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I asked my colleagues from Professional Organizer in Canada (POC) to share a word or phrase they hear from their clients that causes them to pause. Some phrases will show a mindset of fear, procrastination or indecision making it difficult for you to be successful. My colleagues work in productivity coaching, virtual organizing, downsizing, moving and many other specialized areas to help you get organized. Use the POC directory to find a Professional Organizer who understands you.
Have you said or thought of any of these phrases?
Darlene Tripp owner of Hello Darlene
‘Overwhelmed‘. When they say I am feeling overwhelmed during the session I know it is time for a break or to step away or to even end the session potentially. Sometimes there are triggers or other things that happen and it is so important for them to be in the right frame of mind most importantly!
Laura Kay owner of Toronto Home Organizing
For Now”. As in, “I’ll put this here for now”. This is a stall/indecisive tactic to avoid making a commitment immediately. I’ve always attempted a stop gap when they say that and get them to reconsider.
Kim Diamond owner of Clufferfly Inc.
I hear the word “later” a lot. Clients postpone decisions about their stuff. Maybe they are feeling overwhelmed or it’s a sensitive topic. It needs to be explored or worked through in order to understand the issues about their stuff. As they say, clutter is just postponed discussions.
Adele Lapointe owner of Chaos to Clarity
“I can’t deal with that right now”. As Professional Organizers, we can’t assume we know the reason and we need to find out why. Everyone’s why can be different. For example, it might be a sentimental object that brings back memories good or bad.
Julie Stobbe owner of Mind over Clutter
“Procrastinator” Clients will say I am a procrastinator. When I hear this we pause and talk about how procrastination is affecting their ability to have the home they want to have. Understanding that you are a procrastinator is good. It is not an excuse or reason you can use for putting off doing tasks or telling me why you can’t get things done. It means you need to develop systems to help you stop procrastinating.
Sara Novak owner of Rainbow Home Organizing
“No”. It was a packing/unpacking/organizing job and even though I thought she “should” discard several packs of near-empty expired spices, of which there were duplicates, I respected her wish and didn’t try to convince her otherwise. Getting to know my client’s limits is vital for a good working relationship.
Corrie Goldfinger owner of One Space at a Time Professional Organizing.
“Yes, but…”. I don’t believe this means the client will be unsuccessful, but rather that they may be struggling with change from the way they have always done things. Even when things haven’t been working for them, there can still be something comforting about having sameness in one’s environment. I typically encourage trying an experiment to try something new in these situations, with the option of knowing it can be changed again if it doesn’t work out.
Kerith Paterson owner of Visual Girl Home Therapy
“For now”… as in “I will just put it here for now”. This is an indicator that the item will not be put away where it belongs, and the commitment to do so isn’t there yet. Before the client realizes it, their home will be full of “for now” items (aka clutter). I always (gently) call out my clients on this, and find out when, where and how that item is used in their day-to-day life – and find it a home.
Marie Potter owner of Marie Potter
“What you need in the future” When decluttering clothes a client said due to Covid he doesn’t wear suits much anymore so was difficult to know in the future if they were needed. We did declutter but that unknown made it difficult. Www. Marie potter.ca
Heidi Kachel Professional Organizer at Harmonious Spaces.
“Should” – I ask my clients to stop saying this word. It implies guilt, stress or pressure.
Catherine Barnsley owner of Valley Home Transitions
“I’m a hoarder, and can’t get rid of anything.” That’s more than a word, Julie! Misuse of the word “hoarder” is not helpful if it’s used inappropriately. If someone really can be psychologically diagnosed as a hoarder, that’s another issue and a place for conversation. Are you the right person to be helping them?
Sally Pritchard owner of Organize my Nest
“Sentimental” as in “I can’t let that go it’s sentimental”. I like having discussions with my clients about what that means and how to think differently.
We love listening to and helping our clients to be able to make decisions, declutter and get organized. Share some other phrases or words that stop you from getting organized.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
People have preconceived ideas about what it means to be organized. Being organized means you can find what you are looking for in a reasonable amount of time. The myths about being organized are what stop people from moving forward and organizing their lives. Here is the fallacy in 5 myths.
Myth 1 Organizing is a born talent
Organization is a skill. You can learn techniques to apply to your situation to get you organized. If you have the right resources and support it is easy. Hire a Professional Organizer, read books, watch Youtube and you can learn the steps. Some tasks at home can be simplified so they are not so overwhelming and time-consuming. Here is one small example about meal planning.
