It’s apparent that most of us have at least one area in our home that is OUT OF CONTROL. Be it too much paperwork or a messy garage, the physical mess is causing way too much mental strain. That’s why our habit this month is to finally tackle that problem area! We’ll take baby steps to gradually clear the clutter and get the mess under control. Here’s how to tackle your problem area.
Instructions to tackle your problem area:
1. Pick one area of your home to get organized once and for all. It’s important that you just pick ONE area. Don’t try to conquer the world just yet. By choosing one space, you can focus on that space until it’s under control. Then you can tackle another project.
2. Set a realistic daily goal. It’s the start of a new year so you’re uber motivated right now. You probably think you could spend an hour a day on that area. However, as the year progresses, it’s highly unlikely that cleaning and organizing an hour a day is feasible. So set a realistic goal. Can you spend 5 minutes every day working towards cleaning and organizing your problem area? Are you so overwhelmed that one minute is all you can handle? It doesn’t matter how much time you can commit, just determine the timeframe and make an appointment with yourself every day. There will be days you start working and just get in the grove. Take advantage when the mood strikes because there will certainly be days that you can barely squeeze in a minute.
3. Determine your end date. If your goal is to clean out your garage so you can park in it again, you may need six months to clear it out. If your goal is to finally organize the laundry room, one month may be feasible. Everyone’s goal will be different so just determine an end date that’s appropriate for the size of your project.
4. Write it down. The mere act of writing down a goal makes you more likely to achieve it.
- Your one area of focus
- Time you’re willing to work on it daily
- Your completion date
This is mine:
- My area of focus is my office.
- I will spend 5 minutes each day clearing the clutter.
- My office will be fully functional in 30 days.
5. Tackle your problem area.
You’ve set a goal and put it on paper (so to speak). Now it’s time to do the work! As the year progresses, we’ll be going into detail on the best way to clean and organize different areas of the house. For now, though, just focus on making visible progress cleaning your space. I’m guessing that you can make a serious dent in your problem area just by finally focusing on it.
Go right now (yes, NOW), set your timer and do SOMETHING to fix your problem area. It doesn’t matter what you do exactly
- Throw everything you don’t need in the trash can.
- Stack paper/boxes/whatever so you can get the area in some kind of order.
- Get a box and fill it with things you can take to the donation center.
- If you have to, stare at the mess to determine what kind of shelf/container/folder/etc. you need to clean up your problem area.
Repeat the last step every day until your ending date.