5 Steps to Get Organized in 2012

Did you make a list of new years resolutions? Was getting organized on your list? If so, welcome to the new year and the new opportunity to follow through! To kick-start the process, here are five tips that have helped me in my battle with clutter:

1. Be Intentional With the Process
2. Make Specific Goals
3. Sort the Major Areas You Use FIRST
4. Don’t Get Distracted by Details
5. Before You Buy Organizers, Know What You Need

This week, I will talk in more detail about each one, beginning today with “Be Intentional.” By the end of the week, you will have a toolbox of practical advice to begin your 2012 organizational journey!

And so, without further ado …

Step 1 – Be Intentional With the Process

Whether it is eating healthier, getting in shape, spending more quality time with family and friends, or organizing your home and lifestyle, good things require an investment of time, energy, and most importantly, willpower.

It is no accident that people whom you admire for being successful in these things get the way they are. They make daily, tiny, hard choices that contribute to their well-being. They eat their vegetables as a snack instead of the potato chips they really want, they go to the gym instead of watching an extra show on prime time, they focus on being a good listener to their child or spouse instead of tuning them out, and they carve out a few minutes of their downtime after work to put up the laundry or clean out the refrigerator instead of playing Angry Birds. It is all too easy to allow the laundry to pile up, the cupboards to deteriorate to their former chaos, and the routines you spent so much time perfecting to be cast to the side and abandoned. As I write this, I am talking to myself, as well. Being intentional is hard. I won’t lie. I slip up in this area weekly, if not daily. It’s a process … and you have to be willing to accept that you will not make perfect choices every time you are faced with a temptation.

There is nothing wrong with splurges, taking time off, or enjoying silly games. In fact, they all have their place within reason. The problem becomes when these things take control of you instead of the other way around. So make the decision now to take action and plan in advance how to overcome the temptations that will come and regain control when you lose it. Be intentional.

Image background by jullinelli.

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