Let’s talk a little about procrastination. Have you ever just put away your to-do list because it looks like too much work. Or stepped over a laundry basket instead of taking the time to put away the clothes? How about letting the pile of mail get bigger and bigger instead of sitting down and going through it? We all do it. Sometimes we just don’t want to deal with a project, big or small. We’d rather just wait until tomorrow.

But the longer you wait, the bigger the pile gets or the  less time you have to work on a project. Here are some ideas for working through that desire to procrastinate.

1. Gather the tools you need the night before. Lay out your gym clothes, gather the paint and painting supplies (maybe even start taping), gather the paperwork and files, etc. Getting started the night before helps you get a jump start on the project.
2. Tackle a project when you feel at your best. That may be first thing in the morning or right after lunch. Whatever time of day it is, focus on your most important task.
3. Break down a project into manageable steps. Sort the mail (pulling out the important stuff), shred all of the junk mail. Then tomorrow sit down and deal with everything that needs attention.
4. Spend 15 minutes a day on something (cleaning out photos, paperwork, emails).
5. Do the worst part first. It’ll only get easier!

Just take that first step. Sometimes you just need to find some motivation to get started and you’ll be able to keep going. Think about tomorrow and if you want to wake up to that dirty kitchen or that pile of mail. If you take care of it now, your future self will thank you!

If you want some help getting started, schedule a call or send me a message!

Clutter really is just delayed decisions. Those clothes in the back of your closet waiting for you to decide whether to keep or donate. That pile of mail that needs to be dealt with. The emails you need to return but are avoiding. Those are all decisions that need to be made.

You can decide to keep the clothes or drop them off at Goodwill. You can sit down and sort through the mail. And you can either delete or respond to the emails (or respond and then delete). Either way, you need to make a decision.

What decisions do you need to make to clear out some clutter? Get to it!

If you want some guidance in making these decisions, schedule a call with me or send me a message!

Maybe the thought of getting organized is just too daunting. Maybe you just don’t know where to start.

So don’t get organized. Start getting rid of stuff. Pick a pile or a corner of a room or a shelf. And clean stuff out. Do you need that piece of paper, knick knack, memento, book, toy, or whatever it is? If not, off to the donation pile, trash or shredder it goes.

There’s no need to spend hours perfectly organizing your house so it looks like it belongs in some home magazine. But by starting to clear the clutter, item by item, you can make a dent in organizing your stuff.

If you want some guidance in decluttering, schedule a call with me or send me a message!

As I write this, I have an infant at home. My days are busy taking care of her. This means that some days I spend more time staring at my clutter than dealing with it. It also makes me thankful that we purged our house of anything we didn’t need or love before she came along. Some days we’re lucky if we get the dishwasher emptied or the laundry put in the dryer. I consider other days successful if I get the laundry dried and we just pull the towels out of the dryer as we need them.

But then I think to myself, I’m a professional organizer, I should be able to maintain an organized home, even with an infant. I also live in the real world and know that people are busy, we’re tired,  and some days we’d rather watch the latest DVR’d show than put away the laundry.

So what would I recommend to someone in my position?

Identify what’s important. Each day I figure out what important or key tasks I need to accomplish. Our kitchen is tiny so if we haven’t emptied the dishwasher, it’s probably a priority or making dinner will be difficult. If I can’t find a clean onesie for my infant, I’d better put away her clothes so I can get her dressed.

I also try to stay on top of the piles. Deal with the mail as soon as it comes in the house, put dishes in the dishwasher on a regular basis, put away the laundry with each load. This keeps the piles to a minimum and allows me to spend more time playing with my little one.

So what’s important for you to accomplish today? If you want some guidance in identifying your daily priorities, schedule a call with me or send me a message!

January is Get Organized or GO month for the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO). Maybe you’ve been thinking about all the piles you have in your house that you’ve been meaning to deal with if you just had the time. Or just thinking of what you’re going to do with all the gifts and decorations you accumulated over the holidays.

Now is the time to start figuring out what is important to you and what you want to organize. What is the most critical project or the most irksome? What would make your day-to-day life a little easier if you would just take care of it?

This doesn’t mean you need to tackle it all in one weekend. 10 minutes a day, 1 hour a week or a Saturday afternoon is sufficient enough to make progress. The key is just getting started, taking that first step. Often, we’re so overwhelmed by all the stuff to deal with that we don’t know where to start or it feels like too much work.

So pick a corner, a shelf, or a pile, set a timer for 10 minutes and just GO!

If you want some guidance in identifying your daily priorities, schedule a call with me or send me a message!