May 28, 2008
The 10 Biggest Obstacles to Getting Organized and What to Do About Them
- Obstacle: Not starting.
Solution: Create a vision for what you want. Let your vision pull you forward. Look for inspiration from resources that describe how to live more simply. Starting is usually the hardest part. Promise yourself that you’ll work for a short, predetermined time like 15 minutes. Set a timer. Once you’ve started, you can decide if you want to keep going. But you must start.
- Obstacle: Not finishing.
Solution: Often people clean up their environment just enough that they begin to feel relieved. And then they stop. Don’t stop at relief. Finish the job. Finishing feels awesome. If you can’t finish the entire task, just finish organizing one shelf or one corner or one horizontal surface. If you start and don’t finish, you may end up with a bigger mess than you started with, and that’s very discouraging.
- Obstacle: Not developing a plan to maintain your gains.
Solution: Getting organized is a process–not an end result. Make peace with routine and maintenance. These are your two friends and are the cornerstone of your success. Set up a regular time to declutter and organize so you can keep your momentum.
- Obstacle: Disliking the entire process of decluttering and organizing.
Solution: Who says you have to do the work? If you really hate it, hire somebody to do it for you or to help you with it. If you don’t want to hire somebody, find ways to make the process more fun or at least less painful. Invite a friend to help you, promise yourself a couple of hours of free time later in the day, reward yourself by taking a long, hot spa bath, sleep in the next morning, or read a book till noon.
- Obstacle: Not understanding why clutter and disorganization are a problem for you.
Solution: Ask yourself why you have so much stuff. What real need are you trying to fill? Are you bored or do you feel empty? Do you have trouble saying no or making decisions? Talk these things over with a friend.
- Obstacle: Feeling overwhelmed and discouraged about your progress.
Solution: If your organizing “system” doesn’t work, fix it. Fix it again. And again. Whatever it takes. Once you make a commitment to get organized, stick with it–even if the universe seems to conspire against you. Work on it consistently for short bursts of time. And don’t try to do it alone. Get help from a friend.
- Obstacle: Not considering decluttering and organizing a priority.
Solution: Don’t underestimate the importance of starting. Delay is increasingly expensive. The longer you delay cleaning out the storage room, the more rental fees you rack up. The longer you delay straightening your bedroom, the less eager you will be to tackle the mess, the longer you delay hanging up your laundry and putting things away, the more time you will need to spend dealing with wrinkles.
- Obstacle: Trying to organize before decluttering and eliminating the excess.
Solution: The solution here is to always start by eliminating the excess– otherwise you’ll feel like you’re pushing string or herding cats. Clear off and eliminate the first layer of excess as fast as you can. That’s a huge step. Start by getting rid of the most obvious clutter (e.g., trash, broken items, things you don’t like or use, ugly things, duplicates).
- Obstacle: Not having a place to put stuff.
Solution: Cleaning and sorting can be a very messy business. If you do not have a place to put the things that you have organized, you will create an even bigger mess than you started with. To be successful with decluttering and organizing, you will need to have empty shelves, closet space, boxes, bins, etc. If you don’t have empty spaces in your closets, cabinets, and drawers, you will need to create space by eliminating a percentage of what what you have stored there.
- Obstacle: Negative self-talk about yourself or the organizing process.
Solution: Do you have a story you recite about how bad you are at organizing? Change your story. Instead say “I’m learning how to do a better job organizing.” Or “Even though organizing is challenging at times, I stick with it and get help when I need it.”
READERS — Please comment on this topic below.
- What are your biggest challenges related to decluttering and getting organized?
- What are your best strategies?
Comment at the link at the very, very bottom of the page. We want to know what YOU think.
To your healthy, happy, life! 
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May 28th, 2008
Cheryl:
These are really good tips. I don’t really have problems with clutter and I steer clear of it because I’m always in “parse” mode. I put things back where they belong right away, I wash dishes immediately after dinner and if I see paper piling up, I tackle it right away. I don’t wait until I feel like it otherwise I’d never do it. Sometimes I finish cleaning up and I feel great that I went ahead and got it over with, other times I feel PO’d that I had to clean up, but I ‘m still grateful that the work is done.
Now if I can apply this same thing to exercise, I’d be in business
-Lena
May 28th, 2008
Hey thanks Lena - You’re so smart to “do it now.” That really is the secret to success when it comes to staying on top of things. Maybe you can find a way to “do it now” with exercise! Cheryl