Welcome to the end of the month of New Year’s resolutions! You might wonder why I waited until the end of the month to write to you about my New Year’s resolutions and impart ideas about how to get – and stay – more organized in 2019! In fact, did you know, January is officially National Get Organized Month (GO)!
Well, I could be disingenuous and tell you I did this by design. I could tell you I psyched you out and know that you made your 2019 resolutions on January 1, but that data shows you have already given up and lapsed back into your old habits and I want to scoop you up when you’re already back down again. After all, research and statistics show that less than 25% of people stay committed to their resolutions after just 30 days, and only 8% accomplish them! I intend to be part of that 8%, and so can you — with just a shifts in your thinking and action.
Despite the fact that I am a professional organizer, I too am guilty of not always following through. For example, one of my New Year’s resolutions was to choose my word for the year (my 2018 word was SIMPLIFY), and then write a blog about it. But here we are, January 27, 2019, and I am just getting around to it. BTW, my word for 2019 is simple. (Ha! Get it? I have fully incorporated my 2018 word into my practice.) My 2019 word is DO. D-O. Do. I’ll tell you why in a minute.
I could tell you I have a good excuse for this tardy missive, and I DO! My excuse is that so many of you woke up January 1 and decided to DO something about your overwhelm and stuff and paperwork and were so ready to GO I couldn’t say NO and have been working seven days a week. I postponed my Sunday client today so that I could get this blog done right under the wire! Sorry, Sarah – this blog preempted you but it is for the greater GOod.
First, why is my word for the year going to be DO? Because I realized that my personal stumbling block to achieving all the things I want to is that I put them on a “TO DO” list, which means that I am going to do them…as in, sometime in the future. Sure, maybe I prioritize my list, but still, the implication is I have to get to it. Not that I necessarily DO it. So, as is a common problem, I get pulled in lots of directions, do what crosses my path, don’t always stick to the plan and that TO DO list doesn’t get done. Ugh.
It is the same reason why Forbes published a post 12/31/18 advising us to “set goals instead of resolutions…because goals are specific, whereas resolutions tend to be broad and vague. Goals are much more actionable, which makes them more effective.”
Therefore, my objective for this year is to DO what I need to and get stuff DONE! Period. Things that are aspirational can stay on my TO DO list. But what I must do, goes on a DO list! We all spend so much time avoiding our TO DO lists, that if we just DID the thing, it would be DONE with less time and energy that it takes to avoid it. Come on, you guys know this is true. It is human nature to avoid unpleasant tasks so my approach is to make it EASY and IDIOT-PROOF to do the right thing.
Reboot. “Delete” bad habits. Establish a good habit instead and make it your default setting. Make it easier to do the functional (i.e. beneficial), versus the dysfunctional, thing. Once you establish and keep up a good habit your brain actually resets itself (i.e. muscle memory) so you don’t even have to think about it anymore. YES!
I talk with clients a lot about modifying their environment to achieve their goals and make it easy to maintain them. What are their goals? Globally, it is to get more organized. But on a more nuanced level, they want to find things more easily, have friends over without being apologetic for the mess, get dressed in the morning without closet chaos, keep kids toys at bay, manage paperwork, minimize the stress that comes from too much stuff, and have more time for the good stuff!
So, for instance, you and your kids walk in the house, drop coats on the floor, shoes all over, and then spend time and energy yelling at everyone to pick up their stuff. Solution? Go on line. Buy a hall tree. A set of hooks for the entryway, even lockers, and make it easier, neater, and more rewarding to do the right thing. Change can happen overnight when you make it easy to do the right (desired behavior) thing.
I will not inundate you with research and facts. You know your life and you know what bothers you. The thing about STUFF and GETTING ORGANIZED is that when you physically clear space in your home, your office, your head, your heart – you simply feel BETTER. And when you feel better, you can get more done. You are happier. You are able to be more present for yourself, your family, your friends, your community.
Start your year off by creating a clutter-free zone for yourself. Whether this includes cleaning your favorite room in the house, or the whole house, having a clean space can help you stay productive and focus on other tasks or hobbies you prefer to tackle throughout the day. Studies have shown the more organized your home is, the more optimistic and clear-minded you’ll feel. But you knew that anyway from your own life, right?
I don’t think habits are easy to change, so we have to find ways to make it as painless as possible, with as much immediate impact and upside as possible. Start small, start big, join a support group, hire a professional to help, but remember, TO DO won’t get it done in 2019. DOING it will.