A myth is a story we tell ourselves or each other that has no basis in fact or natural event. Such a common way to deal with something we don’t want to look at realistically, right? “I have time to add this to my life”! “I will have time to finish that later”.
What happens is that these myths we have about being organized become obstacles that keep us stuck in habits that will never get us where we want to go.
Here are a couple of things people tell themselves and me that they wished worked to get them organized (but, didn’t) and ways around them.
Myth #1
Buying expensive organizing items gets you organized.
The myth goes like this: You’re at the store and you see some lovely, colorful boxes and you feel this hopeful surge and a feeling of complete wellbeing. You know if you buy these items you will be inspired and stay inspired and by the end of the day or week you’ll be entirely organized. All because you bought these lovely boxes. But, you bring them home and that wellbeing is gone and the boxes you bought really don’t fit on the shelves.
You are overwhelmed and angry at yourself and the dream dies.
How do you correct this myth and create a more useful story for yourself?
First, don’t be so hard on yourself! All you’ve done is mix up the order of getting organized. You can use those boxes. You just need to do a few things first.
- Purging and sorting your stuff helps you see what you have and how much you have.
- Deciding where you want to keep all your different stuff allows you to see what kind of storage bins you really need. Also, are you going to see the bins? Then getting decorative bins is smart. Are they going into the garage? Then getting air tight bins might be what you really need.
Now that you know what you have and where it’s all going to go you can look at the organizing products you have and decide what will be used where.
Buying organizing items is always the last thing I do with a client. Plus, buying is often unnecessary, especially once we’ve purged!
Myth #2
There is one system to get organized.
This myth means that, for example, that the one organizing book you bought from Amazon will have that one magic way for you to become organized once and for all! But, it doesn’t get you organized, so you are a failure and you’ll always be dis-organized.
For fun, I went to Amazon and put in ‘professional organizing’. Over 1500 titles came up. There are many options to help us get organized!
The best way to organize is the way that will work for you.
So, how do we figure that out?
Listen to yourself complain about your frustrations with an area and then list what your goals are. This will help you see where you want to go.
Try different things. It is not wrong to try a few things to understand what will work for you! Each time, think about what worked and didn’t and then adjust. In this process you will be able to discover how you think and you will learn how to integrate new things into your life without falling apart.
Above all, you need to be patient with yourself. But, if you just can’t imagine where or how to start, a professional organizer can help. I can help you make a plan that you can implement or we can work together to complete a project.
