Painless (well, almost) Organizing
One of the yuckiest parts about trying to get your home under control is the actual act of having to sit through and organize everything. This means taking time out from everything that you have going on to focus only on getting something accomplished. It’s very likely you will look around at piles of chaos and think “I’ll never get this finished, so why even start?” Please take heart. Here are the steps I use to break down a monstrous organization task.
- Bite off a small piece. This means that instead of attacking your entire residence, or even one whole room, you take a small, manageable part of your life to organize. It might be your filing cabinet is a little messy, or maybe underneath your kitchen sink. Try to keep it simple, and the satisfaction of completing a small task will motivate you to continue on to the next one.
- Maintain your projects. Not only do you need to organize your small section, but you need to keep it that way. If you decided to attack your filing cabinet, and you kept it simple by organizing only what was in it, next time you happen to see a document that should be in there, go ahead and stick it in.
- Keep going back to it. If pruning the DVD rack or bookshelf for things you no longer want or need was the project, then keep returning to it. You may have a change of heart when you realize the last time you watched There’s Something About Mary was the day you brought it home. Things you weren’t willing to part with the first go around you may be stuffing in a “To sell” box two weeks later.
- Set goals. Pick a room or maybe a theme that you want to get organized. It may be your media (CDs, DVDs, books, etc) or maybe a room, like your kitchen. Break down several small projects, and outline them - in order of preference or urgency - on a to-do list. [I prefer RememberTheMilk.com for my to-do lists, but several email applications also provide them - and there's always a regular sheet of paper!]
- Pat yourself on the back. Job well done! Don’t forget to enjoy all the great progress you’ve made.
