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Last updated on April 10th, 2022 at 08:57 pm
When it comes to getting organized, most people think that decluttering is the key and that’s the end of it. After working with clients and students and studying my own life, there are 3 things you need to know about getting organized before you begin.
Last week, I decided to jump on the sourdough starter trend. It only took about 2 days into making my starter to realize that I’m making a commitment. It turns out that committing to a sourdough starter is very similar to committing to getting organized.
But because I’m only on day 6 of the starter, I’m sharing the top 3 things you need to know about getting organized.
(Someday I’ll share the top 3 things you need to know about sourdough starters.)
01 Organization = Habits
Yes, decluttering is important. But if you don’t make the effort to clean up and do the work, all that hard work will go to waste.
After my starter is ripe, I’ll have to “feed” it every 3 days. And if I feed it every 3 days, I’ll have to make something with the starter discard. (Something I didn’t realize when I started this thing.)
The same thing goes for getting organized. Once you declutter and organize, you have to get into the habit of keeping things that way.
It’s not always easy, but you can make it easier.
I recommend starting with just one organized habit, such as throwing away trash immediately. As you master that habit, move on to the next.
If you want a full list of habits and when to do them, you can find my 10-Minute Tidy & Nightly Reset Habit Trackers in the RNL Shop.
But read on before you grab them so you know what you’re getting yourself into.
02 Habits = Lifestyle
If you want to be organized, you’re committing to a new lifestyle —just like my brand new sourdough starter lifestyle.
I’m committing to making something every 3 days. When you choose to get organized, you commit to being organized every day.
This means tidying up daily. Cleaning up messes right away (or soon) after they’ve been made. Putting away laundry the same day. Deciding what to do with things instead of letting them pile up.
This leads to the 3rd top thing you need to know about getting organized …
03 Be Proactive
If you want to get organized, you can’t be lazy.
It’s easy to be lazy, but it makes life a lot harder.
I’m “proactively lazy.” Meaning, I choose to clean things up now and do things now so I can be lazy later. I don’t want to spend an hour scrubbing the counter if I could just take 2 minutes to wipe up a spill.
Yes, being proactive by cleaning up those messes and making decisions means work. But it all pays off in the end with a clean, calm, and tidy house.
You don’t have to worry about not having clean clothes. Or search everywhere for an important paper. Or feel bad about how your house looks.
My life is easier because I choose to put in the work.
These are the top 3 things you need to know about getting organized. Build good habits to create an organized lifestyle and be proactive about it!
If you want to make it easier to get organized, I recommend reading Atomic Habits by James Clear to learn effective strategies for creating habits.
Check out the bestselling book Atomic Habits here >>>
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