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Last updated on April 9th, 2022 at 09:06 pm
The biggest obstacle to overcome when organizing your home is where to start, right? The reason why it’s so hard to start is that we can’t see past the mess that’s right in front of us. There are mental and physical blocks keeping us from seeing the potential.
Our friends invited us over right after they finished redoing their front and backyards. They had done all the work themselves, and the results are stunning.
They explained how they don’t ever plan on moving out of their house and how they have a “Master Plan” for what they want the house to look like.
As they talked about their “Master Plan,” it dawned on me that most of us have a Master Plan for our homes. They usually just look like things we’d like to do “someday.” We don’t take them too seriously –they’re castles in the air.
But what if we did?
Creating a Master Plan is a crucial step in deciding where to start organizing your home.
Master Plan = Desired End Result
If you’ve ever launched a product or service, you know you have to start with your launch goals such as units sold or revenue. From there, you can work backward to plan out each thing you need in order to reach those goals.
The same goes for any type of goal setting: start with the desired end result and work backward.
So often, when I ask a potential client or student how they want a room to look and feel, they’ll say something like, “Oh, I just want it to be organized.”
That could mean a million different things!
Look at it as if it were a launch. If you were going to launch something, your goal wouldn’t be to just put it out there and see how much money you make.
If you’ve ever done this, you know it doesn’t work as well as when you get really focused and intentional.
And that’s exactly what you need to do with the spaces in your home. Hone in on your exact results, or your Master Plan, and work backward to get the end result.
How to uncover the Master Plan
When clients are lacking vision and ideas for their spaces, I help them figure it out.
They know which space needs the most organization. (You can probably list all the areas you want to be organized right this minute!) The problem is they can’t step back away from the current clutter and disorganization in the room to come up with ideas.
I’ll do this by looking at their Pinterest board that’s all about their dream home (c’mon, you know you have one) and seeing what trends, colors, and styles keep occurring in the pictures they’ve saved.
Then I’ll create a new board with ideas specific to the space we’re organizing.
Having pictures to inspire what you want brings the vision to life. If you’ve watched Fixer Upper, you know they don’t start putting up or tearing down walls until Joanna’s come up with a design plan.
And you shouldn’t start decluttering until you have a plan of what your organized space will look like.
The Master Plan helps you answer, “Should I keep it?”
Having the end result in mind makes it easier as you declutter. There will be times when you come across something you’re not sure what to do with. But if you can look at your vision for the space, you can more easily answer if that thing should be kept.
If it doesn’t fit in with the look, feel, or purpose of that space, then it either needs to be relocated or let go of.
Keeping it up for long-lasting organization
Once your space becomes or comes close to that desired end result, upkeep will be easier too. You know what it’s supposed to look like and feel like. And because it looks so nice, you’re more motivated to stay on top of things.
You’ll be more likely to cultivate habits that keep the space clean and tidy, such as throwing away trash or being diligent about what’s allowed to stay in the room.
Having a Master Plan for every space you want to start organizing will help you get past the starting line.
Work backward, or reverse engineer, the end result so you know what to do every step of the way.
Want a guide to help you decide where to start? Download the Where To Start Decluttering Guide >>>
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