So you want to be organized?
Well, if you have struggled with disorganization all of your life, or even just lately, know that becoming organized is not for the faint of heart. It takes motivation and will power and …
Actually it doesn’t.
It takes systems and skills (and maybe a little motivation).
You will be developing new skills as you put together your organizing systems based on your motivation.
[See this blog to define your own motivation: Why Be Organized?]
Know that if you are disorganized, your things are stopping you from doing what you want to do.
How?
You may have too much visual clutter so you can’t think. You can’t find what you need. Maybe, you don’t even know what you need.
Before you try to come up with an organizing system or pull apart your kitchen, office, or closet, let’s make a plan by thinking through giving yourself access to the things you need when you need it.
Answer these questions to the best of your ability:
- What is it you want to pursue?
- How is being disorganized stopping you from pursuing it?
- What things do you need in order to pursue it?
- Where do those things need to be so you can access them?
- When do you need to access those things?
Here is an example:
- What is it you want to pursue? I want to learn how to sew my own clothes.
- How is being disorganized stopping your from pursuing it? My sewing machine is in the closet; I don’t know where all my sewing stuff is – the garage maybe, I don’t know when to sew; I don’t have a place to sew; I don’t know what to sew.
- What things do you need in order to pursue it? Sewing machine, patterns, fabric, scissors, thread, table, pins, seam ripper, thimble, needles, etc
- Where do those things need to be so you can access them? Not sure. Need a place to sew, perhaps the bedroom. Better to be portable, so I can put it away.
- When do you need to access those things? When I’m sewing; I’d work in long stretches on weekends, no time during the week (notice that I went from not knowing when to deciding when just by answering the questions in order)
Now that I have a better idea of what I want to pursue as well as some ideas of how I can give myself access to the things I need to pursue it, I am ready to start organizing.