So you may have to motivate yourself. Before you bring another thing into your house, consider taking the first steps to organize what’s already there. The experts tell us how:
1. Put YOU in your new order. Where do you really want to dump your coat when you walk in the door? Your organizing system is unique, with a design based on your natural habits and goals, said Morgenstern. If you really want to pay your bills at the kitchen table, it won’t help matters if you force yourself to set up shop in a back room. Instead, acknowledge your preference, clean out a section in the kitchen that’s filled with old wedding gifts, and set up your stamps and checkbooks right there.
2. Finish the job. It’s better to leave the mess alone than to do only a part and then forget about it. Don’t give up and don’t lose momentum, said Morgenstern. Consider that once the job is done, it might take you only about three to five minutes a day to keep it organized.
3. Divide and Conquer. You’ve got four drawers in the file cabinet that have been jammed with papers for years. It would defeat you, break you if you tried to tackle all four drawers at once, said Davidson. His prescription: a doable amount, say, one-half of one drawer every two weeks. In a month, a whole drawer is done.
4. Motivate yourself. Davidson suggests you make a game of it, and give yourself a reward afterwards. Join a group of people who also want to get organized. Find a partner at home, like your spouse or child. Play motivating tapes about order and control as you drive around. Think about the benefits to yourself, like having tax records compiled, or to others, like making charitable contributions of stuff you can’t use but someone else can use. And remember, if you don’t do it, your heirs will have to do it for you.
5. Schedule fortuitously. Pick a time and day when it makes sense to do it, like when your sharp thinking is at a low ebb. Friday afternoon comes to mind, Davidson said. He also suggested making a commitment around big events like a birthday, and in particular, in the year 2000. Years that end in zero offer and incentive and give you a form of closure.
6. Be positive. If your only goal is to throw out stuff, that’s too negative, said Morgenstern. You’ll end up being critical of yourself, throwing out stuff that you really want and soon tiring of the project. Organizing is not a time to beat yourself up but to improve your life.
7. Pick your new storage boxes and drawers last, not first. You’ve got to understand how much stuff you have and where you want to keep it before you buy rather than jump at a quick solution, said Morgenstern. Otherwise you may end up with a lot of containers that have nothing to do with how you want to organize.
8. Keep a daily priority “to do” list. Yager said organizing is not just about ordering your possessions, but your mind, too. She said one effective system is to divide the list by how you arrange your day, such as before, during and after work. Within each section, do a chronological list of what you want to do, in order of importance. Break down large tasks into a series of steps.
9. Learn to say “no” gracefully and easily. Once you know what your needs and limits are, you can say no to whatever interferes with them, said Yager. This takes practice. Say it kindly, with a thank you for the invitation or with an alternative suggestion, but say it. If you can’t get the word out, Yager said, write “No” to yourself in big letters and just get used to it .
10. Deal with the other guy. You may be getting it all together, but what if your spouse, officemate, child or companion remains in disorder? Don’t let it thwart your efforts, said Davidson, and don’t feel you have to support their chaos. Discuss the problem and work out an agreement, like assigning a room, section or drawer where the other person can be as messy as he wants. With children, it helps to create checklists and charts that guide them to order.
Take this whole process slowly, said Morgenstern. You probably have some resistance and you may feel vulnerable or exposed as you strip the clutter away. But any void that’s created will soon be replaced by the good feeling that comes with having space and time to do what you want.
Even some of the most successful people in the world feel defeated by clutter, said Davidson. That’s why one of his friends, who has made millions in business, still takes the time out to straighten his office before he leaves. When he comes in the next day to a clear, clean desk, his friend told Davidson, “I feel like I can take on the world.”
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