I’ve written about organizing before. As you know, organizing is often one of the biggest goals of the modern mother. Unless you’re living in a one-room situation you probably have lots of stuff (and hey, even if you are living in a lovely yurt, you probably still have stuff).
I talked before about how important it is to outline your goals completely and concretely so they’re actually achievable – review that article. I also gave an example of organizing my house.
Small Steps Go Quickly
I went through and elaborated on that goal in my own personal files. I took each room in the house and broke down each area of the room to clean out. I did this in a way that is logical to me. For example, in the kitchen I broke my list down by cabinet and drawer.
I have again found that by breaking my organizing down into small steps that I’m able to quickly work through tasks that otherwise seem insurmountable. I was literally dreading cleaning my kitchen, and now I’m just about done. The only things left on my list are to re-stock with eco-friendly (and kid-friendly) cleaners and to buy a couple of organizing caddies I found would be helpful. I’ve been rewarded by finding a lot of space I didn’t realize I had, and a kitchen that works more efficiently for me. That’s a lot to get out of my rather tiny kitchen 
Working in Pictures
Another thing that has helped me is picturing what I need to work on next. I’m an extremely visual thinker and this trick will help you if you’re also visual. I found that by picturing the cabinet or area I needed to work on next (or had just worked on and wasn’t happy with) I could mentally do work to it. I could try out different things in my “mind’s eye.” Then when I walked into the kitchen it was just a matter of quickly moving things around to where I’d already pictured them.
This mental imagery also helped me get rid of some things – I pictured how much they had actually been used and then pictured the clear space from letting them go. This helped me feel confident in placing them in the “giveaway” pile.
Small tasks – Fit where You can get them
Organizing in “bite sizes” like this has worked really well for me. I’ve been working so hard on the site redesign that I haven’t had any time to dedicate solely to organizing the house. Since I’ve been working in these bite-sized chunks I’ve been able to fit the organizing in here and there – just as I finished getting a meal cooking, just after Scott leaves for work in the morning, while the kids are cleaning their toys up, etc.
It’s a great technique for actually getting one of your goals accomplished – especially ones that you can break down into very small chunks of time. This week I’m moving on to my bathroom. I’m now eager to get the whole house done so I can go back and scrub it down squeaky clean to get ready for the baby (yes, part of my motivation is nesting ;p)
