So, it’s February – how are your New Year’s resolutions coming along? Was this the year that you promised yourself that you would never forget another birthday, appointment or play date? That you’d be on top of all of your plans to help eliminate your stress?
How are you doing with that resolution, have you given up already?
For many of us it’s so easy to lose sight of all of the small steps that we can take in order to make our lives a little easier, and our guilt a little less. Getting overwhelmed is easy, but now is the time to take a deep breath and realize that getting organized can be easier that you think.
Although I organize people and spaces professionally, I found that as a new mom with a new business I was getting a panicky feeling about getting organized this year. One of the main problems was that I was trying to use a system that I wasn’t comfortable with – technology. Laptop? Check. Smartphone? Check. Online calendars, alarm reminders, email notifications, oh my? Sigh. Un-check. I realized that I was trying to be someone that I’m not – I love technology (mostly) and all of its conveniences (sometimes) but it doesn’t help me to feel more organized. In fact, I find the opposite. I feel like I always have something to do and the time that it takes me to set up all of the reminders and calendars is time that I could have used in a much better way. I was helping a client with her paperwork recently and she found an old agenda book of hers. She laughed and said “Oh God, who even uses these anymore?!” Um… I do and I love it.
I love finding the perfect agenda book, which I’ve done, that shows me an overview of the month, and gives me the opportunity to write my to-do lists on particular days. The one I have now isn’t fancy, but it’s close to perfect for me. I treated myself to an hour a couple of weeks ago in front of the TV, where I wrote in every single birthday and anniversary that I could think of. Then I went through each month added any other important days and appointments. Finally, I opened up the specific day and wrote my to-do list – it was much longer than I’d hoped but I think that might just be what life with a one-year brings with it. I leave my book open and each day I can see what I have to accomplish – having an open book and my trusty pen is all I need. The feeling of crossing off an item off of a list gives me a feeling of well-being that technology doesn’t, and thus, helps me to feel more organized and accomplished. As an added bonus, it gives me space to make notes if anything comes up during the day or if a thought have the time to pop in to my head.
What’s my point you might ask? Getting organized is sometimes just as easy as working with what makes you feel the best. Just because you have a phone, a lap-top and a thousand other gadgets doesn’t mean that they are the right thing for you. Don’t try to be something that you’re not if your goal is to make yourself feel organized. Do you need something? Absolutely. What is most important is that it’s easy for you and convenient. If you add in any element of stress to your attempt to be organized it will simply slow down your progress and might even stop you from achieving your goal. So hold your iPhone proudly as it dings reminders for you for your appointments, shout from the rooftop once you’ve found the perfect agenda, but be happy with having chosen what works for you. The important thing is that you start. Being organized is an essential aspect to any stress-free, and successful, life.
Lise Brown has just launched her own professional organizing biz called Start Fresh Organizing <http://StartFreshOrganizing.ca>. Find them on Facebook at
<http://facebook.com/StartFreshOrganizing>