How do you eat an elephant?
I’m going through one of those periods again where I completely empathize with my clients. I had a very busy March and April (I was out of town half the month of April) and now that I have a little time to breathe, I look around my house and think, “I need a professional organizer!” There are no shortage of wonderful organizers here in St. Louis I could hire for help, but I’m going to try to economize and do the work myself.
I got so overwhelmed the other day, looking at all the organizing projects opportunities around my house that I actually did an assessment on myself, filling out the action plan form I do for my clients.
So I now have a plan of action, but have I actually done anything? No. I’ve got a long list of business-related tasks as well that I haven’t completed.
This morning, as I was walking my dog, Kirby, I thought about how I can get past this approach avoidance. And I realized I need to do exactly what I advise my clients to do. Break the jobs down into small bites. And eat one bite at a time.
I think my timer’s going to come in handy here. I’m going to try to spend at least 15 minutes per day on one organizing project. That’s nothing. And I know that once I get the ball rolling, I’ll probably be spending larger chunks of time. But I also know that even if I spend only 15 minutes a day, the jobs will eventually get done.
Or maybe I’ll hire a professional organizer! Then I’ll have made a time and financial commitment to organizing and the job will get done more quickly.
Tagged with: 15 minutes, accountability, backsliding, decluttering, productivity, time management
Comments
You need to host a party at your house because we all know, nothing gets a gal motivated like a get-together.
I challenge you to host a something or other by the end of May (2008!)
Geralin Thomas, CPO-CD May 7, 2008 06:24 PM
Joan, you’re absolutely right. And what I love is that the same day I posted this (and you commented), I got an email from an organizer in another part of the country asking to be an accountability partner (we’d discussed it in Reno). So I’m actually doing what you suggest! Thanks so much for the input.
Janine Adams May 8, 2008 04:31 AM
Geralin, you are so right. But by the end of the month?! Perhaps I’ll take up that challenge. I’ll just have to get my husband, who is the cook, to buy in. Thanks for the motivation!
Janine Adams May 8, 2008 04:33 AM
About Janine
Hello! I’m Janine Adams — a certified professional organizer based in St. Louis, and the creator of Peace of Mind Organizing®.
I love order, harmony + beauty, but I believe that the way that you feel about yourself and your home is what truly matters.
If you’re ready to declutter with a purpose and add more ease to your life, you’ve found the right blog — and you’ve found the right company.
read more »Links
- Getting to Good Enough podcast
- Ravelry
- Institute for Challenging Disorganization
- Are you interested in becoming a professional organizer?
- National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals
- Shannon Wilkinson, life coach
- NAPO St. Louis
- Organize Your Family History
- Peace of Mind Budgeting
No doubt there are a lot of other post-conference PO’s struggling with finding time to do all they dreamed to do while away. I find having an accountability partner really helps and we always make it fun with going for dinner. We celebrate our previous month’s accomplishments/milestones and then set 3 business goals each for the month. Then we do just as you said, help one another break the goals down into next action steps. I hold her accountable to hers and she holds me accountable to mine. Maybe there’s another post-conference PO in your area who would benefit from a mutual accountability support relationship — I highly recommend it to all my clients. It really works.
Joan Kosmachuk www.simpleeffects.com
Joan Kosmachuk May 7, 2008 06:22 AM