- Pick your menu for the week
- From the menu make your shopping list
- Now you don’t need to decide what to make each morning or evening and you can take out of the freezer the items you need for later in the day.
- After you have done this for a number of weeks or months you can start recycling your plan. This makes it even easier as you just pull up an already completed menu plan.
Myth 2 – Organized space is neat, tidy, minimal and boring.
Everything needs to have a space, a home, so you know where to put it back. Some people are visual and will have things displayed other people like things stored behind doors. Organized spaces should reflect your personality and lifestyle. If you can’t enjoy the space then you won’t take care of it.
Myth 3 – Getting organized is an overwhelming, hopeless chore
No matter what you’re organizing, no matter how daunting the task or how huge the backlog is, getting organized boils down to developing a predictable process that you can reproduce. You follow your process and organize the current things you are using and then each time you’re organizing, work for a little time on the backlog. Divide the job into smaller tasks, organize one cupboard, one drawer, one table or one closet. Eventually, the entire room will be organized one small step at a time.
Develop processes that work for you, so you can stay organized.
Myth 4 – It’s impossible to stay organized
Organizing is sustainable if your system is built around the way you think and designed to grow and adapt with you. Here are some tips:
- If it only takes 30 seconds, do it right away if not add it to your to-do list
- Most unorganized people don’t notice things are in the “wrong place.” Look and do a mental check to see if everything has been returned to its assigned space.
- Use spare minutes wisely. Have a list of small tasks that can be completed quickly when you are waiting for meetings, appointments, trains, planes, children, and elderly parents.
- Use your lists to record: things to do, to call, to e-mail and errands. Check the list don’t just write it down.
Myth 5 Organizing is a non-productive use of your time
You can’t afford to not be organized. A national survey conducted by Professional Organizers in Canada indicates 91% of disorganized Canadians feel that disorganization negatively impacts their lives – with a large focus on feelings of stress, frustration and even failure. According to a study by a Boston marketing firm, the average American loses 55 minutes a day, roughly 12 weeks a year, looking for things they know they own but can’t find.
Did I miss any organizing myths? Share your favourite myth in the comments.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of physical activity to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Reading time – 3 minutes
Organizing your home office can lead you in many directions. Perhaps:
- your inbox is inundated,
- your files are filled or
- your time management is missing.
You need to start somewhere so let’s start with the S.P.A.C.E. that houses your office.
Look around your office and start:
1. Sorting the items that are visible into groups of papers, books, office supplies, client files, products, advertising materials etc.
Start with the visible clutter first.
2. Pair down each pile with the items that are current and recycle or shred the rest.
3. Assign a convenient place to store your resources. If you use them often keep them near your desk, if they are used infrequently store them further away but still in your office. If they are never referred to but are needed for tax or legal purposes they can be stored in another room.
4. Take each of those piles and select the best Container for keeping the items organized, binders, magazine holders, bins, boxes etc.
Organize with binders
Organize with bins
Organizing for the person who likes to see everything, the visual person
5. Evaluate your new S.P.A.C.E. to make sure it will help you be more efficient, productive and profitable this year.
Share one of your office organizing tips in the comment box.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She guides and supports you to manage your time, and projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Click here to learn more about her online course Create an Organized Home.
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Reading time 10 minutes
Multitasking is a myth. The brain can’t complete 2 high-level tasks at the same time states Chris Adams, in “Can People Really Multitask?” So what are we really doing when we work on 2 things at the same time?
Task layering
People believe they can multi-task because the body can do a physical activity and a cognitive activity at the same time. So people are able to walk and talk, run and listen to a book etc. The new term I have heard for this is task layering. We certainly can do task layering, don’t get it confused with multitasking. Task “layering” is defined as strategically deciding to do tasks that require different “channels” of mental functioning such as visual, auditory, manual or language. Read more about task laying that actually works in this article
Multitasking
The brain does not do two cognitive tasks at the same time. The brain switches between tasks, very quickly. Every time the brain switches tasks it must determine how much of the task has been completed and what the next step would be and then continue with the task. This time contributes to the slowing down of completing the two tasks. If the brain works on one task at a time it completes it without delay. Try it, put an article in front of you and something to write. Do them both at the same time and record how long it takes you to get the two tasks done. You will notice that you will keep going over the material to see where you left off as your concentration shifts between the tasks. Next, do each task separately and time how long it takes to complete both tasks.
