Most people have good intentions when they say that they are going to declutter and organize their home. Unfortunately, a lot of people just don't follow through.
The key to their success lies in scheduling their intentions to declutter or organize. Just saying that "you are going to do it this week..." doesn't work. You have to actually schedule it - on your calendar (paper or phone). Writing things down has a real affect on making things a reality. By running your home like a business - scheduling regular cleaning days or laundry days or paying your bills on certain days - makes your home run more smoothly. You know exactly when things are going to happen and things won't fall through the cracks.
Flexibility should be added into the mix - because we don't want anyone to be stressed out - but by knowing when things are going to get done - there is a better chance that it will actually happen.
The other part of the equation is consistency. Decluttering or organizing is not a one-and-done deal. It is something that should happen on a regular basis. That doesn't mean that you have to declutter/purge or organize something every single day - but you should have some type of a system in place where you might do a big declutter of (for example) your closets once or twice a year.
If you are working on a big project - you might want to work on it 30 or 60 minutes a day - a couple of times a week. Even with only 15 minutes a day you will accomplish something. If you only work on a decluttering project (like purging/organizing a drawer) for 15 minutes - but do it at least 4x a week - that's 1 hour of decluttering/organizing! It all adds up!
Start small by establishing some consistent habits - such as taking anything out of the living room that doesn't belong there when you are getting ready to go to bed. Take your snack dishes or cups to the kitchen and put them into the dishwasher. Put the magazines back into the magazine rack. Your room will automatically look better.
By putting things back where they go (after you have established their homes) - the amount of time that you will have to spend cleaning is greatly reduced.
Organization doesn't have to be stressful if you have a system in place. Just take it one step at a time.
Less Clutter = Less Stress SM in your home, your business and your life
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