Happy Monday! I’m continuing my goal setting series. I think I will call this series Motivational Mondays!
Last week I told you I divided my goals into 3 areas-home, fitness and business. Let’s start with home. In order for me to accomplish all of my other goals more smoothly, I have got to start with my home and my home office. Last week I talked about how your goals should be measurable. I think the goal of keeping a nice home is the most hard to be measurable. I guess you can say “by this date I will have my closet cleaned out” but then it gets messy again. Keeping a home is an ongoing thing, so I guess this area is the least measurable but you can still break it down and constantly maintain. I have lots of ideas to help you!
I am being open with you all-this is my biggest struggle-organization! Some of you may think I am organized, and in a lot of ways I am. I think I am both right and left brain. I majored in accounting, so many things in my life have to be perfectly balanced. But then I have this artsy side, and it is a mess! Some rooms in our home are fine and some are a disaster! Like my closet! And it eats at me! So I am working on it. I have recently cleaned out my office, feels so good. So today I am going to talk about my goal to organize my home.
Do you have any of these problems- Spending too much time looking for something? Buying things that you already have but can’t find them or forgot you had them? Waking up in the middle of the night just wondering how you will get it all done? I have been striving for order and peace, and am slowly getting there. I believe when we have the clutter cleared away both physically and mentally, we have more room to be creative and feel more free.
Resources to help you get organized
Flylady.net is a great website founded by Marla Cilley. I actually have followed the site for years, but not down to the tee. But I do several things Marla suggests. One thing that really helps is setting a timer for 15 minutes. Sometimes I will look at a mess and get so overwhelmed, I don’t even want to start. She says, just tell yourself you will work on it for 15 minutes. It is amazing what you can get done in 15 minutes! Sometimes the task you have been procrastinating doesn’t even take 15 minutes but you have thought about it for days instead of just doing it! Also, once the timer goes off, you may be really getting into it, so it is ok to keep setting it for another 15 minutes! And you can take breaks! I still do this today-even did it to start writing this blog entry. Set my timer to make myself get started! And now I can’t seem to stop.
Another Flylady technique is having an evening and morning routine. Flylady is big on having a clean kitchen sink. So every night I get the dishes loaded and the sinks clean. I love waking up to a clean kitchen, makes me so happy! I always set the coffeemaker the night before so my coffee is ready when I wake up, love it! She also suggests (and I don’t always do but should) that you lay out your clothes the night before so you have that all decided. My morning routine is to start with a quiet time for me, help my son get out the door for school, unload the dishwasher and work out. If I don’t work out in the morning, it usually doesn’t happen.
Another resource I have mentioned before is the book “The Power of Less“, by Leo Baubata. One idea he had is to focus on a new habit for 30 days. He stressed to only choose one habit at a time to keep you focused. To help me with my home organization my new habit for March is going to be declutter for 15 minutes a day for 30 days. It can be a drawer, my car, closet, whatever.
Ok, I keep thinking about my closet, because it is not done yet. One technique I have used for every room is to get 3 boxes or bags when attacking a room. Assign each box or bag as Throw Away, Give Away and Put Away (in another room). When I get started I set the timer and go. The Put Away box is for things to go in another room but I am not allowed to go in the other room until the timer goes off, because then I will get distracted in there (oh, can you tell I am ADD?). As for the other two boxes-I am getting so much better at throwing and giving away. Too much stuff is just overwhelming. Less really is more. I like making other people happy with things I don’t need.
Another resource to get organized is to enlist help from friends, family or a professional. Some people actually think it is fun to help others organize! My sister was great one year when she came to visit-she went through my closet and made me get rid of lots of stuff, including all my Christmas sweaters! (This was at least 5 years ago, I know they have been out of style for a while! It was hard to part with those Michael Simon sweaters for some strange reason). Sisters, at least my sister, are great at being brutally honest. I also know of 2 professional organizers, if you are in Tulsa, that have helped me tremendously with both my home and business. They are Michelle Lehman, owner of www.organizingsolutions.info and Katie Campbell at campbellcckc@att.net.
I just read all of this to my husband (the neat engineer, totally opposite of me-opposites attract!) and he said “Organization is simply a methodology, a process, a way of life”! Well, yea, for some people- I am still trying to get there!
I hope that by sharing my struggles and successes, I will help others.
Next Monday I will talk about health and fitness goals.
Any organization ideas that work for you all? Any new habits you want to do for March?