How to stop multitasking
In order to stop multitasking, plan your work schedule and remove the distraction of other work, e-mails, tweeting, phone calls, television, music etc. Your work schedule may have lots of shifts in tasks. Some people like to schedule a 60 -90 minute work session and then change tasks. Other people may schedule 30-minute sessions and change tasks. What works for you? Some people need to have music or white noise on to help them concentrate and block out distractions. Other people find music distracting. What helps you to keep your focus on one task at a time?
What do you think? Is multitasking productive?
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you in managing your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Reading time – 3 minutes
In Harold Taylor’s newsletter www.taylorintime.com , May 2014, he talked about Organizing your Mind to create the life you want. His advice is still true today. Getting your mind in the right place so you can concentrate on the things that bring you joy, fulfillment and contentment will help you create that life that brings out the best part of you.
By Harold Taylor
Organize your mind than your desk or house
It’s more important to organize your mind than your desk or house. You can always walk away from your desk or house, but you can never walk away from your mind. We must first accept the fact that time is not life, as many of us in the past may have suggested; it is merely the medium through which life passes. And life, as you experience it, is not something that happens to you, but something that happens because of you. You create the life you will experience – good, bad or indifferent – by what you believe, how you think, and what you do.
Mind-clearing session
To create the life that you want, you must first organize your mind. And you do this by clearing it of all the worldly clutter that keeps it preoccupied and constantly distracted. One way of doing this is to engage in a 15 or 20-minute mind-clearing session each morning after you get up and are fully dressed. Don’t do it while you are still in bed and half asleep. This is too important. It will determine how the rest of the day goes. And life takes place in a series of days.
Complete your morning ritual of breakfast, getting the kids off to school, putting out the garbage or whatever your morning routine entails. Then sit comfortably in your favourite chair, and without trying to rid your mind of the random thoughts that will invariably invade it, do the following six things in succession.
6 Steps
- Relax, close your eyes, breathe deeply, and just be aware of the miracle that is you.
- Give thanks for all that you have and have had in the past. Don’t rack your brain trying to think of everything – just those that come to mind quickly.
- Forgive anyone who has hurt or offended you.
- Offer up ten-second prayers, blessings or good wishes for at least three other people each day.
- Think positive thoughts about all your future plans, opportunities and endeavours,
- Decide and confirm how you will spend the next hour of your life. This may already be scheduled in your planner or you may choose something different.
The reason for doing these six things will be explained in the next article in this series on holistic time management. But the reason will probably become clear to you as you progress through each day.
Whether you call this session meditation, mindfulness, or “being in the now” is immaterial. What is important is that you continue to do it each day, modifying it as you go along, until it becomes your unique morning routine. And how you spend the next hour of each day will eventually create the life that you will lead.
Organize your mind than your office or home. Harold Taylor Share on X
I think there are some great suggestions to help you focus on the life you want to create. Is anything missing? Let me know in the comments.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you in managing your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Reading Time – 5 minute
In 2020 technology become a communication lifeline. It was used for education, business, family communications, school and social events. It became the most important method of communication and entertainment. Zoom took over life. Will this be a difficult habit to change? Do you want to reduce your reliance on technology? Did technology get you the results you wanted for your life? The ideas and thoughts in this 2014 article by Harold Taylor still hold true for 2021. How are you going to manage your technology going forward?
By Harold Taylor
Harold Taylor is a time management expert. He has published over 17 books and presented over 2000 seminars.
An online poll of over 1000 Canadian adults released last Saturday by Angus Reid/Vision Critical (Toronto Star, January 26, 2013) revealed that 90% of the respondents believed their smartphones made their lives more convenient. So convenient, evidently, that 30% of them went online before getting out of bed, 31% at the dinner table, 29% in the washroom and 42% before falling asleep at night,
Smartphones may be smart, but they lack intelligence. Why are we so willing to be at the beck and call of an idiot? The Internet leads anywhere, which for the undisciplined means nowhere. Why browse away the hours? Email, computer games and social media are endless, but our time is not. Why do we behave as though we will live forever?
Smartphones may be smart, but lack intelligence. Harold Taylor Share on X
Research shows that the Internet and digital technology can have a negative impact on our ability to learn, focus, pay attention, memorize and relate to others on a personal basis. It also gobbles up our time, encourages busyness and multitasking and stifles creativity.
The futures of our business, personal lives, and our nations do not depend on the development of technology, but on our ability to manage the technology we develop.
Technology is important, it can’t be avoided, you’re reading this blog, lol.
