"Change your thoughts and you change your world." -- Norman Vincent Peale

Alive & Well Archives

March 2001

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TODAY'S QUOTE:  It is funny about life: if you refuse to accept anything but the very best, you will very often get it.

                                                    -W. Somerset Maugham

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TODAY'S TOPIC: Getting Organized 

Recently, I’ve had many people ask me for tips on how to get organized.  Perhaps that’s because we are nearing spring cleaning time. Because many of us feel overwhelmed by clutter and information overload, I decided to devote March’s newsletter to getting organized.

Clutter costs you time. You waste time looking for things lost in the mess.  It also costs you energy. If your desk is a mess, you waste energy when you walk into your office and feel annoyed with yourself for not cleaning it up.  This negative self-talk takes up energy you could use for more important things. So let's get organized!

When organizing, the first thing I suggest is to start small. Many of my clients feel overwhelmed because they have clutter everywhere, and they don’t know where to begin. Do you feel this way? If so, start with one drawer, cupboard, closet, etc. and then move to the next. By doing this, you’ll create momentum and won’t feel so overwhelmed.

I also tell my clients to set aside time to get organized, so they can focus exclusively on organization. If you attempt to organize while trying to complete other tasks, you will struggle with getting organized. Schedule time on your calendar, even if it's just 15 minutes at a time.  Alternatively, give yourself a deadline. For example, I have a friend who had clutter throughout her house. Her goal was to get it cleaned up so she could have a party. At the party, she wanted to have all closets and drawers open and no rooms off limit. In other words, she wanted people to freely roam her house without feeling ashamed or embarrassed by the mess.  She set a date for her party, which gave her an automatic deadline. She then scheduled time on her calendar every week for organizing.

Once you set aside time and/or set deadlines, I also recommend you ask yourself a few questions. Often we struggle with getting rid of things or throwing them away. When you struggle with an item, ask yourself the following:

* What’s the worst that can happen if I don’t have this? If the consequences are manageable, get rid of it.

* Who could use this? Friends? Charities?

* Is this item still serving me?

* Can I make extra money by giving this away (i.e. sell it at a garage sale, consignment shop, etc.)?

In addition to telling my clients to “just do it” and clean up, I also ask them to look at why they have so much clutter. For example, I coached a woman who had papers and clutter all over her desk. She was unhappy about it, but she continued to collect papers. We analyzed what types of papers piled up, and we looked at why this happened. She realized she was afraid to make commitments. She would get flyers for events, seminars or fun classes she wanted to attend. But she was afraid to sign up for the events/classes, because she didn’t want to be committed. Yet because she wanted to attend, she didn’t throw the papers away, and they accumulated on her desk.

I challenged her to make a decision right away with any flyers she received.  She was to make a commitment to either sign up immediately or to not sign up and throw the flyer out. I challenged her to do this for three weeks (it generally takes three weeks to make a habit).  She took the challenge and was thrilled with the results. She signed up for a class that she thoroughly enjoyed and had wanted to take.  For this challenge to be successful, though, we had to look at why she allowed clutter to build up.  Otherwise, she would have cleaned and then found herself in the same situation later.

How about you? If you have clutter, why do you have it? Are you afraid of committing? Are you afraid of making a bad decision? Are you afraid you’ll miss something important? Do you think you’ll lose the memory if you no longer have the item associated with it?

By the way, if your house and/or office are especially cluttered, I recommend hiring a professional organizer. A professional organizer is an objective person who can assist you in getting rid of things you no longer need. Many of us are attached to the memories associated with our clutter.  A professional organizer is not attached, so she can keep you moving in the right direction. To find a professional organizer, go to www.napo.net or call 512-206-0151.

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Coaching Challenge

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Give yourself the gift of more energy. Tackle an area this week and get it organized. Clean a drawer, a closet, your desk, your car or some other area that’s disorganized. When you’ve finished, congratulate yourself and celebrate!