Where Does Good Organization Start?

Does it start in childhood?

In the kitchen?

Does it start with fancy shelves, containers, or gadgets?

Or maybe reuse of everyday objects or life hacks that you read about in a fun online blog?

Perhaps, you think it starts with Wow? 😉

While all of the above are great answers and can contribute to organization, the truth is organization starts with you. It starts in your head. It starts…with a plan!

Write down all your good ideas and plans.

Organized Thoughts

It is important to realize, the link between space organization and productivity has been so well studied and documented that we do not need to cover it again here. In fact, for the moment, just go with your own experience and remember how much nicer it is to work in an uncluttered organized space.

After all, it’s hard to organize your space if you don’t have your mind organized. As a matter of fact, it’s hard to organize your thoughts if you don’t have an organized space!

In fact, the two unfortunately can create a vicious cycle that makes it difficult to move forward in any meaningful way. It is important to realize, we have all been there to some extent at some point in our lives. For example, many of Wow’s clients come to us when they are feeling this level of overwhelming pressure.

When you feel overwhelmed, it can be hard to think. When it’s hard to think, it’s hard to organize.

So how do you break the cycle?

An Organized Plan

It is important to realize, that the way to break the cycle is to make a plan. It’s important to remember that no matter what you’re doing, you’re only ever doing one thing. Even accomplished multi-taskers are moving back and forth between multiple tasks quickly. What’s the takeaway? Don’t get overwhelmed with the next 5 (or 500!) tasks you need to do. Focus on just the next task.

Take a breath. Make a plan.

Think for a moment about what your ultimate goal is. Is the goal to have a clear space? Is the goal to have your files organized into categories? Is it to have a closet or basement where everything is in easy reach and you know which direction you need to be reaching?

Whatever the goal is, write it down. Focus on that one goal without veering off into another. There will be plenty of time for the next goal once the first goal is accomplished, but focusing on too many at once may cause you to reach none of them.

Ok. So now you have your goal. The next question is, how do you get to it? What is your plan? The answer may be to seek out some help. That’s ok! We love to help! The answer may be to start with sorting out what you no longer need. The answer may not be the same for everyone. But, whatever the answer is the important thing is to break it down into steps and – this is important – Write It Down!

If you have it written down you will be able to remember where you’re going and how you’re getting there. You can even cross off steps as you accomplish them and boy, it is satisfying to literally cross something off a list, don’t you think?

Stick to Your Organization Plan

It can be tempting to jump around. You may also find a better way to do things than the initial plan you proposed. These two scenarios are not the same!

It’s ok to change your plan if you find a better way to things but don’t veer off without putting any thought into it. That’s how we get disorganized! Disorganized plans lead to disorganized thoughts. Disorganized thoughts lead to a disorganized home. The disorganized home leads to more disorganized thoughts and all of this leads to a disorganized life.

An Organized Life

If you can form a plan and stick to it, even most of the time, you are well on your way to having an organized life. And in an organized life, you have more time to do the things you care about. Of course, not all of us are able to take these first steps on our own.

Sometimes we need help from a friend or a professional. Or sometimes we just need some advice and encouragement.

Whatever you need, start with assessing it and then create a plan of attack. It doesn’t mean you’ll follow it exactly, but it gives you a good place to start and a good place to go back to if you feel overwhelmed.

Good luck and good organizing!