now let me break down some small habits you can use TODAY to be more organized.

Kitchen Cleanup Habit

During an On-Site Session, my client asked me for advice for getting food put away after everyone’s done putting together their meals and snacks. It would all sit out on the counter all day because no one knew what to do with half an apple or part of a tomato.

So here’s the 2-minute habit (or 1-minute rule) they can use:

Clean the food off the counter after breakfast → put one food in a bag or storage container

It sounds so simple, right? But once you do that one thing, it sets all of it off on a trajectory. You start thinking, “Well, I put that in a container. I may as well do the rest while I’m at it.”

Laundry Habit

Another client admitted that her problem isn’t so much doing the laundry as it is putting it away. (I’m totally with her, by the way.) So here’s a habit she can use to get it going.

Put away the laundry → hang up one shirt

Like I said, I’m with my client and I hate putting away the laundry. But once I put one away, it’s like, “Well, I may as well do the rest and have no piles to put away or hang up anymore.”

Toy Clean-Up Habit

Another client was feeling overwhelmed by all the toys everywhere. I don’t blame her. Toys are pretty overwhelming. So I recommended that each night the whole family does a clean up routine together before bed.

But there was one thing that had to happen first: the toys needed a place to go to be their homes. Once that happened, the habit became this:

Clean up the toys → give one toy a home

So happy to report that this clean up has been working. Things aren’t so overwhelming anymore for mom or the kids.

Mail Pile Habit

You know how you check the mail and there’s always a bunch of stuff you don’t need in there? What do you do with it? Does it all pile up?

Here’s a 2-minute habit you can use for the mail pile when you bring it in the house every day:

Sort the mail pile → throw away the junk mail

Nobody needs more paper, and you can do that in less than a minute. I challenge you 😉

Use Your Planner Habit

Maybe you’re like I was and you buy a planner every year, use it for a little while, then forget about it. I’ve found it’s much easier to use it consistently using this habit.

Use my planner → keep my planner open on my desk

I’ve totally been using my planner this year like a boss!

Those are 5 examples of easy habits to create in 2 minutes or less. They’re easy but they create an avalanche just because of that one small decision. There’s even more habit building resources in Atomic Habits, if you’re into reading.

Here’s what to do next: Download the free 10-Minute Tidy checklist to pair tasks together as 2-minute habits.