Comment on how will you change your use of technology.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you in managing your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Do you spend valuable time making a to-do list and it doesn’t seem to help you get anything done? Does that list keep getting longer and longer? There are many ways to keep track of tasks you need to complete. Bullet Journaling, apps, notebooks, lists or recording a list on your phone. No matter how you record your list here are some tips to help you become more productive.
11 To-Do List Tips
These suggestions are from “Don’t Agonize, Organize Your Office” by Diane A. Hatcher.
- Make an Action list, Today’s Goals list or give it a title that motivates you.
- Make a tomorrow’s list before you finish your day throw out the old list and start fresh daily.
- Lists help you to focus and this increases productivity.
- For lists or calendars to help you be more productive you need to use them consistently.
- Write down anything on your list you don’t want to forget and cross off items as they are completed to help you achieve a sense of satisfaction.
- If a list is longer than 10 items focus on priorities and meeting due dates.
- Record individual tasks on your list, not projects.
- Look at the list often and keep it visible in the same location every day.
- Double the amount of time you think each task will take to prevent over scheduling.
- Use one calendar to record all your appointments, due dates and deadlines. Refer to the calendar when you prepare the action list for the next day.
- Prioritize by time blocks. Choose tasks off your list that can be accomplished in the time you have at hand. Also, consider your energy level when you are selecting the task to complete.
Kanban System
What happens if your list has more than 10 items and you’re afraid you will forget something if it is not on the list? There is a Japanese system called Kanban. This is a good system for visual people and for projects.
- Place your list of items you don’t want to forget about in the To-Do column
- You pick 3 tasks you will be working on at any one time and move them to the doing column.
- You can only add a task from the To-Do column to the Doing column when you complete one.
- Using Post-its on a whiteboard, arrange in columns: “To-Do”, “Doing”, and “Done”. There should never be more than three notes in “Doing”.
- You can add a “Waiting” column if you are waiting for other people to send you information.
Let me give you an example. During the pandemic when my area has a stay at home order, and lockdown, I work on my new online course, Create an Organized Home. At the beginning of the project, all of these items were in the To-Do column, I picked items to work on and moved them to the Doing column and as they are completed they are moved to the Done column. The nice thing about the Done column is I can check and see if I missed something and put it in my To-Do Column.
To-Do Doing Done
Update my website Proofread the material Learn to write a course
Market my course Check settings Write the course
Add SEO to each page Find the best software
Determine price Put course on software
Release course Make videos
Your To-Do column is a holding area for all those things you need to get done not just related to one project as in my example. The Doing column is the high priority items to work on that day. The Done column lets you know you are meeting your deadlines and gives you a sense of accomplishment. Using this system you don’t need to keep rewriting your list. Move the Post-it note from one column to the next.
However, you structure your list you can only do a small number of tasks at once. Whether it is a list on paper, a digital list, a journal or post-it notes, set your priorities for the day, work on them first so you don’t get distracted by less important tasks and refer to your list frequently.
Let me know in the comments how you structure your To-Do lists.
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you in managing your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Some people’s workspace is for studying, some people work from home, and some attend school virtually. My guest blogger this month is the Custom Writing Team.
According to recent studies, it can take up to twenty minutes to get focused again after getting distracted. Finding and organizing the perfect working/studying space may be the best solution for you.
Proper arrangement of stationery, a comfortable chair and desk, and the absence of clutter and distractions may significantly boost your productivity. Even the colour of your walls and accessories impacts the learning process too!
To help you organize your workspace, we have prepared nine great tips, outlined in the infographic below. Check it out and make your room comfortable and inspiring!
Infographic by Custom-Writing.Org
According to recent studies, it can take up to twenty minutes to get focused again after getting distracted. Share on X
Did Custom-Writing miss anything? Comment on what you would add as tip number 10.
If you need help creating, redesigning or organizing your work/study space contact julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
Reading time – 5 minutes
I believe that having routines helps you to accomplish things using less energy. It automates chores and tasks that need to be done regularly to keep an office or home organized. If only one person knows the routines for all the tasks that person will get burnt out doing all the work. Delegating the work is the key. How do you delegate work that is in someone’s mind?
Checklists
Checklists can be used for many reasons.
- to make a process repeatable
- to clarify a task for another person
- to schedule tasks to be completed at regular intervals
- to reduce what you need to remember
Reproducible
I have many tasks that I do infrequently or that I am learning. I set up a checklist with all the steps I need to do so I don’t forget one. The checklist takes the stress out of completing the task. I don’t need to figure out how to do it each time. The checklist will be refined after each use when I realize I left out a step or I have found an easier way to do it.
