The Real Reasons You’re Not Getting Organized

Most of my clients are successful, dynamic, driven women. They expertly organize and coordinate major projects in their professional lives, but feel lost when it comes to organizing their homes and personal lives. Why don’t we do for ourselves what we do for other people?
1. Perfectionism
You may not think of yourself as a perfectionist if your clutter has gotten out of control, but this is true for about 90% of my clients. To move forward, you’ve got to get comfortable with doing an OK job. Here’s an exercise I often set for my clients: choose a task you’ve been putting off (nothing super crucial for this first time) and half-ass it. Seriously. If you’re waiting to give your friend her birthday gift because you haven’t had time to beautifully and artistically wrap it, throw it in a gift bag, stuff some tissue paper on top, and hand it over with a smile. Note that not only does the world not end, but your friend is every bit as happy about the gift as if it had taken you 45 minutes to wrap. Plus, it’s not three months late, which it would have been if you’d waited until it was perfect, thus negating the whole perfect thing. If you can’t do it perfectly, just get it done.
2. Not making time for your priorities
If you have a work project due at 3pm today, you’re probably not going to piddle away the morning on unimportant tasks. If you have a large home organizing project to work on, one that is important to you and you know will improve your life, chances are you’re on Pinterest looking at pictures of fat puppies. Work gives us deadlines that we have to stick to because we respect the clients’ needs and the agreements we made with them. It’s time to start respecting your needs in the same way.
3. Not breaking down projects
You wouldn’t try to tackle a massive work project without first figuring out what steps need to happen in which order, so don’t try to get organized without thinking about how it realistically needs to happen. You’re not going to “organize the kitchen;” you’re going to clean out the refrigerator, purge the coffee mugs, group like food items together, and move rarely used dishes to a top shelf. Without a breakdown into manageable tasks, it’s so easy to get overwhelmed.
Now go take your imperfect, totally worth it self and break down that organizing project!