Many people who come to this blog may be close to the breaking point, overwhelmed with their feelings of being disorganized. That’s when I step in and give just a little advice – look for your pockets of organization.
Sometimes we just need a little confidence that we can be organized and looking for the places where we are already organized helps build that confidence.
In How to Define “Being Organized” I talked about what being organized looks like.
Being organized means giving yourself access to what you need when you need it.
Pockets of Organization
One of the first steps to gaining confidence is to find your own pockets of organization.
For example, when I get up in the morning I like to have a small pot of Dark Sumatra French Pressed coffee. For me, being organized means that my French Press is clean and ready to go, the coffee and scoop are in the cupboard, the kettle is on the stove ready for water, and my tray, coffee cup, and half and half are all within easy reach.
Making coffee for me is a longer process than say, for my husband. All he does is stumble out and press the button on the coffee maker and it brews because he set it up the night before.
Others set their coffee maker to go off at a certain time in the morning so they have fresh brewed coffee after their morning exercise.
If you have access to the kind of coffee (or tea!) you like when you want it, then you are organized.
Walk through your day and take note of those areas where you felt organized:
- what did you need access to?
- when did you need access to it?
- how had you given yourself access to it?
Being able to answer these questions, helps you be more aware of what you are already doing to be organized.
Those are your pockets of organization. Celebrate them!
Pockets of Disorganization
Once you have done that, be brave and take a look at your pockets of disorganization.
For example, you get up in the morning and want to take a shower and wash your hair but the bottle in the shower is empty. You remember that you bought a new brand you wanted to try but it is sitting in the hall linen closet. Or no, wait, it’s in the shopping bag on the floor in the living room. Or maybe it’s . . .
That is a situation when what you need (shampoo) is not available to you when you need it (while you’re in the shower soaking wet).
Walk through your day again and note the moments when you feel disorganized:
- what do you need to have access to?
- when do you need to have access to it?
- how are you going to give yourself access to it?
Then see what you can do to take that one small pocket of disorganization and turn it into a pocket of organization.
For example, in the shower scenario, you could answer the questions as follows:
- what do you need to have access to? Shampoo
- when do you need to have access to it? When you are taking a shower.
- how are you going to give yourself access to it? First, you will find the shampoo you just bought and put it in the shower. Then, going forward, you will have to give yourself a reminder (sticky note, phone notification, whatever will help you) to put away whatever shopping you bring into the house.
That last step is hard! Be kind to yourself. As you bring things into your space, think about how you are going to give yourself access to those things when you need them.
And then do it.
Start there. Start small. And you will feel more organized.