Raise your hand if you’ve been living for years in a neat and tidy home that suddenly became cluttered in the last 24 hours. Anyone? No, of course not!
“Slow progress is still progress” ~ this is the decluttering and organizing truth I urge my clients to keep in mind.
Clutter builds gradually, but once we hit our threshold of tolerance and want to live differently, we want the change to happen NOW, immediately. When it doesn’t we:
- Get Impatient
- Become Discouraged
- Feel Hopeless
You spent an hour sorting a pile of paper, but there are dozens more piles to tackle. You purged 4 bags-worth of items from your closet, but your clothes collection has expanded to other closets in the house, and you haven’t even touched them yet. UGH! What’s the use of trying?
STOP!
Take a deep breath. Get a glass of water, gather paper/pen, and sit in a comfy chair. Write your answers to these questions:
- How long can you typically work before your stamina (mental or physical) wears out?
- How can you break your organizing projects into small “bites” that can be completed in the time frame of your answer to question 1?
- How will you reward yourself for making progress?
- How, specifically, will an organized home improve your daily life?
Use the Answers
Questions 1-3 guide you to set a practical, manageable approach to getting organized.
Big, grandiose plans in any area of life are often so overwhelming our energy and motivation flame out quickly. Research has shown when we acknowledge small wins along the path to a goal, we:
- Boost our self-esteem.
- Increase our ability to get things done.
- Gain momentum to keep moving forward.
The answers to the last question become big-picture reminders of what you will gain in the end. Use these as motivation to do at least one task toward your goal every day ~ even when you don’t feel like it.
Focus on the Positives
Some days you’ll have more energy than others to put into getting organized. But EVERY day give yourself a pat on the back for the progress you made. Let yourself feel satisfied.
Giving yourself this positive reinforcement will help you accomplish more in the long run than if you beat yourself up for not doing more now.
See how one of my clients learned to look on the bright side in this article.
“Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow.” ~ Doug Firebaugh, Speaker/Author