Organizing With the Stars and Squeezing in Some “Lost” Time
A Post from the Past . . .
As a Professional Organizer, I hear excuses all the time as to why people are “disorganized.” I hear them from potential, new, and current clients. I even hear them from people I meet casually when they find out what I do for a living. And it never fails. The number one excuse I hear is some variation of “I just can’t find the time to get myself organized.”
The truth is, though, if it is important to you, you WILL find the time. We ALL have the same 24 hours in a day. Those people who ARE organized and efficient do not get any extra hours in their schedule. They have made a conscious choice and have prioritized their schedules to allow themselves time to get, and stay, organized.
If you want to get organized, but you are using the time excuse, too, here are some ideas for how to squeeze out some extra organizing time from your busy schedule:
1. Do you live for “Dancing with the Stars,” “Lost,” or some other weekly television show? (Come on, I’ll admit to being hooked on “Dancing . . .” if you do!) Use the commercial breaks to tackle some mini-projects: organize your junk drawer, sort through your magazine piles, file your bills, make your grocery list, or go through the day’s mail. Before the show starts, jot down a quick list of your projects and make a game out of how many you can accomplish before the end of the show. And what about those annoying re-runs? Use that time to work on a larger project.
2. How much time do you spend shuttling your kids to extra-curricular activities? If your household is anything like mine, it’s nightly. While I definitely do not suggest attempting any organizing projects DURING the drive, how do you use the time you wait for class or practice to end? How about: cleaning out your purse or wallet, making your to-do list for the next day, cleaning off the desktop on your laptop, de-cluttering your car, returning emails or phone calls, balancing your checkbook, or working on your schedule for the following week. Some of these activities even work while you wait for an oil change, a doctor’s appointment, or a business meeting.
3. Are your little ones old enough to bathe themselves, but still need supervision and a watchful eye? Use this time to organize your linen closet, clear out and clean out under the bathroom sink, or purge expired bottles from the medicine cabinet.
4. Do you need to be accessible to your kids during homework time, but not TOO involved in something else in case they need help? If the homework area is the kitchen, how about clearing out a kitchen cabinet or drawer, cleaning out the refrigerator, or sorting through the pantry? Do they use a home office for schoolwork? Organize your desk drawer, purge your bookshelf, or clear out unnecessary files.
Yes, these are minor projects. And no, these little chunks of time are NOT enough to overhaul your entire household or life. But something is better than nothing, right? Who knows, these little successes might be just the thing to motivate you to carve out bigger chunks of time for those projects that WILL make a huge difference.
By the way, “Dancing with the Stars” returns September 22, so I’ll be getting my “Things To Do During the Commercials” list ready to go! What will YOU be doing to use your time more wisely?
Simply yours,
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