I am taking a bit of a holiday break, so there won't be any new posts until very early in the New Year. Any returning visitors to this blog, please be patient until the first week of January, when there will be more organisational musings and unmissable ti ps and tricks from me.
Until then, have a wonderful Holiday Season and a very Happy New Year!
Be clear before embarking on any project, however small or large, how long the project is going to take - realistically. A few minutes, half an hour, a few hours, a day, several days or even weeks or months.
If you are clear how long a project is going to take you can plan it, schedule it and make it happen, rather than procrastinate because you have no idea how long it is going to take and you dread even starting it, because "it'll take ages". Don't forget, larger projects that take longer can always be subdivided into smaller chunks and made less taunting. Simply schedule when you are going to do what and off you go. Another thing accomplished!
I can see 2 reactions to the title of this post, one being: "yeah right, my children want to get organised, ha ha" (in a sarcastic tone of thought), the other one being: "hmm, I wonder where this is going" (in a sort of interested tone of thought).
Well, I thought that we quite often underestimate our beloved little ones. You might have heard them make comments like the following before, just never thought they might actually lead to something productive.
I have borrowed the list from a book entitled "Organizing from the Inside Out" by Julie Morgenstern, a US organising guru. If you are truly serious about getting organised and want to try it yourself then I really recommend her book.
Here's the list (with its original US spellings):
"My favorite toys get broken"
"I can't play my favorite games because the pieces are lost"
"I get in trouble at school for always losing my homework"
"There's no room in here to play with my friends"
"Cleaning up is too hard. I don't know where to put anything"
If you have ever heard your little ones utter any of these or similar then they are ready to get organised and with your help they can achieve that. Sort with them, purge with and/or for them, organise things into suitable containers and teach them how to maintain and you will have equipped them with important skills for life.
So why do your little angels want to get organised, what are their incentives? (Another list from Julia.)
"Less fights with Mom"
"Easier to have friends over"
"No more broken or lost toys"
"Bigger allowance" (It's OK to offer your children rewards.)
"It'll be faster to clean up"
"Better grades in school"
Even if you suggest those reasons to your kids rather than the reasons coming from them, these are good reasons that are hard to argue with, whatever their age.
You're out shopping and you come across an ornament. You absolutely love it. You want it. You can't live without it. You need to buy it. STOP and think.
Now I'm not saying, don't buy it. I'm just saying think. And the question I want you to ponder is: Where is going to live? And not just the room, but the exact position. If something is in that place already, what are you going to do with that item. Bin it? Donate it? Give it to someone else? Sell it? Relocate it? To where?
Only once you know exactly where you are going to put your new treasure, whether it will fit, size-wise as well as colour/style or otherwise then treat yourself and buy it. If not, give your wallet/purse a break and don't add more homeless clutter to your home.
Now there's an interesting theory. Have you ever noticed that a job you're trying to do fits pretty neatly into whatever time you have available? If you have 2 hours available to do a job, I bet you that it will take you roughly 2 hours to finish it, maybe just a few minutes more or less. But you probably also remember that the same job only taking an hour the last time you did it (probably because that time you only had one hour spare).
We all know that there are only 60 minutes in every hour. But somehow time stretches and expands or shrinks depending on how we use it. And if we use it wisely we can fit a lot more in those 60 minutes per hour.
Plan ahead. You know from experience how long a job takes. That is how long you plan for it. If you have some spare time available plan another job into it or a bit of downtime as a reward. But don't use up time just because it's there. Use it wisely.
Also, now and again, challenge yourself. Try to finish a job that normally takes an hour in 55 or 50 minutes. Set a timer and see if you can create some time pockets for yourself that you can use otherwise, for another useful activity or just to relax.
You might have noticed a box on the right side of the blog entitled "Motivational Quote of the Day". Today's quote reads "People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily. -Zig Ziglar". What a smart man Mr Ziglar was.
That is exactly the reason why I have included that motivational box on my blog. I also believe that a little bit of daily inspiration and motivation goes a long way. So today I would like to invite you to visit that little box once a day, and get your daily dose of motivation. You might just be surprised where it takes you.
Most people have at least one project they keep putting off. It might be a home improvement project, a book they've always wanted to write, a language they'd like to learn, anything that is perceived as something worth while, but is going to take a while to complete.
There are always tons of excuses why the project hasn't been started. Usually it's time. We've discussed that one in the procrastination segment in October. But there are many other reasons why people might put things off. The thing is, you will never get started if you wait for that time to magically appear or for some of the other obstacles to disappear.
If the project is really dear to your heart, stop putting it off and start on it today. Set just 10 minutes aside. I am convinced you can find 10 minutes in your schedule somewhere. You might simply stay up 10 minutes later, or use up 10 minutes from your lunchbreak. Make a start. Do something for 10 minutes towards your project (clear the first shelf, write the opening paragraph, learn 5 words in your chosen language, etc.). If you find you don't want to stop and go on a bit longer, fine. If not, stop and have another 10 minutes tomorrow and the next day and the next. Over the course of a week you will have worked on your project for a whole hour! And even if you keep going with the 10 minute installments, you will eventually finish. And boy, will you feel good about yourself!
