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Last updated on April 9th, 2022 at 03:39 pm
“Organizing is not a priority right now but I know if I did it, I’d have more time.” I heard this multiple times over the last month from several different women. Most people realize how organizing can help them but they hesitate to do anything about it because they’re so busy.
Organizing feels like it takes so long because it’s overwhelming to look at all your stuff and have no idea how to get started.
But I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to dedicate an entire day (or days) to organizing your home.
Here are my tips for organizing when you have no time to do it.
If you only have a few minutes to spare, then organize in those few minutes.
Remember in high school and college you’d have under an hour to finish an exam? You’d flip over the exam paper, get that knot in your stomach as you thought, “Oh no! What do I do?!!!” And then you’d get started because you had no other choice. Miraculously, you’d finish that exam with the time you had.
Organizing is no different. If you only have 15 minutes to organize a drawer, then you’ll organize it in 15 minutes. You can work miracles and achieve things you never thought you could when you set a time limit.
Break the project into smaller pieces.
Going back to the school exam analogy, you took your test one question at a time in order to manage your time. You can do the same thing with organizing.
If you’re going to organize your kitchen but you only have 15 minutes to a half-hour to work on it each day, you’re going to have to break it up into smaller pieces. Start by going through one drawer or one shelf or throwing away expired food in the pantry.
While it feels like it will take forever going this way, doing it little by little is better than doing nothing at all.
Start with what you know.
You’ve probably used the exam strategy where you answer the questions you know first before tackling the harder ones. I recommend doing the same thing with organizing. Starting with something you know will help you get in the practice of doing it and you can work your way up to the harder stuff.
Download this free Organizing Checklist to help you work up to the harder stuff.
Set a timer.
Yes, yes, you’ve heard this a billion times. But if you only have time for 15 minutes of organizing, you’ll do it in 15 minutes.
You’re busy. You’re taking care of kids, making dinner, and maybe building a career or business at the same time. So setting a timer will help you manage your time so you can still prioritize all that important stuff and organizing your home.
Here’s a list of 25 things you can organize in 10 minutes or less to help you get started.
If you don’t schedule it, it isn’t real.
I don’t know who said it first, but I think I’ve heard this phrase a hundred times this last year from Marie Forleo and Amy Porterfield. And you know what? It’s true.
I’m far more likely to do something I put down on my schedule than not. And if it feels like you’ve got a million things going on in your life, you definitely should create some kind of schedule for yourself.
Making space in your day to organize will make it a priority. Eventually, you won’t have to make time to declutter because it’ll already be done!
One final note about making time to organize …
When the time comes to do it, you won’t want to do it. It’s much easier to scroll through Instagram or find something to watch on Netflix. But you have to fight the urge to do what’s easy and do the things that are hard. If you don’t, things will stay exactly as they are and you’ll continue to feel stressed out by clutter.
When you need to organize when you have no time, there’s nothing else to do but make time. Create time in your schedule (and make sure you schedule it!) and set a timer. Break each space that needs to be organized into smaller pieces, starting with what you know how to do.
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