Some examples are:
Collecting income tax records:
- material needs to be gathered from several institutions,
- forms need to be filed,
- receipts need to be organized,
- copies made
- information needs to upload to a portal
Setting up meetings:
- agendas prepared
- reports requested to be compiled/ submitted ahead of time for the meeting
- meeting notice was sent with the current date, time, location and attachments
- set-up meeting room in-person or virtual
- take meeting minutes
- meeting minutes sent out to attendees
- follow up on items to be completed by participants
Social media posting
- make a list of hyperlinks to social media sites so I don’t need to look them up each time
- record steps on how to post to each site until it becomes easy
- record the date when something was posted
- record the topic that was posted so it is not posted twice
If you need help with this task book a virtual session with me and we can set up your social media posting checklist.
Clarity
How many times have you asked someone to do something and you come back and you are shocked by what they did or didn’t do? Checklists clarify what needs to be done in order to call the task completed. It allows you to delegate work.
Some examples are:
Clean your room – this means something different to each person
- Take the sheets and pillowcases off the bed and put them in the laundry
- Put on clean sheets and pillowcases
- Pick up everything off the floor and put it away
- Dust everything( list the items)
- Vacuum the floor, closet and under the bed
- Empty the garbage can into ……
Filing
- place documents in designated box for filing
- recycle advertising
- shred unimportant documents with personal information on them
- sort the pile alphabetically or by date or category
- file placing new documents in the front, header to the left
Planning an event for your family or at work
- set date, time and place
- send out notice/invitation with date, time, directions, need to know information, RSVP
- start to build a purchasing list
- decide on food and drink- quantities, order or prepare on site
- set up the room – seating, decorations, pens, paper
- clean the location
- have a place for coats
- plan activity- ice breakers, games,
- purchase/shop for items for the event
- set up a timetable for the event
- reminder notice
- post signs showing where to go, the name of the event Developing a checklist is a good way to think through all the steps in a task. Share on X
Avoid mistakes, frustration and embarrassment
Checklists are great for things you do from memory to confirm you have not missed anything. Memory is fallible, especially the busier you get. If you have a checklist you won’t forget to make sure you have enough handouts for your meeting, you have defrosted the meat for supper, you have your passport etc. Sometimes I have a mental checklist I run through before leaving the house, a written checklist is better
How to write a good checklist
In his book, Gawande said a good checklist contains only five to nine items and fits on one page. You might not get your checklist right the first time, so practice using it in the real world, and then refine it as needed.
Checklists can improve performance, help you be more consistent, reduce anxiety and errors. If something you are doing and is hard, complicated, never seems to go right or needs to be delegated try making a checklist for that task. It is a good way to think through all the steps in a task. It only works if you use it before you begin your task.
Need help making a checklist book a 30-minute complimentary virtual organizing appointment. https://mindoverclutter.as.me/virtualorganizingassessment
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
It’s hard to believe but we are coming to the end of our seventh blog to get off your butt and finally beat procrastination. I hope you’ve been following along and more importantly that you’ve been making progress on at least one of the things you’ve been procrastinating on. We end today with the most critical advice and the main lesson I want you to take away from all this.
Make progress every single day!
Of course, that’s easier said than done. That’s why I’m leaving you today with three simple hacks or strategies to help you. Give them a try and see if you can’t get into the habit of being productive every day instead of procrastinating.
Plan For It
It’s easy to make progress every day when you know exactly what you should be working on next. Make a plan and then decide what you will do each day of the week. Write it down in a planner and adjust daily as needed. In the morning, you can see at a glance what it is you should be doing. Then get to work on it first thing before the day gets away from you. I find it helpful to have my planner sitting right in front of me at my desk, keeping me on track.
Don’t Break The Chain
There’s something to be said about a chain or a streak. Record every day you don’t procrastinate on something. You can mark it on a monthly calendar, or create a chain of sticky notes, stickers, or even one of those paper chains you used to make in school. The goal is simple. Don’t break the chain. Once you have a few days under your belt, you’ll be motivated to go the extra mile and do that one thing you need to do to avoid breaking the streak.
Check In With Yourself
As you progress on the things you know you need to be doing, you should feel your anxiety reduced. Instead, you will feel your confidence go up. Don’t be surprised to feel proud of your accomplishments. Instead, use those feelings to propel you forward to more procrastination free days. Procrastination is a habit. It’s something you learned to do, which means it’s something you can unlearn. Stick with it, make progress every day, and enjoy those feelings of accomplishment.
Make progress every day, and enjoy those feelings of accomplishment. Share on X
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space
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