Tidy Tip Number Nine: SET GOALS (on paper)
Make a list of all the things you want to organize; whether it's your tool-shed or your garage, your office, your recipes, your time, your desk, your car, everything! When you're done with your list, choose just ONE item on it. This is going to be your 'BIG' goal.
Now, take your 'BIG' goal, and break it down into smaller, manageable pieces. These will be your tiny-goals. One by one, you're now going to achieve each of your tiny-goals, until each one is completed. Once the final one is completed, you will have accomplished your 'BIG' goal. Here's a littl example:
BIG GOAL: Organize and clean the bathroom.
Tiny-Goal 1: Organize and clean the medicine cabinet.
Tiny-Goal 2: Organize and clean out the cabinet under the bathroom sink.
Tiny-Goal 3: Clean out and organize bathroom drawers.
Tiny-Goal4: Weed out magazines in the bathroom.
Tiny-Goal 5: Set up separate toiletry storage areas for each member of the family.
Give yourself deadlines for your BIG GOAL, and date your Tiny-Goals accordingly. So, say you want to finish your bathroom in one week, and today is the 23rd of March. Today you should clean the reorganize your medicine cabinet; tomorrow do Tiny-Goal 2; Saturday, clean out and organize bathroom drawers; Sunday should be a Chore-Free day; Monday, weed out magazines; and then on Tuesday do Tiny-Goal 5! Voila... you did it!
Reward yourself as you finish each Tiny-Goal. Write down the Tiny reward before you get started. For Example: After finishing Tiny-Goal #1, read a chapter in a book, or take a 20 minute nap (whatever floats your boat and feels like a little reward) Desigate little reward after each Tiny-Goal. But, do something bigger and better after you finish the BIG goal.
Eventually you'll do this with each room in the house. While organizing and cleaning on a daily basis may sound daunting, it only truly requires about 20 minutes of your time each day. When the last person gets out of the shower, for example, spray down the walls with some shower cleaner. Quickly disinfect the toilet bowl each night. Turn the dishwasher on. Toss a load of clothes in the washing machine. Dust a few pieces of furniture. Vacuum a room. File a few sheets of paper. You get the picture, right? Each of the items mentioned above just takes a few minutes--some even take a few seconds. 20 minutes per day, comes out to just over 2 hours per week--which is a very reasonable amount of organizing and cleaning time for the average household.
However, leave cleaning tasks for a week or two and very often the situation will get out of control. The tub will need to be scrubbed. The laundry will be piled to the ceiling. Your "To Be Filed" pile will be overflowing. Let it go too long and deep-cleaning and heavy organizing time is required, which is much more time-consuming than simply organizing and cleaning a little bit each day. What would have taken you just 2 hours in a week, now you'll have to spend an entire Saturday deep- cleaning and catching up.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Friday, March 03, 2006
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