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What is
“organizing”? It is not just color
sorting your socks or alphabetizing
your spices. Organizing is about
uncovering what is important to you.
It is intentionally arranging things
to give certain possessions priority
and to make our lives more enjoyable
and function better. Everything
does not have to be picture perfect,
but it should represent who we are
and what we want from life. Often
our full schedules and overflowing
homes crowd out or hide the things
that we value most. We can ignore
this chaos for a while, but
eventually the clutter takes over
and we realize we need to do
something to take back control of
our space and time.
Over this next year, Organizing Tips will go
through the different areas of our
homes and lives and present helpful
ways to get them organized. We will
look at bringing order to physical
spaces as well as tasks that need to
be accomplished. However before we
can begin with these helpful tips
and tricks, there is an important
fact about organizing that is
sometime overlooked.
Successful organizing not only involves physical change
but often behavioral and
motivational change as well.
There are many articles and books about the physical
change component with ideas like
keeping keys in a bowl near the
door, grouping all your reading
material in a basket, or filing your
important tax documents in a
system. There are significantly
fewer about the behavioral and
motivational part of organizing.
These aspects of organizational
change should not be ignored.
We all have developed habits, both good and bad, in the
way we live and use our things.
Sometimes when we organize our homes
or offices we design them to fit our
existing habits, but sometimes we
need to modify our behaviors to make
life more organized. You may have
selected a pretty basket to hold the
magazines you want to read, but
until you begin a new behavior of
putting them into the basket, this
great physical organizing tool will
not work for you. Changing an old
behavior or creating a new habit may
take a little time, but it will go a
long way towards living an organized
life.
When we feel like a task is impossible or that a bad
thing is just going to keep
occurring, it depletes our drive and
zaps our desire to do anything about
it. This is where the motivational
part of organizing comes in.
Revisiting your vision for the space
will help motivate you to stay on
track and follow through on your
organized living. Remember why it
is you want to live with order in
your life. Recall the benefits of
being organized. These will be
different for each person. They may
include more time for your family,
getting your car in the garage, the
ability to find things when you need
them, turning papers in on time,
having space to do a special project
or even just peace of mind. Take
time to create a list of these
benefits and it will help keep your
motivation high as you achieve your
organizing goals for 2012.
You can do it! Watch for upcoming Organizing Tips
and make 2012 a happy and organized
year.
©Beth Giles January 2012 |
