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I’ll start with a story. Not long ago, a member of my family left the dishwasher door down for no apparent reason. I came walking along, and because the baking pan that I was holding was obstructing my view (and also because I wasn’t expecting anyone to leave the door down for no apparent reason), I didn’t see that the door was, in fact, down. My shin smashed into the edge of it, and the baking pan and I nearly fell headlong over the extended dish rack. The situation called for an interjection, and I used one.
Awhile later, after the pain had subsided (although, unfortunately, the swelling and bruises had not), I thought it would be an opportune moment to remind the family member that households have guidelines such as “If you open it, close it” for good, common-sense reasons: They help to form the basis of a considerate, respectful, and, in this case, much safer environment for all of the home’s inhabitants.
The keys to success in implementing this particular domestic-bliss guideline and many others like it — “If you turn it on, turn it off,” “If you get it out, put it away,” and all the rest — are self-discipline and the formation of good habits.
And interestingly enough… self-discipline and good-habit formation are two critical keys to organizational success, too! (You saw that coming.)
So essential are they, in fact, that they’re the fifth component of what I call the “five fundamentals of organization”:
1. Ability: By this I mean that an individual does not have — or is able to accommodate — conditions such as chronic illness, physical limitations, grieving, depression, OCD, chronic fatigue syndrome, ADD/ADHD, PTSD, shopping addictions, hoarding, and/or other behaviors, situations, or conditions that hinder his/her ability to be more organized. Help is available for all of these conditions, so they need not be debilitating; but, without help, they can be serious impediments to becoming more organized.
2. Willingness: You can’t make anyone do anything. People must be willing to change.
3. Commitment: Ability and willingness are excellent starts, but they must be backed up by a commitment of time and energy to the organizational process and making positive changes. Good intentions are not enough.
4. Tools: These can be physical objects such as hooks, shelves, and storage tubs, or they can be systems and processes that help people to be more efficient and effective. By the way, this fourth fundamental is the first point at which a family member, friend, or professional organizer can enter the picture to help someone become more organized, because the preceding three must already be present in order to make progress. (It’s the old three-legged stool analogy: the first three must be present before the stool will stand, but it will become stronger with the addition of more legs.)
5. Habits: Ah, here they are! As an organizer, I’ve helped clients to purge out what they no longer need, use, or love. I’ve helped them to put the “keepers” back in more organized, streamlined ways. We’ve “containerized” until we turned purple. We’ve devised systems and processes that mesh with the ways in which they think, work, and live. And we’ve talked about how to maintain all the space, light, and order that we’ve created.
But that’s where it ends unless clients’ self-discipline and good-habit formation kick in. The first four fundamentals will get them organized, but only the last one will keep them organized because it’s an inconvenient truth (to borrow a phrase) that clutter always creeps back in. Organizers and other helpers can increase the odds of success through the work they’ve done, but they can’t give clients that last essential component. What they can do, however, is reassure them that what arises out of their new, good habits will create momentum, and that in turn will reinforce their positive behavior and motivate them to keep up the good work.
Some people balk at this, arguing that it would be too difficult for them to change their behavior, but the alternative (and perhaps you’ve seen it) is surely not very pretty either. The good news is that even though habits can be hard to form, once they’re in place, they’re also hard to break. Good habits can trick you into automatically doing great organizational things for yourself and your spaces.
So… What can you train yourself to do through harnessing your self-discipline and good-habit formation?
I believe you can make a world of difference by taking what seems like obvious — or at least very simple — steps. But if they’re so obvious and simple, then why are they so hard to do and so often ignored? I suppose it’s because we humans don’t find it all that fun to be disciplined all the time. But, as I’ve said, if you can create positive, new habits, they’ll trick you into doing good things automatically. How great is that?!
Here are some simple (and, yes, obvious) things that you can do every single day to make your spaces more organized, pleasant, and efficient. Just make a commitment to do them very consistently — we’ve all heard that it takes 21 days to create a new habit — and they’ll pay huge dividends for you.
* Designate a place where you put your incoming stuff — purse, wallet, keys, glasses, cell phone, and the like — every time you enter your home. I call this the launching pad. Likewise, designate a place (the same place, if possible) where you put everything that’s going with you the next time you leave. Using this space very consistently will mean an end to frantic running about, looking for these things.
* Wipe your feet (it saves on cleaning), and put your shoes in the same place every time you arrive home. While you’re at it, hang your coat on a hook or hanger. The floor or a nearby chair is not a good substitute. These simple actions will make you feel in control, and your space will be more visually serene.
* Create one place where you put the incoming mail and other incoming papers. They may sit there for a tiny while as you tend to other things, but then move them on — every day — to the spot where you process your paper. Even more important are your self-discipline and good-habit formation when it comes to committing to processing the paper every day (or as close to every day as you can get). There will just be twice as much tomorrow, so the alternative of not dealing with it today begins to look pretty daunting, pretty quickly. Daily processing — not just shuffling around, but making paper go away — is your salvation.
* Use a tickler file! I’m a tickler-file zealot, but it’s because, with a little self-discipline and good-habit formation, a tickler file will pay off for you every day, in so many delightful ways. Really. Trust me on this. It’s not hard to use, and it will save you over and over again.
* I’m not your mother, but she’d probably say the same thing: Make your bed. Even if the rest of the room could use some tidying, your beautiful bed will be an oasis of calm and order to enjoy looking at when you enter the room. And, its loveliness may encourage you to work on the rest of the space.
* Speaking of the rest of the space, hang clothes that you intend to wear again on a hook or hanger, and put dirty clothes in a laundry basket or hamper, not randomly somewhere on the floor. (These sound so obvious, don’t they? And yet they can be so difficult to carry out. But remember that you’re doing this for you.)
* Don’t put things down; put them away. This starts with having a home for absolutely everything, because no one can be expected to put something away properly if there’s no designated home for it. After that, though, it comes down to just doing it. Put dishes in the dishwasher or sink, not on the counter; put toiletries in a drawer, not on the vanity top; take the mail to your paper-processing place instead of leaving it where it landed. Spend the few extra seconds it requires to put things where they belong.
The rewards? You’ll be very glad you spent that little extra time to put things away when you…
* no longer waste any time or endure any frustration or stress in looking for them the next time;
* can have people over with no worries about how your home looks (and no harried running around first);
* can experience pride and satisfaction about your spaces instead of self-blame;
* can get where you need and want to be, on time, with the proper materials in hand;
* feel calm, relaxed, confident, and in control.
What a great day your self-discipline and good habits will create when your time, energy, and well-being belong to you and not to your stuff. They’ll please and delight you every single day.
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Source by Paula Apfelbach
