The weather is nice! Who wants to stay inside and organize?
I am guessing that few of you, if any, said “Oh Me! Forget walking the dogs, going on picnics, or planting things in the garden! I DO want to stay inside and organize – in fact, I want to do it in my cold, dark basement!”
Nice weather rarely motivates us to organize inside, but we do want to keep up with things. Nobody wants piles of papers to take over the dining room table, or the sock drawer to get too full to close. Can you stay organized without giving over a whole day, or even an afternoon, to such tasks? Can you motivate yourself to get boring things like this done? I think we can! Here are a few tips to make it not only manageable but maybe a little fun too!
One of my favorite tricks is to put together a playlist that includes five favorite songs. It will likely be less than 20 minutes long – but plenty of time to do a quick review of your sock drawer and make sure it only has your favorites and must-have foot apparel.
Similarly, is there a podcast that you enjoy listening to that you could play while organizing? The goal is to know that you can make some progress without devoting an entire day to the task. Instead of organizing the garage on Saturday, just organize the lawn and garden items. If your podcast lasts 45 minutes you will be able to make progress, but it won’t be the primary activity of the day.
Sometimes, when I have to do the things that I really don’t want to, I am more motivated if I plan an activity to do afterwards. For instance, I might tell myself that once I finish paying bills or cleaning, I can watch that Netflix show that has been on my list of things to see. (This doesn’t mean that I never watch anything unless I have earned it – instead, I find that telling myself I will do something fun after something boring helps motivate me to get the boring task done!)
Body doubling can also be helpful for some people. For example, if I try to edit my clothes, I get stuck on worrying about how much I spent on something, or thinking that some day it might look better on me if I could just shed a few pounds or wear heels. Thus – I tend to keep things. If my sister is there – she points out that something just doesn’t look good or isn’t me. It is easier for make decisions and in a way, gives me permission to let go of something guilt-free. Sometimes just having someone there, even if they don’t participate, can help keep you on track too.
You do not need to put your life on hold to get organized. It can be done in small increments that get worked into your schedule just like doing the laundry. If that is a struggle, you might want to start with a hiring a Professional Organizer. Once the systems are in place, maintenance becomes easy and routine – with just the occasional need to reset while tapping your toes to your five songs!
Find Twin Cities professional organizers at https://napominnesota.com/
