So what does “Getting Organized For Life” really mean?
For me it has three meanings:
1. Get organized so your life will be easier, less stressful, more balanced, and ultimately more satisfying; so you can find your things more easily and get stuff done; so you can spend less time doing what you have to do, and more time doing what you want to do!
2. Get organized…once and for all.
3. Get, as in hire, Organized For Life to come help you!
As much as I love pointing out the benefits of getting organized, and the value in hiring me to help you, I want to focus on meaning #2: Get organized…once and for all.
Face it, getting organized “once and for all” is like getting the laundry done “once and for all.” Disappointing, perhaps, but true, and the sooner you accept it the better.
You don’t expect your laundry to stay done, or your teeth to stay brushed, or your hair (or lawn) to stay cut…do you? Then why do you expect your nicely organized closet, or pantry, or schedule, to magically stay that way? And feel bad when it doesn’t?
Life happens! Stuff keeps on coming into your home in the form of purchases, mail, gifts, kids’ artwork….the list never ends. Routine purchases need to be put away in their established “homes”. Mail needs to be sorted, junk discarded, bills paid, important papers filed. Gifts often take the form of unexpected new categories of stuff that either need to be purged immediately or found homes for. Kids’ artwork…well, let’s not get started on that right now…
The point is, whatever system you are using to stay organized, you have to…um…USE IT! Use Julie Morgenstern’s S.P.A.C.E. formula (Sort, Purge, Assign a home, Containerize, Equalize) when your containers start to overflow; follow the “one in, one out” rule when you buy something new; follow whatever set of rules govern YOUR system. And, as with any system, you must periodically review it to see if it is still working for you, and tweak it as necessary. Just because you have a pile of clutter on the counter doesn’t mean your system doesn’t work. Be honest… have you been working your system? Are you de-cluttering for 15 minutes a day? Are you following FlyLady’s advice and putting out your “hot spots” daily? Or, are you letting them slide for a week… or a month… at a time?
What? You don’t have a system to follow for staying organized? Well…OK, then…see #3!
Copyright 2009 by Hazel Thornton, Organized For Life.
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Tags: organizing system, stress-free
