Enhancing The Good

First of all, let me say Happy Thanksgiving!!

Over the last three weeks, we’ve covered a lot of information about organization (getting tired of it yet??).

The first week involved us diving into some of the many benefits of organization (however, there are many more).

The second week was revealing three useful (and free) tools that could help us master organizing the chaos in our lives.

Last week, we went over some of the biggest (and toughest) obstacles to overcome that have been holding us back to being able to become more organized.

So what are the three first (and best) steps to take when trying to get organized? Exactly these three that we’ve previously gone over in detail! (You’re going to be an expert on the subject!)

As we briefly go over these three steps, think about where your weak points might be with each of them and one thing you could start doing for each step to be able to execute this skill just about flawlessly.

1. Remind Yourself Of The Positives That Come From Organizing

What first comes to your mind when you think about how organization can positively change your life? I’ll give you a minute….

A few weeks ago, we pointed out theses five:

1. It prioritizes what you need to focus on now vs. what can wait
2. Limits distractions
3. Gives you the strength and momentum you need to keep going
4. Saves you time
5. Keeps you on track

One that I didn’t mention that I personally love and is my drive to stay organized, is that I feel amazing when my home, my mind, or whatever it may be has a system to it. A way things run and a place where things belong. It helps me to ease my worries, and generally is just an all-around great feeling.

If not one of the five benefits above, what reason do you have for wanting to be organized? How can it benefit you? Or, if others are the reason for this change in your life, how will it benefit them?

Having a constant reminder of this (or these) benefits that you look forward to will fuel your drive to really implement this skill in your life.

2. Utilize A Tool Or Tools To Help You

Two weeks ago, I shared my most valuable tools I use for organization that don’t need to cost a penny! Remember what they are?

1. Calendar
2. Alarms
3. Sticky notes

Most people have the ability and desire to use all three of these on their phone (which works!) or you can mix and match and use them however you feel would best assist you.

Tools allow us to be accountable to something and are most useful when we don’t snooze or set them aside until we have completed the task they’re there to remind us of. This is key to remember as we humans are inclined to try and take the easy way out, most of the time 😉

Do one of these tools sound like it would be most useful to you? Is there more than one you are interested in using? Or, can you think of anything else that might help you complete your necessary “to-dos”?

3. Face What’s Holding You Back

Life isn’t supposed to be easy and care-free (how boring would that be??). We all face obstacles and complications that make reaching our desired outcome(s) a lot harder than we maybe wish it were. (I like to think about how this makes our desired outcome actually even more desirable)

What obstacles do you see yourself having to overcome over and over again? What’s holding you back now? Here are the three we discussed last week:

1. Lack of a plan
2. Not enjoying the process
3. Perfectionism

Now of course there are a million obstacles out there, right? And their level of difficulty changes by the person who’s experiencing them. However, we can overcome these!

When we lack a plan, especially one that is structured and efficient, we are susceptible to many distractions. To counter this, having a detailed plan and making sure it’s one we can follow, will scoot this obstacle right out of the way and we will be able to move forward with confidence!

No one really wants to do something that doesn’t benefit them, right? That might sound selfish, but it doesn’t have to be! Whatever we do, we can learn to enjoy it! We can learn, or we can make it enjoyable by applying the things we love and the things that give us energy to the plan or process. You can refer to last week’s post to see how I personally do this if you’d like, but know that this step requires you to do some extra work (but it’ll definitely be worth it)!

Perfectionism can also be considered as having a fear of failure (which I think a lot of us deal with on some level or another). This requires a lot of mental preparation as it mostly takes of our mental energy.

Facing the things holding us back is the best way to move forward as we will be able to conquer those things over and over again (if need be) without hesitation.

~

Thanksgiving meals are elaborate, but well worth the time and energy spent, right? Although it may not seem like the most thrilling thing to take on a large project you know will drain the energy out of you, as you take it on with small steps, piece by piece, it will all come together and be an accomplishment you’ll be so proud of!

Back to the question I asked earlier, what are your weak points with the first three steps of becoming organized? And what is one thing you could start doing for each step?