Organizing Tips and Tricks
Being organized is a wonderful way to live. It makes life easier, more peaceful, productive, and comfortable.
But getting and staying organized is not always easy or comfortable. It requires staying on top of clutter and having a plan to conquer it should it surface again.
Take my advise and try some of my favorite organizing tips for keeping clutter under control.
Organizing Tip #1 : Uncover your Clutter Questions
Clutter is a postponed decision. Indecision is a result of an unanswered question.
- Should I keep it or let it go?
- Should I sell it or donate it?
- Will my kids be mad at me if I threw this away?
With an unanswered question comes uncertainty which is the leading cause of overwhelm. Identify the questions behind your indecision and watch your decision-making speed improve.
Try out my 5-Ws strategy to uncover questions by asking what, when, why, where, and who.
Organizing Tip #2 : Plan to Get Organized
An organizing project requires a detailed plan involving tasks and timelines.
Without a plan, it's easy to become overwhelmed, stressed out, and unable to finish the project.
To create a project plan you need to start with the end goal in mind.
To do this, I use my forward think and backwards plan strategy. Here I ask the question, "If I want to do this, then I need to do that." For example, "If I want to store a car in the garage, then I need to move the bicycles out of the way."
From there, you can work backwards using an "if/then" conversation to uncover the tasks to complete in order to reach your goals.
Organizing Tip #3 : Avoid "Just for Now" Thinking
Clutter often builds up due to "just for now" thinking. This is when you place something down "just for now" with the intention of putting it away later.
This happens because the thing doesn't have a home or one that it can be put back into easily. The old saying, a place for everything and everything has its place applies here.
If you find yourself doing this clutter-causing habit, it may be time to make a home, put things away, or start an organizing project.
Organizing Tip #4 : Minimize Perfectionism
One of the common complaints I hear about getting organized is, "I don't know where to start" often leading to paralysis analysis.
This happens when a project seems too big to do resulting in overwhelm and ineffective decision making. The trick to minimizing overwhelm is to break your project down into bite-sized chunks and start with the least you can do.
Rather than saying, "I'm going to organize the garage today" instead say, "Today I'm at least going to purge the sporting equipment."
Giving yourself a micro task will feel more doable and rewarding than getting stuck in perfectionism and not taking any action at all.
Before you know it, the least amount of work will turn into a lot of work getting done.
Organizing Tip #5 : Focus On Your Health
Getting organized and staying organized can be mentally, emotionally, and physically challenging. Focusing on being healthy is crucial to your long-term ability to organize. More specifically your quality of nutrition, sleep, and water intake.
Eating a nutritious diet and staying well rested and hydrated will go a long way to giving you the energy you need to tackle your organizing projects now and in future.
Take the first step towards a more organized life and read more about an organized family life, or start your journey to get organized by contacting us today. Schedule your free phone consultation and see how quickly you can go from cluttered to organized.