Sunday, July 1, 2007

Finding Time to Organize

Has it been more than a year since you’ve last gone through all of your things and organized them? Many of us struggle to find the time to organize because we are so busy with work, family and extracurricular activities. Unfortunately, the longer we put off organizing, the more chaotic our homes and lives become. This adds to our stress, which keeps us from being as productive and efficient with the work, family and extracurricular activities that aided us in being disorganized in the first place. What a vicious cycle!

Take control and get on the road to organization by scheduling one mini project at a time. Pace yourself! Your home took years to get to its present state so allow yourself time to reach your end goal. Start with the room or area that bugs you the most. Once that room is completed, tackle the next annoying area and so forth. Make an overall deadline to complete your entire home or office. Here is an example:

My Roadmap to Organization – Deadline: September 1

  • July 12: Organize bedroom closet


  • July 28: Organize home office


  • August 1: Organize garage


  • August 11: Organize kitchen pantry


  • August 25: Purge filing cabinet

For those of you that have less flexibility, schedule a timeframe as well (e.g. 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM).

Once you start a mini project, make sure you stay focused and don’t allow yourself to be distracted by anything. Turn off your home phone, cell phone, TV and possibly the radio (dancing and organizing don’t mix J). If you have children, try to make arrangements for them to be gone! If you lack motivation, call on family members, friends and also professionals to help you stay on track.

Don’t put off being organized another day. Start now and find a time to organize.