Why do you want to be organized?
Let’s analyze your motivation for being organized right up front. If you can know why you want to be organized, that can take you through the hard parts of the process of becoming organized.
For example, if someone told you that you were disorganized so now you feel an obligation to become organized, that may not help you too much when you are surrounded by clutter. Our rebelliousness runs too deep. Or at least I know mine does.
Or what about the idea that you feel you must be organized just like . . . ? Fill in the blank. Who are you trying to emulate? For some reason it is very difficult to stay motivated when you are trying to be someone else. Especially if that someone else works differently than you do. It’s not a bad idea to have good role models, but your methods of organization may have to be adjusted to work.
I have found that for me the best motivation for being organized is because I want to pursue something and being disorganized is getting in the way.
For example –
- I want to eat healthy food.
- I want to exercise more.
- I want to start my own business.
- I want to wear clothes that look good and fit me.
- I want to handle money better – mainly pay bills on time.
So what is getting in my way of doing those things at first glance?
- I’m not eating healthy food because the kitchen is always a mess and I can’t find anything to make.
- I’m not exercising more because my schedule is a mess and I can’t find the time.
- I don’t start my own business because my home office is a mess (or nonexistent) and I don’t know where to start.
- I don’t know what to wear because I have no idea what is in my walk-in closet because I can’t walk into it.
- I’m not paying my bills on time because my tables are stacked with paper which presumably has my bills.
And because of all the above my current life looks like this:
- I eat out fast food every night.
- I don’t exercise.
- I continue to dream about having my own business one day.
- I wear the same three outfits over and over again.
- The bills don’t get paid on time which cost money in overdue fees.
Let’s take that last one about paying the bills on time and turn it into a motivation.
Here’s how the thought process might go:
“I know that I’m really not that good with money but I’m so sick and tired of paying all those overdue fees! If I got a handle on just this part of my money, I would actually save money. No more late fees! So what would really motivate me is to remind myself that I’m saving money by paying my bills on time.”
“I want to save money by paying my bills on time” sometimes is a better motivator than “I want to get organized so my desk will be clear and pretty.”
You can have a beautiful clear desk and the bills still unpaid because they are hidden away in a drawer, file cabinet, or box. Unless you know where they are and have access to them, you will feel disorganized.
Take a look at the areas in your life that are so disorganized it is getting in the way of something you want to pursue.
Pick one. Start there. And ask yourself these questions. And try to be honest with yourself (without mentally whacking yourself over the head).
- What is it you want to pursue? What would you like to do that being disorganized is getting in the way?
- What is your current situation? What behaviors do you have that are contributing to that situation? (this is not the time to shift the blame to others – think about what you are doing)
- What are you doing instead of the thing you want to pursue?
- What is it you need to organize in order to pursue what matters to you?
- What is your motivation for getting and staying organized?
Write it down and put it somewhere that will remind you.
Concentrate on that one area and set up an organization system just for that one area.
Then you can move on to the next.
It might help you to have a definition for being organized to get you started: How to Define “Being Organized”