Are you stuck?
Maybe you have been meaning to get organized for quite a while now: Your closets are overflowing — we’re not going to discuss the garage, and a number of you may like we pretend Cabinets do not even exist. You’re going to get to all of the this summer, and here it is almost the end of August! Ugh.
Or maybe you’re organized, but you can’t seem to make any decisions about layout –you’re scared of making a mistake. Or maybe you understand you have already made mistakes — pricey ones — and you don’t wish to make any more.
We all feel overwhelmed and stuck at times. Granted, a number of us are more deeply stuck than others, but getting out of a rut is easier than you think. For nearly all of us who struggle with this, the trick is knowing where to start. We feel overwhelmed, and our brains flatline. It’s easier — we believe — to ignore everything since we can’t determine what to do first, so we do worry and nothing.
Here are 3 things to do if you don’t understand what to do.
Cassie Daughtrey Realogics Sotheby’s Realty
1. Create a list. If you write down a goal or intention, something happens. It’s not magic, but something changes. Prevent broad commitments like “1. Get organized.” Be specific. It’s OK if it’s a huge list. You may need to have a couple of lists: one for daily goals and you for all you need to accomplish in your home and life, and you’ll need to continue adding to it.
You may even have a third list where you record the way you want items to be — your dreams, if you may. This might be broad, but it shouldn’t be obscure. As soon as I got really clear about the way I wanted my home to be, I wrote, “that I wish to return to meals, books and clothes.”
What do you really desire? “Get organized” is obscure, but “Produce an orderly home so I am free from constant stress and stress” is clear.
Or maybe your list will consist of things you would like to buy or renovate. I need to write this on mine: “Living room rug, likely wool, dark enough and with some ‘motion’ so that I will go more than five minutes between vacuuming dog fur.” Then see what happens.
I know this may seem overwhelming, but it’s freeing once you get going. Each of these items are bouncing around your mind, whether you know it. As soon as you write down them, a tension is published, energy is marshaled and also a plan starts to form.
It does not look like much, but you have made a beginning. Making a list is doing something.
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2. Request help. To start, just admit you need help. Some things we can’t do alone, for whatever reason, and instead of beat yourself up, start looking around for assistance.
Years ago I was drowning in laundry and scheming how I could hire it out once I realized that my two older kids were capable of doing their own. Today all five members of my household do the laundry room, and it’s no big thing. I’m not Naturally Organized with three children in the home, and laundry isn’t a hassle. This is almost a miracle. Now if I could only use this to meal planning and cooking — now!
What is it you don’t believe you can do on your own? And I don’t wish to hear, “I can’t afford to hire anybody, and I don’t have family nearby” or “I don’t know where to look!” These are perfectly legitimate, but you don’t have to fix the issue or even list all the reasons why you can’t get aid; you just must ask for it.
Perhaps write it to the base of your list: “Help.” That is asking for it.
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3. Set a small aim. Ask yourself, “What can I do now?” Everything you do does not need to be big. It might really be quite modest, but making a definite and achievable objective is excellent progress.
You will need help figuring this out. When I’ve a lot on my plate and my brain begins to hurt, I ask my husband, Paul, to help me determine exactly what to do. Just telling him what is going on usually helps me determine my priorities on my own without his advice.
Always take into account the season, all of your other obligations and your health, make a fair aim. Bear in mind, little, incremental changes accumulate.
More: August Checklist for a Smooth-Running Home