Procrastinating? 7 Ways to get unstuck and declutter!

Hi everyone,

When it comes to de-cluttering and organising a space, it can seem like such a huge job to do. And when that happens we find it very easy to keep putting it off.

Here are 7 common reasons why we avoid organising and ways to help you get stuck into some decluttering even when you don’t feel like it!

 

1. Feeling overwhelmed

This is the number one reason why some struggle to get started with any decluttering work.

What to do: 

Don’t, whatever you do, look at the entire mess. Bring the focus back to you and what you can do today to get started. Pick a relatively easy room that needs your attention. Pick a corner of that room. Set a time limit on it. And get stuck in. If it’s really bad, then doing a bit every day initially will help you work through it. Leaving huge chunks of work to do every now and then won’t help the feeling of overwhelm. Whereas, if you do small bits regularly, then you’ll get used to the process which will ease your stress.

 

2. Procrastination

Very often things are not as bad to do as we think they’ll be and, they don’t take us as long to do as we think they will.

What to do: 

Getting into the habit of writing a To-Do list will help with this. By writing down what you need to get done, it will get it out of your head. Instead of saying to yourself “I need to do that” it will focus your mind on when you will do it.

 

3. Indecision

Deciding what to keep and what to throw out can be very difficult for some people. It can make getting organised a real challenge and can cause great anxiety.

What to do: 

• Energy Highs:

Only de-clutter at times when you have the energy to do so! None of us can do anything when we’re tired – especially making decisions!

• Time limits:

If you are finding making decision tough, only do it in short bursts. De-clutter for 30 – 60 minutes max and then reward yourself in some way. If you know you have to get the job done within a certain time, you might be quicker with your decisions.

 

4. Unable to let go

Our possessions give us a lot of comfort. There are so many memories associated with our things. And when they go it can be quite upsetting for some.

What to do: 

For harder to part with items, try some of these tricks:

• Write about it:

Writing is a great way to sort out our feelings and emotions. So if throwing things away is troubling you, maybe it might help you to write about it so as to try and figure out why it’s difficult and how you might make it easier on yourself.

• Hide it:

Place item(s) in the attic or shed etc for a few months. If you haven’t missed it or needed to use it during that time, I think it’s safe to let it go.

 

5. I can’t get any help

If you’ve had a busy day, week, month or even year (guess the lyric!), and you’re just about managing to get things tidied away, then having to do a big de-clutter on your own is not anyone’s idea of fun. It can be very frustrating if you’re trying to maintain the organisation and others in the home either can’t or won’t co-operate.

What to do: 

Compromise:

Keep shared space in order. Within the home, agree with the family that while they can keep their own rooms – be that a bedroom, a den or an office – a mess, shared spaces must be kept as organised as possible. Rooms such as the living room and kitchen are not only important shared spaces for your family but they are also the rooms where visitors are brought. So a compromise to keep these areas in order might solve some of the problem.

Stick to the Golden Rule:

Make sure that there’s one rule everyone in the family follows – keep the floor space clear. Once you start losing your precious floor space to clutter and disorganisation, it’ll be hard work getting it back.

 

6. I’m not sure where to create new ‘homes’

So you’ve decluttered and now you want to assign ‘homes’ to your things. But you’re stuck. You have a few ideas of ‘homes’ that would work, but you’re just not sure and don’t want to get it wrong.

There is no right or wrong way of organising. A good system is one that is adaptable. Just because you decide today that the DVD’s can live beside the TV, doesn’t mean that tomorrow you can’t move them onto the shelf beside the couch.

What to do: 

Watch your habits and how you use your things and space. Rehome items next to where you use them. Stop striving for ‘perfect’. It doesn’t exist. You want to get your home organised pronto, so make your peace with ‘good enough’.

 

7. I don’t have enough Time

This is a real ‘chicken and egg’ situation. Which should you do first get your time organised or get your space organised?!

I can tell you it’s  your time that needs to be looked at first. Once we look at where our time goes and how we spend it, we are able to use it better.

Getting organised can give us back precious time to spend with family, take up a hobby, get more work done.

What to do: 

Start to incorporate organising and de-cluttering into your day and week. Just like making dinner or ringing your mother, a bit of organising has to become part of your day if you want to have a more organised home.

For example, you may:

• Do a 15 minute clear up of the living room floor just after the 9 o’clock news every night.
• Get up 20 minutes earlier each morning & make sure the bedroom is in order before you go out to work.
• Assign a half hour every Sunday evening to file away all the paper that came into your house that week.
• Assign every Saturday morning for one month to de-cluttering the spare room

Make sure whatever you decide to do, that you do it regularly and always at the same time so that it becomes part of your schedule. Eventually you will do it without thinking.

 

I hope some of these tips will help you get started on whatever organising project you’d like to get done.

 

Happy Organising!