Do you want to live an organized life?
What excuses are keeping you from achieving your goal? So often, the top reasons I hear from readers are:
- “I don’t know where to start.”
- “Getting organized feels overwhelming because I’m so far off track.”
- “I’m just not an organized person. It’s not in my nature.”
- “Getting organized takes too much time.”
Luckily, all these perceived roadblocks are easy to overcome. Just like anything in life, it’s really a matter of believing in yourself, and then taking action to improve your situation! Sounds cliché, I know, but let’s break each down individually.
#1: “I don’t know where to start.”
I think this is a universal statement that can be applied to anything in life. When you were an infant, did you know how to walk? No, but you started by trying one step. Did you fall down? Absolutely! Did you cry? Most likely. Did that stop you from trying again and eventually learning how to do it? Not at all! Can you now successfully walk without thinking about it? Most of you will be able to answer yes! Learning to live an organized life is the same thing. And luckily, because there are so many areas that you can get organized in (your home – one room or drawer at a time; your time commitments; your hobbies, etc), you can start almost anywhere! Pick the area that seems least daunting to you – either because you’ve already gotten started, have an idea of how to do it, or have some confidence that you can succeed in that area. And then just “baby step” your way into it. You will mess up, things may not always go as planned, but as long as you keep trying you will eventually succeed.
#2: “Getting organized feels overwhelming because I’m so far off track.”
All the more reason to start! If you feel overwhelmed at the level of disorganization you currently have in your life, just think about horrible it will feel as it continues to get worse! (And it will, thanks to our friend entropy). Now, even though it may feel overwhelming, this is one of those times where you just have to grit your teeth and take action. No positive change will happen in your life unless you take action to make it better! You can pick any subject in the world (ex: scuba diving) and read about it, watch videos on it, talk to experts, get tested on what you know, subscribe to magazines about it, etc. But does any of that take the place of strapping on a tank and getting in the water? Not at all. It can feel daunting, scary and overwhelming. And I do think it is good to go into something new with a knowledge base on how to do it. But eventually you have to stop trying to learn everything about a subject and just do it!
#3: “I’m just not an organized person. It’s not in my nature.”
Have you even seen or heard of the show “The Biggest Loser”? What do those contestants say all the time? “I’m naturally a big person”, “I’m just not skinny”, or “I’ve always been this way”. What do they learn during the course of the show? That the belief system they have is limiting their potential, and once they start to believe they can achieve their goals, then their lifestyle will start to change in a positive direction to help facilitate their goal of losing weight! It is the same with being organized. As long as you believe you can’t be organized, you never will be. It doesn’t matter how many tips or tricks I give you, if you don’t believe in your ability to make a change for the positive in your life then it won’t matter and nothing will get better. But if you start to believe in your ability to live a more organized life, then you will start to take the positive actions needed to make that a reality. You are your own self-fulfilling prophecy.
#4: “Getting organized takes too much time.”
I will agree, getting organized does take time, but it is so worth it! And you will find that once you start getting organized, it is much easier to stay organized, so the time you have to commit down the road to maintaining that organization is much less. Plus the momentum and positive boost you get from starting out strong will keep you going! Also, once you achieve your organized life, you will have so much extra time because you won’t be wasting it searching for an item or wasting it on a nonproductive task!
Have you ever felt sluggish at the end of the day and the last thing you want to do is exercise? It happens to me all the time. But if you can convince yourself to put your shoes on and get out the door, you will find that after the first 5 minutes of movement you feel more energized. I wear a GPS watch when I walk or run, and when I’m low on energy I always find the first mile is at a slower pace, but as I get the blood flowing and my heart pumping, my pace actually increases the longer I’m out there. Even though you are expending energy to exercise, you will find that it energizes you once you start. As such, you will spend time to get organized, but it will save (and gain!) you so much extra time down the road.
I hope this helps you to realize that there really are no roadblocks to living an organized life. You really can achieve what you want in life if you just believe in yourself and then take action on the steps that will bring you to where you want to be. Belief alone is not enough, and neither is action with a poor attitude. If you can combine the two, you will be unstoppable!
All the best!
Lesley
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