It’s time to dispel some organizing myths that may be keeping you stuck in your mess:
1. Multi-tasking is always productive. False. Although useful in some situations, multi-tasking can cause you to lose your focus and make costly and time-consuming mistakes. When working on important tasks, multi-tasking is probably not a good idea. Some things require your undivided attention.
Multi-tasking distracts us from being in the present moment, which can drain our energy and leave us feeling exhausted and unfulfilled. Next time you are participating in an activity, be with that activity rather than thinking about all the things you should be doing instead, or have to do later. Resist the habit of trying to do two things at once.
2. Being messy automatically means you are disorganized. False. Organizing is not about how it looks, it’s about how it works. Visual, creative types need to have things out where they can see them, because out-of-sight is out-of-mind for them. This may cause their spaces to appear disorganized to others, but they probably know exactly where everything is. The flip side of this though is that visual types lose focus when there is too much to look at, so they need to find products that will allow them to contain their stuff to keep down the visual clutter. For example, a literature sorter allows them to contain their papers while still keeping them within view.
3. You have to toss everything to get organized. False. I often hear people say to me, “There’s no way I could get organized because I am too sentimental. I don’t want to get rid of everything.” Although you shouldn’t keep things you don’t like or will never use, there’s always a way to either display or store the things that matter. For example, shadow boxes or display cases allow you to protect as well as showcase the possessions that truly mean something to you.
4. If you write it on a to-do list, it will get done. False. I had a client who was so proud of her to-do list. It was prioritized, colour-coded and categorized, yet she was frustrated and overwhelmed at how many things on the list were not getting done. To get anything done, you have to actually schedule time to do the things on your list. Simply putting a task on a list is not a commitment. Blocking time on your calendar to do it is.
Hellen Buttigieg is a certified professional organizer, life coach, TV host, owner of We Organize U and author of the best-seller, Organizing Outside The Box. For tips on getting organized, visit her website at WeOrganizeU.com and sign up for Hellen’s free newsletter. To contact Hellen, email info@WeOrganizeU.com