When I was shoveling the snow from my driveway recently, I laughed at myself when I realized that my shoveling style mimics my organizing style. I pick a place to start shoveling and I make a straight path from that starting point to the end of the driveway without taking any detours. That straight, clear path makes it obvious which areas of the driveway remain to be shoveled, and also give me a sense of accomplishment as I view that long stretch of empty asphalt.
That same direct approach works well when I’m helping a client get organized. We avoid zigzag organizing by picking a place to start and stay focused on that one area until it’s completed. This approach works whether we’re working on a desk, room or schedule. For example, if we’re working on a desk, we typically start in the bottom left corner and go through every piece of paper, knick knack, and file folder in that section until we’ve worked our way to the desktop surface. If we have to end our session before we have a chance to address the entire desk, it’s obvious where we’ve left off, and we can clearly see how much we’ve accomplished.
My clients often tell me that when they’re working on their own, they tend to bounce around the area they’re organizing and have only their sense of exhaustion and maybe a full garbage bag to attest to their hard work; they often can’t see any difference in the space they’ve worked on. When you pick a single spot to tackle and stick with it, you’ll have a better chance of staying motivated because you’ll plainly see your progress and can quickly pick up wherever you’ve left off in the organizing process.
Here’s to your organizing success,
Great comment about getting motivated