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Order in the House Please: The Instigator for Real Change

2171215733_optExactly, when do you hit the wall? Yes, at one time or another, we all reach our own breaking point, and it is precisely then, that we realize we’ve had enough of a situation. This is the perfect moment in time that we have an opportunity to change our behavior.

Pay attention my friends, there are glaring signals.

Maybe you’re sick and tired of repeatedly losing your phone or misplacing your keys and glasses.

Or, perhaps it’s when you’ve missed an important doctor’s appointment or a business conference call because you never wrote it down, you forgot. There’s more…You never had time to pick up the dry cleaning, you double-booked your dinner plans with friends, and you can’t find your checkbook.  You’re angry at yourself and probably a little embarrassed and ashamed of being so lax and disorganized.

Or worse,  you often incur financial penalties because you bounced a check, or failed to pay a bill on time, again.

Or worse still, your disorganization caused your child to suffer.  He/she may have been excluded from joining a sports team or a school trip, because you missed the registration deadline or neglected to sign the proper forms.

Just maybe… that could be the last straw.  Enough is enough.

Does this sound like you?

The good news is that the breaking point is usually the best instigator for change. It wears you down both mentally and physically. But each of us have our own threshold for the zero hour and individual perspectives of when a situation is critical. Some of us react to our inner alert sooner than later, while others might delay until they are already in a full-blown crisis mode. The scenario might look something like this;

  • Most countertops are cluttered with miscellaneous items that belong elsewhere.
  • Neglected incoming mail has accumulated to overwhelming paper piles.
  • Spare bedrooms have turned into a dumping ground for anything you don’t know what to do with.
  • Stepping over both dirty and clean laundry piles everywhere.
  • Passing by puddles of stuff on the steps that are awaiting their eventual journey upstairs.
  • Tripping over shoes and sandals in random places, some without their sole-mates.
  • Gathering half-drunk water bottles, unfinished snacks, and empty bowls in high traffic areas.

 

The bottom line is when “busy” integrates with “later, ” chaos ensues rather quickly.  Life only works, until it doesn’t, and no one can make you care about what you don’t care about it. It’s that simple. When you hit the wall, you will know. It will be abundantly clear.  When you’re ready, you’re simply ready.

But just recognizing the symptoms and acknowledging that you’ve had enough, may not be sufficient.  If you are a self-motivated person, your desperation will probably fuel you to take action and implement change.  

But if you need support and more motivation, don’t beat yourself up for it.

Enlist help from a trained professional who can provide the steps to help you organize and gain back some control.  Going it alone may be ineffective.

Make no mistake about it, restoring order in the house is much more about life-balance than it is about merely organizing your possessions. Sometimes situations need to get worse before they can get better. Reverse the cycle; break down only to reconstruct. Convert the breaking point into positive change. Take it as an opportunity to begin anew with better and more sustainable systems.  You will not only see a physical change but feel a significant emotional one as well.

So when is your “enough?” What steps will you need to take to affect positive change?   Reach out and get the support you need.

 

 

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The Sustaining Rewards of Being Organized

Let’s face it, daily life is stressful enough, and being disorganized can only exacerbate the anxiety when you can’t find what you’re looking for when you need it.  Add on the paper pile-up on the counter that has morphed into a diversified tower of  bills, magazines and catalogs, peppered with unwanted  junk mail.   Unfinished projects that you genuinely intend to get to are easily placed on the back burner because your inbox is too full.  You’re probably rushing to get out the door to get to work on time or show up for an appointment promptly.

Think about it.  Why is this happening?  Are you leaving yourself ample time? If you find that your are consistently repeating behaviors that don’t bring  you a positive or efficient result, STOP doing those things.  It is counterproductive and should alert you to change your systems.

Identify your time wasters and implement time savers.  So when you realize that every day you are searching for the car keys, your glasses, etc. (probably because they are dropped in a different place every time), it would be ideal to place them in a designated and exclusive landing place so retrieving them would be a breeze.  Likewise, if you are reaching for something you use often (from articles of clothing to a kitchen frying pan) and it is not in the most accessible place, move it.

More importantly, while being disorganized is an obvious time waster, it can also be costly.  Missed appointments can hinder a business relationship, or can have a negative impact on your personal relationships.   Pay attention to what is not working before it becomes manic.  Misplaced coupons and gift certificates once eventually found are typically past their expiration dates.  When I work with my clients and we discover a treasure, how often do I hear, “I was looking for that!”  If something is that important to you, separate it from the general clutter and create a special folder and mark it as a priority. Take the extra time and create a place to organize your redeemable rewards and don’t take a chance that it will be misplaced or lost forever.

And loose change? Just like clutter, it can grow and invade every countertop. But the difference is,  it has exponential value…it’s $$$!  Grab a cup, jar, or Tupperware container and empty your pockets everyday.  This kind of clutter you CAN ignore for a while because it’s fun to just watch it accumulate.

Organizing  your closets to correlate with how you wear your clothes and how you need to access them is yet another great motivator to save time.  These are not revolutionary techniques but you must take the time to fine tune your daily routines to make it easier to get dressed.

Today, with the acquiring of so much more stuff, and challenges of work, social,  and home-life, there is an increasing need to be organized in order to function.

Use organization as a powerful tool to tackle your time-mangement challenges.  If you added up all the tiny bits of time wasted on ordinary things, you would be amazed as how much extra time you would have to spend time doing those things you enjoy to do. These little adjustments can reduce great amounts of stress.

There are so many benefits of being organized, and making conscious efforts to change can only improve the quality of your life. Indeed, life is so much “sweeter” when you are organized, and calorie-free 🙂

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The Belated Card Says More Than You Think

While shopping for a Hallmark birthday card today, I was thumbing through the humorous section searching for the perfect card and when my hand grazed over the infamous belated zone, and I was struck with the irony of it all.  It just occurred to me that the origin of such a category was designed to address and classify the disorganized individual.

The creator of the belated card had to have thought about a person who consistently either forgets a special birthday, anniversary,etc. or perhaps remembers but never gets it together to actually buy a card or send it. Imagine…Hallmark has provided for the guy/gal who messed up, and is capitalizing on the idea that there are people who have failed to organize the special milestone events in their family and friend’s lives.  Moreover, the mere gesture of  sending the belated card is screaming out that you are indeed guilty of such a charge.  I can’t believe that it is a proud thing to declare; “Yes, I totally forgot all about you on your special day.”  How embarrassing, really.

It’s silly enough that there is a barrage of other occasion cards for every kind of relationship imaginable; like “Happy Mother’s Day to my neighbor’s cousin” or “Happy Birthday to our dog”, but forgetting the special day altogether is sending an alert to remind the person that you actually forgot!

Truthfully, a belated card when it is received is one that you surely don’t want to save and cherish.  Once the day passes and the celebration is over, does receiving a card days later even have the same significance?

So do yourself and your relationships a favor, keep records of the special days of your loved one’s lives. Implement reminders on your phone, computer, and calendars.  Make a habit of buying an assortment of occasion cards at the start of every month so you’ll be prepared and have them on hand when you need them.  Don’t be caught short.  Sending a card on time is a small thing that means so very much.

At the risk of sounding sappy,  a celebratory card sent and received on the actual day does speak to how important that person is to you.  Simply said,  it simply means that you thought about them on their special day.  Everybody wants to be thought of, even if you personally don’t need that kind of attention  Be fearful of sending belated cards often, it might become a reputation hard to shed.

Strive to be more organized in this regard and you’ll be appreciated for your thoughtfulness. Guaranteed, it will come back to you. Goodness and respect always return the favor.

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