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Being Organised and How to Get There

The first step to becoming efficient and more productive in life is to get organised. This five-point plan, by

Marcia Gracia,

will help you confront misguided thinking that says you can’t.

What is holding you back from getting organised? Most likey you! Here arefive common obstacles, and what you can do about them.

1 I’d rather do something else

Let’s face it. We’d all rather be doing something fun, right? If given a choicebetween organising files and watching a favourite TV program, it’s prettyclear what most people would choose.One way to overcome this obstacle is to schedule your organising projectsfor first thing in the morning. Do your project for an hour or so, and be done with it. Once it’s out of the way, your day will be free to do things you reallyenjoy.Another way to combat this mind-set is to make something you love to dodependent upon the completion of your organising project. For instance,don’t allow yourself to read a magazine or newspaper until you’ve done thelaundry or washed the car, which you’d promised yourself you’d do today.

2 all-or-nothing

You may be reluctant to start an organising project because you only like tostart things that you know you can finish in one session. Waiting until youcan do the whole thing‚ often ends up in nothing getting done.It is better to start something and progress a little, than to not startsomething and to not progress at all. Often organising a project that doesn’tget started, makes the project seem worse over time.If it’s difficult for you to leave a project unfinished, your best bet is to give yourself smaller projects that you can complete in less time. For example, you may want to organise your desk, but you know it’s going to take you afew hours, and you can’t seem to find a few open hours in your schedule.Organising the entire desk might be too large of a goal. But, if you say to yourself that you’re going to clear off the papers from the top of the desktoday, empty out the top drawer tomorrow, organise the supply drawer thenext day, and so on, now you’ve given yourself projects that can be started—

and completed—within short bursts of time, thus satisfying your all-or-nothing tendency.

3 broad goals and priorities

Just making the statement I have to get organised is too broad. It oftenresults in an overwhelming I don’t know where to start feeling. It’s importantto define exactly what you want to organise. Rather than saying you want toget organised, make a list of the specific things you’d like to organise, suchas your wardrobe, or your filing cabinet at work, or your schedule.Next, prioritise your list. The tasks closest to the top should be thosecurrently causing you the most stress. Once you prioritise your list, chooseone or two of those tasks to work on. You really have to focus in order tocomplete something. Once these few tasks are completed, you can thenmove on to the next few.Once you choose your one or two tasks, break them down into smaller mini-goals. If you’d like to organise your pantry, you may break it down into topshelf, middle shelf and lower shelf. Tackle tasks that can be completedeasily, in small brackets of time.

4 a sense of attachment

Sometimes it’s really difficult to part with things because you may feel asense of attachment. Perhaps you’re a sentimental person. Every item youown reminds you of something else—a family member who passed away,something an old friend gave you, a sweater from your mum, the firststuffed animal your significant other gave you.Or, you may be a thrifty person, and feel you may be able to use somethingsome day. Perhaps you’re saving it just in case it comes back in style, or if you decide to have another child, or if you decide to pick up that hobbyagain in the future.Whatever the reason for your sense of attachment, having such attachmentscan result in piles upon piles of clutter. If it begins to stress you out, it’stime to let go of some of your stuff.You don’t have to get rid of everything, but it is important to determine whatthings are truly important to you and what things are just taking up space.Getting organised is about making decisions.Choose a clutter spot to tackle. Pick up two items at a time. Try to put oneof those items in a keep pile, and the other in a do-not-keep pile. Sometimes you’ll want to keep both, and sometimes you won’t want to keep either. But,try to keep this system going.Keep picking up two items at a time and making this decision until you’vedecluttered by a minimum of 50 per cent.In other words, you should have the same amount of items in the “keep”pile, as you do in the “do-not-keep” pile.If you don’t like to toss, then give away or donate instead. Knowing thatsomeone else is making good use of something that was just catching dustin your home or office may help to relieve some tension.

5 fear of failure

One of the main reasons for not starting an organising project is fear of failure. You may feel that since you haven’t been able to get organised, younever will.Or you may feel that even if you do manage to get it organised, you mightnot be able to maintain it.First, a positive attitude is essential to getting and staying organised. Thebest attitude is a can-do‚ attitude. Believe in yourself. You can do it!Second, any task or project you progress on, no matter how little theprogression, is a success!Enjoy your successes and reward yourself for them.

myths of being organised1. BEING organised MEANS BEING NEAT.

While you can certainly be neat and organised, the two should never beconfused. While you might have neat piles or boxes in a straight line, youmay still not be able to find a single thing when you need it. Being organisedmeans using a structured system that allows you to do or find everything you need, without frustration, chaos or stress.

2. TO BE organised is TO BE CLEAN.

Once again, while you can be both organised and clean, the two shouldn’tbe confused. Cleaning means you’re removing dirt, grime and otherwisepreparing a sanitary surface. But, you can have the cleanest home or officeand still be disorganised and inefficient.

3. TO BE organised MEANS TO SCHEDULE EVERY MINUTE.

While thoughtfully scheduling appointments, projects and jobs isrecommended, you do not have to schedule every moment of your day to beorganised. Scheduling is the fine art of packing every day just full enough of the most useful activities. Never overload it. Your schedule should alwaysallow you time for spontaneity.

4 ONLY CERTAIN TYPES OF PEOPLE CAN BE organised.

While a small percentage of people don’t have the ability to be organised,such as someone with an illness, most people can be. Being disorganisedisn’t a disease; it’s a decision. If you really want to be organised, there aresystems to help you. Once you know these systems and apply them, you’llbe organised.

5. BEING organised TAKES a LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT.

The truth is, it takes less of both to be organised. Disorganisation and itsassociated inefficiency takes more time, and ensures that huge obstacles aredirectly in the path of getting things done. Getting and staying organisedisn’t rocket science.

6. EVERYONE I KNOW IS organised, EXCEPT ME.

Being organised is both an outer and inner trait. Unless you really know aperson well, you really can’t come to this conclusion. For example, someonemay have a neat home, but is never on time.Another may have an organised home, but his office filing system is chaotic. There are many people in need of organisation, even if it doesn’t show.