Organize + Energize: 7 Things to Remember Before You Get Organized
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Getting organized is a process. It’s about creating working organized systems to not only get you organized, but keep you organized. You can’t decide you are going to get organized and start tearing apart a room. There is a process to it. You have to break the process down so you don’t get overwhelmed. The minute you get overwhelmed, you will stress out and nothing will get done or your project will take you twice as long to complete.
Here are 7 things to remember before you begin your project.
1. Focus and limit your distractions. Staying focused and limiting your distractions plays a big role in tackling your organizing project. Here are some tips on how to stay on track with your project.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST2. Break down your projects into small tasks. Your project is to tackle your entire office. You can’t go full steam ahead and start randomly tearing apart the entire office. Break your office into sections and tackle one category at a time. Tackle your desk, then the paper piles, and then the bookshelves. This will help you to stay focused on one category at a time. You won’t get overwhelmed if you focus on one area.
3. You have to empty the entire space you are working in. You won’t know what is hiding in the back of the closet if you don’t empty everything out of the space. You can’t get a clear vision of a space until it is empty. You want to be able to maximize your space and you can’t do that if you just shift items around.
4. Categorize and itemize. I’ve been in homes and offices where the same items are stored all over the place. How does one find anything? Do you realize the money you are wasting because you are probably buying duplicate items? Imagine the time you are wasting searching all over for these items.
5. Every item should have a home. This is how you create your systems. Every item in your home has a place to be stored. It’s not just stuffed into a closet or a desk drawer.
6. Maintain your systems by creating routines. You have your systems set up, now what? You have to maintain those systems or you will end up in the same mess you were just in. From those systems, create a daily routine. Just like brushing your teeth and putting your socks on, create a routine to maintain your organization. It’s a simple as taking something out and putting it back where it belongs.
7. Habits will form from your routines and it will become an everyday way of life. Some say it takes 21 days or longer to develop a habit. That’s less than one month. At this time next year, you could have a maintained office and home and because of that, you will have more free time, less stress, and you will save money!
You may be saying, this is all great, but I just don’t have the eye for organizing. You are not alone. Many people never developed their organizational skill set. They may have grown up in a disorganized home where both parents were disorganized and they were never taught the skill set. If you are stuck, enlist a professional to help you with your disorganization.
Kristin Carcieri-MacRae, the founder and owner of Organizing in RI, has always enjoyed finding creative ways to streamline the environment around her. She has appeared on air on Patricia Raskin's Positive Business Radio and her articles have been published in the Rhode Island Small Business Journal and New England Home Life. Kristin's CD, Organizing Basics, is a 1-hour guide for the person who wants to get organized but doesn't know where to start. She is also available for organizing workshops. Tune into her weekly radio show, Organize, Energize! on Mondays at 8:30am on www.talkstreamradio.com.
Related Slideshow: 5 Organizing Blunders
Avoid these mistakes and your project will take less time than you expected. You won’t be as stressed or as overwhelmed as you anticipated. You will be amazed at what you have accomplished. You will be motivated and energized to tackle another project.
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