Organizing requires patience, persistence and diligence
Some may wonder, “why bother organizing? It’s just going to get messed up anyways.” Or, “as soon I get things in place, they fall out of place and get disorderly.” Or, “there’s too much paper, mail and other things that my mind can’t deal with. I see it and want to go do something ‘fun'”.
Organizing requires patience, persistence and diligence as well as the willingness to face the clutter and move through it, one thing at a time. Yet if you hate to organize, how will this ever work for you? Well, kids, there are plenty of things in life we need to do that we don’t want to do–like, exercising, eating well, paying taxes, earning income, etc. Organizing, for some, is a pleasurable and satisfying experience when they engage in it as they know how to do it. For those who are organizationally challenged, this task feels overwhelming and challenging. Their minds swim in a sea of things and they don’t know where or how to begin. Any any past attempts were met with unsatisfying outcomes and things just revert to how they were so why bother.
Like any project that appears epic in our minds, when we break it down into smaller bite-sized pieces, the task becomes far easier. When my home gets some build up of piles and things, I take them on one at a time and deal with each one separately. I make decisions about various things about where they go–garbage, recycling, into a closet or cupboard where they live or into storage. Once things have designated homes, it’s far easier to put them away because they live there and there is a physical place for them to live. Too often people have not created the zones where things live and they don’t know where there many things should go.
Simple steps are:
1. Sort Items and clear the area. Eliminate the outmoded and unnecessary. Don’t just stick something somewhere–a drawer, closet, plastic bag, garage–so you don’t have to deal with it (out of sight is not the solution). Make decisions about what you don’t need to keep and keep only the essentials. Take everything out of a closet, drawer/dresser, off the table or counter so the space is cleared. Sort the items and put back ONLY what is essential.
2. Contain what you have. Find the right containers for your things and group like things together and label them. Make sure you know what’s in the container and you can see the contents easily.
3. Find specific places for your things in locations where they are used or where they can be easily accessed if used regularly. Too often people have things in places that make no sense, like a kitchen cupboard with electrical adapters and cords.
4. Keep up on the system. When things are used, return them to their home. When paper comes in, put it in its place–file it, scan it, recycle it, or shred it. It doesn’t go onto the counter with the previous 2 weeks of mail.
Organizing isn’t a challenging process. It just requires patience, persistence and diligence. If you should need help organizing and getting effective systems in place, call Steve at 510.501.1213 and let’s get started getting you organized.